neilfergylee

Thank you all, it's lovely to be appreciated. I have to say that half the fun is doing the research first.

Thank you. I see you're in Canada but if you know somebody with a 3D printer you can have the bulkhead in any scale you want. 🙂 https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/game/spitfire-rear-pressure-bulkhead Neil

I've got to that stage in life where a combination of maturity and personal circumstances means I can indulge my modelling interests better than when I was young. Almost by accident, I have embarked on a task to build the entire Spitfire range from the S.6B through to the Attacker (and indeed the Swift - bit of a stretch), all in 1/48 scale. I am presently building model number 29 (Eduard Spitfire VIII, converted to the XIVc, courtesy of the excellent Laminar Flow Design conversion) and this year, I have completed four models that would like to display here. Spitfire VII I hate to say it, but most Spitfire VII models are wrong. Some are beautifully executed but as the base models are often incorrect, the Mk.VII's subtle differences are often missed. Here are the principal features: Cockpit pressure bulkhead. No cockpit access door. Deeper fixed portion of the canopy. Externally mounted sliding canopy. Pressurisation intake and accessory drive bulge on starboard engine cowling. No tropical filter. There are other details: the VII was effectively an early VIII, so it included the wing tanks but even now I am slightly unsure as to the use of the downward-facing identification lights. My model was based on the Eduard Mk.VIII with the following changes: 3D-printed rear pressure bulkhead. Larger fixed canopy using a spare from the Airfix XIX, involving trimming down of the fuselage to accommodate. External brackets to hold sliding canopy. Underside cowl and intake from an early Mk.IX model. Sealed cockpit door. Initially, I added the extended wingtips but, eventually, I used the standard wingtips as most Mk.VIIs were retrofitted with them during 1944. The roundels and squadron codes are masked and painted but I cheated with decals for the stencils and serials. Unfortunately, I have managed to associate the wrong serial number with aircraft code and so one day I'll try to fix that. One problem I did face was the primer. For several years I have used Halford's primer but the formulation has been changed and adhesion became a real problem. I have migrated to Tamiya but this model needed countless patching and respraying to complete the job. In the meantime, please do note the deeper fixed portion of the canopy and different rails for the sliding canopy. Here is the cockpit assembly, incorporating the 3D-printed pressure bulkhead. Spitfire PR.1a After the Mk. VII, this was a little light relief. Having realised that the original PR.1 was a bit of a rabbit hole, then the second, N3117 looked a doddle. And it was. This was a very straightforward conversion. Based on the Eduard Mk.1, the only real changes was the addition of camera ports in the wings and an excellent Aires bulged canopy. The roundels were OOB but I did print the serials. Spitfire PR.7 (PR Type 'G') No relation of the F.VII, the PR.7 was a low-level, armed, PR derivative of the Mk.1, although with a Merlin 45, it was probably closer to a Mk.V. This was another Eduard Mk.1, enhanced with a combination of Aires PE and resin parts and the Aires decals. The paint job was MRP's excellent PRU Pink with beats Vallejo's 'Barbie' version. It worked because showing this to a non-enthusiast friend, he asked me why it was white. A good sign. I'm a particular fan of this one. Spitfire LF.Vb And finally, I wanted to go a little overboard with the weathering. Using Eduard's LF.Vb D-Day edition, I built it nearly OOB but wanted to reflect this was a three-year-old airframe: "Clipped, Cropped and Clapped"! Using MRP airbrushed paints, I started with silver, then primer green, then the camouflage. Between each coat, I added a layer of AK chipping fluid. Once the camouflage was completed, I started on the invasion stripes: they were hand-painted using good old Humbrol acrylics. I did mask the stripes but for some, I took the masking tape and tore it against a straight edge, so it was straight but not razor-sharp. Removing all the masking caused all sorts of bits of paint and depths to be removed randomly and I liked the effect. After coating with Matt varnish, I then applied Tamiya weathering powders and there we have it! I hope you have enjoyed these. It's been fun! Neil

There's an interesting combination of flared and round exhaust stacks there.

Thank you and you are quite correct. I fell for the popular mistake and should have known better.

