Vol 2 All the Spitfire questions here

[mike romeo]

Chaps,

My dumb question: did the Spitfire FXIVe have long or short ailerons? I am assuming long (why wouldn't it?) but I have been confused by a couple of profiles showing short. Could someone enlighten me?

regards,

Martin

[Edgar]

Actually, I believe that Type Number 359 covered the Mk.VIII in general. Type 360 covered the tropicalization package for the 2-stage Merlin.

The bubble-canopy fuselage drawing is 35927, and, although I only have a couple, the cut-down fuselage formers are also in the 359-- range.

[Giorgio N]

Chaps,

My dumb question: did the Spitfire FXIVe have long or short ailerons? I am assuming long (why wouldn't it?) but I have been confused by a couple of profiles showing short. Could someone enlighten me?

regards,

Martin

The XIV had short ailerons

[gingerbob]

... and the reason it has short ailerons is that it derived from the VIII, which also had short ailerons. The PR.XIX, on the other hand, had long ailerons because it adapted the PR wing to suit, rather than "making a PR wing out of the Mk.XIV wing".

Edgar, I don't doubt that the low-back TI was under Type Number 359 (it being a Mk.VIII), my point is that this type number is not specific to the low back, which is what you seemed to imply.

bob

Edited March 12, 2015 by gingerbob

[mike romeo]

The XIV had short ailerons

Yay! You've made an old man very happy! Ta.

regards,

Martin

[Garethster]

Airwaves made a very nice rudder in 1/48: Airwaves SC48093 Mk.XVIII rudder

Falcon had a complete model i 1/48 -- vac form

and

Aeroclub made the fuselage: Aeroclub ABK48834 Spitfire F (FR) Mk14e or Spitfire FR MK18

Extradecals have some more recent decals:

Xtradecal X48127 Supermarine Spitfire Mk.XIVE/ Mk.XVIII

Xtradecals X48130 Supermarine Spitfire Mk.XIV/Mk.XVIII part. 2

The Falcon set is still available:

http://www.modelcraftsandhobbies.co.nz/?page=shop/flypage&product_id=4587&category_id=9af73185b6d041271e523be77a1756ac&

I forgot to say that if you would try a larger scale, Grey Matter has a conversion set in 1/32, based on the old Hasegawa Mk. V or the new Revell i/II

http://www.greymatterfigures.com/index.php?p=2&id=63

NPL is correct. This info is all for 1/48th, I don't 'do' i 1/72, others could advise.Unfortunately both the Aeroclub and Airwaves bits are OOP. when you get to 100 posts you could ask in the wanted section. A conversion using a an Airfix Spitfire 22/24 fuselage, with an E wing, with a cutdown fin, is possible, but reuires some work on the ruddersee here for 'recipes'http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234936590-theres-more-than-one-way-to-skin-a-cat/ The falcon vac is supposed to very well shaped, but is old school vac, raised panel lines and no details parts, http://www.modelingmadness.com/review/allies/gb/cleaverspit18.htm Not a problem if you have a well stocked selection of Spitfire spares, and you can deal with a vacform, and don't mind raised panel lines. I'd be more inclined to got with the cross kit option, as you could get an Airfix Spit 22/24 and say, an ICM IX (these can be got really cheap these days, eg £7 and post on the sale pages here) for the cost of getting a Falcon vac from NZ and sourcing some spares. Academy do a lowback XIV kit, but it's has serious shape errors, bulbous nose/spinner, thick wing.. Displayed on it's own it doesn't look too bad, put next to an accurate kit is looks bloated. HTHT

Gentlemen, thanks for providing this very useful information. I'm surprised that the plastic kit manus have not really covered these higher marks well. My skill levels will have to improve dramatically before I could approach the level of competence demonstrated by Enzo Matrix. So for now I'll see if I can track down the AZ Models offering. :--)

P.S Forgot to include Giorgio N in the multi quote above. Thanks Giorgio.

