1/32 Griffon Spitfire conversions

[Simon Cornes]

I've asked this question on LSP with mixed responses but, Out of the Grey Matter and AA Productions (Jim Leroy Brown) options for a Spitfire XIV, which do you think represents best value for money? The AA Productions conversion has a higher parts count including recesses to go above the radiator baths and its also cheaper but is it the best option? 

[elger]

I started collecting components to build a 1/32 Spitfire XII some years ago and I have the Grey Matter nose made for the old Hasegawa Spitfire, but also the AA Productions (Jim Brown) nose for the newer Revell Spitfire - two actually, his first attempt and the second. The first attempt was notably too short - the new nose was exactly the same length as the short Merlin nose. The second attempt is considerably longer, but in fact the same length as a IX nose - also incorrect. The second version has the wrong shape to fit around the wing. The quality of the parts is very crude. Panel lines are very rough, with huge, rough things representing the cowl fasteners.

 

In short, while the AA Productions set for the Revell Spitfire XII is more complete it's very crude and the most important part, the nose, won't fit. The Grey Matter nose is much more refined (it is a solid block of resin). Panel lines are clearly scribed manually but they're much finer than the AA option.

 

All in all, based on my experience with the XII sets, I would spend my money on Grey Matter.

[NPL]

The subject is too general. Are we talking about early Griffons (then I would go for the grey matter), or the later Mk.XIVs? In the last case: Why go for a conversion, when you have the Pacific Coast Mk.XIVc. Can normally be found at Ebay, although, of course, to inflated prices. 

[Simon Cornes]

Thanks for the replies gents. Why not buy a PCM kit, well £85 versus maybe £30 or less for a Revell MkIX and then between £30 and £40 for a conversion. Don’t get me wrong, I have a PCM XIV but getting another one is not at all easy and if you want to do a low back Griffin Spit then then you have a conversion job on your hands anyway which will also involve the wings. Grey Matter should do a proper radiator intake modification - as AA does.

[Work In Progress]

Sorry to be that guy, but, please, it's a Griffon, not a Griffin.

[Simon Cornes]

1 hour ago, Work In Progress said:

Sorry to be that guy, but, please, it's a Griffon, not a Griffin.

Thank you. You may not believe this but I made the same mistake on LSP yesterday - put it down to age! In fairness to myself, both spellings are correct but I appreciate that this is the spelling that Rolls Royce chose to use. I'll be talking about Marlins next!! 

Regarding conversions, I suspect that the Grey Matter product is probably better quality, looking at the range of other products that they sell, everything seems to be very good. I, of course, was seduced by the AA Productions wing corrections over the radiator baths and went for that so I probably have a bit more work ahead than I anticipated but no worries! 

[Stein Meum]

The Grey Matter nose is very nice. I got it for my Matchbox Mk. 22.

Stein

[Tomas Enerdal]

(I'm working on the Airfix 1/48 XIVe at the moment, but;)

I've been so "hooked" by the FR.18 version, I'm even considering making one in 1/32!

The natural base kit would then be the Tamiya XVIe. Has anyone any opinion whether the Grey Matter nose would fit? I'm expecting the Tamiya kit to be accurate in size and cross section, but is the Grey Matter nose? I'm not familiar with the Revell Mk II it is built to fit to (beeing a 1/48 builder normally)

[Work In Progress]

The Revell II it is built for is actually the Hasegawa  Vb with a new wing and a few other new bits. Which for many, many years was the kit of choice in the 1/32 Spitfire world. I have a suspicious it's a trifle narrower than the Tamiya kit. 

[Tomas Enerdal]

Ok, I remember well that kit. Even had one a LONG time ago. Vasco Barbic once did a marvellous Seafire XV conversion.

Can someone who has one handy measure its rear width at its broadest point?

The Spit XVIII conversion costs £36 +p&p, a trifle too much if it cannot be used. Frankly I dont know how to widen a massive resin engine... But if that "trifle narrower" is very little it may not matter, the armored forward fuel/oil tanks behind a Griffon could be a trifle broader than the engine cowling IRL. This has recently been discussed in detail re the Airfix 1/48 kit.

Edited August 1, 2019 by Tomas Enerdal

[SafetyDad]

Could I add to the conversions under consideration here and ask the audience their opinion of the Paragon XIV set in 1/32nd? I appreciate that its long OOP, but I have one and would appreciate views and opinions before committing to cut plastic?

 

SD

[fightersweep]

It's a shame that Radu Brinzan's Mk XIV conversion set is still not available. I still have one in the stash and it's an awesome bit of work, even including brass etch for the radiator grilles.

 

I bought and used several of Vasko Barbic's Griffon conversions (now Grey Matter) years ago. I found them to be very good and everything fit very nicely, although they were designed for the Hasegawa Mk Vb kit originally. The Griffon nose needs hollowed out, but all the parts built a good looking Spit XIV. My only issue was that I thought the supplied radiator baths were too Mk IX like, and not as deep and boxy as Mk XIV radiators.

 

Steve

Edited August 1, 2019 by fightersweep

[Dereknf]

I've built a Mk.XII using the  Grey Matter conversion  and a PR.XIX, using the Warbird conversion, both using the Hasegawa Mk.V or Mk.VI kit. In both cases I also bought a set of Grey Matter "C" wings, modified a bit for the PR.XIX. A better base for the PR.XIX would be the Revell Mk.IX. I've built the Pacific Coast Mk.XIV as well and found it a reasonably easy build - if you can find one.

[Work In Progress]

20 hours ago, SafetyDad said:

Could I add to the conversions under consideration here and ask the audience their opinion of the Paragon XIV set in 1/32nd? I appreciate that its long OOP, but I have one and would appreciate views and opinions before committing to cut plastic?

 

SD

You might well be the only person on here who has an unused one. Being from the mid 90s it is of course for the Hasegawa kit. I had one and thought it looked good but I sold it for a modest fortune in 2012 when I heard about the PCM kit

[FG2Si]

22 hours ago, Dereknf said:

I've built the Pacific Coast Mk.XIV as well and found it a reasonably easy build - if you can find one.

The PCM kit is still available from Kitlinx. They are the company that bought Pacific Coast Models. 

 

https://www.kitlinx.com/cgi/display.cgi?item_num=PCM32015&title=British-Spitfire-MK.XIVc

 

Of course there's the caveat that shipping overseas may get expensive.

 

[spitfire]

On 8/1/2019 at 3:57 PM, SafetyDad said:

Could I add to the conversions under consideration here and ask the audience their opinion of the Paragon XIV set in 1/32nd? I appreciate that its long OOP, but I have one and would appreciate views and opinions before committing to cut plastic?

 

SD

I have not built the Paragon XIV conversion but did build their XII and VIII conversions and they are very good, the base kit I used was the Hasegawa V.

I used a Warbird conversion for the XIV again using the Hasegawa V as a base kit, though there was not much left of it in the end.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

 

[Work In Progress]

2 hours ago, FG2Si said:

The PCM kit is still available from Kitlinx. They are the company that bought Pacific Coast Models. 

 

https://www.kitlinx.com/cgi/display.cgi?item_num=PCM32015&title=British-Spitfire-MK.XIVc

 

Of course there's the caveat that shipping overseas may get expensive.

 

Yeah. The basic price of the kit is very attractive at $57, but with the cheapest shipping, and VAT added on import, and the £8 Royal Mail service fee for collecting the VAT, and today's bargain-basement level of sterling, it comes in at about £102 all in. Which is still comparable with a Tamiya XVI, so not completely horrific, but it sure adds up.