I'm rather late to this thread but I see it keeps coming up, so I thought I would make a contribution as I too have an interest in early PR Spitfires. Below is the text from the Ian Huntley Column in Scale Aircraft Modelling from February 1980. I would suggest that this is possibly a very significant contribution to the subject. European Photo-reconnaissance colours COLOURS for photographic reconnaissance aircraft within the Royal Air Force started in a very experimental way. and the units initially had a free hand in designing both colours and patterns for their specialised aircraft. But events soon changed the order of things. Work on the idea of being able to photograph enemy installations from the air started as early as 1936. when it was known that Lufthansa scheduled flights into Croydon were filming airfields and factory sites from the air in both directions‘ After some thought a British answer was forthcoming. and a clever scheme of using a civil aircraft on non- scheduled flights was devised. whereby the flight at times deviated from its intended direct course. to film installations of particular interest. initially this work was carried out by a civilian organisation. who also had the task of inventing concealing colours so that an aircraft in flight could be lost in its surroundings and would therefore escape visual detection, for standard camouflage although quite effective. had quite a number of shortcomings. In the main the standard hues. won: much too dark and saturated to blend really well in clear air and at fairly close quarters. and such colours were an immediate give-away as belonging to a military aircraft. On the other hand, civil aircraft appeared in very many colour schemes during the late 1930s. and a civil scheme. if unusual, would not necessarily be noted as such. As» it happened the line of development was such that what appeared to be a bright. even garish scheme on the ground was the complete opposite in the air under certain conditions The whole approach was also aided by the fact that in the immediate pre-war years. neither of the potential combatants were all that concerned by the passing of an aircraft. for so much had flying increased and so commonplace were aircraft sounds. and so varied were the different aircraft types. that the sound of an aircraft near a secret establishment did not raise much concern. Even if suspicions were aroused. if the type was not actually identified, the matter was often quickly passed off as being ‘one of ours‘. The camouflage colours first experimented with were light greys in the order of green-greys to blue-greys of fairly pale hue (between 22B3 and 30B3 on the Methuen scale). and as has been mentioned before in this column, they eventually became grouped under the name Camoutint and given aa numerical sequence. All such colours were made up in oil bound distemper, of the type that could he scrubbed off. using hot water. Basically, to arrive at any required finish meant a lot of trial and error. as the flights were made under more or less identical weather conditions, with a team of observers to watch results. The subject aircraft would approach the test zone from a heading unknown to the observers. and would then throttle back and attempt to pass as silently as possible over the zone. If it was detected. the ground team would suggest by how much the colouring ought to be changed, and so a new mix would be prepared and further flight tests conducted until the perfect colour for a certain altitude was found. Once a number of useful colours had been established, clandestine missions were undertaken using a Lockheed 14 aircraft and. after a number of dummy runs had been made and the system proven to be successful. other aircraft were utilised and filming of numerous locations within Germany began. When war finally broke out in September 1939 such missions came to an end, but so important had been the results obtained that it was decided to develop and equip a small military force to continue the work. The unit, initially based at Heston. had been given the title of No. 1 Camouflage Unit. which in fact was a good cover for its activities. and shortly after war broke out when it first began to experiment with military aircraft it became known as the Heston Flight. MILITARY PHOTOGRAPHIC DUTIES The early wartime duties comprised the development of camera installations in a number of stripped down and much cleaned up Bristol Blenheim Mk.1 airframes. thought to be the nearest to the old Lockheed 14 idea. Lightened as much as possible and with specially prepared surfaces. the 'prototype' Blenheim PRU Mk.1 had a greatly improved performance. but not sufficient to escape interception at the medium to high altitudes at which it operated. The finish comprised Dark Green and Dark Earth upper surfaces. with the new Camoutint, later to be titled Sky. on the lower surfaces. Normal ‘B‘ type roundels were initially carried on the fuselage sides and uppersurfaces of the wings. Apart from the serial, no other markings were carried. The entire finish was in semi-matt paint. Following the first few sorties. the camouflage was altered slightly in that the demarcation between colours was given a much more diffused edge and the ‘B' type roundels were reduced to half standard size. However. having come thus far. it was decided to abandon further development work on PRU Blenheims and concentrate on a PRU version