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Spitfire Mk.V


twp1

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I have a Spitfire Mk Vb kit and some decals for RAAF Spitfire Mk Vc's. Are there any major visual difference between the two marks that would mean I couldn't use Vc decals on a Vb kit? Thanks for any advice

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As far as I can recall it was the wing that was different in relation to armament. A Wing was 8 machine guns, B wing 4 machine guns and two 20mm cannon, C wing was 4 20mm cannon......

Not sure if it was across the type but I think Vc's had Vokes tropical air filters too.

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HI - in short yes: The wing armament.

The Mk Vb had a type "b"wing fitted with 2 x .303 machine guns, plus 1 x drum fed 20mm Hispano cannon. On the Vc the "universal" C type wing wad fitted ( hence the C variant). This was designed to take the 2 x .303's albeit with the inner gun located slightly further out as compared to the "b" plus it could also have 2 x 20 mm belt felt Hispano in each wing. In practice this tended to be reduced to just 1 x cannon fitted plus the two mg's - with the outer cannon location faired off with a small domed stub. The forward rake of the undercarriage legs was also increased slightly on the C wing.

From a modelling point of view therefore - you would need to add a C wing to a Mk Vb to convert it to a Vc - which would show a different cannon blister fairing over the cannon bays on the top, and remove the bulge on the underside. You'd need to add the cannon stub and change the shape of the cannon barrel fairing too. You'd also need to relocate the inner MG outboard a tad, plus add new shell and link ejection ports for the cannon plus a small narrow blister fairing to the underside.

I'm pretty sure most Vc has the later internally armoured windscreen too, but they could use both the Rotol prop unit and the DH one ( though RAAF ones seem to be mostly if not entirely DH units) though there are some subtle DH unit differences....

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234972822-raaf-spitfire-vc-trop-which-spinnerprop/

in fact all this might help :)

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=RAAF+spitfire+Mk+Vc&safe=off&biw=1516&bih=932&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiG79_hofrKAhVDbxQKHRC1BMwQ_AUIBigA&dpr=1#q=raaf+spitfire+mk+vc+differences+site:www.britmodeller.com&safe=off

Not all Vc had tropical filters - so that's not a definite type signifier, and plenty of Vb's used them too.

heers

Jonners

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The C wing also had a redesigned undercarriage. The axle was moved 2 inches forward resulting in a raked leg. When retracted the wheel sat a little lower, removing the bulge found over the wheel well on the B wing, and as a result the door on the leg was bulged slightly around the leg. Many kits miss this last point. Early production aircraft had an additional bulge on the upper wing, just inboard and ahead of the aileron, but I don't think any kit shows this.

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Here is a run down on wing types courtesy of The Spitfire Site

http://spitfiresite.com/2010/04/concise-guide-to-spitfire-wing-types.html

Although the same shape, internal rearrangements gave rise to different 'lumps' in different places and cannon layout.

Period photo of a Vb

http://aviationarchaeology.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Spitfire-Vb1.jpg

And a Vc

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/BAM-08-Spitfire_Vc_Trop.jpg

Note 'stub' outboard of the cannon and more forward position of the bulge.

Hope this helps.

Trevor

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