Bedders

Welcome to modernity: all bling, no substance. Used to be the other way round.

Looks great. Is that a bionic hand? J

Are those underwing serials a bit small for a Tempest? Or maybe the location is incorrect - a touch more aft and slightly further inboard might be better? J

Interesting that the Spitfire in the first photo appears to be missing the outer cannon stubs. At this angle one should be able to see it on the port wing. Some had that modification to remove the outer stub though, e.g. MH434. Justin

The SH propeller has good blades bit I think the spinner(s) look a little long. On my Seafire 47 conversion I reduced the length overall by sanding each section a touch and reshaping the whole assembly. https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234980623-172-seafire-47-conversion-from-spitfire-22/ Alternatively Freightdog did a contraprop for the Airfix 22 to enable easy conversion to a Seafire 46. Not sure if Colin still has some. For a masterclass & set of really good plans for late-wing Spitfires and seafires take a look at Jumpei Temma's site http://soyuyo.main.jp/spit47/spit47-1.html Justin

Very nice indeed. I'm no expert on the Italian hardware, but the paint scheme looks excellent. J

Very useful photographs, and not completely dissimilar to work undertaken on my P-51H a while back. For the dimension I used the Modelsvit 1/48 scale kit as a guide. But then on the F-82 you have to do it twice of course, which is slightly sobering!

Blimming lovely. Great model. J

Good start. I quite like the Airfix 22. But one of its flaws is that the bulges over the exhaust pipes are too short and would benefit from a 1mm approx extension rearward. I did that on my 24 and 47 conversions (both here on BM somewhere) but missed it when I did the 22 Oob first time around. justin

I think the 4th FG aircraft was Howard Hively's QP-J 44-15347 (334FS) which was Dark Green over natural metal undersides. LPS have done decals in 1/72. Justin

Any thoughts on which paint to use? Tamiya or Gunze?

Congratulations on getting these two finished; they've come out beautifully. So much great stuff involved, but the cockpits and canopies are just superb. Now these are done I can finish my little Revell kit (converted to Mk51) at least knowing how unreachable the bar is! Justin

That looks very nice. A real improvement on the original and the tail looks much better after your hard work. Nice finish too. One day I'm going to have to tackle the F-82, using either the Special Hobby or Monogram kits. What a choice. But maybe I can hold off a bit longer in the hope that Modelsvit shrink their excellent-looking 1/48 scale kits... Justin

That looks really great. A couple of suggestions: The position of the serial number is non-standard, but that did happen with repaints etc. And the fin flash should be positioned slightly lower, with the bottom edge touching the riveted fillet for the tailplane. Still 24 inches square though. Justin

Is it possible that the FR9s got the wide breathers fitted at the same time as the later all-perspex canopies? This photo show the early style of both. https://www.pinterest.jp/pin/543528248778634856/ J

Beautiful job; really well done and a great inspiration for those of us with Sword Spit/Seafire kits waiting patiently in the stash for attention. Justin

Interesting and tasty photos Steve (WB116 particularly) and must confess that I hadn't paid much thought to the interior colour of the camera bay, but clearly one should given the prominence of that shelf-type affair that can be seen. I am struck though by how the nosewheel leg is painted PRU Blue in both pics, although somehow I doubt that the main legs got the same treatment? Justin

Thanks v much. Trust Tony to have his finger on the pulse. Justin

Apologies for picking up an old thread, but maybe better to keep such things together. I think I'm right in saying that the XIII carried 4x .303s. Does anyone know which gun bays were employed for the weapons: one might think the inner ones to keep the rate of roll as high as possible, or maybe the two middle ones? Justin

Nice choice Steve and I like the look of the decal set. My dad worked on these at Gutersloh so I have a soft spot for them. Made an MPM one in ovrrall silver a few years ago but I think I like the camo scheme more. Good luck with it. J

Well done, this is going together very nicely. I really like the Sword Spitfires/Seafires but they do require patience and determination. You seem to have greater reserves of both than I do at the moment, so I'll be following along with interest. Justin

Then again, these days you'd probably get arrested for wearing that lot in a public place.

Yes a very interesting find. I'm also struck by the fact that just like the well-known photos of SR396, this airframe also has a fighter-type rear-view mirror. So perhaps it was standard fit on all 16 of them. Justin

Please post pics of model. Those period shots of the original a/c look great! J

PS if we could have this kit in 1/72 it would be very welcome indeed! J