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1/48th Airfix Spitfire Mk.Vb converted to a Mk.Vc with Alley Cat set, Greek Air Force......FINISHED!


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Hiya Folks,

              Another one which I`ll set up now and hopefully get on with shortly is a model that I have been wanting to build for some time,.... so here is the perfect excuse! I have build this conversion before and loved it,..... here is the result of that build;

41439138124_2fed7639a5_k.jpg41 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 

I have always found the Mk.Vc to be the most interesting variant but the hardest to model,..... and some very interesting Mk.Vc`s were flown by the Free Greek Air Force in the MTO. A fantastic set of decal have been released by LM Models, whose e mail address is; 

https://www.lmdecals.gr/index.php/en/1-48-scale-decals/186-royal-hellenic-air-force-spitfire-mkv-greek-lm-48003

 

And here is the artwork featuring the subjects of the sheet ....which is available in 1/72nd and 1/48th scales,..... I ordered both sheets online some a few montha ago and it is hard to choose which one to build first!;

40352725880_2a5cb44363_z.jpgroyal-hellenic-air-force-spitfire-mkv- by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 

So the starting point will be the lovely Airfix Spitfire Mk.Vb;

41439063144_159a5359a2_h.jpga05125_1 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 

With the Alley Cat resin conversion;

42112428902_ded4051041_k.jpgDSCF3410 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

40351965360_e1d710adc4_k.jpgDSCF3409 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 

Cheers for now,

                      Tony

 

Edited by tonyot
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I do like a good conversion Tony, but still quite a bit miffed why we haven’t seen an OOB Vc (in both 1/48 & 1/72) yet from Airfix. 

 

I’ve got at least 12 probable Vc subjects that I’d love to do, but just waiting on a decent and easily obtainable kit to make a start. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

 

 

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8 hours ago, Rabbit Leader said:

I do like a good conversion Tony, but still quite a bit miffed why we haven’t seen an OOB Vc (in both 1/48 & 1/72) yet from Airfix. 

 

I’ve got at least 12 probable Vc subjects that I’d love to do, but just waiting on a decent and easily obtainable kit to make a start. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

 

 

I Think everyone has the same question. 👍

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Cheers Fella`s and I agree,.... we need a mainstream Spitfire Mk.Vc in 1/72nd and 1/48th scales,..... then we can build all of those Aussie Spit`s and those really interesting RAF ones used in the Med and Burma! 

I have dug out the kit to accompany the set now,... which was bought a few years ago for a knock down price from the Airfix website sale,...  and here is a sprue shot too, to show off the excellent detail;

41453034434_3cbf386031_k.jpgDSCF3436_NEW by Tony OToole, on Flickr

41273479105_884c662c48_z.jpgDSCF3437_NEW by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 

I`ll start painting the interior parts on the sprue soon,

 

Cheers

         Tony 

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Hiya Folks,.... I`ve got around to painting the interior parts;

40384789600_d66bc4bc98_k.jpgDSCF3454 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 

I`ve also dug out a 1/72nd scale Airfix Spitfire Mk.I and I`, thinking of converting it into a Mk.Vc using bits from the spares box, in order to model another Greek scheme,.... but we`ll see how this pan`s out!;

28319334778_d22b3f6def_k.jpgDSCF3440 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 40384792280_b8a9666363_k.jpgDSCF3441 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 

Overnight I got the 1/72nd scale model started,.... filled in the inner gun panels and some other panel lines and here is how it looks so far;

42145360372_d1ad4956fe_k.jpgDSCF3447 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

41470806614_86cdf9cae6_k.jpgDSCF3448 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 

The biggest problem will be the windscreen,.... I have some sutable ones but will need to shore the area up below them as the earlier windscreen curved down, where the newer type hada more straight lower ledge.

 

Cheers

         Tony 

Edited by tonyot
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Great choice Tony just found this entry, by co-incidence I'm doing Revell/SH Vc later in the GB so interesting to reference your build.

