Name: Spitfire in my Workshop
Availability: InStock
Rating: 5 (13 reviews)
Author: David Glen
ISBN: 9780952690726

Spitfire In My Workshop, a book by David Glen

During November 2006 the Royal Air Force Museum unveiled its latest acquisition, a unique bare metal replica of a Supermarine Spitfire Mk I, accurate in every visible detail down to the smallest rivet and fastener – and just six foot long!

Warbirds in my Workshop

Spitfire in my Workshop

by David Glen

£39.99

Limited availability

A book to inspire, encourage and empower any enthusiastic model maker to build a masterpiece. The story of this breathtaking model of the world's most iconic aircraft, written by the man who built it.

Hardback and complete with dustjacket, the book boasts 192 large format pages (325 x 254mm), 240+ captioned colour images, 20 mono images/diagrams and weighs in at 1.92kg.

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About David Glen

The son of an aircraft engineer, who grew through adolescence amid the tumult of the 1960s and the Cold War to embark on a career in journalism and publishing. He has retained a lifelong passion for aviation and his happy years as a volunteer conservator at the Imperial War Museum at Duxford in Cambridge and his baptism as a private pilot are described within Spitfire in my Workshop with whimsy and more than a touch of nostalgia.

To get in contact with David email davidglen7@icloud.com

The model at Hendon

In November 2006 and after a period in storage at the Museum the model went on display in its custom-built display case immediately outside the Museum shop in the public entranceway to the Conference Centre.

I last flew a Spitfire in April 1944, yet even today I experience that same emotional buzz whenever I’m close to one, and I got it in the entrance hall of the RAF Museum when I first saw this model.

Sqn Ldr Ian Blair DFM

I’ve used more than my allotted number of superlatives to describe this book. If you love Spitfires, model making or both, then you should get a copy of ‘Spitfire in my Workshop’. Highly Recommended.Brad Fallen, Hyperscale

Occasionally a superlative book comes along and this is one... inspiring for modellers and fascinating for anyone interested in the Spitfire.Chris Deith, Engineering in Miniature

A model maker's dream of a book... David Glen keeps no secrets as he describes the making of every component of this stunning model aircraft. I heartily recommend this book not only to aero modellers, but to anyone whose interests are ‘in the detail'.Diane Carney, Model Engineer

An inspiration for model makers and model engineers... also practical with plenty of information on techniques. Very good value. Thoroughly recommended.David Carpenter, Modelengineeringwebsite.com

Anyone interesting in building highly detailed scale models will learn a lot from this book. It should be part of any serious model maker's library... worth the price just to study the many highly detailed photos of the finished masterpiece.Craig Libuse, The Internet Craftsmanship Museum, USA

This book succeeds spectacularly. David takes the reader methodically through each step... and that is what a how-to book should do. I find myself browsing through time and again. There always seems to be some things I did not catch before. A stunning book and highly recommended.Roy Sutherland, IPMS(USA) Journal

I could go on an on about this book, but I would quickly run out of superlatives... a volume that I cannot recommend highly enough.Don Carrick, IPMS(UK) Magazine

This incredible book is an essential read... revealing in painstaking detail the myriad techniques used by a master model maker to create a rivet-for-rivet replica.Rick Wilson, Diecast Collector

This book charts how one man has taken the hobby to the next level...nothing is overlooked, nothing is compromised. Highly recommended.David Francis, Scale Aviation Modeller International

I have always admired the efforts of true master model makers. Having the book is almost as good as owning the model.Philip Whiteman, Pilot Magazine

David Glen's fascinating stage-by-stage account will not only captivate aircraft enthusiasts, but is sure to inspire, encourage and empower model makers everywhere.Lindsey Amrani, Model Collector

Glen writes fluently and movingly about skills passed down the generations. It is an inspiration.Mark Dixon, Octane Magazine

This is a book not just about a model, but about the craft and philosophy of modelling… An almost rivet-by-rivet account of the many different techniques and processes employed in building a masterpiece.Mick Oakey, Scale Aircraft Modelling

A closer look at the book

A lavishly illustrated, stage-by-stage account of an eleven-year project, with all its many frustrations, triumphs and tragedies.

Introduction Spitfire prelude
Inspired by the 1992 London Model Engineering Exhibition to build a rivet-for-rivet replica of the world’s most iconic fighter aircraft, the author explains how he prepared the ground for a project that would occupy more than a decade of his spare time.
Chapter 1 The cockpit
David Glen reveals how he recreated in miniature every visible feature of the Spitfire’s cluttered cockpit, from its basic structural elements such as frames, longerons and intercostals to the myriad of controls and systems – even down to the electrical wiring.
Chapter 2 Fuselage and cowlings
With the cockpit nearing completion, focus switches to developing the balsawood fuselage. Crucial are the upper cockpit walls where the need to reconcile strength with scale poses a major challenge.
Chapter 3 Beauty skin deep
Litho plate is a well-tried material for cladding large aircraft models, yet the author takes the process to new heights. Not only is each panel and inspection plate faithfully represented, the tens of thousands of tiny rivets and screw fasteners are individually emplaced by hand.
Chapter 4 Windscreen and canopy
This chapter is about building and glazing the Spitfire’s canopy – a make-or-break feature of the model. Work starts on the relatively simple fixed canopy at the rear then moves on to the windscreen and armoured glass and finally to the sliding hood.
Chapter 5 The mainplanes
A chance meeting with the head of the Royal Air Force Museum averts a crisis of confidence. The author explains how he built the elegant elliptical wings from balsa and foam core parts, and how he managed to attach them to the fuselage without compromising scale or accuracy.
Chapter 6 Landing gear and under-wing sub assemblies
The Spitfire’s wings and fuselage are united at last. The author uses the radiator and oil cooler sub-assemblies to illustrate how subtle three-dimensional shapes can be interpreted accurately in wood and metal from two-dimensional drawings.
Chapter 7 The Spitfire's empennage
Focus switches to the tail plane, where the Spitfire’s elegant lines pose some of the toughest metal working challenges. The author describes the materials and methods used to fabric cover the rudder and elevators, and shares solutions for replicating crimped rib tapes and the underlying rib stringing.
Chapter 8 Resin to the rescue
The scratch builder must be prepared to use a wide range of materials to achieve the desired results, and casting resin is one of the most versatile. The author describes the techniques used to produce some of the most challenging parts of the model.
Chapter 9 A home at Hendon
From the chance encounter that determined its destiny to its eventual permanent home at the Royal Air Force Museum. The author describes the three-year roller coast ride, veering from the thrill and excitement of helping plan the public display to frustration as successive hitches dogged the project.
Diversions and distractions
Over the course of an eleven year project, the model maker sometimes requires some lighter relief: The author reveals a selection of his fine 1/24th scale aircraft models, including examples of his first attempts at scratch building.
The model maker
David Glen ends his story by looking back over a lifetime in which his passion for aviation has found expression as a model maker, private pilot, war-bird restoration volunteer and writer. By reflecting on life he seeks to answer the question of not how his remarkable Spitfire was built but why.