Revell 1/32 Spitfire mkii question.

[stevej60]

Morning all help please.Just finishing off the above kit after a lifetime on the S.o.d either side of the fuselage below the front portion of the cockpit are two clear inserts I assume nav.lights? Anyway there have a pip molded which seems to correspond  with the hole in the recess.

The instructions show the shape with no detail Revells own built advert kit shows the pip sticking out like a light bulb!So why the need for a hole thank you.confused of Durham.

[gingerbob]

Smooth side out.  There were formation lights on some Spitfires, under a small "window".

[stevej60]

Many thanks Bob!

[Jonny]

I thought that these clear parts were meant to represent fuel tank ‘inspection ports’ fitted to  some *early* Spitfires.  I can’t say I’ve ever heard of formation lights being fitted to Spitfires ... as originally designed it was as a daytime intercepter.

 

Happy if someone confirms or disputes this - I’m intending to build my kit as an early-ish Mk. 1 - now currently owned and operated by the IWM at Duxford!

 

Jonny

[stevej60]

To be honest Jonny the parts would not fit at all I lost patience and filled and painted the holes.I couldn't see them as depicted by Revell on any photos of original or restored air frames.

[spitfire]

I came across this when I built mine and knowing no better I filled in the holes, then of course found a photo of "my" subject (XR*D P7308 Eagle Squadron) and there they were large as life.

https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/66520-last-build-for-2016-a-bit-late/

 

This is part of Edgar's tweak list for the kit, note point 14. "50B is/are/were "station keeping lights," which might have been coloured like the navigation lights, but that remains a mystery, for now".

This is the full tweak list

1/. it needs a "Mk.I" oil cooler.    
2/. it needs the crowbar deleting, unless your model dates after January 1942 (the fit was retrospective.)
3/. 2-bar rudder pedals are o.k., but need the fabric straps over the top. ar
4/. gun button was brass, with a silver surround, not red (post-war elfin safety?)
5/. Very pistol cartridge rack was normally left off, and Castle Bromwich had (red) plastic seats, not (green) metal.
6/. seat armour is missing.
7/, seat backrest has an odd depression moulded in, which I've never seen.
8/. I have no idea what part 40 is (see later), and 41 (oxygen bottle) should be black, not green.
9/. part 42 (compressed-air bottles) was silver, not green.
9/. rudder and elevators' "stitching" is overdone.
10/. I have no idea what the two "lozenges" (on the top of each wing) are.
11/. unless your Mk.II dates from 1940, the rudder "prong" shouldn't be there, neither should the aerial. Cut off the prong and leave off the wire
12/. post 1940, IFF aerials were fitted, and the position of the discs is marked.
13/. if you drop the flaps, the door, in the top of the wing, needs to be cut out, and opened.
14/. 50B is/are/were "station keeping lights," which might have been coloured like the navigation lights, but that remains a mystery, for now.

15/. while over-prominent, the "rivets" are nowhere near as bad as the photos appeared to show.

16/. the fuselage is about 2mm shorter than the Hasegawa Vb (all at the spinner end,) but it doesn't "shout," and it appears to have better curvature than the (somewhat slab-sided) Hasegawa fuselage.

17/, wingspan and chord (minus wingtips) are identical to the Hasegawa Vb.

18/. Revell have matched Tamiya, in the wheel wells, by providing back-sloping walls - very well done - but the "orifices" are too oval. e

19/. there are three oblong "protuberances" on the spinner, but Revell do tell you to file them off.

20/. Revell have confused Sky with Sky Blue (oh, yes, they have.)

21/. instrument panel is fixed, but is missing the landing lights control.

22/. The air scoop on top of the kit’s upper cowl wasn’t for the Heywood compressor which wasn’t introduced until March 1942 on the Mk V, but the Spitfire already had a compressor, which was fitted once the Mk.I went from the “pump-handle” u/c retraction system to the hydraulic type. From what I can tell the early compressor had a small almost invisible scoop while the Heywood needed a larger type which was more prominent.

23/. You'll need the early (circular) HF radio controller in place of the push­button VHF  type (37/38);

25/. Kit part number 25 This should be replaced by a circular item rather like the headrest.

This refers I believe to the voltage regulator fitted to the fuselage frame behind the pilots headrest which on the kit and later Spitfires is a double barrel shape.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

26/. 40 should be fitted to the instrument panel above the pilot's left leg, not on the starboard wall;

27/.Ailerons should be fabric­covered, though that isn't as noticeable as some make out  (just fine lines where the stitches go); Barracuda wing detail set

28/.there should be two fuel **** levers to the right of the compass (which, incidentally, is black inside and greenish­grey on the outside); Use the Barracuda cockpit detail set,

29/.the throttle quadrant has one lever too many (the one pointing forward);  Use the Barracuda cockpit detail set

30/.(probably the most difficult) replace the single fuel gauge (bottom RH corner of the  instrument panel) with two smaller items;

31/.aerials were stainless steel, not black or copper.  No problem

32/.There's one other item I've since noticed, and that's the oxygen hose, which should not be moulded on the starboard cockpit wall. On the Mk. I & II, the hose was "attached" to the pilot, and plugged into a socket on the starboard wall.

Cheers

 

Dennis

[stevej60]

That's a superb build of this Kit Dennis.I'm not doing anything other than a warts'n all OOB build of YT-L, the real aircraft differs quite a lot from Revell's

take on it I know the wheels were criticised when the kit was released the only good thing is it didn't have those formation lights!

[BS_w]

From Spitfire I manual, june 1940

 

Generally, the formation lights had blue lenses to obtain a "lunar white" lighting.

[spitfire]

8 hours ago, BS_w said:

From Spitfire I manual, june 1940

 

Generally, the formation lights had blue lenses to obtain a "lunar white" lighting.

Great piece of info, thanks

 

Cheers

 

Dennis