of the embryo De Havilland Mosquito. ln the interim a solution was sought in adapting the Supermarine Spitfire Mk.1to undertake the role, though it was thought the task would impose far too severe a navigational hazard upon the single crew member, even if the Spitfire had the desired speed and height for the duty. Possibly because of the increase in work. the unit was given a change of title and became the Photo graphic Development Unit. and the distemper paints were replaced by similar colours made up in cellulose. PRU SPITFIRE VERSION IS A WINNER It soon became apparent that a stripped Spitfire. with a semi-matt finish was the ideal medium-range camera-carrier. With special oxygen equipment. and electric heaters for the camera gear it was able to improve on photographic results at greater and greater altitudes during trials over the UK. Camouflage of the later form as used on the Blenheims was found to be unsatisfactory when viewed from below. as above 30,000 feet the Sky finish began to gleam like silver, when viewed from a few thousand feet lower. PRU Spitfires were flown by many pilots and members of the unit at the maximum possible altitude to observe other PRU Spitfires on the climb. and it soon became obvious that the Dark Green (FS595a 34079: Methuen 30 (F-G/2) and Dark Earth (30118: 5(E-F)4) upper surface finish was not wholly satisfactory when maximum altitude was neared. Should enemy fighters succeed in getting above a PRU Spitfire it could be easily recognised. so once again development work started to find a suitable camouflage for the new operating levels. The super concealing colour Sky (34424: 30(B-C)2) was most satisfactory at medium to high altitudes but needed to be more grey and more blue for altitudes above the middle levels, so a close look was given to the blue-greys of the original test series. Medium Sea Grey (36270: 22D3) was tried for the undersurface finish. being a readily available paint, only a little lighter than the similar Camoutint (between 22D2 and 23E3). and that finish was found to be well in the right direction as well as a great improvement over Sky. However. this work did not make much progress until early spring 1940, by which time the Photographic Development Unit had become a recognisable force, and from March 1940 was beginning In be mentioned in official Ministry camouflage documentation. AMO A520 (7-12-39) This order instigated the Type ’A' roundel for fuselage sides. and when it was realised some months later that aircraft of the PDU were mainly using the Type ‘B’. a special footnote instruction was issued in March 1940. ‘that aircraft engaged in special photographic duties. are coloured and marked in accordance with operational requirements, and the colour schemes need not conform to the standard system‘. A little later the Commandant, Observer Corps was advised that certain aircraft may appear from time to time in unusual colourings and markings, operating in certain selected areas. Notification would be made to the Observer Posts in the vicinity of what aircraft types would appear. and what their special colours would be. Generally, the colours given were the undersurface recognition colours. but where some upper surface colours were concerned it largely depended upon the nature of the colour(s). For example. a Wellington with its rear fuselage altered to take an early jet engine was flying with the rear fuselage still in dark red shrink dope. and special reference was made about those facts to Posts adjoining the test area. Photographic Spitfires flying in March 1940 were in standard fighter upper surface camouflage (at least no special mention suggested otherwise) but Observer Posts near Heston were advised that ‘Spitfire aircraft may he seen flying with Light grey undersurfaces'. The statement added. ‘that no roundels would appear beneath the wings‘. In July 1940, the Unit had its title changed yet again and became the (No. 1) Photographic Reconnaissance Unit. It remained based at Heston, though certain aircraft were despatched from time to time to operate from other airfields and, as the Battle of Britain began, some of the aircraft were dispersed to operate from RAF Benson. During the Battle it is known that several unusual schemes were applied to Spitfires from Heston which were engaged upon special photographic missions, by virtue of warnings issued by the Ministry that ‘Spitfire aircraft will be seen flying in unusual colourings'. By December I940. the entire Photographic Reconnaissance Unit was transferred to Benson, where it was able to start operations on a much larger scale. and AMO A926 (12-12-40), in bringing up a much more concise picture of British, American and Allied paint schemes. underlined that deviations in colours and markings were not permitted without special notification. but stated ‘aircraft of the Photographic Reconnaissance Unit and No. 421 Flight are coloured and marked in accordance with operational requirements‘. It added. ‘special arrangements are to be made by the Photographic Reconnaissance Unit and No. 421 Flight. with HQ Fighter Command. for the safety of these aircraft‘. That statement indicates that it was up to the Photo Units to report to Fighter Command at Bentley Priory, as to exactly what colour schemes they were operating with. This information was in tum fed back to the Observer Corps and the Ground Reporting Chain. At this stage it is worth mentioning