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v3.0 of “Building Race #80 Spitfire Mk XIVe in 1/18 Scale” Now Available and On Sale!

I’m pleased to announce that Building Race #80 Spitfire Mk XIVe in 1/18 Scale by Peter Castle, has just been updated to v3.0. And to celebrate, for the next 7 days we’ve reduced the price to just 15 Australian dollars! That’s a 574-page digital book on some of the finest scratch-building you’ll see, for just $15. Bargain!

This latest edition adds two new photos of the real aircraft, courtesy Olivier Durand. Existing purchasers are able to access the updated version for free. Simply log in to your account (or use your original download link) and re-download the book from the Downloads section of your profile. If you don’t have an account, or the original download link, please contact me and we’ll sort it out. And of course, new purchasers will always receive the latest version.

“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

“Hands down one of the best modelling books I’ve ever read.”
– Chris Becker, Australia

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v2.1 of “Building Race #80” Now Available!

No sooner had my head hit the pillow after publishing yesterday’s v2.0 update to Building Race #80 Spitfire Mk XIVe in 1/18 Scale, I began to fret that I might have missed something. And after a sleepless night of worry and stress, it turns out I was right. So, now we have v2.1!

For details about the update, I’ll simply refer you to yesterday’s post regarding v2.0:

Existing purchasers are able to access the updated version for free. Simply log in to your account (or use your original download link) and re-download the book from the Downloads section of your profile. If you don’t have an account or the original download link, please contact me and we’ll sort it out. And of course, new purchasers will always receive the latest version.

See you all for the next one!

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v2.0 of “Building Race #80 Spitfire Mk XIVe in 1/18 Scale” Now Available!

Another day, another book update! This time it’s Peter Castle’s masterpiece, Building Race #80 Spitfire Mk XIVe in 1/18 Scale getting a full v2.0 refresh. I’ve tweaked almost every one of its (now) 573 pages, and am ready for a nap. The changes are mostly typography and layout improvements, so there’s no additional content, but I’d recommend all existing purchasers update their copy all the same.

Existing purchasers are able to access the updated version for free. Simply log in to your account (or use your original download link) and re-download the book from the Downloads section of your profile. If you don’t have an account or the original download link, please contact me and we’ll sort it out. And of course, new purchasers will always receive the latest version.

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Peter Castle’s Spitfire Book Turns 4!

The third book in our Build Special Series, Peter Castle‘s amazing Building Race #80 Spitfire Mk XIVe in 1/18 Scale, turns four years old today! And to celebrate, for the next four days, we’ve reduced its price to just 18 Australian dollars.

This 567-page eBook features Peter‘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. The 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.

“Hands down one of the best modelling books I’ve ever read.”
– Chris Becker, Australia

“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

“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.”
– Mike Swinburne, USA

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v1.5 of “Building Race #80” Now Available!

I’m pleased to announced that we’ve just released Version 1.5 of Building Race #80 Spitfire Mk XIVe in 1/18 Scale. This update is actually only very minor, featuring a few tiny layout tweaks, and fixing some typos. That’s it!

Being a digital publication means this kind of update is very easy to do, and we will continue to update all our books in this fashion any time it becomes appropriate or necessary.

This new update is free to download for anyone who has already purchased this book. If you have an account with us, simply log in and download a new copy of the book from Downloads section of your account. Otherwise, the download link contained in your original purchase notification email should still be valid.

If neither of these scenarios applies to you, and you’d still like to download your updated copy, create a customer account here on the website, and then contact me so that I can associate your purchase with your new account. Once that is done, you can log in and download it from your purchase history.

And of course, if you haven’t purchased Building Race #80 Spitfire Mk XIVe in 1/18 Scale at all yet, you’re more than welcome to do so! And what’s more, we’ve temporarily discounted the purchase price from 22 Australian dollars to 18! This price will be valid for 7 days from today, before returning to its original price, so jump in for a bargain while you can!

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Version 1.1 of Peter Castle’s Spitfire Book is Now Available!

As Murphy’s Law would have it, now that Peter Castle’s new Spitfire book is out, one particularly diligent reader has identified a number of typos in the original release (well, three to be exact). These were very minor, but I felt it was important to correct them—this being one of the benefits of digital publishing!

I’ve now uploaded a new version of the file, which is what new purchasers will receive from now on. If you’ve already purchased the book, you can simply re-download the newer version using the link in your original download email. If you no longer have that email, please see our article Purchasing & Downloading Our Books for more information on how to obtain the file.

I’d like to thank Paul Monforton for bringing these errors to my attention.

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Building Race #80 in 1/18 Scale is Now Available!

I’m pleased to announce that Peter Castle’s Building Race #80 Spitfire Mk XIVe in 1/18 Scale is now available!

This 565-page eBook features Peter‘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.

The book is $22 Australian dollars as a downloadable PDF from our store. Please check out the sample pages below:

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Announcing “Building Race #80 Spitfire Mk XIVe in 1/18 Scale”!

We’re pleased to announce that the next title in our Build Special Series will be Building Race #80 Spitfire Mk XIVe in 1/18 Scale, and will feature Peter Castle‘s amazing conversion of the HpH 1/18 scale Seafire FR 47 to Spitfire Mk XIVe configuration.

Peter’s model represents the Spitfire Mk XIVe (ex TZ138) being raced in Tinnerman Air Races at Cleveland, Ohio, and piloted by James McArthur to 3rd place on September 4th, 1949.

Peter scratch-built a great many parts for his model (much of it in brass), and covered it in aluminium litho plate. It truly is one of the most spectacular models you’re ever likely to see!

You’ll be able to witness this model in person at Scale ModelWorld in Telford this coming weekend, November 11 & 12, where it will be in competition. We wish Peter luck in the competition, though we suspect he doesn’t need it! We will report back on the results after the event.

In the meantime, work has commenced on document Peter’s amazing build in eBook format, which is a tour de force of model making techniques. We’ll bring you more news of the book’s progress as it comes to hand.