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Started pics a bit late,.......new 1/32nd Revell Spitfire Mk.IX- Converted into a Mk.VIII


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Tony it may be the angles of the images, but I think you have Installed the Graymatter doors backwards, which means the mounting point for the wheel may be incorrect as manufactured?

 

Cheers,

 

Ken

 

Ps love the change of direction to RAAF - keep it going please....

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The only problem with RAAF MK VIIIs is that there are so many good schemes to choose from. I have the Eduard Aussie Eight box with decals for about 12 aircraft  and only two kits!

At first glance the tail wheel doors do look odd, but as the hole for the tailwheel is at the front they must be correct.

Your build speed rivals that of Ced.

 

John

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Glad to see you're converting this into an VIII Tony, it's my same plan and I'll sure look with attention at your work. This kit is very tempting

One small detail I've not seen mentioned: the VIII (and the VII) also had fuel tanks in the wing leading edges. To reproduce these you just need to scribe the outlines of the tanks on the upper and lower wing leading edges and scribe the refuelling points. This of course if you want 100% accuracy, it's the least visible detail of the VIII and even if you skip this your model will still look like an VIII

 

Forgot to add: I have the same decal sheet and found that the best way to reproduce the RAAF roundels was just to cut circles of the right diameter from dark blue and white Tauromodel solid decal sheets

Edited by Giorgio N
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It looks a great deal better than the II. Have they fixed the erroneous chubbiness of the fuselage on the II? It looks like it from your shots. Also, what do you think of the dihedral? The Revell publicity shot made it look a bit flat.

 

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Thanks for your really helpful comments folks,........I did some head scratching myself with the Grey Matter tail wheel doors but as Bob`s excellent drawing above shows the wheel fits in the front and the bulge in the doors it towards the rear,....... I had to whittle the resin somewhat to fit as you can probably tell. There is something of an optical illusion regarding the shape of the doors too.

 

Giorgio,.... thanks for reminding me about the wing tanks, I`ll have a go at scribing them today;

Related image

 

Image result for spitfire viii wing tanks

Image result for spitfire viii wing tanks

Image result for spitfire viii wing tanks

 

I still cannot decide whether to build the model in an RAAF or RAF SEACscheme, nor which ones to choose!

Cheers

          Tony

 

Edited by tonyot
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Hi,

 

Just seen this thread.

 

Thank you so much for posting, I've been looking for ANYTHING on this kit & you're the only one who has added anything upto now.

The kit looks a lot like the MkII from what I can see which isn't really a bad thing.

 

I am thinking of using one to convert to a Mk XIV which is done by Roy Brown (Iroybrownmodels on Ebay) as he uses the MkII as a basis (& I really don't fancy cutting up a Tamiya kit!).

 

Is there a chance of you adding some pics of the decals/ colour instructions included in the kit please?

 

Oh btw, loving the work, it looks AWESOME!!!!!

 

Peter.

 

P.S.

 

Tony, 

 

I'm half way through the Fly Hurricane MkIIc, don't wait for Revell you gotta try one they're fab!! 

Just be careful in the fit of the cockpit..... check, check & check again! 

It's much better than I read about 

 

 

 

 

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11 hours ago, tonyot said:

Thanks for your really helpful comments folks,........I did some head scratching myself with the Grey Matter tail wheel doors but as Bob`s excellent drawing above shows the wheel fits in the front and the bulge in the doors it towards the rear,....... I had to whittle the resin somewhat to fit as you can probably tell. There is something of an optical illusion regarding the shape of the doors too.

 

Giorgio,.... thanks for reminding me about the wing tanks, I`ll have a go at scribing them today;

 

 

 

 

 

 

I still cannot decide whether to build the model in an RAAF or RAF SEACscheme, nor which ones to choose!

Cheers

          Tony

 

 

Hi Tony I agree you orientated the conversion the right way, with wheel mount forward and bulge aft, it was just from your photos that the actual doors look molded backwards by Graymatter with the slimmer pointed end forward and wide end aft. Thanks for clearing it up.