that the RAF Vocabulary of Stores as yet had made no mention of an special PRU colours in its list of aircraft paints‘ PRODUCTION PR SPITFIRES By 1941 production PR Spitfires. based upon the two main conversions made at Heston, were beginning to come from the Vickers works. Basically adapted Mk.ls, the new airframes were designated as Mk.IVs and left the lines in an overall primer finish, over which Benson were free to add whatever paint scheme was required. The Mk.lVs had been designed with extra tankage, and could reach well over 39,000 feet. Consequently they could make deep penetrations into Germany. but whilst the early aims for height and reach had been achieved, and several suitable camouflage schemes for that type of operation had just about been evolved, there was still a new requirement for low-level, short-range, intrusions in order to find out what what was happening in occupied Europe. This type of operation used an oblique mounted camera fitted into the radio access hatch on the port side of the fuselage aft of the cockpit. Such sorties also required a ‘low- level’ camouflage and investigations into suitable schemes began. MEDIUM AND HIGH LEVEL SCHEMES The early colourings consisted of (a) Dark Green, Dark Earth and Sky; (b) Dark Green, Dark Earth and Medium Sea Grey; and (c) a group of schemes in which non-standard colours something similar to the colours of (a) and (b) were used. (These and other non- standard colour names appear in ‘quotes' in the following text). A further scheme comprised (d) Dark Green, Dark Earth and Dark Sea Grey (36118:21E3). The blue-greys were found to be most effective and brought about the dilution of Dark Sea Grey with some Medium Sea Grey to the level of about 22E4, firstly for use on the undersurfaces. March 1941 found this new colour being used for the under and side surfaces, having a diffuse spray of Dark Green and the new ‘Blue-grey‘ on the rest of the upper surfaces. Spinners were in Night. National markings were regularised. ln view of the fact that standard roundel sizes were much too large, the wing upper surface and fuselage side ‘B’ type were made three- quarters size. The new fin flash was adopted but was reduced to one-quarter the standard area. Fuselage serials were reduced to four inch high characters and were generally applied in either Night (black) or ldent. Red Dull. Stencilled instructions were carried on the airframe, the actual colour depending upon the contrast needed for them to be visible over a range of a few feet. Surfaces generally were kept as aerodynamically smooth as possible. all aircraft being washed and polished frequently to keep them in superb condition. HIGH LEVEL SCHEMES The summer of 1941 saw attempts to push the operating ceiling above 40,000 feet, and the ‘blue-grey‘ mix was found to be most suitable for both upper and lower surfaces. This mixture was put into production as PRU Blue, with some slight hue differences, in the new Type S smooth finish materials. The colour was very subtle as a touch of green was still needed in any high altitude blue colouring, and thus was in the 23-24(D-E)4 colour bracket. As such, PRU Blue was added to the Vocab. list early in 1942, and although certain other slight variations were tried, the PRU Blue became a standard for the high altitude role and appeared in most camouflage manuals. Spinners were generally in Night. LOW LEVEL SCHEMES Many early cross-channel sorties were flown in near standard-fighter camouflage of Dark Green; Dark Earth and Sky, with the small ‘B‘ type roundels. However. the Sky was soon replaced by Medium Sea Grey or Blue-grey. Low-flying experiments soon showed that the green could be very much darker and stronger, and that the Blue-grey could with- stand some darkening, when applied to the upper surfaces. This led to an interim scheme of ‘Darkened Green‘: Dark Sea Grey and ‘Blue-grey’ for the single-seat aircraft, whilst the arrival of Mosquito W4051 at Benson during the summer of 1941 caused some problems as to what type of camouflage to adopt for that very secret aircraft. Initially flying in Dark Green. Dark Earth and Sky with standard roundels, i.e. 'B‘ on upper wing and ‘A1‘ on the fuselage. with standard fin flash, it was re-painted with Blue-grey lower surfaces and coded U-LY in Medium Sea Grey. The fuselage roundel was also converted to a slightly smaller ‘B' type‘. Its first operational sortie was made in that finish in September 1941. Reports suggest that it later had Dark Sea Grey in place of the Dark Earth and that the size of the code letters was reduced. As production PR Mosquitos appeared, many went over to the high altitude role, leaving the development programme to concentrate on further low-level paint schemes. Scheme variations included using different colours for the national markings such as ‘Light Blue- grey' and ‘Extra Dark Blue-grey‘. and the size and position of the roundels and fin flash was frequently altered. Low-level roundel colourings of Light Slate Grey and Dark Slate Grey were also used, and boundary demarcations between upper and lower colours also changed. By early 1942 the Ministry still had not included any PRU schemes in any of the camouflage Air Publications. but advised all. ‘that Photographic Unit camouflage does not necessarily conform to standard. nor are the national markings invariably carried in the orthodox positions or painted in standard colours‘. Known