Somewhat OT but not by muc- Spitfire model

[Mad Mike]

Fellers,

You have to take a look at what this English gent did. He made an extremely
detailed 1/5th scale Spitfire.

I posted the Outlook Express email directly and it appears to work. Let me
know if you can't see it and I'll post the images separately

http://www.mbm30.org/Mike/Fw_%20%20Scratch%20Built%20Spitfire%20Model.eml


MM

[MikeW]

Mad Mike wrote:
> Fellers,
>
> You have to take a look at what this English gent did. He made an
> extremely detailed 1/5th scale Spitfire.
>

The detail in that 'model' is phenomenal, no wonder it took him 11 years
to make.

Thanks for sharing MM.
--
MikeW
*The only time an aircraft has too much fuel on board is when it is on
fire*

[Mad Mike]

It's amazing, isn't it? Beautiful to look at.

MM
"MikeW" <MikeW@spammenot.con> wrote in message
news:l5qdnQRGcfA-Bl3YnZ2dnUVZ8sqjnZ2d@bt.com...
> Mad Mike wrote:
>> Fellers,
>>
>> You have to take a look at what this English gent did. He made an
>> extremely detailed 1/5th scale Spitfire.
>>
>
> The detail in that 'model' is phenomenal, no wonder it took him 11 years
> to make.
>
> Thanks for sharing MM.
> --
> MikeW
> *The only time an aircraft has too much fuel on board is when it is on
> fire*
>

[Sammy]

On Feb 1, 12:37 am, "MikeW" <M...@spammenot.con> wrote:
> Mad Mike wrote:
> The detail in that 'model' is phenomenal, no wonder it took him 11 years
> to make.

I can't imagine spending 11 years building anything, let alone a
model. You're talking a third of my life, and the lion's share of my
adult life. (It feels like this video I'm working on is going to take
11 years though:-)) In this guy's shoes I'd both be incredibly proud,
and be wondering what else I could have accomplished in that amount of
time....and what would you do if you ever had a fire or burglary? It's
not like you could insure or replace that model.

[David]

I was quite moved looking at that model - it was dedication on that scale
shown during the summer of 1940 when the Spitfire & Hurricane had it's
finest hour that means I am writing this in English and not German.
People never cease to amaze me.
Thanks to MM for the link.

[manbird]

Hey Mike, the link doesn't work???

__________________________________________________ _______
Posted via the -Web to Usenet- forums at http://forums.simradar.com
Visit www.simradar.com and try our Flight Simulation Search Engine!

[John Fraser]

"Mad Mike" <Mad Mike mconronn@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:BtWdnbzYnJ47CF3YnZ2dnUVZ_vmqnZ2d@insightbb.co m...
> Fellers,
>
> You have to take a look at what this English gent did. He made an
> extremely detailed 1/5th scale Spitfire.
>
> I posted the Outlook Express email directly and it appears to work. Let
> me know if you can't see it and I'll post the images separately
>
> http://www.mbm30.org/Mike/Fw_%20%20Scratch%20Built%20Spitfire%20Model.eml
>
>
> MM

Sorry Mike, but all I get is a text file. What am I doing wrong?

Cheers,
John

[John Fraser]

Hi Mike;

"John Fraser" <jfraser@ns.sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:AO7wh.519$R71.8360@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca...
>
> "Mad Mike" <Mad Mike mconronn@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:BtWdnbzYnJ47CF3YnZ2dnUVZ_vmqnZ2d@insightbb.co m...
>> Fellers,
>>
>> You have to take a look at what this English gent did. He made an
>> extremely detailed 1/5th scale Spitfire.
>>
>> I posted the Outlook Express email directly and it appears to work. Let
>> me know if you can't see it and I'll post the images separately
>>
>> http://www.mbm30.org/Mike/Fw_%20%20Scratch%20Built%20Spitfire%20Model.eml
>>
>>
>> MM
>
> Sorry Mike, but all I get is a text file. What am I doing wrong?
>
> Cheers,
> John

I originally copying the link and pasted it into Firefox as video clips
on youtube don't work in Internet Explorer although they did at one time.
As IE7 is the default browser, I tried that and your link worked.