Edited March 12, 2015 by Garethster

[NPL]

Gentlemen, thanks for providing this very useful information. I'm surprised that the plastic kit manus have not really covered these higher marks well. My skill levels will have to improve dramatically before I could approach the level of competence demonstrated by Enzo Matrix. So for now I'll see if I can track down the AZ Models offering. :--)

P.S Forgot to include Giorgio N in the multi quote above. Thanks Giorgio.

But maybe if enough ask Hannants to reenter the Mk.XVIII rudder, they will eventually --one day-- succeed! After all, they have made three of Airwaves conversions to Recce Spits available.

[Sky Pilot]

Could someone please tell me what colour / colours should the Spitfire Mk V gunsight be painted.

TIA

[Edgar]

Part 1 locked itself before my problems with Photobucket were resolved; this is the earliest Sutton, as fitted to the Spitfire (Kew holds a 1:1 drawing.) All that changed, during its use on the Spitfire were the length of the straps, and the position of the thigh straps:-

Could someone please tell me what colour / colours should the Spitfire Mk V gunsight be painted

Although this one looks grey, it's actually faded black, which is what yours should be; note that this a slightly later version, since the first ones had oval sight glasses.

Edited March 14, 2015 by Edgar

[Sky Pilot]

Edgar

Yet Again, many thanks.

John

[Séan Pádraig]

Gentlemen....

I'm not sure if this is the correct place to ask but can anyone confirm if a PE cockpit set for a Spitfire Mk.Vb would be suitable to use if the kit aircraft is a Seafire Mk.III

Cheers in advance

Edited March 14, 2015 by Séan Pádraig

[Edgar]

Almost; there's an extra (arrestor hook) warning light next to the elevator trim tabs position indicator on the instrument panel, and an air intake control (also on the tropical Spitfire) under the throttle box on the port wall.

On the starboard wall, the remote contactor is deleted and replaced by a remote control wave tuner, with a T.R.1196 morsing key below that, resting on the main longeron.

There's an extra (R.1147) controller above the emergency u/c lowering control and an R.1147/R.T. switch above that.

There's a release control, for the arrestor hook beside the right side of the seat, and a Very pistol "holster" would be attached to the seat beside the pilot's right elbow.

The seat also has the double rack of cartridge stowage on the front of the seat, but with the middle of the front row cut out, leaving just three each side.

[Mitch K]

Edgar, post#34 is a gem! Many thanks for sharing this.

[modelglue]

Hey guys,

Can someone please tell me if the Spitfire Mk. XVIe fuselage was unique to that model, or was the design shared with a Seafire maybe? I am trying to identify a way to model the XVIe without using the AZ Models 1/72 kit. It seems it is elusive and I will kitbash one if a duplicate fuselage is handy in another kit version.

Thanks!

[Graham Boak]

The fuselage, excepting engine, was the same as any other Spitfire. There's always the Sword kit, or indeed a number of possible routes using a Mk.IX kit, unless you mean a bubble-hood Mk.XVIe. In which case there is the elderly Heller. There was no Seafire variant with the two superchargers of the Merlin 60-series engine.

[modelglue]

Yes, thank you Graham, I was talking the low back or bubble hood variant. I should have been more specific, I suppose the tail difference was the main anomaly I was spotting in my image and profile comparisons.

Cutting down the IX fuselage might be my last hope, I have a Fujimi XIV low back/bubble hood with the ready insert to use as a basis.

Thanks for the quick response!

[gingerbob]

Yes, either cut down a standard IX (etc) fuselage, or take the low-back fuselage of your choice and change nose/tail as necessary. I'm not a 1/72 follower (in general), so can't offer more specific recommendations.

bob

[Séan Pádraig]

Almost; there's an extra (arrestor hook) warning light next to the elevator trim tabs position indicator on the instrument panel, and an air intake control (also on the tropical Spitfire) under the throttle box on the port wall.

