1:72 AZ Models Supermarine Spitfire F.Mk. XIV

[Navy Bird]

Xtradecal sheet 72178 has the 17 Squadron YB-D codes for RM972 and the "YB-D" letters have a black outline. This same sheet has the post-war markings for Lacey's RN135, which are the same as what is shown on the right side of the bottom of the AZ box. I rather like his SEAC markings, though, because of the kill markings.

 

Decisions, decisions...

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Beard]

Xtradecal sheet 72178 has the 17 Squadron YB-D codes for RM972 and the "YB-D" letters have a black outline. This same sheet has the post-war markings for Lacey's RN135, which are the same as what is shown on the right side of the bottom of the AZ box. I rather like his SEAC markings, though, because of the kill markings.

Decisions, decisions...

Cheers,

Bill

Buy the Xtradecal sheet, Bill, you know it makes sense.

[Cookenbacher]

I used the Xtradecals RM972 markings on an AZ Mk XIV, but left off the black outlines as the reference photo I was using seemed ambiguous, but now on second look, it seems that they might be there. Either way, the upshot is that I should have the black outline bits lying around and can send them to you (or anything else I've got left from that sheet).

[Giorgio N]

Second question: Was the seat in the XIV metal and painted interior green, or was it still the red-brown plastic job?

Plastic, generally left in the red brown colour although some late mark aircrafts seem to have had the seat repainted in green. Spitfires used this seat from its introduction up to the Mk.24. Modern warbirds however generally have metal replacements for safety reasons.

[Navy Bird]

Thanks, mates. I'm glad that it was still the plastic seat, as the red-brown colour adds a nice bit of contrast to the pit. Something like this?

 

 

Regarding the stickers, the Xtradecal sheet won't help me since it does not have Lacey's markings for the SEAC plane, only for the post-war Dark Green/Medium Sea Grey scheme when he was in Japan. The SEAC scheme that is on the Xtradecal sheet has the black-outlined codes "YB-D" (for a different aircraft) where I need "YB-A." It looks like I'll have to skip the black outlines and use the kit decals. I'm OK with that, it's not as bad as doing "JE-J" without the serifs.

 

By the way, the "YB-A" codes on the AZ decal sheet scale out to be 10 inches high - does that sound right?

 

I sent in an order for the 1:72 Aviaeology sheet of Spitfire stencils and it will arrive in a couple of days. Very extensive sheet, thanks for the tip, Gwart!

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Giorgio N]

The black edging, if present (and I think they may well be present) can be sorted with a printer and some decal paper if you can't find any other solution.

The individual codes seem from the picture to be very close in size to the roundel diameter and these were 16 inch. Paul Lucas in SAM Monographs "Camouflage and Markings No 5 - RAF Fighters 1945-1950, Overseas Based" suggests 16 inch too for the codes in a profile of this same aircraft. He also states that the black outline is present.

The codes also look roughly twice the size of the black serial number, that is 8 inch high, so I'd say that 16 inch is a good bet.

[Navy Bird]

Oops, I misplaced a millimeter. I hate it when that happens. Repeat after me - measure twice, calculate and convert once. The roundels on the AZ sheet are 5mm in diameter, and that works out to 360mm, or 14.17 inches. So, almost 16 inches! The code letters are a bit smaller, I measure them at 4.5mm, or 12.75 inches. The code letters are a bit undersized by these measures. I guess I need to be looking for some new stickers...we're off to a good start.

 

Speaking of a good start, I'm told there is a cockpit in here somewhere:

 

 

That instrument panel is from Yahu, I might use one from Eduard - not sure yet. And here is our man Ginger hard at work with his favourite hobby:

 

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Fritag]

Great photo Bill. Ginger Lacey was born and brought up just about 3 miles from where I live. Just one more reason (not that another reason is needed!) to follow a new Bill build

Edited June 24, 2016 by Fritag

[Navy Bird]

From this photo, it looks to me like the codes are somewhat smaller in height than the roundels:

 

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Giorgio N]

From this photo, it looks to me like the codes are somewhat smaller in height than the roundels:

Cheers,

Bill

Good catch Bill, this picture sure shows them better than the one I was checking. AZ seems to have got them right.