I just say that regardless of mistakes, it's a first class model in all
respects. Thanks for taking the time to inform us.

Cheers,
John

[Sammy]

On Feb 1, 12:37 am, "MikeW" <M...@spammenot.con> wrote:
> The detail in that 'model' is phenomenal, no wonder it took him 11 years
> to make.

It is gorgeous but 11 years!!!! I've been at my video for a total of
about 20 hours (including research of software and music) and it feels
like it's been about 10 years. But in all seriousness I wish I had
that sort of patience. If I were in this gentleman's shoes I'd be
caught between being VERY proud of the achievement and wondering what
else I could have done with that amount of time had I not started on
the project. It's clear he doesn't regret it though as he's planning
on building a P-51 next.

For me modelling etc. is the annoying part of being in flight sim and
r/c. I'd much rather be spending the time learning to fly. For others
modelling IS the hobby. (Also with software there's no way you can
spend 11 years on a model without the rules changing. You'd have a
model now that worked well with FS95! You'd have to have reworked the
model through various versions to be up to FS9 or FSX).

Anyway more power to him. It takes all kinds to make the world the
interesting place it is.

[Mad Mike]

You would have to be really committed and put yourself in jeopardy of a
mental breakdown. I could just see some 5 year old attempting to hop in the
cockpit...heh heh

"Sammy" <syousef@bigpond.net.au> wrote in message
news:1170273290.290749.7640@p10g2000cwp.googlegrou ps.com...
> On Feb 1, 12:37 am, "MikeW" <M...@spammenot.con> wrote:
>> Mad Mike wrote:
>> The detail in that 'model' is phenomenal, no wonder it took him 11 years
>> to make.
>
> I can't imagine spending 11 years building anything, let alone a
> model. You're talking a third of my life, and the lion's share of my
> adult life. (It feels like this video I'm working on is going to take
> 11 years though:-)) In this guy's shoes I'd both be incredibly proud,
> and be wondering what else I could have accomplished in that amount of
> time....and what would you do if you ever had a fire or burglary? It's
> not like you could insure or replace that model.
>
>

[Mad Mike]

I archived the pics on my PC.
MM

"David" <david_sanderson9@btinternet.com> wrote in message
news:5qCdnel-cff-nlzYnZ2dnUVZ8s-qnZ2d@bt.com...
>I was quite moved looking at that model - it was dedication on that scale
>shown during the summer of 1940 when the Spitfire & Hurricane had it's
>finest hour that means I am writing this in English and not German.
> People never cease to amaze me.
> Thanks to MM for the link.
>

[Mad Mike]

Let me try it again, manbird. It is a Outlook email documentMM

"manbird" <manbird@forums.simradar.com> wrote in message
news:1170278059.6593@forums.simradar.com...
> Hey Mike, the link doesn't work???
>
> __________________________________________________ _______
> Posted via the -Web to Usenet- forums at http://forums.simradar.com
> Visit www.simradar.com and try our Flight Simulation Search Engine!

[Mad Mike]

Let me post the individual images, manbird
MM

"manbird" <manbird@forums.simradar.com> wrote in message
news:1170278059.6593@forums.simradar.com...
> Hey Mike, the link doesn't work???
>
> __________________________________________________ _______
> Posted via the -Web to Usenet- forums at http://forums.simradar.com
> Visit www.simradar.com and try our Flight Simulation Search Engine!

[Mad Mike]

Let me post the images separately and I'll post the text here.

MM

"John Fraser" <jfraser@ns.sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:AO7wh.519$R71.8360@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca...
>
> "Mad Mike" <Mad Mike mconronn@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:BtWdnbzYnJ47CF3YnZ2dnUVZ_vmqnZ2d@insightbb.co m...
>> Fellers,
>>
>> You have to take a look at what this English gent did. He made an
>> extremely detailed 1/5th scale Spitfire.
>>
>> I posted the Outlook Express email directly and it appears to work. Let
>> me know if you can't see it and I'll post the images separately
>>
>> http://www.mbm30.org/Mike/Fw_%20%20Scratch%20Built%20Spitfire%20Model.eml
>>
>>
>> MM
>
> Sorry Mike, but all I get is a text file. What am I doing wrong?
>
> Cheers,
> John
>

[Mad Mike]

Try this mb,

http://www.mbm30.org/Mike/Spitfire_Model/

Subject: Scratch Built Spitfire Model

Now here is something for those of you who have lots of spare time on your
hands: (as for

me, I have a simple balsa model P-38 still in the box waiting for the right
moment... ..

