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More Spitfires anyone?


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Well, it seems that the incomparable Spitfire is just that! Miles Masters and target-tug Defiants are all very well, but can't possibly hope to compete if there are Spitfires to look at, so . . . as my dear late Dad would say, give the people what they want! Here then, are some more Spitfires . . .

SpitfireIXKATHLEENMARYNo2-1.jpg

How I would have liked to have the new Pacific Coast 1/32 Spitfire Mk IX all those years ago, instead of having to kit-bash this Hasegawa Mk Vb! Pretty happy with it at the time, there's no denying now that this model has a so-called 'fatal flaw'. However, I'm not about to tell you what it is! Let's just see if all those fellow Spit-worshippers can spot it!

Here she is again in company with another kit-bashed Spitfire - in this case Otaki's 1/48 Mk VIII. Remember, this was LONG before ICM and Hasegawa turned out their Mark Nines in this scale. These are REALLY old models . . .

453SqnSpitfireIXsFU-MFU-VKATHLEE-1.jpg

Japanese Spitfires? Here's the Otaki again, but this time keeping company with a couple of more up-to-date 1/72 Hasegawas . . .

SpitfireIXs1-1.jpg

And the two little Hasegawas on their own - in fact, everything's 1/72 from here on . . .

SpitfireIXsFU-ZFU-E.jpg

SpitfiresIIImixed.jpg

Various Mk I & II Airfix.

SpitfireIQV-HNo1.jpg

SpitfireIQV-HNo2.jpg

SpitfireIQV-HNo9.jpg

SpitfireII65SqnNo9.jpg

And various Airfix Mk Vb. Some of these are a bit long in the tooth now . . . and I think they look it too!

SpitfireVb1.jpg

SpitfireVb2.jpg

SpitfireVbTropNo5.jpg

SpitfireVbTropNo4.jpg

SpitfireVbUD-W1.jpg

SpitfireVbUSAAFNo1.jpg

SpitfireVbUSAAFNo4.jpg

Can't remember what the limit is on posted images, so I'll stop here and call it Part 1 (or is it Part 2?)

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Those are simply stunning!!

Can I ask where the figures are from? Some look like the old polythene Airfix ones? Are the others also Airfix & converted? If so - how? I've never managed to find a glue that'll stick them! Sorry for all the questions, but I'm trying to add more figures to my models & am struggling to find any.

Fantastic work - both models & 'photography'!

Keef

PS

To 'Keith in the UK' - that's a blast from the past - it was my user name when I first started posting on an internet forum - a US NASCAR model board back in the nineties!!! :P

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Whooo thanks Mike. Love the Lanc and Hampden . Which kit have you used for the Lanc ? I take it the Hampden is the Airfix kit?

Both Airfix, Keith. I haven't caught up with the Hasegawa or Revell Lancs - yet. All the same, the Airfix is still a good kit.

Tim.

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Those are simply stunning!!

Can I ask where the figures are from? Some look like the old polythene Airfix ones? Are the others also Airfix & converted? If so - how? I've never managed to find a glue that'll stick them! Sorry for all the questions, but I'm trying to add more figures to my models & am struggling to find any.

Fantastic work - both models & 'photography'!

Keef

PS

To 'Keith in the UK' - that's a blast from the past - it was my user name when I first started posting on an internet forum - a US NASCAR model board back in the nineties!!! :P

Yes, some of those figures are the old polythene ones. Others are from many sources, cobbled together from a long-hoarded biscuit tin full of 'body parts'. I collect figures no matter what they are, as long as they have heads, arms and legs! Friends who 'don't do figures' know where they can get rid of them - all donations gratefully received!

Hasegawa USAF ground personnel figures are very useful if you can find them, and Preiser make some very good figures too. The Airfix RAF vehicles include a few useful figures too.

The polythene ones are of limited value, but can be stuck together with cyano. They can't be carved about like the styrene ones and flash removal isn't so easy. It's annoying that they persist with moulding the things in such useless material, but I believe it's to comply with some sort of child safety standards.

Why single these out from all the other so-called 'toys' that little Johnny could swallow or poke his eye out with? I don't know, but there it is!

Tim.

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Yes, some of those figures are the old polythene ones. Others are from many sources, cobbled together from a long-hoarded biscuit tin full of 'body parts'. I collect figures no matter what they are, as long as they have heads, arms and legs! Friends who 'don't do figures' know where they can get rid of them - all donations gratefully received!

Me too!! I have my latest plastic bag full of donated 'victims' sitting next to me as I type! I've not been anywhere near as succesful at getting such a variety of people as you though, and I'm nearly more impressed by them than the aircraft - which are themselves mightily impressive!

Thanks for such a comprehensive reply Tim, I shall keep attacking them!

Keef

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Me too!! I have my latest plastic bag full of donated 'victims' sitting next to me as I type! I've not been anywhere near as succesful at getting such a variety of people as you though, and I'm nearly more impressed by them than the aircraft - which are themselves mightily impressive!

Thanks for such a comprehensive reply Tim, I shall keep attacking them!

Keef

I guess that makes us a right pair of Frankensteins!

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Alright, here we go with Part Two (or Part Three, if you like). About time I got back to it, I suppose . . .

