Description
This 574-page eBook features Peter Castle‘s award-winning conversion of the HpH Models 1/18 Seafire 47 to represent a Spitfire XIVe—specifically, Race #80, as flown by James McArthur in the Tinnerman Air Races at Cleveland, Ohio, on September 4th 1949.
Peter rebuilt much of the airframe, scratch-built most of the detail parts in aluminium and brass, and covered the model in aluminium litho-plate for an authentic natural metal finish. Peter’s model won the National Senior Champion award (among many others) at Scale Model World in Telford in November 2017, and its construction is presented here in forensic detail.
Not only does the book contain a blow-by-blow account of every stage of the build, including how Peter fashioned many of the intricate details, but also:
- an illustrated account of the history of TZ138 by noted aviation illustrator and author Juanita Franzi;
- a 12-page tutorial on Turning Small Parts with a Rotary Tool;
- a 33-page tutorial on Designing Your Own Photo Etch Parts;
- a 16-page tutorial on Skinning Models in Metal;
- a 15-page tutorial on Forming Metal Around Compound Curves;
- bonus: seven full-page walkaround photos of a Spitfire Mk 19 seat.
This book is a must-have for aspiring scratch-builders, Spitfire fans, and any modeller interested in learning from the best.
And as with all our books, should any updates be required, anyone who purchased the pre-update version gets lifetime free access to all subsequent updated versions! All new purchasers will of course receive the updated version automatically.
v3.0 Now Available!
Please note that the quoted prices for all our books are in Australian dollars.
What Our Readers Say
“I was bowled over by the AEG book and i learned quite a few things about enhancing an exisiting kit. this book eclipses te former as it almost a scratchbuild. if you ever want to get inspired into aircraft modelling this is the book to go to. again the tutorials are clear and concise. Kudos to the author Peter Castle“
– Jan Hendriks, The Netherlands
“An excellent tour de force. I like the format very much and it is easy to follow, thorough.
Peter Castle is the dedicated modeler that my book was intended to help. That he took his effort to such an extreme is truly amazing. He deserves every award and recognition coming his way. People say “it’s not brain surgery” but in his case I would have to say “it’s exactly that”. Such fine detail, the making of thousands of parts, developing techniques to make each part. Awesome!”
– Paul Monforton, Canada
“This is clearly a book written by modellers for modellers. The text is clear and concise and the great selection of crisp pictures is welcome. Highly recommended.”
– Julien Dixon, Britmodeller Review
“I downloaded the book as soon as it was available … This work will seriously not disappoint at any level … trust me this is solid modelling GOLD“
– John Svendsen, Australia
“KLP Publishing and Peter Castle are to be congratulated on making this exceptional book available. We have no hesitancy in heartily recommending this book to all builders of large-scale aircraft models, regardless of their skill level. We believe any model builder, regardless of genre, would find this book idea generating and inspiring.”
– Sotiris Constantinidis, Modellingnews.gr Review
“Hands down one of the best modelling books I’ve ever read.”
– Chris Becker, Australia
“I am building the Airfix 1/48 Spitfire in race markings and so I thought hey I should take a look at the book I bought about Pete’s amazing build. I was surprised to see I had bought a 500+ page book written exactly for a modeller and done so exquisitely well!“
– Shane Pulliam, USA
mikeswinburne (verified owner) –
Too bad there’s not an option for more than five stars! It’s hard to find builds more detailed or more interesting than the subjects Peter undertakes and Race 80 might be the icing on the metaphorical cake. You will not be disappointed with this book – over 500 pages of photos and text describing the build and showing some techniques that many model builders have probably not attempted before.