Beard Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 (edited) Of the three Spitfires delivered to Turkey in May 1940, 2 were later taken back into RAF service and used by No.1 Middle East Training School at Abu Sueir in Egypt in 1942. AZ include the decals in their original short-run MkI kit and the camouflauge scheme, of Middle Earth/ Dark Stone over Blue (Azure, Light Med or Med - I'm not sure which) is striking as MkIs are usually DE/DG over Sky (or something else). Having sought advice in the WW2 section here, it seems they even had Vokes filters fitted (even more interesting). The Wooksta suggested using the AZ Spitfire MkI & MkV. Anyway, here's my attempt. I'll be using the AZ MkIILR as it has the same plastic as the 'early' MkI (and a couple of other eight-gun Spitfires as well) and one of these: Here are the sprues: The MkI The MkV We need to see if the MkI wings fit the MkV fuselage: They do. I've made two or three of the AZ MkVs and they go together well but my only attempt at the AZ MkI ended in the airframe being reduced to spares so, I'll need to take it slowly when assembling the wings. I currently have a Mk22 that's nearly finished so this will be started in anger in the next couple of days. (Edited to add information.) Edited July 17, 2016 by Beard 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob85 Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 I'm in Simon, sound another very interesting subject! Never heard of mki's in Egypt. Rob 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyTiger66 Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 I'm in too. I have an AZ Mk 1 (late) in the stash. I'm interested to see how the AZ models go together. The paint scheme sounds great Best regards Tony 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexN Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 Pop! Hello Beard, one the Mk V sprues (runners?) has a Vokes filter, I see. Excellent! Cheers, Alex. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 I'll be a-watching of this. It sure makes for a different & interesting variation. Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beard Posted July 17, 2016 Author Share Posted July 17, 2016 I'm in Simon, sound another very interesting subject! Never heard of mki's in Egypt. Rob Welcome aboard, Rob. I'm in too. I have an AZ Mk 1 (late) in the stash. I'm interested to see how the AZ models go together. The paint scheme sounds great Best regards Tony Thanks Tony. The AZ Spitfire V series go together fairly well; the Spitfire I less so. I'm only using the wings and know the potential pitfalls. Pop! Hello Beard, one the Mk V sprues (runners?) has a Vokes filter, I see. Excellent! Cheers, Alex. That's why I'm using AZ, they're cheaper and more accurate than the Tamiya and, have all the bits I need. I'll be a-watching of this. It sure makes for a different & interesting variation. Steve. Glad to have you along, Steve. There aren't all that many variations of colour scheme on the Spitfire MkI. I've started to assemble the internal stuff and the propellor (it'll be the DH from the AZ MkI). Once they're done, I'll start painting and post some photographs. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beard Posted July 17, 2016 Author Share Posted July 17, 2016 While cutting bits of the sprues (or runners), I decided to see what the fit is like. Not too bad. Mind you, I wouldn't want to have to sit in the seat: 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob85 Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 😬 ouch.... Considering its two kits being used the fit isn't bad at all, that said it will probably need a good clamp and sand down with maybe a smidge of filler here and there... Proper modelling this! Rob 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beard Posted July 17, 2016 Author Share Posted July 17, 2016 Joined the fuselage halves: I've also made a start on the cockpit bits and I've realised that I forgot to paint the bit behind the cockpit that's aluminium. Back to work, after a fortnight's leave, tomorrow and I can't say I'm looking forward to it. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Dapple Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 Looks like this will be an interesting build Simon, and you're off to a good start... You have my sympathy regarding your return to work, I was in the same position a couple of weeks ago. Having a week or two off is great, returning to work afterwards less so. Chin up, after a week you'll feel like you've never been away Cheers, Stew 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beard Posted July 18, 2016 Author Share Posted July 18, 2016 Looks like this will be an interesting build Simon, and you're off to a good start... You have my sympathy regarding your return to work, I was in the same position a couple of weeks ago. Having a week or two off is great, returning to work afterwards less so. Chin up, after a week you'll feel like you've never been away Cheers, Stew Thanks for the words of comfort, Stew, I feel a lot better now.😀 As some-one once said, 'I was looking for a job, then I found a job and heaven knows I'm miserable now'. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Nearly missed this one Simon but I'm in Short run kit problems and the normal chin fit issues which I know you'll master I hope your return to work is not too arduous... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The wooksta V2.0 Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Glad to see my advice came in useful. Even better is that you're able to build another Spitfire with what's left. