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Vol 2 All the Spitfire questions here


Sean_M

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5 hours ago, Mark said:

Not the radiator faces themselves but the interior walls of the housing.

AFAIK , underside colour. 

Just visible here if you enlarge

11119962003_36af7b3577_b.jpgEngine overhaul   c1943. by Etienne du Plessis, on Flickr

 

 Possibly left original underside colour in case of a repaint,  

 

HTH

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In two minds, planning a NMF IX as per the bbmfs one from a few years back and in two minds, either buying the new eduard 1/72 weekend from Hannants or the AZ Vii from my local. Which should I go for, I know the eduard will be easier to build given my experiences with their IX but it’s a different tooling so maybe it will be different? 

Edited by PhantomBigStu
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15 minutes ago, PhantomBigStu said:

In two minds, planning a NMF IX as per the bbmfs one from a few years back and in two minds, either buying the new eduard 1/72 weekend from Hannants or the AZ Vii from my local. Which should I go for, I know the eduard will be easier to build given my experiences with their IX but it’s a different tooling so maybe it will be different? 

i

If you want a Mk.IX, then I'd go Eduard and nothing else. Just check what subvariant the aircraft you want to build is as Eduard Spitfire kits have different wings depending on this (IXc early, IXc late, IXe).

With the AZ kit you have all parts in the same box, although these are then not as accurate as the ones in the Eduard kits.. if however the one you can find locally is a Mk.VII then at least in theory it should be quite a different variant, with a different canopy and other specific details. Not sure what AZ put in the box though...

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Thats a thought, think the bbmf's one is a MK serial IXc that pretends to be an e sometimes, the latest eduard is clearly an early IX,  so Ill have to shop around see if anywhere has the original weekend edition left, also re the VII if the canopy is an issue Ive spare from the IX kit so maybe that will be the one 

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35 minutes ago, PhantomBigStu said:

Thats a thought, think the bbmf's one is a MK serial IXc that pretends to be an e sometimes, the latest eduard is clearly an early IX,  so Ill have to shop around see if anywhere has the original weekend edition left, also re the VII if the canopy is an issue Ive spare from the IX kit so maybe that will be the one 

 

Well a proper Mk.VII would have not only a different canopy but the fuselage canopy area would be different. However....

If the kit you have available locally is this one:

 

https://www.super-hobby.it/products/Spitfire-Mk.VII-2447180.html

 

Then the fuselage is the same as all other AZ kits, so would work fine for a Mk.IX. The rear part of the canopy on the VII is deeper and AZ correctly shows in the instructions that the corresponding area of the fuselage needs removing. By leaving the fuselage as is you have a Mk,IX fuselage.

I see that the box includes the Aerovee intake that was used on MK356 (that I believe is the aircraft you want to build), so this would be ok.

Where I'm not sure the kit works is in the wings and armament... I can't see in the sprue shots the guns for the E wing configuration and pictures seem to show that MK356 has the E wing. Eduard did issue a specific Spitfire IXe box and that would work perfectly. The current KP kit also allows this configuration (but is IMHO a much worse kit). I'd check properly the armament configuration of MK356 during the time painted in silver to see if you can easily build this from the Mk.VII kit or not.

 

 

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Think I recall reading somewhere in the past that MK356 was actually fitted with an E wing at some point in its history and looking at photos it has the ejector ports of an E, guess I shall look out for an eduard IXe kit (edit looks like its sold out everywhere). And indeed that is the AZ boxing my local has.  Edit2: dug my sword 3:1 spitfire xiv kit out and the e wing can fit on to the AZ IX fuselage, so perhaps the VII will be fine as the wing/fuse arrangement looks identical 

Edited by PhantomBigStu
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Mind, you can still modify a C wing to an E wing. All you need are a set of gun barrels and the relevant bulges on the wing. In the later steel moulds AZ/KP kits there are parts for both, maybe someone who has built an early IX can spare the later bulges and gun fairings to you while if you built an Eduard Mk. IX before you can do what I did here on the Hasegawa kit:

 

 

Alternatively the gun barrel fairings can be bought in brass from Master

One modification the VII wing would need is to fill the panel lines for the leading edge tanks, absent from the Mk.IX. Same with a Mk.XIV wing, as this variant also had these tanks

 

There are other differences, like the position of the rear fuselage light, but as this is probably not even represented in the AZ kit it's easy to modify it. The IX of course did not have the retractable tailwheel of the VII but judging from the sprue shots it's possible to reproduce a fixed tailwheel from the AZ Mk.VII kit

Edited by Giorgio N
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Actually having compared the parts to the sword bits, the isn't a difference with the elevators, so I think I will be picking the AZ VII up tommorow after all. Thanks for again the help Giorgio

 

edit: I have another question after going through my spares, sword kits and abandoned XII conversion, I've noticed that the deeper canopy from the AZ mkVII fits the sword XIV almost perfectly where as the eduard IX canopy is too shallow at the rear so did the high back XIV have a deeper canopy, and did the XII ? @Giorgio N

