What do you think of Occre's Spitfire?

[ubjs]

Yes, I know that the Spitfire is an airplane. Sweden actually had 50 of them for a few years after the war.
But I've seen some airplane building threads here on the forum and Occre is a big manufacturer of wooden kits.
Personally, I react most to the big rivets.

 

[fourseas]

That is truly a remarkable looking kit. Love the combination of wood and metal construction materials.

 

[Corsair]

Here is a relative close-up of a Spitfire Mk IX. How many rivets do you see on it? I think the rivets really ruin the kit. But that is my opinion.

 

[pugwash]

Here is a relative close-up of a Spitfire Mk IX. How many rivets do you see on it? I think the rivets really ruin the kit. But that is my opinion.
View attachment 563328

I'm a big Spitfire fan, but could watch less than a minute of this video... what an UGLY kit; certainly one for the 'rivet counters'.

 

[Dave @W]

GOOD GRIEF! What was Occre thinking with those rivets? That model looks like it has chicken pox or worse. I went further into You Tube for a look at real Spits. Yes, ofcxourse these airplanes had rivets, being the assembly method of the time but flush and nowhere as large in diameter. I can only imagine the air drag had they been so large and the speed reduction.

 

[Ken]

I agree with all the comments regards the rivet size. There is a story regarding the rivets during its early production stage that gives a clue as to their size.

As has been said the design required rivets, countersunk ones would have been best for streamlining but during wartime this was too slow a method of building, these aircraft were needed in numbers quickly. The solution was to only use countersunk ones where they would be of most benefit, to determine this on a prototype all rivets were countersunk but split dried peas were glued over them. By removing sections at a time by trial and error they found out the areas that effected the streamlining the most, these areas were countersunk during wartime and the lesser effected areas were left domed for quicker production. So for scale think of the size of a split dried pea, not the golf ball size that Occre deem acceptable

 

[Spree Three]

You can’t see many rivets on this spitfire as we come into land at Duxford!!

 

[AllanKP69]

certainly one for the 'rivet counters'.

I am probably considered a rivet counter and take it as a compliment, but I would not buy anything made by OcCre based on the build logs we see today.
Perhaps there were some that had huge rivets like the OcCre kit but I could not find any photos showing a Spitfire with smallpox.
Allan

1. Spitfire assembled in Casablanca during the war




2. Spitfire today in modern times.

 

[Peter Voogt]

Perhaps I am the biggest ‘rivet counter’ here on the SoS ….. But what I see on the model in the video……. Auch, those planes where not made of cast-iron like the Bailey bridges of that time.
In basic it’s nice but leave those rivets.
Regards, Peter

 

[fourseas]

Perhaps the person that designed this kit never seen a true Spitfire up close. If they were only looking at photos caught in the right light they assumed that the aircraft had a very lumpy complexion. It is a good looking kit, but it does look like it was designed for builders with arthritis in their hands with extra grips built in so as to prevent the model from slipping away while being assembled.

 

[pugwash]

Ah, now I get it; it's a steam powered Spitfire!

 

[fourseas]

Well, that would account for the boiler plate rivets.

 

[Winter]

Most, if not all, of the kits out of the box require some modification, so what's stopping you from removing the rivets and making rivets of the exact shape, size, and quantity you need?

 

[Winter]

In Russia, European kits like Amati, Occre, De Agostini, Model Shipways, and similar brands are called "firewood" You buy wood and build something similar to the model, if possible.
Dry birch firewood (inexpensive)

 

[rtwpsom2]

Not a fan in the slightest. They put out a sub par wood and PE kit for $450.

Airfix has had a 5 star plastic one that is only $115.

and for comparison:

 

[Bill-R]

Looking at the video, the rivets are the only the beginning of the problems. In my opinion, the airfoil is way too thick, the elevator is shaped incorrectly and the profile of the fuselage just looks wrong. To begin with, the center section of the fuselage looks too tall. Also, the fuselage sides appear too flat. The forward area around the engine looks as if they used configurations from several different MK’s.

Bill