19RAF

I've got some good pictures of frs1 cockpits I'll post them up. There's a single radar screen on the right hand side. The cockpit is the old fashioned one with dials rather than the modern 2 screen MFD type found in the FA/2. Interestingly there was a new screen added to one of the frs 1s that was in the Falklands as it was testing the 'Sea Eagle' Air to ship missile, although this wasn't in service during CORPORATE.

nice pics!! this might be a silly question, but did the camera shoot sideways, so the pilot had to bank to whatever he was looking at in order to get the picture?

from that spitfire site... When modelling a Battle of Britain era Spitfire Mk. I four combinations are possible: Early rod mast, HF TR 9 radio with wire to the rudder. Tapered mast with triangular prong, TR 9 radio with wire from fuselage to mast and from mast to rudder. Tapered mast without triangular prong, VHF TR 1133 radio, no wire although the rudder post may still be fitted. Ditto 3; IFF fitted wires running from fuselage roundel to leading edge of tailplane tips. An insulator in the form off a small dot is visible just forward of upper part of the red centre spot. By the end of 1940 most front-line Spitfires would have been fitted with VHF and IFF. As per usual changes could take a few months to filter through from the factory and photos of factory fresh Spitfire IIs still show the mast fitted with the triangular prong well into 1941. By the end of 1941 the plain tapered mast was universally fitted. The attachments points for the prong were still visible on the back of the mast. interesting stuff!

ah good find. now the question, should they be round hole or oval hole barrels... they do lots of good stuff actually. Interesting website, quickboost cheers for that FZ6!

I say Skipper, Harry's got no legs! Good god, neither have I! Wouldn't it have been easier to lower these chairs?

sitll working on my Spit, but I've 'inherited' three old Airfix Mossie models, all needing some TLC. I'd like to make 2 FB VI's out of them, but would need to replace the broken and lost MG's from the noses. I've had a brief look around, but can't find any from the usual suspects in that scale. Help me, Britmodeller, you are my only hope!!

I do tend to agree with this, (as I fly Spits in the online flight sim WWIIOL) but having seen this prop blur! I think it's a really good effect. I have been known to break the props off my aircraft in order to display them 'in flight', so I'll be trying this out.

Let me tell you where this comes from - I had an idea for a WWII Airfield Diorama where a section of Spitfires are being scrambled (pilots running for their aircraft, chairs scattered across the grass, magazines thrown to the ground, ground crew starting engines, etc etc) andthen wondered if it would be possible to model the next stage of this process, where the Section lift from the ground and soar into the air, just clearing the hedgerows and house at the end of the runway... That got me thinking how most models I have seen on here are displayed standing around on lonely airfields, instead of how they should be seen - in full flight soaring above the clouds! I see airfix are releasing a set of clear plastic stands for displaying flying aircraft, so there must be a demand for this. In my opinion I much prefer models that look like they are flying - obviously the difficulties with modelling/displaying an aircraft in flight, lead I think most people to model their aircraft standing around on imaginary airfields. It is my opinion that some aircraft look better 'in flight' than on the ground (Fw 190, Bf 109, Hurricane for example) , and it's a rare aircraft that looks good better on the ground than in the air. I know there are a lot of you who specialise in fine cockpit work, and prefer to display their work with open canopies etc, and for that I understand the need to display an aircraft at rest, but I was wondering which style you Britmodellers prefer, or in your opinions which aircraft look better at rest and which look better in the air!

funnily enough I was going to post a new thread about flying vs static models.. in fact I still will but - I saw a method used somewhere on t'interweb where a chap had cut a circle of clear plastic sheet, scored the inside with a pair of compasses then lightly airbrushed some blurred lines on, finished the outside with yellow et voila, a realistic looking blurred prop... let me find the link...

no hotlinking allowed from that host. right click on the image, choose 'copy link location' and past it into your browser. you'll see the image then

lol. ok, well alex gordon kindly sent me his old spare VB wings, which arrived today. The (raised) panel lines and detail on them is quite strikingly inferior to this new Airfix Spitfire tooling, and it really stands out. So I had a choice, use the Vb wing, make some sort of mould of the blisters or use the interior of the wings as the mould and shape some blisters out of greenstuff. I started the latter option, and as I pushed the greenstuff into the recess inside the wing, I noticed the wing was stressing right around the blister. Aha - an idea formed. I might be able to release the blisters from their Vb shackles. with a little bending and teasing with my trusty exacto knife, I managed to get one of the blisters off the wing with relative ease. (Look away if twisted plastic offends you!!) A little tidying up et voila! I did the other wing and the bottom blisters too. sorry about the destructive work on your Vb wings Alex, but they have served their purpose well!! so once they are trimmed, filed and sanded down, I'm going to add the little box bit to the cannon port, cover the redundant .303 case holes and job's a jaffer! A Mk IIb wing, with fabric covered ailerons!!

I'm going the other way, doing a spit IIb from the MkIIa kit, using a Vb wing kindly offered to me by a fellow britmodeller! So I'm using the IIa fuselage (different from the Vb fuselage) which is essentially the Ia fuselage with different prop/exhaust and starter bump. there are also differences in the IFF aerial IIRC. So for a Va, its the Vb fuselage (with the exhaust/engine/propellor/starter bump from the V) and a Ia wing (with the 4 .303 mgs ports). I think!!

Having a starter trolley makes it a definite Ib. As everyone keeps telling me in the spitfire IIb wing thread, the difference between the 1a and IIa was the engine upgrade (to the Merlin XII) and Coffman starter. incidentally Edgar, I've read that the IIb had factory installed armour plate behind the pilot. Is that the case, and would that be another difference between a Ib and a IIb? Also were all of the IIb's built at Castle Bromwich? :oops sorry for hijack!:

aye, the coffman starter is included as part of the Spit IIa kit and has been added on! There are also 3 sets of exhausts, for the original Merlin III, the Merlin XII and I assume the 45 for the Vb (as the kit also contains two versions of 20mm cannon!). The ailerons sag a lot on the Mk1 wing piece, so worst case I can do a cut and replace job on these Mk Vb wings!

lol fair enough regarding the colours, as I said with the interior i'm not *too* fussed, I'm not going to be losing sleep over the correct shade of the pilot's map book cover etc . I'll pay more attention to the outside colours and they will be airbrushed rather than the old hairy stick. (although my dark earth looks a little too dark on a grey primer, but I'll come back to that at a later date!) The Airfix kit has three propellor options, the original 2 bladed Watts prop and the 3 bladed Rotol and DH props are also included, although again I'm not going for complete historical accuracy here as I have an idea in mind of what I want to achieve based on the 'in game' model. The 'beauty mark' is also included in the kit and has been added! more pics to follow when I get the big old bits together. cheers!