 

Also, managed to russle up parts to build an XIX from the spares box so thats another fun little future build once I've got a vac canopy, good timing as had decals for another BBMF one deilvered this morning 

5-E3103-A2-3-A97-4183-A843-A7-E8-A4-B20-

Edited by PhantomBigStu
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On 8/15/2022 at 1:10 PM, PhantomBigStu said:

 

edit: I have another question after going through my spares, sword kits and abandoned XII conversion, I've noticed that the deeper canopy from the AZ mkVII fits the sword XIV almost perfectly where as the eduard IX canopy is too shallow at the rear so did the high back XIV have a deeper canopy, and did the XII ? @Giorgio N

 

 

 

 

The Sword XIV rear canopy section is incorrect, an error several Sword Spitfires have (and other kits too). Eduard is correct for a XIV and a XII. The deeper rear canopy section was only on pressurised variants 

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A few other details: the Sword/AZ/KP wings are slightly too short.  I don't know whether this has been corrected in the latest AZ/KP tooling.  fhe difference isn't particularly obvious to the naked eye. but one of those bugging things.

 

The early Spitfire elevators have a single kink at about 45degs for the horn balance.  Later ones have an increased horn balance with an extra kink.  Hence the difference between the two kits.  I don't know just when this was introduced but early 1944 would be a reasonable guess.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I’m cobbling together a MK.III in its last form

 

Frankenspit

 

As a non operational type it should have yellow undersides. Hard to make out, but would it also have its serial underneath too?

 

Trevor

 

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5 hours ago, Max Headroom said:

As a non operational type it should have yellow undersides.

Prototype, yellow undersides.  Note the prop blade tips, compare to the UC door.  

5 hours ago, Max Headroom said:

Hard to make out, but would it also have its serial underneath too?

no.  Pre and post war only as 'buzz numbers'

 

HTH

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 30/08/2022 at 15:33, Troy Smith said:

Prototype, yellow undersides.  Note the prop blade tips, compare to the UC door.  

no.  Pre and post war only as 'buzz numbers'

 

HTH

Just to expand this slightly, training aircraft with yellow undersides had their serial painted under the wings. during WW2, but not prototypes

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On 8/15/2022 at 11:10 AM, PhantomBigStu said:

Actually having compared the parts to the sword bits, the isn't a difference with the elevators, so I think I will be picking the AZ VII up tommorow after all. Thanks for again the help Giorgio

 

edit: I have another question after going through my spares, sword kits and abandoned XII conversion, I've noticed that the deeper canopy from the AZ mkVII fits the sword XIV almost perfectly where as the eduard IX canopy is too shallow at the rear so did the high back XIV have a deeper canopy, and did the XII ? @Giorgio N

 

Also, managed to russle up parts to build an XIX from the spares box so thats another fun little future build once I've got a vac canopy, good timing as had decals for another BBMF one deilvered this morning 

5-E3103-A2-3-A97-4183-A843-A7-E8-A4-B20-

If you are going to model this aircraft, be aware that the serial was RM908.  Aircam No 8 has a couple of pictures of it (alas in a scrapyard).  The correct markings are available on AeroMaster 72-070.  That is if you can find one! 

I'm glad to see that they, correctly, have the 'Leaping Panther' on the port side only: Aeromaster (sometimes called 'errormaster') have it on both sides.  However they did get it right in that the codes do not have a black outline and are entirely angular.

Incidentally, make sure you place the overpainted roundel and hence Panther etc correctly.  The (in this case port) U comes within an inch or so of the edge of the side entry door.  I didn't and so it overlaps it.  Um.....

Roll on a new Spitfire XlV for which this this decal will surely appear either with the kit of separately. 

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4 hours ago, DonM2.0 said:

Gents, on a Mk.1a, specifically X4593 from the BoB time period. When did the cockpit swing down door go from a ring and lanyard to the lever style release? Eduard gives you both in PE.

Ring pull style door latch until end of L10## serial numbers. Lever style from N3### serial numbers onwards. Your X4593 would have the lever style.

Edited by wmcgill
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1 hour ago, wmcgill said:

Ring pull style door latch until end of L10## serial numbers. Lever style from N3### serial numbers onwards. Your X4593 would have the lever style.

 Thank you for that info. I too have an interest there (great question Don). Do you have a source for that by chance?

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3 hours ago, Peter Roberts said:

 Thank you for that info. I too have an interest there (great question Don). Do you have a source for that by chance?

The information (if not the serial numbers) is contained in the Wingleader Spitfire Mk.I book. And backed up by photographic evidence whenever the serial number is known.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I know the short run kits from the likes of AZ/Sword et al often have various spares in the box to cater to multiple variants but do any of the boxing’s have an extra set of wing top parts? I’ve found myself with a spare built fuselage so it be nice to have a wing for it eventually, I have the bottom part in the spares box  

Edited by PhantomBigStu
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