1/24 Airfix Supermarine Spitfire Mk1a - Work in Progress

I am currently building an Airfix Spitfire Mk1a in 1/24 scale. Being a bit tired of building tiny 1/72 scale models, I decided to take a break and build something large. After careful consideration of what I should build and at which scale, I chose the Spitfire because of it's size and relatively cheap price. Also, I wanted to have a model which I can put up for display in my new office.

The 1/24 Airfix Spitfire Mk1a was first produced back in 1970 and the quality is pretty bad. The kit has fitting issues, requires tons of flash removal, putty work, and some of the parts are a bit warped but due to the sheer size of the model, it isn't really a difficult kit to build as the details are minimal. Although I had previously decided not to purchase old kits especially from Airfix, the 1/24 is an exception because of its uniqueness. 

Photos of the building process :

First part of the build is the Merlin engine. I fitted a DC micro electric motor (powered by 3v batteries) using hot glue into the engine to have spinning propellers while on display. To give the propeller a smoother spin, I fused two metal ball bearings in the front side of engine, one just behind the propellers (as seen in photo) and another one inside the gear box. The propeller is connected to the motor shaft via a steel rod and held in place using a heat shrink tube (yellow tube). The spring is there to prevent the propeller from moving forward while spinning.

Here's the DC micro electric motor. I bought a few (and even smaller ones for 1/72 models) from an online electronics store for later projects as well and they cost about 2 dollars per motor.

... And a video of the engine in action. With sound effects added. :)

Instrument panel, gunsight, controls built and painted.

Pilot's seat.

Engine painted and weathered. I might just glue on the engine cowls rendering this whole painting process completely useless.

Fuselage halves painted and weathered. I chose not to do any scratch building for extra instruments inside the cockpit as I do not have the talent nor time to do so. 

Fuselage halves joined. There are some gaps which require putty work.

The engine fitted and held in place with some additional cement.

Bottom part of the cockpit section with the motor wires sticking out.

To be continued...