Even if the roundel and codes are slightly smaller, I'm not sure I'd bother with replacing them

[Navy Bird]

While we're looking at that photo, it appears there are soft edges to the camouflage, doesn't it? Perhaps even on the demarcation with the underside. On another note, this will be the first Spitfire I've built where the cockpit door won't be open - can't cover up all those kill markings! Is there a (non-red painted) crowbar in the XIV? If so, I want to be sure to have it visible on the inside of the cockpit.

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

PS. What are those gubbins hanging inside the canopy?

[Andrew D Jolly Rogers guy]

Xtradecal sheet 72178 has the 17 Squadron YB-D codes for RM972 and the "YB-D" letters have a black outline. This same sheet has the post-war markings for Lacey's RN135, which are the same as what is shown on the right side of the bottom of the AZ box. I rather like his SEAC markings, though, because of the kill markings.

Decisions, decisions...

Cheers,

Bill

Morbid though it may seem to some, I'm always more attracted to schemes with kill markings; probably since that was the point and hopes of the machine's construction in the first place.

[Navy Bird]

Some more goodies showed up in the post on Saturday:

 

 

The wheels/tyres from SBS are quite nice - I have to say that I've been very impressed with the quality of aftermarket resin that I've seen from this company. The Quickboost prop, of course, is exceptionally well cast, and the spinner looks to be the same size as the AZ part, so this aftermarket prop should work just fine. The Quickboost spinner is slightly more pointed than the AZ part, and I think that matches the photos better. Of course, the prop blade alignment jig that Quickboost provides is invaluable! It allows you to not only get the angular separation of the blades correct, but also their pitch.

 

Now, let's fold up some of that photoetch stuff. First, the cockpit "floor," the rear bulkhead, and the seat support:

 

 

I suspect that I'll have to be real careful with the seat adjuster lever - it's just asking to be bent out of shape! Next, the seat, and I have to say that this may be the nicest photoetch seat I have ever folded up. The thickness of the brass is so much closer to the correct scale thickness than what you typically get in an injection moulded seat.

 

 

The most fiddly part came next, and that was, of course, the rudder pedals. I had some difficulty actually seeing them, but I managed to fold the sides in and bend a half-round foot strap across the top. These were glued to the cockpit floor, the seat support was glued to the rear bulkhead, and the seat armour was glued to the seat support. Here is what all of that looks like, along with the front bulkhead hanging around feeling lonely.

 

 

 

I think the next step should be to paint the cockpit assembly with British Interior Green (I use my own mix that I made from Gunze colours). The seat will then be painted with Gunze H47 Red Brown to represent the iconic bakelite plastic thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin tufnol red brown seat.

 

The Marabu photoetch set includes a bunch of tiny PE gubbins for the fuselage side panels. Accordingly, I think I have to remove some of the moulded on detail. I'll have a closer look at that next. I also plan on looking at the pilot's notes for the Mk.XIV to see if there are any obvious differences from the Mk.IX parts that I'm using. I'm not so concerned about small details, just big obvious things. Ta for now!

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Andrew D Jolly Rogers guy]

...the iconic bakelite plastic thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin tufnol red brown seat.

Ain't THAT the truth!!!

[stevehnz]

Nice going Bill, that really is a post to put a grin on my face.

Steve.

[Giorgio N]

Those PE parts look very nice... not sure I'd be able to fold them all so neatly, but you're doing great with them !

Camouflage demarcation: hard to tell IMHO as the quality of the picture is not the best. Also to keep in mind is that part of the demarcation comes from the factory but the ETO roundels were overpainted once in India. Seems to me that these were sprayed with soft edges while the rest keeps the factory finish.. that is hard but with some overspray allowed

[Fritag]

Excellent photoetchery work Bill. I'm with Giorgio in that there is no way I'd be able to fold them all so neatly and the sound effects as I tried might even be audible across the pond......

[Navy Bird]

Next question:

 

Is this harness arrangement still correct for the XIV high back?

 

 

I also have a choice of photoetch pieces with or without a headrest. Not sure which is correct for this build - plus, I believe that there is some additional armour in this plane, as can be seen in the photos in this thread. Is this just a triangular piece for head protection, or does it extend down farther into the fuselage for additional body protection?

 

The AZ kit does not include the oxygen tanks that are often seen behind the seat bulkhead - are these not present in the XIV, or located elsewhere? They're not particularly visible in 1:72 scale anyway...

