Aaron MAC's's Notes 
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February 8, 2010            Kit arrived UN-safely at Aaron's home, League City, Texas, USA

Well, the Spitfire arrived at my door moments ago. Speaking of the devil.  Perfect timing as I am off a few days to get my part done and send off to the next victim. A small bit of disturbing news I must share as it seems that the box was damaged in shipment. The bottom  right corner of the package had been smashed right through as if a pipe or something had speared it. Talking about a fist sized hole.
The model box within was very well packed and like quadruple bubble wrapped but still you can visibly see where the model's box itself got smashed. Mostly on the bottom while the top with the signatures  has a bit of a crease it was not torn. I believe the Frankinstand may be responsible for it's survival.  The box bottom is visibly dented pretty deeply.
 Thankfully at this early stage of construction most of the parts are still bagged on the sprue and undamaged. Nothing major there but on the fuselage parts that have been constructed there was some damage. Frank had Tamiya taped a piece of card stock to protect the protruding gunsite and this was torn  completely off. Actually a freezer bag holding the fuselage was torn through by the fuselage passing through the bag by whatever impacted the box.  The seam was cracked and the gunsite broken. There are several delicate parts inside the pit that have been hit hard as well. Luckily since there were so many layers of bubble wrap  I was able to recover all the parts matching them to the instructions.   The seat itself was torn out of the pit but the seatbelts  did not get creased by some good fortune.  I am sure with all parts accounted for it can all be easily repaired and back enroute as planned. I am assuming this is fine for me or anyone else experiencing similar circumstances to do?
With all the traveling still to go  this may be a larger isssue as the built plane grows in size and complexity.
All I can say is thank goodness for the Frankinstand!


Ok  We can call this one , Here today, Gone tomorrow!"Gratitious self portrate holding the kit. I look tired!


Don't want to dwell to much on the damage.  I thought I would share the  image of the box as it was when I opened it and sorted out the parts. There is also a hole in the ziplock clean through. This was holding the assembled parts .Hopefully you won't see much of a change from the others in progress notes. This was my goal.

One exception will be a open gap on the left side of the fuselage  and the pit.  This is easily closed by simple pressure though. I left it alone as it will give some leeway in the fit of the door and canopy in case it is needed. I would fix it at the time the canopy is installed if it were me.
I used the in progress notes as a ref to help check and get everything back in place and keep the integrity of the earlier work.
So, moving along....
 Wing parts painted according to the instruction booklet.
Also  some small surgery opening holes and panels as per option A&B.
My main part was building the tail. A combination of metal rods and PE create a movable hinge.Basically the same steps for the stabilizers and elevators so I won't repeat pictures. They actually snap into place and glue was only needed on one small hinge tip on each stabilizer.


 The tail wheel was also part of my task. It also has a needle thin metal shaft inside to add strength as the plastic shaft is very thin.  It easily slips into a poly cap to hold it in position.  So easy, I removed it for the mail trip.  One less thing to break off.  The medium sea gray was mixed as per the instructions but may need to be repainted to match the bottom color when this is done.  I did it as it was in my steps but won't be offended if a matching color needs to be redone.
One of the most stricking things I noticed was the plastic.  More like a CA or Special Hobby feeling plastic rather than the hard shiney Tamiya kits I was used too.  Also the sprue attachment points in places are overlapping into the join seams of the wings just like a limited run kit.These took a very careful clean up and I dry fitted the larger parts to check my work.The tail parts move very easy. Almost too easy but seem sturdy enough  Well that about sums it up for my part. Looking forward to see what happens next! Nap time for this modeler!