Below are pictures of a scratch built 1/5th scale Supermarine Spitfire MK 1
by an English
model builder. It's hard to imagine such infinite detail can be
accomplished even with
super human devotion and dexterity. The pictures and accompanying text
are by the
model maker, David Glen.

If anyone asked me why I set out to build a Spitfire in one-fifth scale, and
detailed to the
last rivet and fastener, I would probably be hard-pushed for a practical or
even sensible
answer. Perhaps the closest I can get is that since a small child I have
been awe inspired
by R. J. Mitchell's elliptical winged masterpiece, and that to build a small
replica is the
closest I will ever aspire to possession.

The job took me well over eleven years, during which there were times I very
nearly came
to giving the project up for lost. The sheer amount of work involved,
countless hours,
proved almost too much, were it not for a serendipitous encounter at my
flying club in
Cambridge with Dr Michael Fopp, Director General of the Royal Air Force
Museum in
England.

Seeing the near complete fuselage, he urged me to go on and finish the
model, promising
that he would put it on display. I was flabbergasted, for when I started I
had no inkling
that my work would end up in a position of honour in one of the world's
premier aviation
museums.

As I write, the case for the model is being prepared, having been specially
commissioned
by the museum with a case-maker in Sweden. I have not yet seen it, but from
what I hear,
it is enormous!

In one respect the story has gone full circle, since it was at Hendon where
I started my
research in earnest, sourcing Microfilm copies of many original Supermarine
drawings,
without which such a detailed build would not have been possible.

The model is skinned with litho plate over a balsa core and has been left in
bare metal at
the suggestion of Michael Fopp, so that the structure is seen to best
advantage. The
rivets are real and many are pushed into drilled holes in the skin and
underlying balsa, but
many more are actual mechanical fixings. I have no accurate count, but I
suspect that
there are at least 19,000!

All interior detail is built from a combination of Supermarine drawings and
workshop
manuals, plus countless photographs of my own, many of them taken
opportunistically when
I was a volunteer at the Duxford Aviation Society based at Duxford Airfield,
home of the
incomparable Imperial War Museum collection in Cambridgeshire, England.
Spitfires, in
various marks are, dare I say, a common feature there!

The degree of detail is probably obsessive: The needles of the dials in the
cockpit
actually stand proud of the instrument faces, but you have to look hard to
see it!

Why the flat canopy? Well, the early Mk.Is had them, and I had no means to
blow a
bubble hood, so it was convenient. Similarly the covers over the wheels were
another early
feature and they saved me a challenging task of replicating the wheel
castings.

The model has its mistakes, but I'll leave the experts to spot them, as
they most certainly
will, plus others I don't even know about. I don't pretend the little
Spitfire is perfect,

but
I do hope it has captured something of the spirit and incomparable beauty of
this
magnificent fighter - perhaps the closest to a union that art and technology
have ever
come - a killing machine with lines that are almost sublime.

So, with the model now in its magnificent new home, what comes next?

Well, I'm planning a book that will have a lot to say about its genesis and
perhaps just a
little about me and those dear to me, including a long suffering but
understanding and
supportive wife. And then there's the Mustang . Yes, a 1/5th scale P-51D is
already
taking shape in my workshop. How long will it take? I've no idea, but what I
am sure of is
that at my age (58) I can't expect to be building many of them!

David Glen
Whaddon, Cambridge
Dec. 06, 2006






"manbird" <manbird@forums.simradar.com> wrote in message
news:1170278059.6593@forums.simradar.com...
> Hey Mike, the link doesn't work???
>
> __________________________________________________ _______
> Posted via the -Web to Usenet- forums at http://forums.simradar.com
> Visit www.simradar.com and try our Flight Simulation Search Engine!

