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Is this worth the pain ?? 2 Seafires 17, judge by yourself !!


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Hello Dears,

In 2017, I started a Airfix Seafire 17, I've got a freightdod model decal sheet with post war Griffon Spitfire and feel the urge to make one of these ladies !!

Bugger !!

The one I choosed is a Seafire FR 17 !!

Then with the help of @Miggers (you're missed man !) I started to learn about Seafire wings :whistle::whistle:

Then came our Dear @Troy Smith with a full load of pertinent informations !!

 

And it induce me in building not one but 2 Seafires 17 !!

At first I wanted one with unfolded wings and the other with folded wings BUT !!

 

My already distorted mind started another funny thing….

Why not building an OOB Seafire and modify the second one to REALLY conform the plans ??

So it's done now !

It is up to you to decide if the difference is Worth the difficulties….

Whatever I took a lot of pleasure, experienced some new swearing sometimes…

But all in all, it's a good experience !!

 

Note to the rivet counters !!

There is 2 things that have been modified on both aircrafts

1st The propeler blades…. I cannot even think about letting the Airfix thingies !!

2nd The seats, I put my own resin seats on all the Seafire !!

 

Do not take account of the modification to turn her into a FR17 ! That's another game and this is not the point here !!

The question is which one of the 2 ladies is now conform to the plans and measurements  ???

 

Okay, Wilco for everyone ??

Let me introduce you to the dames, here's the first one !

WP_20181214_23_07_48_Pro

Seafire 17 from 800th Sqdn aboard HMS Triumph circa 1947 AND partially based at Hal Far, Malta

WP_20190115_13_08_50_Pro

I read somewhere that inert or exercise rockets have their heads painted in blue ! so !

WP_20190115_13_09_18_ProWP_20190115_13_09_28_ProWP_20190115_13_09_40_ProWP_20190115_13_09_54_ProWP_20190115_13_10_08_Pro

 

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Now, the second Lady !

WP_20190115_13_07_40_Pro

I really loved that paint sceme !!

WP_20190115_13_08_22_Pro

I choosed to put the wing fuel tanks in sky to add at bit of colour !

This is a FR 17 from 728th FRU Sqdn at Hal Far, Malta… Did I have some fixation with Hal Far ???

WP_20190115_13_07_52_ProWP_20190115_13_07_26_Pro

This aircraft was flown until the '50s so they were a bit tired and stained but well maintained !!

WP_20190115_13_07_13_ProWP_20190115_13_06_51_Pro

I seriously prefer my own resin seat, do you see what I mean ??

WP_20190115_13_07_26_Pro

Note for my friend @The Spadgent these 2 have their doors open…:cheers:

 

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And now let's compare…

Even if we both know that Nothing dcompare to us :evil_laugh:

WP_20190115_13_10_33_ProWP_20190115_13_10_56_ProWP_20190115_13_11_08_ProWP_20190115_13_11_20_ProWP_20190115_13_11_38_ProWP_20190115_13_11_47_Pro

It's now up to you Chaps !!

Let me know what you think about the Mods !!

Which one has received surgeries ???

CC

 

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So I should also have a fixation with the 800th Sqdn …. And HMS Triumph…

Since…

WP_20190115_13_12_19_Pro

Both 800th Sqdn, both aboard HMS Triumph… But 1947 in Mediteranea… And 1950 In Korea !!

WP_20190115_13_12_35_ProWP_20190115_13_12_51_ProWP_20190115_13_12_09_Pro

And as usual a family shot ???

WP_20190115_13_14_18_Pro

The Seafire family is growin'up !

WP_20190115_13_14_06_ProWP_20190115_13_13_55_ProWP_20190115_13_13_45_Pro

Okay, I'll be back later, open to comments as usual !!

 

Have a great modelling time !!

Sincerely.

CC

 

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Well CC - they are both very nice but the silver incarnation has had the wing modified with bulges above the wheel wells. Not sure if there are any other mods but that one is very obvious.

 

Very much like the silver version anyway - nice colourful scheme.

 

Cheers

 

Malcolm

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4 hours ago, Baldy said:

Well CC - they are both very nice but the silver incarnation has had the wing modified with bulges above the wheel wells. Not sure if there are any other mods but that one is very obvious.

 

Very much like the silver version anyway - nice colourful scheme.

 

Cheers

 

Malcolm

Hello Malcolm,

Sure, the bulges on the wing are a modification but this is more a detail added than a correction.

