Seafire Ib & IIc from Airfix 72nd Vb & Vc

[Col.]

Following on for my conversion of the 72nd scale Airfix Spitfire Vb to a Seafire III I bought another Vb & a Vc to do the Seafire Ib & IIc. The first Vc kit died in a major glue spill so I sourced another to replace it and will restart that one soon as it arrives. In the meantime here's the chosen subjects and progress so far.

They will form numbers 3 and 4 from a pile that is about to be joined by a Special Hobby 72nd scale XV. Who, me, obsessed? Nah.

After thinning the fuselage halves the internal structure gets represented by some plastic strip. Next task is to form the bulkhead frames.

One issue with the Vc boxing is the new wing parts are not such a nice shape as the older Vb parts and very thick.

Once the new kit arrives I'll look at them again and decide if using the old wings modfified to take the new cannon bulge parts or thinning the new wings is the better route.

[Max Headroom]

I tried the Vc boxing and hated the wings. The trailing edges are about a scale foot thick. Also the engraving is extreme Matchbox.

So....

Modify the Vb wing, or take a rasp to the Vc. I say modify!

BTW the new canopy moulding is utter pants.

Trevor

[Col.]

Taking another look at the wing photos I agree with you Trevor. Was considering using the bottom part of the c kit wing modified to accept the older upper wings & tips with the new mould cannon bulges. Regardless of whatever method is used there will be a bit of cutting & a rescribe required.

[The wooksta V2.0]

The Airfix Mk IXc wing will fit the older Vb kit. Done it twice. Alternately, the engine cowling from the Airfix mk Ia/Vb kits will fit the newer IX fuselage. I have one part started somewhere.

Depending on the boxing, the Vc kit will have both old and new canopies and the arrestor hook from the Club Seafire boxing, plus far better decals. The Hornby boxes might do, any produced by Heller probably don't.

[mike romeo]

Col,

Ah, marvellous: more Seafires!

regards,

Martin

[Col.]

Arrived home from work to find a Spitfire Vc kit waiting for me. Box cracked open & sure enough its contents are as you describe Wooksta. All the new wing parts as well as two canopies & the hook parts. The hook looks as if it'd be more at home on a pirate's hand but never mind.

Hope to get the Vc/IIc cockpit up to the same point as the Vb/Ib kit this evening then look to see what I can do with the wing parts next. Best make that a big bucket of popcorn Martin, we could be here a while.

[Natter]

Uh-oh. Col's off on his Seafires again. Ah well, I shall have to admit I am going to be watching these too.

Good luck Col.

[Col.]

Cheers Dave, hope to keep updates a bit more regular on these two, thought I'd posted a photo of the Seafire stash to prove how bad this is getting but can't see it now. Perhaps as well.

[Miggers]

Here we go again,wey-hey.

As the boys say,that Airfix c wing is a horror,pinch the bits you need from it

(bulges and the L.E twin casting block for the barrels)then give the rest to the cat

to play with and yes,the IX's c wing fits nicely too.

Are you ok for those 'orrybule c wings mate?,I have one in a Vb/Vc box you can have

(and it's cannon barrels),hell,I've even got a PR bowser wing if you wanted a PR.Seafire "whiffer".

I bashed an Airfix Vb into the good old "clipped,clapped and cropped"EP120,so the Vc bits

are spare.

[Col.]

Ha ha, cheers Miggers, I may take you up on the offer of that PR wing sometime soon thank you.

Currently playing with various bits of b & c wing to see what I can make from them thanks. What on earth were Airfix thinking off when they tooled up the latter!?! From the front it looks more like a Hurricane wing. From the back it looks more like the front should. Thankfully standards have improved lately.

By the way, EP120, always loved the way she looked. Another one lurking in the margins of the great 'to-do' list.

[Miggers]

And apparently it was tooled up by Trumpeter or someone like too!!.

Go with the Revell's Vb for EP120 decals chum,they're pretty good.

[Col.]

Had a go at mixing wing parts to get a better IIc than the new moulded bit provide. Used the lower c-type wing part modified to accept the upper b-type part that was in turn modified to take the larger of the two optional bulges.

Here's that photo I meant to post of the Seafire stash. Can you guess what type some will become?

Edited May 23, 2013 by Col.

[Val]

beautiful stash full of spitfires!!

[Miggers]

beautiful stash full of spitfires!!

Specsavers for you Val my lad ,six of them ten "Spitfires" are Seafires

[The wooksta V2.0]

Neat little stash. Looking forward to seeing these done.

[Col.]

Thanks lads & if truth be told there are 11 in that stash photo because the Airfix Seafire 46/47 box also contains a Spitfire 22/24 kit. Aside from that pile there is also 72nd scale Tamiya Mk.1, Airfix Mk.22 &, as of today, a Sword Seafire XV. Could be a while before they are all done!

The ICM Mk.IX is to become a PR.XI with wings from the PR.XIX. The Seafire XVs, II & III stay that way. The Spitfire Vb is on its way to become a Seafire Ib along with a Vc that becomes a IIc & those are the subjects of this thread. The PR.XIX gives its fuselage to become a Seafire 45 with wings from a 46/47 kit. The XII may become a Seafire III with assistance of the ICM engine. The XVII stays as is & the 46/47 becomes a 47 while its box-mate 22/24 will likely be a 603 sqn 22.

In the meantime I've been working on the Ib & IIc wings. Lots of filler involved in tonights episode.

[Val]

Specsavers for you Val my lad ,six of them ten "Spitfires" are Seafires

Haha yeah true that! I mean they're very similar and equally as beautiful beasts! Can't have too many spitfire/seafires in a collection!