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Beard]

Bill,

I'm a couple of hundred miles from my Spitfire books, one of which has a cutaway drawing of a XIV so I can't be sure of any of my answers but Google is our friend here.

Here's a thread about Spitfire seatbelts: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234936892-sutton-harness-in-spitfire-xix-and-xiv/

I can't find any answers about either the 'extra' armour or the location of the oxygen bottles.

(Edited to correct spelling.)

Edited July 2, 2016 by Beard

[Navy Bird]

Thanks, Beard. It looks like I'll be safe using the standard Sutton harness. Although you should be carrying your Spitfire books with you wherever you go.

 

Today I spent some time cleaning up the wings. AZ give you separate wheel wells that attach to the bottom wing as shown here:

 

 

I like what they're trying to do here, but it leaves a rather nasty seam on the walls of the wells. Here's another look at it from the other side:

 

 

I guess I'll have to fill this seam, so that the walls of the wheel opening are smooth. Kind of a pain, but I think it will be worth it. I've also done some more work on the cockpit, finishing the seat and its back cushion. This has been glued into the seat support, and I've added a bunch of gubbins to the cockpit sidewalls. I decided to use the Yahu instrument panel instead of Eduard's, as it matches the contour of the bulkhead better.

 

I have the 72069 Quickboost British Gunsight (labelled Mk. XX) - is that OK for the XIV?

 

I selected a vacuform canopy from the Falcon set, and it's not the one for the XIV. I wanted an open canopy, and the one that matches the AZ plastic best is the canopy designed for the Hasegawa XIII/IX. It's No. 11 in the set.

 

Next up is to add the harnesses to the seat and then put everything together so that the fuselage halves can be joined. I'll have some more photos soon.

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Beard]

Bill,

I'm beginning to wish I had brought them with me because Google isn't much use. All I can find about gunsights and the Spitfire MkXIV is that they had the Mark IID Gyro Gun Sight fitted.

[Giorgio N]

A few random answers:

The hi back XIV had the oxygen tanks behind the seat bulkhead as standard. These were relocated in the low back aircrafts but since yours is a high back you can follow the standard high back arrangement

Gunsights: the quickboost parts represent the older GM2 gunsight, that equipped the vast majority of British aircrafts in WW2 (and some non British too). As Beard said, you need a Mk.II Gyro Gunsight. This is included in some kits, for example the recent Eduard Spitfire IX but if you want resin you can modify slightly the Quickboost American K-14 sight as this was a license built variant of the Mk.II

Canopy: IIRC the Falcon set includes a XIV canopy for the Fujimi kit. Not a problem if the one that fits best is for the hasegawa IX/VIII, the canopy is the same anyway...

[moaning dolphin]

Cool another build to just sit back and watch come together, don't know much about the subject matter but willing to learn the intricacies. I was confused with the '500 pieces' statement and the sparse box contents, until I realized it was a run of 500 kits! It would be fun trying to fit 500 parts in a 72nd spit! I will be following along diligently.........but where does the 'Navy' go on the aircraft?

Bob

[Navy Bird]

Hi mates,

 

The pit's not finished yet, but I think it's fair to say that the Marabu photoetch set does a better job of representing things *to scale.* When compared to the kit parts (hastily put together for this quick photo), the polystyrene looks like it's had some kind of black market steroid injections:

 

 

Next up is to finish the instrument panel and forward bulkhead. Marabu provide a nice photoetch bracket for the compass, but the compass itself has to be scratchbuilt. I've taken Giorgio's advice and ordered some US K-14 gunsights from Quickboost, but I may not add that until things are much further along lest it be zinged away to Never Land during the build.

 

Gluing the seat/rear bulkhead assembly to the starboard fuselage looks like it will be my next test of temperament. It may be possible to put everything in from the bottom after the fuselage halves are joined, but that will need to be tested first. I don't want to handle the seat assembly too much, as it is *fiddly.* I don't think it would take too much pressure to have it fold up on itself. Yikes.

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

PS. Need to get those shoulder harnesses obeying the laws of gravity, at least how those laws are enacted here on the surface.

[CedB]

Very nice Bill, very nice indeed!

It does look much better than the plastic... but then plastic doesn't fold up on itself and, at this scale, those pedals must be... fiddly doesn't seem enough... uber-fiddly?