[Mad Mike]

Try this John,
http://www.mbm30.org/Mike/Spitfire_Model/

Here is the text:

Subject: Scratch Built Spitfire Model

Now here is something for those of you who have lots of spare time on your
hands: (as for

me, I have a simple balsa model P-38 still in the box waiting for the right
moment... ..

Below are pictures of a scratch built 1/5th scale Supermarine Spitfire MK 1
by an English
model builder. It's hard to imagine such infinite detail can be
accomplished even with
super human devotion and dexterity. The pictures and accompanying text
are by the
model maker, David Glen.

If anyone asked me why I set out to build a Spitfire in one-fifth scale, and
detailed to the
last rivet and fastener, I would probably be hard-pushed for a practical or
even sensible
answer. Perhaps the closest I can get is that since a small child I have
been awe inspired
by R. J. Mitchell's elliptical winged masterpiece, and that to build a small
replica is the
closest I will ever aspire to possession.

The job took me well over eleven years, during which there were times I very
nearly came
to giving the project up for lost. The sheer amount of work involved,
countless hours,
proved almost too much, were it not for a serendipitous encounter at my
flying club in
Cambridge with Dr Michael Fopp, Director General of the Royal Air Force
Museum in
England.

Seeing the near complete fuselage, he urged me to go on and finish the
model, promising
that he would put it on display. I was flabbergasted, for when I started I
had no inkling
that my work would end up in a position of honour in one of the world's
premier aviation
museums.

As I write, the case for the model is being prepared, having been specially
commissioned
by the museum with a case-maker in Sweden. I have not yet seen it, but from
what I hear,
it is enormous!

In one respect the story has gone full circle, since it was at Hendon where
I started my
research in earnest, sourcing Microfilm copies of many original Supermarine
drawings,
without which such a detailed build would not have been possible.

The model is skinned with litho plate over a balsa core and has been left in
bare metal at
the suggestion of Michael Fopp, so that the structure is seen to best
advantage. The
rivets are real and many are pushed into drilled holes in the skin and
underlying balsa, but
many more are actual mechanical fixings. I have no accurate count, but I
suspect that
there are at least 19,000!

All interior detail is built from a combination of Supermarine drawings and
workshop
manuals, plus countless photographs of my own, many of them taken
opportunistically when
I was a volunteer at the Duxford Aviation Society based at Duxford Airfield,
home of the
incomparable Imperial War Museum collection in Cambridgeshire, England.
Spitfires, in
various marks are, dare I say, a common feature there!

The degree of detail is probably obsessive: The needles of the dials in the
cockpit
actually stand proud of the instrument faces, but you have to look hard to
see it!

Why the flat canopy? Well, the early Mk.Is had them, and I had no means to
blow a
bubble hood, so it was convenient. Similarly the covers over the wheels were
another early
feature and they saved me a challenging task of replicating the wheel
castings.

The model has its mistakes, but I'll leave the experts to spot them, as
they most certainly
will, plus others I don't even know about. I don't pretend the little
Spitfire is perfect,

but
I do hope it has captured something of the spirit and incomparable beauty of
this
magnificent fighter - perhaps the closest to a union that art and technology
have ever
come - a killing machine with lines that are almost sublime.

So, with the model now in its magnificent new home, what comes next?

Well, I'm planning a book that will have a lot to say about its genesis and
perhaps just a
little about me and those dear to me, including a long suffering but
understanding and
supportive wife. And then there's the Mustang . Yes, a 1/5th scale P-51D is
already
taking shape in my workshop. How long will it take? I've no idea, but what I
am sure of is
that at my age (58) I can't expect to be building many of them!

