Mick Reeves Spitfire kit (1970s ?)

[Chris Downing]

Does  anybody know anything about a Mick Reeves Spitfire kit that I was given in the late 1970s as a birthday gift.

I built the fuselage and wings in the subsequent years but it was slow going because I had no experience. My Dad was ex RAF in the war so was keen to get us flying an iconic WWII fighter. I never finished it, due to complexities that I could not overcome.

After moving to Canada in 1991, my parents managed to safely cushion the fuselage and wing and bring it here!

 

Sadly it has sat on a shelf since then, but I have not given up. I am about to try learning to fly (again) with my trainer.  Then.. who knows.

 

I just found the instructions and was surprised to discover it was a Mick Reeves Models kit.

The kit is near-scale with an obechi-covered foam wing, 60" or 63" span (I haven't measured it yet.)

Bent wire landing gear was provided and with hardwood, slotted blocks to mount the wire. An option was shown to modify the blocks to fit retracts (Carl Goldberg I think).

My local model shop had only Comet Retracts from MicroMold, so I modified the blocks to accept those (over months).

I bought a brand new OS Max III 60 HF GR at that time (late 70s or early 80s) and fitted it to enable forming the cowl.

Since being in Canada, over the years I at least looked at the landing gear, which was a simple coil-spring chromed-wire type. I gradually found some alloy tube plus some plastic tube and made upper and lower oleo cylinders on one leg. Much better than the original wire. Also added shims to the bearing blocks to remove a lot of play (the plane wobbled terribly on the legs).

The wing veneer will need fixing because it has cracked and separated over the years.  The only wing joining bandage sold in the MIddlesbrough model shop back then was a very coarse weave, and after the resin cured I had to sand and sand for weeks (months?) to get the edges feathered and the surface reasonably flat. That put me off fibreglass for years.

Back then I had an idea to hide the unsightly look of the huge OS silencer by using a header (blue, seen in the pictures) and connecting that via silicon tubing (I had just read about it) to a box silencer which I would make from aluminium, inside the fuselage. I would then installing scale exhaust stubs onto that box.  Trouble was, I couldn't find aluminium sheets in that area and didn't know how to bend it or solder it. I had tried soldering aluminium and the solder just balled off.

I had grand ideas but no experience, so time went by as I scratched my head. No internet back then, or modelflying site to help.

 

 

Hope this sparks interest or memories !

 

 

 

[James Green2]

Great post. I'd say you've done a wonderful job considering your lack of experience. I hope you get it finished one day.

[Cuban8]

I echo James's commments. The MR Spit was very much a model to aspire to 40+ years ago and I think they sold quite well and were not expensive. The trouble was that they were a product very much of their time, and quality could be variable along with the fact that many sport flyers who graduated up to their first Spit and went for the MR offering, often wound up with an overweight model (extra strengthening and crash proofing) that then could be a pig to fly. Experienced builders and flyers knew the pitfalls and had success, but I'd seen too many MR Spits smack into terra firma, so thus put off, never had one myself.

On the foam wings....if the veneer has lifted from the foam core after decades in store, I'd consider scrapping them because it's possible the cores have warped and any repair will be asking for trouble. Saw this on a friend's model that had been subject to large temperature changes in his loft where the model had been stored for ages. The veneer itself degrades over time as well and gets hard and brittle along with the Copydex type adhesive that was used to bond the veneer - being rubber based it does degrade and breakdown, just like old car tyres. Much worse if the wing is left uncovered.

Best of luck with the model though and a nice background story.

Edited July 24, 2021 by Cuban8

[Rich Griff]

Hope this works...no picture, phone being a pita...

 

Anyways info taken from ripmax modellers handbook Nov 1978...

 

Kit 37.50 Inc vat

 

Wing 9.95 Inc vat

 

According pack 1.25 Inc vat

 

Pity these are not today's prices ...

 

Wing span 63inch, area 700 sq. Inch. 40 - 61 engines...near scale, truly authentic appearance, built in flyability, not tricky to fly....

 

 

 

 

[Rich Griff]

Aluminium solder rods are available these days, good enough to solder up exhaust stubs I would think, maybe worth a try...

[SIMON CRAGG]

I had one back in the day.

 

VERY heavy, and tip stalled for a pastime.

 

Not a beginners model!.

 

Looked good when finished, and I think they starred in the film "Sky Pirates".

[Glenn Philbrick]

 

Hi Chris.

 

I've had two of the spitfire and the Hurricane and would build another Spitfire if I could get hold of one. The Spitfire was very good to fly and did not show any tendency to tip stall provided you kept the speed up a bit. The power for both Spits was an OS70 four stroke so your engine should be fine. They did not come out heavy as I covered them in Brown paper to keep the weight down. The retracts were mechanical and I followed the supplementary instructions on how to fit them, as you might be able to see they are angled forward which made taking off and landing easier but not anywhere near to scale. My last one met its end some time ago due to me fiddling with the radio and getting the ailerons reversed on take off, not a pretty sight! Good luck. 

[Chris Downing]

Wow- thanks to everyone who has responded!  Some good info there.

One of the things I have found as time has gone by is that, although I value the work I have put in and want to finish it, I almost consider it a write off now, in monetary terms.

It owes me nothing.  So I'll be extremely happy to finish it, and when the time comes to fly it, I won't be too sad if it breaks.

 

But .. it won't crash, will it- we're all positive about flying aren't we? Just always carry a bin bag in case ?.

 

Glenn,  Yes, the landing speed is quite high for the full size so it makes sense that this model would have some characteristics of the full size spit, even though Mick designed it to be easier to handle. Nice picture, by the way.

 

Rich, thanks for tip on soldering and interesting stuff from the Ripmax modellers handbook. I always loved poring over the old catalogues, like the old KeilKraft etc.

Foam wings- yes, Now that I have made a few contacts here recently, I will see what they think and suggest. They may be able to help me make a new set. I did draw outlines of the tip and root sections, and all the parts, on paper before starting assembly years ago, so in theory a new core could be made form the templates I drew.

 

Cheers!

[Attic]

Hi.  I’m not a modeller but came across a box-fresh example yesterday at a boot sale.  Wondering what to do with my impulse purchase.  
 

eBay I suspect.  Let me know if interested. 

Paul in the UK

[martin collins 1]

Just finished sorting this one out, Electric powered on 6s, 10lbs ready to fly, it is set up up on a 15x8 prop which is producing 1220 Watts, the torque off the prop is huge and opened up with me holding it on the ground it is trying to torque roll! It has a reasonable amount of right thrust built in, i may try a 14x10 prop to see if it lessons the torque effect. Ready to test fly once i have settled on the better of these two props.

[Brian Cooper]

Nostalgia time. . . It's like walking round a museum and saying, "I had one of those...".

 

The Mick Reeves Spitfire is very much a pilot's model. It doesn't suffer fools lightly but it will reward an experienced pilot by looking good and performing well. 

 

They will bite if handled with coarse or heavy stick inputs, especially at low speeds.

They had a natural tendency to pull to the left on the takeoff run, and it wasn't unusual to leave the ground with a dollop of right rudder still applied while it gained flying speed. 

 

Get it right, and it will fly well. 

Get it wrong and it will stall and flick into the ground.