Jump to content

Jeffrey Quill and Spitfire in Sweden


Recommended Posts

I'm finally going to start a project that I've been planning for a long time. Hopefully posting the progress of the build here will give me a push to finish it... 

This is the background story. 

 

I work at the local museum at former Swedish Air Force base F 10 at Ängelholm, Sweden. I love to just sit and browse through the extensive photoarchive now and then. 

It is absolutely huge and full of interesting photos from 1940 up to 2002 when the base was shut down. Sometimes I happen to stumble over something that I haven't seen before. 

A couple of years ago I found some pictures of a different looking Spitfire at a different airbase. I discovered that these pics were taken at the F 14 base at Halmstad, Sweden. 

It turns out that no other than Jeffrey Quill made a sales tour to Sweden in this Spitfire 22 in June 1946 with the mission to sell airplanes to the Swedish Air Force. 

 

As you can see it was a slightly different looking Spitfire, it was equipped with a contrarotating propeller like the Seafire 47. 

Unfortunatly the timing was awful since the same day Jeffrey Quill landed his Spitfire in Stockholm the first of the new DH Vampires for the Swedish Air Force was delivered! 

The Spitfire was by 1946 old news when compared to the Vampire jets... 

However, the Swedish Air Force did eventually bought the Spitfire XIX and used them as S 31 for a couple of years.  

 

lFBaTBP.jpg

 

8svWBPl.jpg

 

lXxFbMr.jpg

I'm very thankful to the photographer for this pic. Note that there is no gunsight. 

 

XuFDJ7k.jpg

Jeffrey Quill and some beautiful details...  :-) 

 

I actually did a quick build of the Airfix Spitfire 22 in 1:72 scale two years ago. I stole the propeller from the Special Hobby Seafire 47. 

I'm sorry for the lousy quality of this photo... 

1K20ryC.jpg

 

Now I want to build me a bigger version of this rather sexy looking aircraft. 

I'm going to use this Seafire 47 in 1:48 from Airfix. Most parts including the propeller is already in the box. I think that the only thing missing compared to the Spitfire 22-kit is the lower portion of the tail rudder. 

 

M59SCIU.jpg

 

I've collected quite a lot of aftermarket "candy" that will be used on this build. 

 

What do you think? 

Anything I need to think about before starting? I'm mostly interested in Swedish aircraft so this will be something new for me. 

 

To be continued... 

 

Andreas

 

Edited by Rudolf_Filip
  • Like 12
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here are some of the aftermarket I might use on this Spitfire. 

I also have a few more items on the way. 

 

g65czsN.jpg

 

I haven't decided on what seat I'm going to use. I like the Barracuda seat with the belts molded into it but I might get a better result with the etched belts? 

I might go after the look of the Jeffrey Quill photo above with the belts hanging casually over the fuselage side. 

 

This is a list of the aftermarket I have at the moment: 

-Seat, Barracuda resin

-Propeller blades, Barracuda resin 

-Wheels, Barracuda resin 

-Engine rocker covers, Barracuda resin 

-Seat belts, Eduard etch 

-Canopy, Squadron vacuform 

-Cockpit, Aires resin 

-Instrument panel, Yahu prepainted etch 

-Decals, Xtradecal 

 

u3b4lP7.jpg

 

I also bought the late war pilot from Barracuda but I'm not sure if I'm going to use him. From my photos it looks like mr Quill didn't use all that flight gear. 

 

Wish me luck. This is going to be a fun build! 

 

Andreas

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I have started to work on my Spitfire. My experience is that Aires does really nice detailed cockpits but they are somewhat of a pain to actually fit inside the fuselage. 

It's not different on this one, I'm afraid... 

I had to thin both the resin sidewalls and the inside of the fuselage to get a decent fit. Hopefully it will be worth the extra effort. 

2wFXaY5.jpg

Note the light shining through the fuselage. I took away as much plastic as I dared without going through... 

KP8BwbC.jpg

Testfitting and hopefully it will work. 

 

I found the excellent book "The Spitfire Story" by Alfred Price at the local library and it actually had two decent pictures of PK684 that I'm building. 

However, oddly enough both are captioned wrong! 

 

rm6sdkc.jpg

Here it is claimed that the Spitfire in the pic is PK664 when it clearly is PK684. 

 

QkVro6j.jpg

In this interesting photo PK684 is suddenly a Spitfire 24. Anyway, it's interesting to know that Jeffrey Quill also tried to sell Spitfires to Belgium at about the same time as he went to Sweden. 

This pic is from Brussels in 1946. 

 

Edit: After I wrote and posted the text above I found out that PK684 probably was modified into a F.24 sometime in 1947. As I mentioned earlier I'm a beginner when it comes to Spitfires...  :mellow:

 

Andreas 

 

Edited by Rudolf_Filip
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Certainly got my attention!  Having jusy built a Seafire 46 from that kit, and being part way through a 47 that includes the same after market cockpit etc., I’d say you’ll enjoy this; despite its age, the kit is very good once you’ve addressed a couple of kniwn issues (notably the prop blades and rocker covers, both of which you’ve already addressed).

 

You might want to consider adding the Barracudacast control surfaces to your list?  They’re easy to do (they fit beautifully) and they add life to the model.

 

Great picture of the cockpit!  Fascinating to see that a Spitfire cockpit was definitely still interior green even at this stage; by 1948-9 the Seafire 46/47s had all black cockpits.