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Sorry Franz,.... I`ve sneaked in a 1/72nd scale conversion of the Airfix Spitfire I into a Mk.V too,..... here is the 1/48th scale model so far;

 

Fuselage and cockpit complete,.... the lower wing section has been cut down ready to fit the new resin upper wing part. As there was quite a lip towards the rear part, I added a small tab to the resin wing, made from scrap sprue;

40412763570_ccca15f125_k.jpgDSCF3464_NEW by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 

The cut down lower wing centre section in place on the fuselage, showing the surplus outr wing sections and the replacement resin items;

27348831907_d6806ae4ed_k.jpgDSCF3462_NEW by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 

And just to show the fit,.... here is one of the resin wing sections test fitted into place. One of the wings was quite warped towards the rear,.... but it was held under boiled kettle water and bent back to shape;

40412762830_2362a51cb6_k.jpgDSCF3465_NEW by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 

All the best,

                Tony

 

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Hiya Folks,.... I`ve made quite a bit of progress on this one recently but forgot to post the photos!!! 

Here it is after the resin wings were attached,.... with filler applied;

28390239648_7b78b426ed_k.jpgDSCF3501 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

42264021901_d581531287_k.jpgDSCF3502 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 

Then it was sanded and the guns, radiator, oil cooler and belly tank were added;

28390239268_f15578b2ed_k.jpgDSCF3503 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

42264020761_b83bad3684_k.jpgDSCF3504 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 

And I`m well into the painting now,. here is the first coat of Dark Green after application,....... I`ve gone for the sharkmouth,... but I`m still researching which aircraft it was,......I want to replicate the aircraft as it was photographed, at Biferno, Italy in 1944 before it went to Greece,..... but the roundels provided for the scheme were those added much later after the aircraft had been in Greece for a while, circa 1945. Like the Baltimore`s of 13 Sqn RHAF,.... the RAF C1 Type fuselage roundels and fin stripes would have been converted using blue and white Greek colours,.... but with the same proportions. 

42264019651_eddc6d6e68_k.jpgDSCF3508 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 

Cheers

          Tony

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This one is looking the goods too Tony, your flowing hand brush work is very smooth and makes for a pleasing model to view once finished. You must have a very steady hand in order to achieve this sort of precision. I'm particularly interested to see how you modify the 1/72 kit. If I'm not mistaken (but I know I often am), the internal armoured glass was in full production once Vc's started to roll off the production lines and the Airfix Mk.1 kit 1/72 kit has deep cutouts to house the kits correct external armoured windscreen with rounded sloping edges (can't think of better words to explain this!). Actually, If you compare the windscreen cutouts between the 1/48 kit and 1/72 kit you will know what I mean.

 

Either way, I'm watch'n this one as well.

Cheers.. Dave   

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Hiya Folks,

               Well the painting is all but done and a coat of gloss varnish has been applied ready for the decals,..... I still need to add a red section for the shark mouth and maybe a Sky band. The left aileron kept falling off while handling the model,.... so I have left it off until later ;

40495174860_59c2a1fe5e_k.jpgDSCF3523 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

41399791365_e1aa06925a_k.jpgDSCF3524 by Tony OToole, on Flickr 

 

Cheers,

          Tony

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Hiya Folks,.... for those wondering about the little 1/72nd Airfix Spitfire Mk.I being modified into a Mk.Vc,,... here it is so far! The wings have been filled and re scribed, an Aboukir filter and later Rotol prop have been added from a Tamiya kit, bulges for the wing come from the spares box and I have some resin cannons and stubs from an old CMK kit, At the moment I am struggling to find a suitable oil cooler,.... not helped by the fact that one of my spares boxes has vanished!! Re the canopy,....or windscreen to be more exact,.... I was initially going to add plastic card fillers to straighten out the curved lower section,....as per the original aircraft when the later straight edges windscreen was added,.... and using a vacuformed canopy in its place,...... but having test fitted the kit canopy I changed my mind and sanded the windscreen by flatteing the side panels and reducing the external armour,..... I`ll give it a buff up afterwards and see how it looks;

42300911691_411e735488_k.jpgDSCF3515 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

28428405868_5cfb514ebb_k.jpgDSCF3516 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 

Cheers

          Tony

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A much more delicate Spitfire V surgery than my attempt of combining Sword Vc fuselage (and nothing else) with Revell Vb (minus the fuselage) and Airfix Vc (gullwing section and arrestor hook parts) to get a Seafire Ib. :popcorn:plenty of that!