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Headroom Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Hold fire on he Vokes filter as I'm sure I've seen a photo of one of the two Spits without. I'll check this evening! Trevor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beard Posted July 18, 2016 Author Share Posted July 18, 2016 Nearly missed this one Simon but I'm in Short run kit problems and the normal chin fit issues which I know you'll master I hope your return to work is not too arduous... Glad to have you coming along for the ride, Ced. Sadly my return to work wasn't as bad as I thought, only 159 emails to read and deal with or delete without reading (don't tell anyone I said that). Glad to see my advice came in useful. Even better is that you're able to build another Spitfire with what's left. Thanks, Wooksta (I hope you don't mind the informality but The Wooksta! seems too formal). I think IIb is the obvious choice for the leftovers, I think I even have some spare decals somewhere. Hold fire on he Vokes filter as I'm sure I've seen a photo of one of the two Spits without. I'll check this evening! Trevor Thanks Trevor, I think they didn't have Vokes filters when they first arrived from Turkey but there's a photograph in the thread I mentioned in my opening post (see Post #5) where the one I'm trying to do has the filter. More photographs are always good though, especially as I'm too lazy to search for the relevant codes. While you're checking though, perhaps you could suggest what kind of propellor it had? I think they would have had DH but I ain't so sure it's not a Rotol. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beard Posted July 18, 2016 Author Share Posted July 18, 2016 A little progress today... I've painted the inside of the undercarriage and glued the wings together (after a fair amount if scraping). AZ model the MkVI intake (the long one) and the coffman starter bulge (for the MkII) on the cowling so they need to be removed for a MkI. Also, did some work on the cockpit. I decided that the Turkish MkIs would have had metal seats and that they weren't replaced when taken into RAF service. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Headroom Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Still rummaging in my 'library' but no luck yet so I'll keep looking. Maddening thing is I can see the photo in my memory. My instinct tells me that the prop was the shirt pointy De Havilland type but of course I need that photo to back it up.... Stay tuned. Trevor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beard Posted July 18, 2016 Author Share Posted July 18, 2016 Thanks Trevor. I've gone with the de Havilland prop, hopefully your photo will back me up and, no pressure but I'm nearly at the stage of attaching the wings to the fuselage...😊 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Nice seat and harnesses Simon, looking good. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Headroom Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 Hi Bead Here is the evidence you need! Air International February 1985 Picture reproduced for discussion purposes only and will be removed if requested by the copyright holder. So then what is the colour under the nose?! I had clocked that the serial was shunted towards the tail but have just noticed that this was probably because the roundel is in an unusual position too. Was this merely an overpaint of the Turkish red square? Trevor 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The wooksta V2.0 Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 Doesn't look like the Turkish square was overpainted but then again, that photo is supposedly from 1943 so it could have had several repaints by then. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beard Posted July 19, 2016 Author Share Posted July 19, 2016 Trevor, Thanks for posting that photo. I'm not going to fall in to the trap of trying to interpret colours in a black & white photo (for the record, it looks black) and I suspose that the roundel may have been painted in a non-standard position because it was painted by the unit that flew it rather than at the factory or a MU (just a wild guess). I've just had a good trawl through Spitfire - The History and there's not a lot of information about the two (not three) Spitfires supplied to Turkey in June 1940 apart from a couple of photos of an aircraft (with an impressed aircraft serial). I'm going to go with the Vokes filter, as per Tony O'T's photo in the WW2 thread, partly because I like the look of it (even if it makes this more of a WIF) and I'll PM him later for a bit more info (unless he pops into this one). 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beard Posted July 21, 2016 Author Share Posted July 21, 2016 I've been working on the cockpit. Here's the control column that AZ provide with their MkI. Here's the one they provide with the MkIb/ IIb/ Vb/ VI. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Dapple Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Good gods, there really is quite a difference between the moulding of their older and newer kits, isn't there? Cheers, Stew 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Not the best of mouldings is it? A bit of cleanup, paint and the rose-tinted glasses and it'll look fine? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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