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Spitfire prototype wings


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Hi,

I'm sure this has been covered long go, but, like most forums the search facility is useless, so I must ask again.

 

I'm building a First Flight Spitfire. I bought the Airfix 1/48th scale Mk 1 3 years ago and started immediately, then we got busy, I got ill, got better, retired, moved and I find myself with a desire to get on with the model during the bad weather spell.

Now I knew the very first version had so-called clinker built wings with radiating narrow panels along the wings. These are what I am trying to reproduce. I have a very fuzzy set of drawings from I know not where or from whom, but they really are very fuzzy. I can find nothing on the net and am asking if anyone has a decent set or a link thereto.  I suppose photos are a no-no. I have found none that show the wing's surface.

 

Cheers,

Martin

 

 

 

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Definitely not "clinker-built" which has a specific meaning of overlapping planks - they were butt-jointed not overlapping.  Photographs taken at the rollout (in Spitfire The History) appear to show chordwise panels, which is to be expected from the consideration of low drag, but the entire wing will have been polished smooth and any coat of paint will hide the joins.  They are not visible on the photos I've seen (or remember, to be fair) of the prototype after having been painted.

 

I suggest that the best source for you is likely to be the Mitchell Museum in Southampton, but hopefully someone her can help first.

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Graham,

I definitely read that the spanwise, narrow , tapered panels were slightly overlapped to the rear (of course) which gave rise to the clinker statement.  The first flight was not filled and polished. I seem to be the only person who doesn't like that sickly blue colour. To me , a prototype is the first flight.  Anything else is a development, including a different wing, filling with putty, painting and polishing.

 

Someone must know about it as I first heard of it here.

 

Cheers,

Martin

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10 minutes ago, Scratchbuilder said:

Graham,

I definitely read that the spanwise, narrow , tapered panels were slightly overlapped to the rear (of course) which gave rise to the clinker statement.

 

It's shown on Xtradecal's set:

http://www.uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=315&t=11322

 

10 minutes ago, Scratchbuilder said:

I seem to be the only person who doesn't like that sickly blue colour.

 

Yes, probably. Certainly you're the only person I've heard describe the colour with such negative bias!

 

10 minutes ago, Scratchbuilder said:

To me , a prototype is the first flight.  Anything else is a development, including a different wing, filling with putty, painting and polishing.

 

I think most involved in design development would disagree with that too. Prototyping is every aspect of the design development from initial proof of concept through pre-production. It stops being a prototype once a production model is defined. The Spitfire Mk.Ia is a development of the Spitfire Mk.I. Any changes made to K4054 prior to the Mk.I being finalised is still prototyping. HTH :)

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Where the "prototype" had so many visual changes so quickly I find it easier to describe the very first one as "The Prototype". Others can describe the blue one as a prototype and muddy the waters if they wish.

As an ex design modelmaker for the car industry I am very well aware of what a prototype is on a wider basis, but I find that notion unhelpful where the Spitfire is concerned. I had an LDM 72nd scale white metal kit of the Prototype which I painted according to the pretty lengthy description that came with my kit.  I.E. Bare metal front cowlings and leading edges of the wings, the rest a patchy finish of zinc chromate priming.  I did that and it looked good. Unfortunately my mother-in-law threw away the several Spitfire models I'd given to my Father-in-law when he died, wasting no time.  The white metal K5054 was amongst them, as was a foiled vac-form 224.

 

I have just been referred to a lovely picture on a site i'd visited but missed.

 

Thanks for your interest.  Mind you, a photo. would still be good but I'm assuming there aren't any.

 

Another thing....to me, the nose immediately behind the prop appears to be deeper and less svelte than one tends to think of a Spitfire. Even a production Mk1 Any views on that one?

 

Cheers,

Martin

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At first it indeed had cordwise panels on the wing and it was paint in an automotive paint which was French Blue ( whose paint l am not sure ) . After the cirst test flight and acceptance by the Ministry of Defense  it was taken back to the shop and reskinned with panels of the Mk I minus any gun bays etc, that came later. The finish was then a combination of bare metal panels and one painted in Zinc chromate. At its end of it's career  ( it cashed beyond repair and scrapped  ) it was a fully armed Mk I. My best suggestion for the Zinc Chromate panels is spray them a polished Aluminum  the mix some Tamiya clear green and clear yellow until you get that apple green colour then spray those areas only. Use standard Aluminum for the rest

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I've looked again at the photo (STH P29) showing the Spitfire prototype from the rear on rollout.  A closer peer does indeed bring out spanwise lines as well as the chordwise ones that caught my eye first.  However I do feel that Mitchell, well known for his attention to detail, would not have included spanwise steps on his high-speed design - and his aerodynamicist Beverley Shenstone certainly would not.  These would carry a significant drag penalty.  Whatever was meant by the term "overlapped", I am sure (as an ex-performance specialist in an aerodynamics office) that something more subtle than "clinker-built" is implied and the upper wing surface will have been smooth -as indeed it appears on the photograph (and all others).

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You seem to have access to photographs I've never seen, Graham.  Any chance of posting a link to them?  I was surprised when I read it first, here, but I know not where otherwise.  It was way back.

 

I will be foiling the model to get the bare metal look first, then trying out different finishes.  I prefer the patchy zinc chromate to the anodised look some favour.

 

But I would love to see that photo, Graham!

 

Cheers,

Martin

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I thought I read in either Dr Price's book or Morgan & Shacklady's tome that the panel lines on the wing were filled? Possibly when Supermarine went to the Lt Blue scheme?

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