Edited by Ex-FAAWAFU
Fix typos
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mini update! 

I was slightly distracted when a friend came over and insisted that I should put the Spitfire on hold and finish my old Lindberg X-3 Stiletto instead. 

I did so for a few hours when sanity prevailed and I decided to go back to this lovely Spitfire...  :D 

 

I discovered that the seat mount in the Aires set was damaged and unusable so I cut away the Airfix one and used that instead. The detail is not so delicate but it will have to do. 

a3dplRe.jpg

I also decided to remove the headrest for the pilot and I drilled out all the holes. 

kTnQBXv.jpg

I really must try to be a better photographer... 

 

I added a few extra wires to the sides of the cockpit. According to pictures of a preserved Spitfire 22 the whole cockpit was full of wires. 

RaKYX5U.jpg

 

6fUPmUZ.jpg

 

The floor looks rather nice and add a lot of interest in the cockpit.

After a trip to the hobby room floor the etched rudder controls are not so straight anymore... :mellow: 

I'll wait and see how much of them that will be seen later and maybe I have to fix them. 

 

B7If7Xj.jpg

 

Now I'm going out to my "painting shed" and start to paint everything green... 

 

Andreas 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

As usual I put all the small pieces on toothpicks for easy handling when painting. Here is my little forest of Spitfireparts... 😀 

aNdqqat.jpg

 

I started with an almost black also known as "Viggen-black" from MRP. I really like this shade, mostly because I have a lot of it at home. I ordered quite a lot of MRP-bottles from a Swedish hobby shop and they managed to send me the wrong shades. 🙂 

 

w27ZrKK.jpg

All black... 

mBAypZn.jpg

Highlighting with quick sprays of white. 

And then it's time for the grey-green. 

I used Humbrol Acrylic 78 for no other reason than I already had it on my desk... 

 

JQXl1e2.jpg

 

uy6wIMs.jpg

 

l4mbUnS.jpg

 

UvPJ1K1.jpg

 

Now it's time for some weathering and some painting of detail. 

 

Andreas 

 

 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 weeks later...

Often I get a bit carried away with my builds. This is one of those...

 

I found that one can buy decent copies of manuals and in this case pilot's notes on Ebay. As soon as I spotted this one I knew that I had to have it. 🙂 

HqPsET5.jpg

Not so much for the modeller but still very interesting to read. The cockpit pics with some information of the various instruments was also useful. 

rOTPzzM.jpg

Anyway it wasn't expensive and I've been having trouble finding decent pictures of the Spitfire 22-cockpit. 

 

I'm using the instrument panel from Yahu. If you're not familiar with this brand I can certainly recommend this range. Absolutely lovely prepainted panels! 

However they don't do a correct panel for the Spit 22 so I bought one for the Spitfire Mk.IX/XVI instead. 

The main visable difference are the two colourful instruments to the right. 

I chose to correct this with some quick licks of paint. 

d4UzIUU.jpg

 

uKoxpLC.jpg

 

I wasn't entirely happy with the result so it took a few tries before I gave up and just decided that it was enough. 

I also painted everything except the instrumentfaces with a matt varnish. 

It will do. It looks so much better irl than in the pics. 🙂 

I04UlOf.jpg

 

Now it's time to figure out how the rest of the details in the cockpit should be painted... 

 

Andreas 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow, somehow I missed this one up to now- don't often see a build thread start with photos that thrill this Spitfire student!

 

Do you need a proper Spitfire "under-the-rudder thingie"?  Without looking at the parts, I'm not sure how easily one can de-Navalize the sting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hej gingerbob! 

The "under-the-rudder-thingie" is the only thing that is missing from the Seafire-kit.  

 

I thought that I had an old started Spitfire 22-kit somewhere in my "stash" that I could steal this part from. However I can't find it right now. 

Well, I don't think that it will be difficult to scrathbuilt a new part when I get to that part of the build. 🙂 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Andreas,

 

I have this kit and it is essentially the Spitfire 22/24 kit with an extra sprue for the Seafire parts, unless Airfix changed things along the way. The part you're looking for is number 72 and is in the sprue with the five-bladed spinner and propeller blades.

 

Cheers,

Wlad

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks gingerbob! 

I felt like an idiot when I couldn't find that tail part in my box... 😀 

I couldn't find my old scrapped Spitfire 22 so I've decided to build it myself with plasticard. 

 

I got a bit distracted when Airfix announced that 1:48 Hunter. I couldn't help it, I love the Hunter. So I dug out my old Academy project from the stash and decided to finish it quickly. 

I know it's propably illegal here in Sweden but I want to build a RAF one... 😀 

 

Andreas 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lately I've noticed that I suddenly have become very fond of building british aircraft, although with a swedish flavour... 

 

Here is the Hunter that I originally thought was going to be a Swedish Air Force J 34. But now it will be a F.4 from RAF, just to be a bit different... 

aL2oBej.jpg

Hopefully it will be finished in a few days so that I can return to my Spitfire. 🙂 

 

Just to show that I can actually finish something, despite my glacial pace. 

Here is a Classic Airframes Vampire (1:48) that I built last year. 

"Slightly modified"! 

qPgH5Os.jpg

 

eK5dz9e.jpg

I must try to fix that silvering on that intake decal! 

vqXBRxK.jpg

 

I'll be back soon with my more on topic Spitfire build. 🙂 

 

Andreas 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...