I will give it the serial of the 3 spokes wheels Seafire.

That's why I changed the serial of the grey Seafire, because the serial given on the Airfix kit must be a 3 spoked and big Wheel one !

Thus must have bulges on the wings.

The bulges came from an Eduard Spitfire Mk XVI

Sincerely.

CC

 

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Hi CC,

 

Lovely pair of ladies there, in fact four ladies. I agree with Malcolm above, it's the silver one which got modified. As for your question of was it worth the pain? In the end, you are the one who went through the pain so you should be the judge. Other than the wing bulges, I cannot tell the differences looking at the photos. I followed your WIP thread until you started cutting up the nose, then I couldn't watch anymore. You see, I have a few Seafires in my stash and there is no way I'm cutting anything up. I've read the Spitfire XII has the same nose issues, and that's a kit I'm definitely assembling out of the box, other than improving the propeller, as I'm not a fan of the Mk XII.

 

The propellers look great. That's the first thing that catches my eye when I look at a propeller driven airplane, so it's got to look the part. With all those bulges in the cowling hinting at the power of the Griffon engine, there is no way the kit propeller is going to look right. Well done.

 

I prefer the EDSG over Sky, low demarcation scheme on the Seafire. I think they look really classy in that scheme.

 

Cheers,

Wlad

 

PS - nice touch on the crowbars: aluminum for just post war, red for later post war.

PPS - I just noticed some plastic surgery scars on the nose of the silver one. Confirms my suspicion that's the modified one.

Edited by Wlad
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Yup Wlad !

The correction induce Indeed the nose and the silver one is the corrected one !

See...

WP_20190112_19_49_30_Pro

So, the exhaust location is 1mm too low, the rocker covers are a bit wrong and of course also located too low

So I use the barracuda parts ! Great ones  !!

Then the nose is 1mm too short !

And I create my own nose !!

Now the scars came from the fact that at first I use a french resin that gave a lot of bubbles...

And instead of waiting for my usual german stuff, I used this nose and surfaced as I can !

 

Now the wing….

The Airfix wing is too broad on the first 2/3 of its lenght !!

So I reduced it while I was adding the bulges...

 

Otherwise, the Prop blades is a must… Once again I used the Barracuda ones !

 

Worthy ?? I love this type of surgery  !

I would say that the wing can be forgetted unless you make a serial higher than SX 3Hundred and Something !

Will tell it as soon as I find my notes !!

But the nose is visible !

Sincerely.

CC

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Very nice indeed,.... I remember building models of those two Seafire 17`s well over 10 years ago using the old Aeroclub conversion combined with the Hasegawa Spitfire VIII/IX kit 

 

The others are very nice too,

 

Cheers

          Tony 

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These are all very nicely done but starting with a beautiful plane helps, and these really turned out beautifully.  I am no expert so only noticed the additional wing budge on the one but I was uncertain if this was added or had been removed from the other one.  I would have never noticed the cowling difference in a million years but it was probably worth the effort because you notice it.  I have always thought that modeling is primarily done for the happiness of the modeler.  For example why would we include rudder pedals that are impossible to see once the model is completed if not because we know they are there and it makes us happy knowing that little bit of detail that only you saw when building it is there.

 

But I really do appreciate your sharing your build!

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3 hours ago, Vince1159 said:

Lovely Spit's and you can never have to many....

Well thank you Sir !

Spit's are coming… soon… Hum...

 

2 hours ago, tonyot said:

Very nice indeed,.... I remember building models of those two Seafire 17`s well over 10 years ago using the old Aeroclub conversion combined with the Hasegawa Spitfire VIII/IX kit 

 

The others are very nice too,

 

Cheers

          Tony 

Hello Tony !

Thank you, You did that same paint scheme ?? Amazing !!

The Seafire 47 is inspired from your build but I never heard of your Seafire 17 builds !

I really feel honoured !

 

2 hours ago, RMCS said:

Fantastic 

thank a lot !

Glad that you appreciate !

 

2 hours ago, Harold55 said:

These are all very nicely done but starting with a beautiful plane helps, and these really turned out beautifully.  I am no expert so only noticed the additional wing budge on the one but I was uncertain if this was added or had been removed from the other one.  I would have never noticed the cowling difference in a million years but it was probably worth the effort because you notice it.  I have always thought that modeling is primarily done for the happiness of the modeler.  For example why would we include rudder pedals that are impossible to see once the model is completed if not because we know they are there and it makes us happy knowing that little bit of detail that only you saw when building it is there.