David Glen
Whaddon, Cambridge
Dec. 06, 2006






"John Fraser" <jfraser@ns.sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:%W7wh.523$R71.8568@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca...
> Hi Mike;
>
> "John Fraser" <jfraser@ns.sympatico.ca> wrote in message
> news:AO7wh.519$R71.8360@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca...
>>
>> "Mad Mike" <Mad Mike mconronn@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>> news:BtWdnbzYnJ47CF3YnZ2dnUVZ_vmqnZ2d@insightbb.co m...
>>> Fellers,
>>>
>>> You have to take a look at what this English gent did. He made an
>>> extremely detailed 1/5th scale Spitfire.
>>>
>>> I posted the Outlook Express email directly and it appears to work. Let
>>> me know if you can't see it and I'll post the images separately
>>>
>>> http://www.mbm30.org/Mike/Fw_%20%20Scratch%20Built%20Spitfire%20Model.eml
>>>
>>>
>>> MM
>>
>> Sorry Mike, but all I get is a text file. What am I doing wrong?
>>
>> Cheers,
>> John
>
> I originally copying the link and pasted it into Firefox as video clips
> on youtube don't work in Internet Explorer although they did at one time.
> As IE7 is the default browser, I tried that and your link worked.
>
> I just say that regardless of mistakes, it's a first class model in all
> respects. Thanks for taking the time to inform us.
>
> Cheers,
> John
>

[Mad Mike]

I guess we are not too obsessive compulsive compared to what might happen in
model making, eh, Sammy?
MM

"Sammy" <syousef@bigpond.net.au> wrote in message
news:1170281205.544621.235950@s48g2000cws.googlegr oups.com...
> On Feb 1, 12:37 am, "MikeW" <M...@spammenot.con> wrote:
>> The detail in that 'model' is phenomenal, no wonder it took him 11 years
>> to make.
>
> It is gorgeous but 11 years!!!! I've been at my video for a total of
> about 20 hours (including research of software and music) and it feels
> like it's been about 10 years. But in all seriousness I wish I had
> that sort of patience. If I were in this gentleman's shoes I'd be
> caught between being VERY proud of the achievement and wondering what
> else I could have done with that amount of time had I not started on
> the project. It's clear he doesn't regret it though as he's planning
> on building a P-51 next.
>
> For me modelling etc. is the annoying part of being in flight sim and
> r/c. I'd much rather be spending the time learning to fly. For others
> modelling IS the hobby. (Also with software there's no way you can
> spend 11 years on a model without the rules changing. You'd have a
> model now that worked well with FS95! You'd have to have reworked the
> model through various versions to be up to FS9 or FSX).
>
> Anyway more power to him. It takes all kinds to make the world the
> interesting place it is.
>

[Sammy]

On Feb 1, 9:40 am, "Mad Mike" <Mad Mike mconr...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I guess we are not too obsessive compulsive compared to what might happen in
> model making, eh, Sammy?

Perhaps.

By the way apologies for the double post. I thought my first one
hadn't gotten through, but it was just Google groups being slow to
update and/or post.

[John Fraser]

Good evening Mike;

"Mad Mike" <Mad Mike mconronn@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:iJqdncZafLt0hFzYnZ2dnUVZ_tqnnZ2d@insightbb.co m...
> Try this John,
> http://www.mbm30.org/Mike/Spitfire_Model/

Thank you, Sir. I thought I had sent a follow-up to my original. I
opened your link in IE7 which worked. Very nice model, and I can understand
the frustration of the model builder. HMC Dockyard in Halifax, NS, built a
wooden 1/2 scale model in the early 80's. It took several carpenters a few
months to build a model that "all it needs is an engine and it could fly".
It was used in a movie and now sits in a museum somewhere.

Thanks for the follow-up. Enjoy your video clips. You have a good
sense of humour.

Cheers,
John

[Mad Mike]

Hey John, thanks! MM

"John Fraser" <jfraser@ns.sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:ticwh.695$R71.10567@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca...
> Good evening Mike;
>
> "Mad Mike" <Mad Mike mconronn@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:iJqdncZafLt0hFzYnZ2dnUVZ_tqnnZ2d@insightbb.co m...
>> Try this John,
>> http://www.mbm30.org/Mike/Spitfire_Model/
>
> Thank you, Sir. I thought I had sent a follow-up to my original. I
> opened your link in IE7 which worked. Very nice model, and I can
> understand the frustration of the model builder. HMC Dockyard in Halifax,
> NS, built a wooden 1/2 scale model in the early 80's. It took several
> carpenters a few months to build a model that "all it needs is an engine
> and it could fly". It was used in a movie and now sits in a museum
> somewhere.
>
> Thanks for the follow-up. Enjoy your video clips. You have a good
> sense of humour.
>
> Cheers,
> John
>