low-level schemes by that time included ‘Darkened Green'. Dark Sea Grey and 'Blue- grey', with alternative under colours of PRU Blue. or Extra Dark Sea Grey, and a new colour just appearing Was Dark Mediterranean Blue (21(E-F)6). Later in 1942 the ‘Darkened Green‘ was replaced by a new colour, Extra Dark Sea Green (34092:27F4), and the Dark Sea Grey with Extra Dark Sea Grey (21F3). Deep Sky (21E6) was also an alternative for the under colour, but a new interim shade. somewhere near 20E4. was used, which appeared to be a darkened version of Roundel Blue, Bright. and containing a touch of ldent Red. Dull‘ Towards the end of 1943 and appearing with many other standardised PRU colours was a new hue. called PRU Mauve (18(E F)4), which replaced most of the other under- surface colours. THE FINAL UK/EUROPE SCHEMES By late 1943/early 1944, conditions were such that standard schemes were selected for production airframes and the colours were included in all camouflage Air Publications This did not stop the use of special colourings should they be needed. but in general the new standard schemes were the ones to be found in use from then to the end of the war. HIGH-LEVEL SCHEME Overall PRU Blue. with reduced size 'B' type roundels on wing upper surfaces and fuselage sides. Reduced size Red and Blue fin flash. Serial in ldent Red Dull, in which colour were most airframe instructions stencilled. Codes were not normally carried, but were seen from time to time on Mosquitoes. Codes were in Medium Sea Grey or ldent Red. Dull. Spinners were in Night. LOW-LEVEL SCHEME Upper surfaces Extra Dark Sea Green and Extra Dark Sea Grey, with PRU Mauve below. ‘B' type roundels and flash as before. with serial and stencilling in ldent Red Dull, Codes of reduced size were used in special cases. in Medium Sea Grey or ldent Red Dull. Spinners were in Night. Supplementary article from Volume 10, Number 11, August 1988 LOW LEVEL PRU SCHEME (AND OTHERS) The popularity of various PRU schemes with modellers was such that having given mention to these colours in past columns, it was only natural to include them in recommended pro- duction lists for the model paint manufacturers, several years ago. The result has been that such paints have been included in late Gloy, Compucolor 1 and 2 and DBI ranges. Perhaps the unfortunate thing has been that although each of the firms has been keen to publish flimsy sheets which outline all such paint schemes in diagrammatic as well as note form, none has actually achieved that to date. in spite of the author supplying many such diagrams, some of which were reproduced in small numbers as a test of interest. This has meant very many modellers having little actual reference material at the point of sale to encourage them to take the plunge and paint a model correctly. The PRU mauve scheme was a low-level camouflage which followed the standard fighter type pattern, but used unusual colours. These were; for the upper surfaces, extra dark sea grey and extra dark sea green, whilst the lower surface was PRU mauve. In the Official instructions the boundary between the upper and lower surfaces was described as Pattern No.1 having upper surface colours right down the sides. Pattern No.1 was also given for the PRU blue scheme. The use of overall colour was not mentioned. Officially, the upper surface colour was PRU blue and the lower surface colour was also PRU blue. That distinction is important because there were several other PRU colours, alias high altitude reconnaissance schemes. For example, in one of these, the upper surface colouring was medium sea grey. with PRU blue below and here it must he noted that only the more common schemes were included in general paint scheme information. PRU squadrons, or those aircraft belonging to standard fighter squadrons but delegated to undertake PR missions when required, had their own separate camouflage instruction books, which listed numerous subtle schemes suited to particular types of mission under certain atmospheric conditions. Such notes have been found difficult to come by and any success in that direction has been more by accident than design. However to complete the above scheme information more fully, the low level PRU scheme carried standard national markings for the fighter role. Although codes were not officially part of the scheme, both individual aircraft letter or full codes could be applied, more normally in ident dull red. The PRU blue scheme again should not have carried any markings other than Type B roundels on the upper surface of the wings and fuselage sides, often much reduced in diameter. The aircraft serial was also reduced in size (2 inches high) and marked in ident dull red. The fin flash was also smaller. initially half the rounded height and only 12 inches in width with the colours in the proportions 5, 2, 5. Later, the white was removed leaving equal dull red and dull blue areas. These aircraft sometimes carried an individual letter of small size in the red, but as always all paints were very smooth and semi-gloss. PRU pink was another scheme that became fairly common, but not to the extent that it was included in the more general scheme diagrams. Essentially all that applied to the blue scheme applied also. Red codes were apt to be too dark for this role (not yet fully understood at this point in time) and some cases of medium sea grey individual letters being used have come to note.