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Lovely work Tony. Enjoying following your progress.

 

Id completely forgotten that Alley Cat do this conversion and as you said at the start of the thread the Vc wore much more varied markings than the Vb. Makes you wonder why kit manufacturers have never gone down this route?

 

James

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Loving these two as well Tony.

The work on the little one is great to see, but now has me thinking - never a good thing during pay-week! 

 

Cheers.. Dave. 

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40 minutes ago, Rabbit Leader said:

Loving these two as well Tony.

The work on the little one is great to see, but now has me thinking - never a good thing during pay-week! 

 

Cheers.. Dave. 

Cheers Dave,

                  I was hoping to make the little Spit with a Vokes filter and make an American shark mouthed aircraft,....but I couldn`t find one to fit,.... so I`m doing it as one of the silver post war Greek aircraft instead. To that effect I have clipped the wings, changed the bulges over the cannon bay and fitted the Aboukir filter,...... the aircraft which I have selected is ER890 which is overall silver and bears the codes CDH with a yellow spinner and 6 stub exhausts,.... it looks like it could be a Mk.Vb to me,.... but it is described as a Mk.Vc by Greek researchers and most other aircraft appear to be Vc`s too with the odd Vb here and there. ...  Here it is before painting begins;

41587331544_0285e82135_k.jpgDSCF3525 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 42308990251_bf6b21b562_k.jpgDSCF3526 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 

The 1/48th model has had the nose painted red ready for the decals to be applied,

 

Cheers

          Tony 

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Geez, you don't muck around with chopping and changing your mind - I reckon I must have married someone a lot like you!! 

What happened to the original large cannon bulges, were they ever cemented on in the first place? 

Im impressed by the way your paying tribute to all/most of the allied nations that took part in this campaign. It's a pleasant change to the staple diet that we often see on all model forums. 

 

Cheers.. Dave. 

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8 hours ago, Rabbit Leader said:

Geez, you don't muck around with chopping and changing your mind - I reckon I must have married someone a lot like you!! 

What happened to the original large cannon bulges, were they ever cemented on in the first place? 

Im impressed by the way your paying tribute to all/most of the allied nations that took part in this campaign. It's a pleasant change to the staple diet that we often see on all model forums. 

 

Cheers.. Dave. 

Haha,..... yeah the original bulges were glued on,....but they were easy to prise off again and after a bit of sanding the new bulges were attached. I do try to represent as many of our Allies who flew under RAF command as possible,...... without the Aussies, Canadian`s, Kiwi`s, South African`s and other Commonwealth countries,.... not to mention the Free European`s such as French, Dutch, Belgian`s, Greeks etc then Great Britain`s contribution to victory would have been far less effective. 

Cheers,

           Tony

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Well said Tony - all it for the common good.  Your builds have inspired me to take a wider look at all allied operations and the MTO theatre has many worthy participants to consider in modelling form. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

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10 hours ago, Rabbit Leader said:

Well said Tony - all it for the common good.  Your builds have inspired me to take a wider look at all allied operations and the MTO theatre has many worthy participants to consider in modelling form. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

Sorry Dave,.... I`m obviously becoming a bad influence on you and your wallet,...haha!!!

 

Well,.... a bit of a prolonged update here and not really good news either!