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2 hours ago, lpiccec2010 said:

Hi,

 

Just seen this thread.

 

Thank you so much for posting, I've been looking for ANYTHING on this kit & you're the only one who has added anything upto now.

The kit looks a lot like the MkII from what I can see which isn't really a bad thing.

 

I am thinking of using one to convert to a Mk XIV which is done by Roy Brown (Iroybrownmodels on Ebay) as he uses the MkII as a basis (& I really don't fancy cutting up a Tamiya kit!).

 

Is there a chance of you adding some pics of the decals/ colour instructions included in the kit please?

 

Oh btw, loving the work, it looks AWESOME!!!!!

 

Peter.

 

P.S.

 

Tony, 

 

I'm half way through the Fly Hurricane MkIIc, don't wait for Revell you gotta try one they're fab!! 

Just be careful in the fit of the cockpit..... check, check & check again! 

It's much better than I read about 

 

 

 

 

Cheers Peter,.....does this help?;

DSCF9982_zpstqgfl6en.jpg

DSCF9983_zps99uwjjkw.jpg

I have a FLY Hurri, nice aren`t they? I`ve only got as far as assembling the cockpit framework so far. Will you be posting your finished Hurri,....hope so?

 

On with the model;

Having dug out my Barracuda decals out I have now decided upon which aircraft I`m going to replicate,......and yes, you guessed it,.....it is none of the above! I`ve gone for A58-517, UP-F `Have a Go Joe' as this sheet includes the correct black outlined code letters!

Image result for spitfire A58-517, UP-F `Have a Go Joe'

Kagero artwork;

Image result for spitfire A58-517, UP-F `Have a Go Joe'

Barracuda decals;

32008barrapreviewbg_5.jpg32008barrapreviewbg_3.jpg

 

So now that was decided it was time to get some painting done,......but as I`ve been quite sore today I`ve just cracked on with the paintwork, last night I added a couple of coats of MSG to the underisides and today cracked on with the Ocean Grey on top, both using Humbrol acrylics,....now I`m ready to start with the Dark Green tomorrow;

DSCF9985_zps8jbuqd8i.jpg

 

Cheers

          Tony 

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Nice job Tony! Have you also included the downward identification lights in the lower wings? These are visible in the wing plan posted earlier. Also, the downward identification light in the belly needs to be moved back towards the tail for a Mk VIII.

 

If you have scribed the wing tanks, these have filler points - sorry, don't have plans to hand to illustrate.

 

Cheers

 

PR

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26 minutes ago, Peter Roberts said:

Nice job Tony! Have you also included the downward identification lights in the lower wings? These are visible in the wing plan posted earlier. Also, the downward identification light in the belly needs to be moved back towards the tail for a Mk VIII.

 

If you have scribed the wing tanks, these have filler points - sorry, don't have plans to hand to illustrate.

 

Cheers

 

PR

Cheers PR,.....No I have not added any lights under the wing yet, I`ll drill that out and glaze it later and I have not moved the light backwards as I can live with this,...... but I will be marking out the fuel tank filler points later. 

All the best

                       Tony

Edited by tonyot
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Hiya Folks,

                  Glad that you are enjoying my ramblings,...... and that you can see some sense behind them (because I am struggling!)!  

12 hours ago, stevehnz said:

Great thread Tony, wrong scale for me which is why I've not been here before but I'm finding lots of good info just as applicable to any other scale. :thumbsup:

Steve.

Always glad to have you aboard Steve, I really appreciate your views.

 

9 hours ago, Peter Roberts said:

Just had a good look at the pics you posted earlier, and the wing plan re: fuel tanks. Need to find an embarrassed emoji!

 

Loving your work with this kit. 

 

PR

No need to be embarrassed Peter,.....I appreciate constructive criticism mate. 

 

9 hours ago, georgeusa said:

Great work as always. Just wondering though, is there a Spitfire aftermarket decal set you do not possess?