And now the Venom. Once again, half a ton of scrap metal secreted into the cockpit!

Arriving with a whimper, not a bang, the Vampire is complete. Much time spent getting the nose weight corrected as I had grossly underestimated the amount of lead to use. The cockpit (fortunately stuffed beyond the instrument panel) had to be filled - quite literally - with lumps of scrap metal!

It’s been ages because, well, stuff. This has been dragging on for way too long because of all the things that ge in the way and, in retrospect building two models means you aren’t as well focused. Nonetheless, I am on the last lap and the builds are thoroughly enjoyable. Bothe kits are excellent: the Airfix Vampire is the slightly more mass-market offering and is easier to build, it has crisp moulds and excellent decals (with caveats), while the Micro Mir Venom is far more of a ‘modeller’s kit’. I think an inexperienced modeller would become frustrated by its method of build but - oh boy - the results speak for themselves! You will see below that both have now been painted (MRP) and decals added. For the Vampire, I have used XtraDecal and kit decals to reproduce a 613 (City of Manchester) Squadron aircraft as my closest friend’s father used to fly Vampires for that squadron. For the Venom, I decided to use the kit decals and they are EXCELLENT. Easily removed from the backing and they cling to the model like paint. Really very good indeed. One frustrating thing with both models as an absence of placement instructions for many of the stencils. Micro Mir has very little guidance and Airfix is patchy giving locations for some, but not all. The good news was that between both models, there were enough to make both arirframes look sufficiently well adorned. Staggeringly, for the Airfix model, the alternative scheme is clearly for the Italian Air Force but the instructions state Armee de l’Air! Here are two progress shots. Hopefully the next update will be in the ‘For inspection’ section. Best wishes, Neil