Here are some Airfix Mk Vb kits converted into Mk Vc . . .

SpitfireVcPolishNo4.jpg

SpitfireVcPolishNo6.jpg

SpitfireVcczech-1.jpg

SpitfireVcProsser-HanksNo1.jpg

SpitfireVcProsser-HanksNo2.jpg

SpitfireVcProsser-HanksNo3-1.jpg

Another look at ZP-X . . .

SpitfireVcZP-XNo25-1.jpg

SpitfireVcZP-XNo27-1.jpg

SpitfirVC-1.jpg

And a Mk VI . . .

SpitfireViNo1.jpg

SpitfireVINo3.jpg

SpitfireVINo4.jpg

Italeri Mk Vb . . .

SpitfireVbTropNo3.jpg

SpitfireVbTropNo2.jpg

Ventura Mk VII . . .

SpitfireVIINo1.jpg

SpitfireVIINo3.jpg

Hasegawa Mk IXs . . .

SpitfireIX5J-GNo2.jpg

SpitfireIXs5J-G5J-JNo1.jpg

SpitfireIXFreeFrenchNo4.jpg

SpitfireIXFreeFrenchNo3.jpg

To be continued . . . tomorrow.

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  • 1 month later...

Well folks, I'm sorry that tomorrow took rather a long time to get here, but I HAVE been rather busy with other things for a while. Anyway, I'm just home from another night of rehearsals and am wide awake with no desire to hit the sack just yet, so . . . here's another selection of 1/72 Spitfires.

This Mk XVIe is from the KP kit, with rather a lot of surgery to make it reasonably accurate. I find it rather amusing now that when this kit first appeared some time in the early '80s I wrote a glowing review of it for the A.P.M.A. (Australian Plastic Modellers' Association) magazine. If I can find it, it might be good for a laugh - but of course at the time, this kit represented a quantum leap forward if compared to its rivals . . .

SpitfireXVIeLADYKILLERNo9.jpg

SpitfireXVIeLADYKILLERNo7.jpg

SpitfireXVINo8.jpg

Another Mk XVI was, of course, this one from Heller - though I can't recall if its appearance pre-dated the KP kit. This one too was subjected to a fair bit of surgery. It still isn't perfect, but it's better than it would have been straight from the box . . .

SpitfireXVINo1.jpg

Here's an Airfix Mk I converted into one of the early PR types - not only to fill a gap in the collection, but also an excuse to paint a Spitfire pink (my sister thinks it's lovely!)

SpitfirePRINo2.jpg

And of course the prototype deserves a place in any Spitfire line-up too. This is the Pegasus kit . . .

SpitfirePrototypeK5054No2.jpg

Not the main focus of the picture, I know, but that Mk 24 is from the Ventura kit. The rather gloomy and grainy atmosphere is courtesy of a dud batch of film, and it's the only picture I have of it - the model currently resides on one side of the workbench, stripped down and awaiting a re-build and re-paint.

HarvardSpitfire24.jpg

This Mk 21 is from the Aeroteam kit - a kit that COULD have been very good, but is let down by (amongst other things) a pair of wings that are so grossly thick that they almost look inflated . . .

Spitfire21No20.jpg

. . . and yes, I know it should have the larger rudder - it's been retro-fitted with one since these photos were taken . . . (also given it some nav lights - fancy forgetting those!)

Spitfire21No21.jpg

Here's another Mk 21 from Aeroteam. Some time prior to building this, I had purchased some (very expensive) resin kits by CMK which, to be honest, were hopeless. However, it was strikingly apparent that Aeroteam and CMK were one and the same - identical in almost every respect, BUT . . . the resin wings were far superior and fitted the Aeroteam fuselage perfectly . . .

Spitfire21No14.jpg

Spitfire21No15alternativecrop.jpg

Spitfire21No5.jpg

Spitfire21No18.jpg

And since we're looking at Griffon-engined Spits, here's a couple of Mk XIVs from Fujimi . . .

SpitfireFRXIVeNo4.jpg

SpitfireXIVBelgianNo2.jpg

One from Academy . . .

SpitfireXIVc3W-FNo8.jpg

SpitfireXIVc3W-FNo7.jpg

And one from Ventura . . .

SpitfireFRXIVeNI-KNo2.jpg

Also from Ventura is this PR Mk XI . . .

SpitfirePRXINo3.jpg

SpitfirePRXINo4.jpg

And that makes twenty photos - the limit for posting in one sitting. Since it's now 2 am, I think I'll call it a day . . . for now.

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Hi Tim.

Superb as usual.

You can feel for the poor soul who has his"foot to the floor" trying to catch that errant V1

D'you know I can almost hear the snarl of his bloody Griffon!!!!!. :headphones::headphones:

I've also only just noticed,whilst studying the pics of the Mk1 taking off,you've got a whiff of rudder on to counteract the prop torque and also one undercart leg is very perceptibly shorter than the other again depicting prop torque :thumbsup2:

All the best matey and keep up the good work.

Mark

Edited by Miggers
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Beautiful spitfires!!! Your photography skills are astounding can I ask ywhat your technique was for the in flight ones??

as for that "fatal flaw" in the first few..the only thing I can see is that the mirror on the canopy should be square...not round.

Sean

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