Vol 2 All the Spitfire questions here

[CplPunishment]

On 10/16/2022 at 11:02 AM, Graham Boak said:

The term "dope" was commonly applied to the cellulose-based paints that were common in the 1930s, because of the smell.  Cellulose dope was used to tighten the fabric, and the primer then the paints were applied on top of this.  The later paints which replaced the cellulose ones on metal surfaces from the late 1930s had no tightening effect on fabric, which retained the cellulose-based paints.  

 

I've tried mixing white or grey pigments to silvers but never found a convincing effect.  Perhaps I need to try some more.

Graham, I used Tamiya lacquer paints,  specifically LP11 for the base silver, which seems to be a very smooth and impressive silver, with a touch of White. A little off topic perhaps, but the results can be seen on my Meteor...

 

 

[Graham Boak]

Nice effect.  Must try it again.

+

 

[Vlad]

Do Mk.VIII Spitfires not have the radio aerial wire going from the mast to the top of the tail?

[Magpie22]

6 hours ago, Vlad said:

Do Mk.VIII Spitfires not have the radio aerial wire going from the mast to the top of the tail?

No antenna wire on Mk.VIII Spits. The VHF antenna is in the aerial mast. 

Peter M

[Vlad]

8 hours ago, Magpie22 said:

No antenna wire on Mk.VIII Spits. The VHF antenna is in the aerial mast. 

Peter M

 

Oh phew 😆 I was going mad trying to find pictures showing where to attach it, but I guess that's one less fiddly job to do on my build.

[FinnAndersen]

2 hours ago, Vlad said:

 

Oh phew 😆 I was going mad trying to find pictures showing where to attach it, but I guess that's one less fiddly job to do on my build.

Actually, there was a triangular piece on the top of the mast for the HF aerial. If thats missing, you would have the VHF radio without external wire.

 

no rule without exception, at the time of changeover, planes could have the piece, but no aerial

 

HTH  Finn

[Magpie22]

As you say Finn, no rule without exception. My reply was brief, as I had some earlier correspondence with Vlad, and I was pretty sure that he was building an operational RAAF MK.VIII.

 

There was at least one RAAF Spitfire Mk.VIII fitted with the HF antenna wire running from the aerial mast to the top of the rudder. This A/C was used as an escort for Spitfires undertaking the long flight from the south of Australia to the airfields in northern Australia and New Guinea. RAAF Spitfires were only fitted with VHF radio and could not communicate with long-range escort A/C, such as Hudsons, Venturas, etc., that were providing navigation guidance and weather watch. Relying on keeping the escort A/C in sight was fraught with danger for the Spitfires if bad weather was encounted. Therefore, A58-315 was specially modified for the Special Duties Flight of No. 1 Aircraft Depot to provide a fast leader and, It was fitted with HF radio so the pilot could communicate with bases along the route for weather updates as well as other escort A/C.

 

The triangular piece on top of the mast, that you mentioned Finn, can be seen on A58-315, as well as the tensioning fitting atop the rudder. Two of the standard Spitfire VIII A/C of the flight being escorted can be seen in the background.

 

Peter M

 

 

[Biggles87]

A58-315 looks like it’s had a heavy covering of Flory wash that hasn’t been rubbed off!

 

John. 😜

[FinnAndersen]

Re A58-315 and the other Spitfires in @Magpie22 post:

 

This is for the dedicated nit-pickers: Note the difference in the serial "font" on -315 and the other two.  All talk of a common "font" must be silenced now 🙂

 

/Finn

[Magpie22]

15 hours ago, FinnAndersen said:

Re A58-315 and the other Spitfires in @Magpie22 post:

 

This is for the dedicated nit-pickers: Note the difference in the serial "font" on -315 and the other two.  All talk of a common "font" must be silenced now 🙂

 

/Finn

 

Yes, and applied by the same unit!  All those aircraft were erected by, and had threir stores numbers appled by, No.1 Aircraft Depot. RAAF aircraft were not given serial numbers in the manner of RAF aircarft but, rather, stores identification numbers. 'A' stood for aircraft, '58' for the type of aircraft and, '315' was the individual item.

 

A58-315, (JF934), was in the first batch of 19 Mk.VIII Spitfires received in October 1943. She went to No. 1 AD where she was erected, given a quick coat of Foliage Green over her Middle Stone, and had her RAAF stores number applied She then went straight to the Special duties Flight of No. 1 AD, where she served until 1946. (SDF later became No.1 Aircraft Performance Unit)

 

A58-395, (JG377), and A58-405,(JG467), were received in February 1944. Both were assembled at No.1 AD and repainted in Foliage Green over Sky Blue and had their RAAF stores number applied. As noted by Finn, the style of lettering used in the stores number had changed by then.

 

The photo above was taken in April 1944 when A58-315 was escort to a flight of Spitfires flying from Melbourne to Lawnton and Strathpine, near Brisbane, to form the initial equipment of the recenttly arrived RAF squadrons 548 and 549. This was a relatively short hop for the RAAF ferry pilots. Although A58-395 and A58-405 were fresh from the paint shop, A58-315 had spent an eventful five months of test flying from Laverton near Melbourne and had spent much of her time parked outside in a hot Melbourne summer. This accounts for her 'Flory wash' appearance, noted by @Biggles87.