 

First of all,..... the little 1/72nd Spitfire has been coming along well and it has received a coat of silver, care of a Tamiya rattle can;

42279707452_3030a992d6_k.jpgDSCF3535 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 

And here it is with the LM Decals and instructions printed from the internet;

41425301315_4dd46d7d03_k.jpgDSCF3533 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 

BUT,..... the decal may look beautiful on the sheet,.....  however trying to add them to the 1/48th scale model has been a nightmare,.....

 

With the 1/48th scale model I first of all cut out the sharkmouth and applied it to the nose,.....but the decals would not adhere to the model, nor bend to the contours,.....simply shattering into pieces and the white areas were especially prone to lifting and shattering,.....like an old NOVO kit decal sheet! I applied Micro Set in an attempt to get the decal to settle and it did help after a while,.... but look at the result;

 42279708252_2a8341b7dc_k.jpgDSCF3532 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

41425303025_a92620940e_k.jpgDSCF3530 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 

I may be able to go over the result and paint a new sharkmouth!

 

So,..... forewarned,... I painted the sheet using Microscale Liquid Decal Film,.... hoping that it might prevent the decals from breaking up and maybe make them more malleable,.... but no,..... they were just as bad and the fin stripes simply shattered and would not adhere with the white area crumbling away,..... despite having a number of coats of Micro Set applied! The roundels were a little better,... however the yellow rings began to crumble and disintegrate around the edges too! At least the Airfix decals on the wings were excellent as usual!;

42279709112_97ade507cf_k.jpgDSCF3529 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

41425304455_54625c5a77_k.jpgDSCF3528 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

42279709792_c7d5bc8ecb_k.jpgDSCF3527 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 

So,.... I won`t apply any more decals for now! I shall have a go at rectifying the shark mouth with paint,.... see if I can do something with the fin stripes,.....even apply a set of RAF ones and try to match up a blue paint with the roundel to then modify these? Either that,... or remove the decals and choose another subject!

 

To say that I am disappointed by this set is an understatement,..... it was printed for LM by Fantasy Printshop of Cornwall whose products are normally first class,..... and it was not cheap either,...... in fact I paid more than I would usually spend for these sheets,.... the subject matter and what looked to be top quality product convinced me to treat myself,..... but oh dear! These decals are NOT recommended! There is a built up model on line wearing markings which appear to be from this sheet,.... but I`m damned if I know how he did it if he used this sheet!  

 

Cheers

          Tony  

Edited by tonyot
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Sorry to see that Tony. I have confidence in your abilities and im sure you will recover this. Have you contacted the supplier/creator ? Maybe they can make a replacement set ? They should if they care about customers at least ? 

 

Dennis

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Dennis has got a good point there. I’m just catching up on all your updates and this dilemma is not one that I was expecting to see. That’s a real shame however should / will promt the decal manufacturer to sit up and take notice. I was even contemplating purchasing a set myself, however held off for lack of a reliably available Spit Vc. These images will also stop me from clicking the ‘Buy now’ button. 

 

Cheers and heres to a swift recovery Tony.

 

Dave. 

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Thanks Fella`s,...... well I hoped that the 1/72nd scale sheet might be OK...... but NO!!!

 

I applied the anti glare panel last night;

42351874681_a63208749a_k.jpgDSCF3548 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 

Then it was onto the decals today,......despite lots of Liquid Decal Film the edges of the roundels and fin flashes disintegrated when being slid from the paper!;

42351870031_922a4924ee_k.jpgDSCF3556 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

42351868941_7404c26dfd_k.jpgDSCF3559 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 

I did contact Fantasy Printshop and was told that they had some trouble with inks around 12 months ago,..... and to find my order, send it to them and they will provide a refund! Well without knowing the Paypal address and the exact date that I bought them,.... I`ve been struggling to find this,.... I have informed him and said that I`d prefer replacement decal sheets which are OK,...... but I have yet to receive an answer! 

 

I`m going to check my spares box to see if I have any suitable roundels,..... but I don`t think I have any! Even so,.... will the codes and serial be OK?

 

How annoying is this?

 

Cheers

           Tony

Edited by tonyot
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