Haha,....George,.....what are you like! Yes I`ve got a few bits and bats snaffled away,..... the retractable tailwheel was intended for a PCM kit.

 

Right,..... got the first coat of Dark Green applied this morning. The spinner is white as it was being pre painted for one of the other subjects that I was `dabbling with but it needs to be repainted. The decal instructions and Aussie Eight book both say that the spinner should be light blue but in the period pics it looks to be darker and it has been described previously as being green,.....so I`m a bit confused as to what to do and seeking devine ntervention,.....otherwise known in Aussie Spitfire circles as Peter Malone! 

DSCF9988_zpsc1zpmk6g.jpg

DSCF9990_zps0kk7dffj.jpg

I`ve also started to pre painted the undercarriage legs, wing flaps, radiator doors etc and also the cockpit armour plating and Barracuda resin seat. Speaking of the armour plating, the triangular plate behind the pilots seat is provided with a padded headrest but this was not fitted to most late Spitfires so it was removed, the mounting lug was removed and sanded flat too.

Hopefully I`ll get a few more coats of green on today and then it is time to tackle the weathered white trim,......rattle can white may be the answer here! I`ll be adding the RAF fin flashes before I do so as these can be made out underneath the white which is especially worn away on the tailplane where groundcrew had sat while the aircraft was being ground run.

Cheers for now,

                       Tony

Cheers

          Tony

Edited by tonyot
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The armoured back plate is not hard to make, rather simple actually. Funny they did not include it. Seeing everyone else has done war time Mk IX it probably why Revell did post war wings with the bugle for the bigger tires. Sanding it off is easier then trying to replicate or find an aftermarket part. Other variants coming? Mk XVI perhaps?

 

 

 

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Just noticed the instructions you posted....CRAP! l just order that silver spitfire decals for the one that is coming and l didn't need them...Oh well. l have to check my references but l am pretty sure the wheel well bulge is not present on that particular plane

 

 

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I`ve just posted a few underside pics to help with reference for the Mk.VIII, so thanks for bringing up the downwards pointing lights Peter, I`ll be adding a slipper tank from the Tamiya kit to my model but the kit light can still can be seen, so I`ll tackle this after I`ve removed the masking for the paint job.;

457SqnSpitfireMkVIII002.jpg

Image result for spitfire viii UNDERSIDE

Image result for spitfire viii UNDERSIDE

 

I`m still trying to confirm whether there were two wing lights or just the one,..... so I`ll be checking some more books after watching Auf Wiedershen Pet! 

Cheers

          Tony

 

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Another update;

                         A few more coats of Dark Green have been applied and the painted out areas of roundel, serial and the Sky fuselage band have been replicated using Pollyscale Extra Dark Sea Grey and Pactra Dark Green. The area for the yellow leading edges has been masked off ready to apply Humbrol Trainer Yellow and then I`ll add the weathered white tailplane and wing leading edges,...... hopefully I`ll manage to weather them OK  but we`ll cross that bridge when I get to it! 

DSCF9993_zpspl3hq9nz.jpg

DSCF9995_zps62lyulev.jpg

Cheers

           Tony

 

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I like your choice, one of my (1/48 ) MK VIIIs will definitely have a white tail.

I have the Neil Robonson's Spitfire Special at home which has a section on Aussi Spitfires, so when I return in a couple of days I'll have a look to see if there's anything helpful.

Lookig forward to the weathering.

 

John

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Hi Tony

 

Two downward lights under wings, one each side. You can just make them out on the Tamiya instructions, outboard of the roundels.

 

You're inspiring me to start my Tamiya kit, great work, really looks the part!

 

PR

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Pretty sure green is the consensus of opinion for the spinner, Tony, but Pete M is the expert here, as you suggest. I thought I had access to info to confirm for you; I'm sure there was a post about this plane, but my Google foo is letting me down and I'm away from home just now. May be a post on Aussie Modeller (Pete visits there too, and there are other RAAF a/c experts on board) if you are not in too much of a hurry. :) (Given your build is going so quickly)

 

PR

Edited by Peter Roberts
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