On the starboard wall, the remote contactor is deleted and replaced by a remote control wave tuner, with a T.R.1196 morsing key below that, resting on the main longeron.

There's an extra (R.1147) controller above the emergency u/c lowering control and an R.1147/R.T. switch above that.

There's a release control, for the arrestor hook beside the right side of the seat, and a Very pistol "holster" would be attached to the seat beside the pilot's right elbow.

The seat also has the double rack of cartridge stowage on the front of the seat, but with the middle of the front row cut out, leaving just three each side.

Cheers Edgar.

[Michael louey]

Yes, thank you Graham, I was talking the low back or bubble hood variant. I should have been more specific, I suppose the tail difference was the main anomaly I was spotting in my image and profile comparisons.

Cutting down the IX fuselage might be my last hope, I have a Fujimi XIV low back/bubble hood with the ready insert to use as a basis.

Thanks for the quick response!

Hi,

Is this the 'elusive' kit you're searching for?

http://www.showcasemodelsaustralia.com.au/product/172-spitfire-lf-mk-xvie-in-international-services

Just noticed - This is a Sword kit, not AZ - not sure which one is better.

Cheers

Michael

Edited March 16, 2015 by Michael louey

[Giorgio N]

1/72 Spitfire XVI low back: both the AZ and the Sword Spit XVI are available, it's simply a matter of finding one in stock but shouldn't be too difficult.Both are good kits.

Failing that, the Heller kit is easy to find for very little money. This requires some correction (radiators too deep mainly) but is a nice kit for its age.

Of course it's possible to convert other existing kits as the low back fuselage was common with other variants. The best option would be a Spitfire XIV kit as a low back Seafire (like the XVII) would lack the parts for the "e" wing. A Seafire XVII would also have a different windscreen. Engine cowling and radiators would have to be replaced and the tail reworked.

An alternative would be a cross-kitting job with say the Airfix Spitfire IX and the 22: 22 fuselage, IX wings (reworked), tail and cowlings. I say use the airfix kits as any other Mk.22 would be another Czech short-run...

Or maybe even better, modify a Mk. IX of choice. You would only need to add a canopy and there are several available in vacforms.

Now crosskitting may be fun, however at the end the cost of the two kits would comparable to the cost of a single Sword XVI (that is the more expensive of the two Czech offerings). Modifying a Mk.IX would be cheaper... but I wonder, since there are easily available kits of the variant, is it really worth going through all these complications?

[modelglue]

Thanks for the pointers. Now there is one more retailer to look at when I need a spitfire fix. I ended up accidentaly finding one through Rob of west coast hobbies. It is the same kit that Michael has linked to, but on this continent!

I am going to attempt to do an overall pale blue scheme which I saw while perusing eBay. SL721 will be a departure from the camouflage norms on my shelf.

http://www.vintagewings.ca/Portals/0/Vintage_Stories/ArchivedStories/SL72124.jpg

[Sky Pilot]

I have not been able to determine from photographs so, hopefully, someone here can tell me :-

On the Spitfire V radiator housing were the outer surfaces of the flanges attached to the wing flush with the outer surfaces of the wing's skin. On the airfix 1/48 Mk V the flanges fit into recesses in the wing but the flange outer surfaces are not flush with the wing - not without reducing (considerably) the thickness of the flanges. The same problem, if problem it be, applies to the Freightdog "deeper" radiator although I doubt if I will be able to use it - no matter what - it's very badly distorted

[Sky Pilot]

Out of topic I'm afraid but I've tried Help & Support to no avail so I'm trying here.

How does one manage (set and clear) tags.

Advice will be greatly appreciated.

John

[Edgar]

[Sky Pilot]

So the flanges aren't quite flush with the wing surface. Your help is invaluable Edgar. Many thanks.

A picture's worth a thousand words.

Might I ask which a/c is depicted in the photo.