Airfix PR IV kit bash

[spitfirepr1v]

Does anyone know if the Airfix 1/48 Spitfire PR XIX wings are a good fit with the Airfix Spitfire Mk Vb as a starting point for a PRIV conversion ?

[elger]

They don't fit - kitbashing will be hard. You're probably better off filling in the necessary panels of the A or B wing that comes with the mk I or V kit, respectively, converting it to a bowser wing.

 

Pavla has a PR conversion set with some resin in 1/48 including a vacuum canopy which will be much more useful.

[Troy Smith]

if you  are going  to  sacrifice  both kits you maybe better off adding the Mk V nose onto the entire XIX airframe, and cutting back or  grafting  on the fin,  

 

You would need to a  remove the pressurisation details, and add a cockpit door,  and add the V radiators, 5 spoke wheels, but that gets to use the rest of the PR specific airframe,  bowser wing, under fuselage camera ports, oblique fuselage ports etc.

 

How much work this is compared to converting a Mk.V  is maybe depends on what you have to hand, and bear  in mind  the Pavla sets mentioned will cost as much as a cheap Airfix kit.

 

Some IV's have side blisters on the canopy,  which the XIX canopy does not have,  but these can be  got from other sources, eg falcon Spitfire special canopy  set.

 

This would be a worth while purchase, 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/Merlin-Spitfires-Detail-Classic-Warbirds-Malcolm-Laird/0958229651

 

the earlier volume has disappeared,  but this has lots of useful info.  

 

I'm not sure offhand if the IV had the increased UC leg rake brought in with the c wing.

 

HTH

[Giorgio N]

If I can throw my few cents in here, my preferred plan would simply be to rescribe the wing and then add the Pavla U48-63 set to the Airfix Mk.V

 

http://www.pavlamodels.cz/katalogy/detail.php?k=air&m=48&c=63&styl=styly.css

 

Ok, it's for the PR.Id but this was the same as the PR.IV.

Adding the XIX wing means to make this fit first and then modify the radiator area. Grafting the Mk.V nose onto the XIX means sorting the radiators and then modifying the canopy area and the tail (fin and tailwheel). All this is sure doable but is it worth the extra work ? The XIX wing will also need some small modifications

[72modeler]

I would agree with what Troy and Giorgio have stated, for what it's worth. There are a lot of minor changes you would have to make of the 1/48 Mk V to make a PR IV/D-type PR Spit, but filling the panel lines associated with the gun fit and rescribing the wings to replicate the PR 'bowser' wing would be the hardest part, I would think. The Ventura book mentioned is a great modeling resource as well as the outstanding On Target Profile No. 8, which covers all of the Merlin and Griffon powered PR Spits- you can still find it at a reasonable cost, and since it covers all of the PR's, it would be a very good reference to have. Don't forget the IV had a 29-gallon fuel tank behind the seat, which might be part of the Pavla update set, (It is in my 1/72 Pavla set) as well as an oil tank in the LH wing, so you would need to do the filler cap for it as well as the extra wing tank filler caps, which IIRC, were located between wing ribs 19-20; there are also fuel tank vents out towards the tips, but they are illustrated in both of the references listed above. You can do this- lots of little bits to add, but none of them difficult; besides, you will increase your modeling skills in the process and think how great you will feel when you look at the finished product- I say, go for it! (Now, if you wanted to build a Mk IV in the One True Scale, you could just get the Sword kit  and the Pavla detail set and be done with it!)

Mike

[spitfirepr1v]

Thanks to everyone for all the excellent advice.

I have gone through the laborious task of a PR 1V conversion before using a Tamiya Mk V tropical but was hoping there was a quicker solution with the PR XIX wings and a Airfix mk V . Hey ho back to the bench and lots filling , sanding and scribing. It will be worth it in the end as its going to be modelled on one flown by my uncle.

 

Cheers 

[gingerbob]

On 7/27/2017 at 10:07 AM, Troy Smith said:

I'm not sure offhand if the IV had the increased UC leg rake brought in with the c wing.

 

No, still the original geometry. 

 

I just had a look at XIX and ("new") Vb wing bits, and while the root doesn't match precisely, it looks like you could fairly easily substitute the upper wing panels- there'd be a bit of shaving to do mid-chord, and a gap to fill fore and aft.  (A slightly radical possibility would be to engineer a cut just outboard of the root on both panels, and join the exchanged parts there instead.)

 

As for the lower panel, the kit part for the XIX goes back one further fuselage station, but otherwise I don't see any obvious reason why it couldn't be adapted, without test-fitting.  Not sure that you're really gaining much by doing so, however, once you take the oil cooler/radiator surgery into account.  Either way would involve some work, but I figure the underside is less critical than the top surfaces.  (If you were willing to sacrifice a part, you could probably cut the oil cooler area from the V wing and graft it in to the (cutout) XIX wing, but perhaps you're as well off to skin over the XIX area and do your own "conversion".

 

One caveat is that the internals are different one to the other (kit wing design, I mean)- probably not a big problem, but might involve some head-scratching and trimming to make sure everything works out if you do swap out the upper panels.

[gingerbob]

Huh, this thread goes back longer than I thought!

 

Just popping in to say that, partly as a result of this discussion, I've been holding various Spitfire pieces in close formation (once again).  Of course, after considering the PR.IV idea, I began to wonder which 'c' wing would work best with the Airfix fuselage to give me a Spit Vc... and yet the PR.IV keeps insinuating itself back into the thought process...

[elger]

The Eduard IX wing is not a terrible fit actually. Not perfect, but not bad at all. You'd have to find some way to replace the oil cooler though.

 

 

[Fernando]

Hi, everyone,

 

I have used Tamiya and Hasegawa Vbs, SH Vcs and even Tamiya Mk I as basis for PR Spits, just adjusting the appropriate bulges and panel lines, so to speak. I regard that easier than the whole radiator/oil cooler conversion, while not sacrificing any kit. I did use an ICM or Aeroclub fuselage mated to the Tamiya or SH nose to address the "wing too far back" problem, but that's another thing.

 

Fernando