The great leveller (no pun intended): application of Halfords primer gives us a good equivalent view of both models. The panel detail on the Venom is exquisite. Since taking these photos, I have added outboard slats and wing fences (in PE) on the Venom.

It's taken forever to get to this point: both kits are on my desk at home so I'm staring at the twelve hours a day but that doesn't guarantee progress! The two models diverged quite a bit in the construction of the cockpits and, the Airfix structure being simpler to assemble at the expense of some detail, while Mikro-Mir was rather more complex, would definitely be better suited to a larger scale, but did a great job on the detail. I feel it's important at this moment to get something off my chest. Airfix's model is clearly aimed at the more casual modeller with some simplicity of approach albeit with very little loss of detail, while Mikro-Mir is definitely aimed at the more experienced modeller. This is by no means a criticism of either company: Airfix is higher volume and still comes up with some great subjects, Mikro-Mir go for slightly more esoteric subjects and I suspect they know that their customers will be a little more capable when it comes to fitting some slightly more complicated assemblies. Either way, I would not have imagined a few years ago that I'd be assembling both a Vampire and a Venom in 1/48! On with the cockpits: Airfix have the simplest approach as we saw before. The cockpit floor attaches to the lower fuselage half and you might see that the outer parts of the instrument panel are attached along with the control column. Also visible are the intakes and the 'lump' behind the rear of the cockpit is a lead weith held together with masking tape and secured using Blu-Tack. Before attaching the top of the fuselage and wings, it is necessary to attach the tailbooms. These fit into stubs of the booms behind the rear spar and they did need a bit of fettling to fit snugly. If I hadn't done the trimming, they would have been slightly proud and an unsightly gap would have been present. Before fitting the top half, the cockpit sidewalls are populated with panels and the centre instrument panel fitted. That panel at the top in the photo below has pipes sticking out and I needed to trim one to make the halves fit together: Whether that's a weakness of the kit (20% probability) or my failing to fit the component correctly (80% probability) I am not sure. The parts covered in masking tape are from the Mikro-Mir kit, to follow. This aside, the top and bottom fit beautifully, although as you will see, I did need to apply filler along the cockpit joint line to get a smooth fit. Nonetheless, as you can see below, the Vampire comes together nicely although the intakes took a little sanding to blend-in. Note that I did need a little filler on the port boom! Over to Mikro-Mir and the approach is very different! Mikro-Mir's approach is to build the cockpit assembly, comprising of interior and exterior panels and then attach the assembly to the lower fuselage before attaching the top half of the fuselage and wings. I was not keen on this approach because you have a lot of components all having to be assembled accurately and then have the assembly mount perfectly with the top and bottom halves. I felt there were too many moving parts and the chances of everything marrying-up exactly were slim. Above you can see the basic cockpit tub and I decided to attach the tub to the bottom fuselage half and then add the external panels. As an aside, the Mikro-Mir cockpit has a nice PE instrument panel although the backing panel for the instruments was a bit naff and before fitting and I added some extras. You can see below that I had attached the starboard cockpit to the lower fuselage and you will see that I had removed the components after one attempt already. And then I attached the cockpit tub. Here is a comparison with the Vampire showing a vary similar setup but with the cockpit sides attached and the lead weight attached. One big advantage of this approach was to provide better definition of the cockpit exterior detail although when I came to fit the top half, filler was required and the sides were just a bit out: that irritating distance where it's a small misalignment but enough to stand out like the proverbial sore thumb. Here is the whole bottom half for comparison with the Vampire but it wasn't ready to fit as we shall see. The jet efflux needed two small panels to be added before putting th elid on things. Needless to say, filler was required to get it all to blend together. But in the end, the lid went on and the tailbooms were added. Again, a slightly different approach with the whole book slotting into a recess on the top of each wing and then a matching panel added beneath. The fit of the lower panel was not create and needed a little fettling. So, we're approaching final assembly. Two different approaches but both look great at this stage. The Venom looks subtly larger than the Vampire while the differences in wing layout are clear, Best wishes, Neil

Cockpits. Once again, a tale of two approaches. Airfix have gone for simplicity and Mikro Mir have gone for accuracy. Again, Mikro Mir's approach seems better suited to a larger scale but both have been very satisfying. Both end-up with a unit that combines the cockpit with the nose undercarriage bay, hardly surprising given the diminutive nature of the Vampire. The big difference comes with the cockpit walls with Mikro Mir providing a solution better suited to the more experienced modeller and as we shall see in the next post, the cockpit sides are separate mouldings, while Airfix goes for a deep but integrated cockpit sides. Here are the assemblies side by side: Airfix in dark material and Mikro Mir in the light. Mikro Mir have gone for a PE instrument panel, while Airfix have provided a decal. To be brutally honest, the Mikro Mir instruments to go behind the panel are a bit grotty and I might well enhance the instruments with additional decals. I chose to paint both cockpits in Tamiya Rubber Black which (to paraphrase Father Ted) is a very, very, very, very dark grey. It just helps prevent the cockpit from becoming a complete coal hole. Both are in the process of weathering and detailing. I stlll need to publish a picture of the Venom's rather tidy ejection seat but yesterday I felt I had to do something about Airfix's seat - it is dreadful! Again, this is where we have to remember that it is a detail in a model designed for the casual modeller but for this zealot, it offends my eyes! The Vampire didn't have an ejection seat (although the box art has one) and the Airfix part really is crude: Just yuck! I had to do better and so I raided one of my Eduard Spitfire boxes to find a better seat. Fortunately, Eduard provide a range of seats and so it didn't compromise a later Spitfire build. I think this looks better. And after a bit of painting and creating a harness: That's all for now. Next up will be the completed cockpits and their integration into the fuselage. Best wishes, Neil