 

But I really do appreciate your sharing your build!

Hello Harold !

You're absolutely right about modelling !! And I took pleasure with both Seafires

I try to have the most accurate kit but I'm not a rivet counter at all !

But for the third Seafire 17 I will just change the nose !

 

Sincerely.

CC

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3 hours ago, corsaircorp said:

 

 

Now the wing….

The Airfix wing is too broad on the first 2/3 of its lenght !!

So I reduced it while I was adding the bulges...

 

Otherwise, the Prop blades is a must… Once again I used the Barracuda ones !

 

Worthy ?? I love this type of surgery  !

I would say that the wing can be forgetted unless you make a serial higher than SX 3Hundred and Something !

Will tell it as soon as I find my notes !!

But the nose is visible !

Sincerely.

CC

 

Notes found !!

So the Seafire 17with Serial from SX332 to SX389 have the big 3 spokes 12'' wide wheels and so on they have the Teardrop shaped bulge on th wing !!

I'm sad that Airfix gave the 2 types of wheels but only one type of wing !

Now, if you have an Eduard Spitfire XVI, the 2 types of wings are in the box...

And there is surely Something to find on the ICM side too !

If of any interest, here's the WiP

Thanks for watching and for the kind comments !

Sincerely.

CC

Edited by corsaircorp
correction
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4 hours ago, corsaircorp said:

Hello Malcolm,

Sure, the bulges on the wing are a modification but this is more a detail added than a correction.

I will give it the serial of the 3 spokes wheels Seafire.

That's why I changed the serial of the grey Seafire, because the serial given on the Airfix kit must be a 3 spoked and big Wheel one !

Thus must have bulges on the wings.

The bulges came from an Eduard Spitfire Mk XVI

Sincerely.

CC

 

CC - lots more changes than I noticed. Well in answer to your original question - yes it was worth it - it all looks great!

Now you mention it - the nose does look a little odd on the unmodified version.

Like you, I spend lots of time trying to fix minor problems and adding odd bits here and there - and that is why I don't make as many models as I would like - the thing is, it is a hobby and I enjoy it as I am sure you do.

 

Cheers

 

Malcolm

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Is it worth the effort?  Better question, is it worth the effort to you, the builder and to hell with everybody else.  As the eternal newbie I'm happy to get a Spit looking roughly like a Spit (even if it's not actually a Spit but a Seafire) and leave the wing bulges, wheel choices and moving bits and pieces 1mm here and there to you pros.  Both of them are the goods, though, as far as I can see and I wouldn't know which was the modification.  Smashing jobs.  Much as I'm a fan of the traditional RAF war paint, I must say the silver one is rather yummy.

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On 1/15/2019 at 10:50 PM, corsaircorp said:

Hello Tony !

Thank you, You did that same paint scheme ?? Amazing !!

The Seafire 47 is inspired from your build but I never heard of your Seafire 17 builds !

I really feel honoured !t

Hiya CC,.....  No need to feel honoured,...... here are the Aeroclub Seafire 17`s that I did in those markings;

resized_13992c17-9b22-44ba-a12b-72ce99b2

21b52b61-c57b-43c6-b790-177f4e578a48.jpg

Just realised that I did 173,......not 175! You could argue that some wore TSS and some wore EDSG on top,...... so it doesn`t matter either way!

 

You can also make a Seafire 15 using your left over Airfix wings and an Airfix Spitfire XII kit;

resized_93625a59-a617-4040-98f0-02012805

 

And I did the shark mouth in 1/72nd scale too!;

resized_7e5d68be-e541-44b1-a3c1-b5c1514c

 

All the best mate,

                           Tony

Edited by tonyot
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On 15/01/2019 at 15:56, corsaircorp said:

 

Notes found !!

So the Seafire 17with Serial from SX332 to SX389 have the big 3 spokes 12'' wide wheels and so on they have the Teardrop shaped bulge on th wing !!

I'm sad that Airfix gave the 2 types of wheels but only one type of wing !

Now, if you have an Eduard Spitfire XVI, the 2 types of wings are in the box...

And there is surely Something to find on the ICM side too !

This is very good information, CC. I have an Eduard XVI which will not need the bulged wing, and also a Hasegawa VII/VIII which may not get built due to the fuselage issue. Hasegawa was kind enough to mould the wings with the bulges.

 

Thanks,

Wlad

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