 

Peter M

 

PS. Reminds me of the time I was approached by a decal manufacturer who wanted me to give him the size and shape for generic Sky Blue code letters for the RAAF Spitfire squadrons. When I explained that each squadron had its own unique style, several squadrons changed this at least once and, that it would require in the order of 10 to 12 sheets to cover all the squadrons he lost interest. Can't understand why. 🙄

 

[PhantomBigStu]

So the old frog XIV, I have one of the way for the v1 with it, is there a salvageable spitfire with spares and work?

[Giorgio N]

24 minutes ago, PhantomBigStu said:

So the old frog XIV, I have one of the way for the v1 with it, is there a salvageable spitfire with spares and work?

 

The whole area where the trailing edge of the wing meets the fuselage is totally wrong. This is very visible and requires a lot of work. The canopy is also narrower than the hole it's supposed to cover (at least it was like that in my copy).

[PhantomBigStu]

17 minutes ago, Giorgio N said:

 

The whole area where the trailing edge of the wing meets the fuselage is totally wrong. This is very visible and requires a lot of work. The canopy is also narrower than the hole it's supposed to cover (at least it was like that in my copy).

Cheers, paint mule it is then 

[PhantomBigStu]

On 11/8/2022 at 10:47 PM, PhantomBigStu said:

Cheers, paint mule it is then 

Its arrived, can see that trialling edge needs some work but doesn’t look major issue, though kit canopy is totally unusable, maybe it can be more than a paint mule 

[Johnson]

The Spitfire Site - Gone??

 

This isn't a question so much about Spitfires, but about 'The Spitfire Site', a website (http://spitfiresite.com/) that seems to have disappeared. It was a great source of information. Anyone know what's happened to it?

 

(If I'm posting the wrong question here, or it's in the wrong place, profuse apologies! I'll get it moved or deleted).

 

Thanks,

[HOUSTON]

Looks like its gone into liquidation possibly!!

 

 

The Spitfire Society
https://www.spitfiresociety.org/

 

 

The Spitfire Club
https://www.spitfireclub.co.uk/

 

Hope this helps. 

 

HOUSTON.

Edited December 10, 2022 by HOUSTON

[Troy Smith]

7 hours ago, Johnson said:

This isn't a question so much about Spitfires, but about 'The Spitfire Site', a website (http://spitfiresite.com/) that seems to have disappeared. It was a great source of information. Anyone know what's happened to it?

 

it's been up and down before, but it's possible to access some of it via the wayback machine

https://web.archive.org/web/20220308035904mp_/http://spitfiresite.com/

 

HTH

[Johnson]

Thanks Troy. Be a great shame if it disappeared completely.

 

Cheers,

[PhantomBigStu]

Decided to dig out my failed spitfire box and have a question, have here a sword xiv I've attempted to shorten the nose on to make a XII and a spare IX fuselage. 

I have 3 options

1. Carry on as is using the XIV fuselage 

2. Graft it onto the IX and throw the rest of the sword away 

3 Try and repair it back to a XIV nose and build it as an XIV and try and graft a spare frog fuselage nose onto the IX and throw the rest of the frog fuselage away. 

4. Buy the brigade conversion from Hannants and fix the xiv

Which would be better?

 

And 5th what are the bulges on the frog wing? 

 

Edited December 27, 2022 by PhantomBigStu

[Troy Smith]

On 27/12/2022 at 14:12, PhantomBigStu said:

And 5th what are the bulges on the frog wing? 

the look like the pump bulges for a PR wing. 

[FinnAndersen]

On 27/12/2022 at 15:12, PhantomBigStu said:

Decided to dig out my failed spitfire box and have a question, have here a sword xiv I've attempted to shorten the nose on to make a XII and a spare IX fuselage. 

 

I have 3 options

1. Carry on as is using the XIV fuselage 

2. Graft it onto the IX and throw the rest of the sword away 

3 Try and repair it back to a XIV nose and build it as an XIV and try and graft a spare frog fuselage nose onto the IX and throw the rest of the frog fuselage away. 

4. Buy the brigade conversion from Hannants and fix the xiv

Which would be better?

 

And 5th what are the bulges on the frog wing? 

 

 

Assuming we are in 1/72, IMHO you should choose option 2 or 3. The Sword is not an easy kit to assemble. I've had some issues attaching the wing to the fuselage and ended up with 2/3 filler and 1/3 kit in that area. There is also a problem with the canopy and the fuselage width. Consider using a different base kit for the Griffon nose. I've tried the Brigade XII fuselage and it's crude.

 

/Finn

[zigster]

Going back to that "cartridge container" in front of a Spit seat.

Does anyone knows, how it supposed to work?

Those holes are more like 6 pounder ammo size (or a 6pac of your fav beer).

As far, as I know, 1-1/2 inch was the biggest size of Very pistol used by RAF.

Or I am missing something?

z

 

[FinnAndersen]

39 minutes ago, zigster said:

Going back to that "cartridge container" in front of a Spit seat.

Does anyone knows, how it supposed to work?

Those holes are more like 6 pounder ammo size (or a 6pac of your fav beer).

As far, as I know, 1-1/2 inch was the biggest size of Very pistol used by RAF.

Or I am missing something?

z

 

Was the container meant for Coffman starter cartridges?

[Work In Progress]

No. The pilot's notes, for example these

https://stephentaylorhistorian.files.wordpress.com/2020/04/spitfire-va-vb-and-vc.pdf

describe the single, sometimes double, racks on the front edge of the seat as "stowage for signal pistol cartridges"

Edited January 2, 2023 by Work In Progress

[zigster]

Still, it not explain the discrepancy btw cartridge size & the hole in container size.

Maybe a "rubber collar" to steady them in?

Where are all the "experten" on Spitfire???

z