OK, so to the other end of the nacelle and the tailpipes. It really is a case of two different approaches to, admittedly, different requirements. Here's the starting point. at the top is Airfix ans partially assembled. The tail of the engine is a very neat moulding which I have attached to the bulkhead-cum-rear spar. Above is the tailpipe which is a simple two-part assembly. Beneath is the Mikro Mir tailpipe and you can see if's far more complex, although the prototype tailpipe differs from that of the Vampire. Now, I have to be careful here because I'm no tooling expert and I don't know what restrictions Mikro Mir had to contend with, but you can see that the components had a little bit of flash on them and the components didn't fit together spectacularly. The impression I came away with was that this was a 1/48 model that really wanted to be a larger scale. Had this been 1/32 or (one can but hope!) 1/24, I'd suggest that this would be absolutely the right way to go but in 1/48 it just seemed rather fiddley. Here's the part-assembled tailpipe: it does go together well with a little gentle persuasion. One aspect of the instructions I disagreed with was attaching the outer tailpipe to the assembly. It doesn't work and I'll attach it to the fuselage later on. Finally, both assemblies were painted and added to the fuselage pods. One notable feature is the relative size of the space for the engine: the Ghost took up more space than the Goblin! As an aside, I found this wonderful painting by Terence Cuneo of a Ghost under test. Can anybody find the mouse?! Thank you to Mike Ashworth for putting this on Flikr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/36844288@N00/ Next onto the cockpit and I'll tell you now - Mikro Mir have made a lovely ejection seat! Cheers, Neil

Thank you all for your replies! It looks like there a lot of Venoms in stashes, so I hope this will be instructive. I've decided to follow the Airfix instructions to sequence the builds, Naturally, I will need to adapt each build to cope with the different characteristics of both kits but it allows me to get as close as possible to a side-by-side comparison. Therefore, my starting point has been the intakes and front of the engine. Both kits provide a good representation of the intake trunking, terminating in the turbine intake. Airfix's plastic is their typical dark grey, while Mikro Mir's is very pale grey and the plastic is slightly harder but both use materials that are very similar. You can see below that Mikro Mir's intake is rather more complicated than that of Airfix. I think Mikro Mir's rather more complex approach reflects the subtlely different intake geometry which helps differentiate the Venom with its more powerful Ghost engine over the Vampire's Goblin. Nonetheless, one needs not to rush this stage or else you could end up with sticky fingers and a misaligned assembly. As an aside, there is a photoetch plate (PP11) to be attached to the lower half but I missed it in the rather busy illustration in the instructions. Of course, with both builds, you're faced with the inevitable seam between the two halves. The extra parts in the Venom intake help hide the joins in the inboard sections. Not seen here but I applied some Mr. Hobby Mr. Dissolved Putty that self-levels a little bit and helps hide the seam. Here are both assemblies side-by-side. Note how the Venom intakes are slightly larger than those of the Vampire on the left. Finally, for now, here are both assemblies attached to the lower fuselage halves of each model. You can see how they both fit very nicely onto the leading edge to provide a neat join, while Airfix's intakes provide both a wing spar and form part of the mainwheel bays. So far, so good: the next episode will cover the tailpipes. Neil

If anybody is interested, I've decided to build the Airfix 1/48 Vampire Mk.5 and Mikro Mir Venom FB.4 as a dual build. Two products of de Havilland in the 1950s (although the Vampire dates back to 1944), I built the Trumpeter Vampire a few years ago and wasn't particularly enthused but the presence of a 1/48 Venom really fired me up. Both builds will be largely OOB although the Vampire at least will receive alternative markings for 613 Squadron as my closest friend's father flew them in the 1950s. I thought it might be interesting to build the two together and compare the approach taken by the manufacturers. Best wishes, Neil