paul71

its a great build still finding your rigging very impressive paul

I just put some washing up liquid in a bowl with hot water and gently rub them with my fingers so i can tell how much pressure im putting on the parts, a lot of the small parts i rub gently but mainly they just get a dip in the bowl as i rub the bigger parts then rinse off under the hot water tap still over the bowl and dab with tea towel and let them air dry a day or so, i always look at the sprue once rinsed off to see if any parts have come off, if they have they will still be in the bowl paul

its an impressive kit looks really good ratch enjoyed watching you build it, do like it with the panels off

still enjoying your build ratch' with all that detail in the engine it would be a shame to cover it up. paul

Hi randal There wasn't much difference in them the MKI was built at southhampton and the MKII was built at the new Castle Bromwich site and had the more powerful Merlin XII engine installed and could use either de Havilland or rotol propellers Late MKI spitfires had new jettisonable cockpit hoods with bulges in them and this was standard on the MKII The MKIIb had the two cannon and four machine gun wing that was produced for the MKVb spitfire paul

I like the tip for unblocking the needles ratch, i often have that problem and try unblocking them with a pin i will be trying this next time though paul

Im sure you have some tips rod on how you do things and what you use, we all have different ways of doing things paul

Hi rod got the magnifying kit from hobby craft, they have two different ones one that fits like a pair of glasses and the headband one, i got the headband one so i don't knock my glasses off when i take it off, it comes with 4 different lenses and you can use two at once i found that using one is ok with me for now. its made a big difference in what i can do, took a bit to get use to it and sort out which lens to use, i tried all combinations and settled on just the one lese. I'm able to read the small decals on 1:72 scale now so there is no excuse for me getting them upside down now joy makes fitting the small fiddly parts together a lot easier to see that they are right and when it comes to painting i had never noticed i was missing bits on the small pieces like on the aircraft wheels and legs. wish i had got one a lot earlier its made a big difference

one of the best things i bought, with my eyes not as good these days even with glasses for seeing close up, once i got use to it i could see all the bits of paint i had been missing on small parts and small decals i can see if they are upside down, and great for seeing when putting small fiddly parts together

old ice cream tub and box for keeping kits that are started together, as you can see i broke the stub off the back of the propeller so a cocktail stick finely filed down has replaced that bit so it will fit on in the end

a good bendy light just for that extra bit of light at times

shaped skewers old paint brush handle and a broken blade i use to put filler into gaps

sealable bags for putting spare parts in

the skewers i cut down to any size great for stirring pots of paint, cocktail sticks i put wheels on for painting the point fits nice in the wheels hole, and they are great for small adjustments of decals once on the model

i use all different types and sizes of brushes, once they are no good i pull off the end and putting a bit of blue tack on i use to stick things in for painting like pilots or the seats any small fiddly bits, its a lot easier to hold the old paint brush handle and turn whilst painting

fishing weights all different sizes for weighing down the nose of aircraft so hopefully i don't get a tail sitter

tray on the left i use for soaking my decals, on the right i use for mixing paint or dropping a few droplets out of the droplet bottles

side snips 2 different sizes, i use these for cutting parts of sprue, not too close to the part at first, trim close to the edge with a knife and finish with the file, i don't have a precision saw yet. scissors i use for cutting out decals and tape

small metal rule

drills and pin vice, found these to be good at opening holes don't find using them fiddly at all and don't need to much pressure on at all as it twists nicely in the hand

tweezers ones on the left are at the cheep end of the scale not so good at holding things but found them great at opening my tins of paint as they do fit under the lip of them, ones on the right are a better quality and thicker steel great at holding small bits as they don't bend

clamps for holding parts together as the glue sets

files of all types, metal needle files, some proper sanding blocks of different grades ( the 3 green ones) and my go to emery boards cheap easy to use can cut to shape and trim as they wear down and come in all different grades

a variety of knifes and blades, used to cut out decals and trimming parts.

my simple work station, don't have to worry about spilling paint or glue with this