Jump to content

Johnny Checketts' D-Day Mk V


Recommended Posts

Well before the arrival of Airfix's new 1/72 Mk Vc, I'm gonna try and sneak this one in; an Eduard Mk IX with the nose from an extra Mk V fuselage from a Sword Seafire kit (and spare oil cooler from an Airfix Mk I/II/V kit).

 

0tcMq2u7_o.jpg

 

Just some minor surgery required (hopefully).

  • Like 12
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, stevehnz said:

 a genuine Kiwi ace thrown in

Johnny Checketts must have been quite a guy, an ace decorated by the RAF, the USAAF and the Polish Air Force. It's the Polish connection that first made me aware of him, he was the leader of 142 Wing during D-Day and 303 Sqn was part of that Wing.

So I'm including this as part of my ongoing 303 Sqn collection.

6Hwcdt43_o.jpg

 

I've got some decals for Checketts' Vc from the Sword kit built as RF-Q in the pic above.

XXg1FTyx_o.jpg

  • Like 11
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I'm afraid I'll have to wait for the new Airfix kit to build this one - the Sword nose does not fit the Eduard fuselage and this has been binned.

 

It started out promising.

f6BmLtM7_o.jpg

 

But aligning the Sword cowls (approximately 2 billion times) resulted in the requirement for a much wider undercowl than the Sword one. So I cut in half to allow for a centerline shim.

1r2jhZGP_o.jpg

 

About the hundredth time it all came apart in my hand trying to place a shim I gave up and tossed it, once to the floor and once into the trash can.

 

 

  • Sad 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey Cookie, couldn't you glue in a strip on the inside of the nose and fill the rest of the gap with putty? 

 

Please factor in that I've never done Spitfire customizing... or even built a Spitfire 🙂 .... So this may be the silliest remark ever. 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks everybody, live and learn!

 

On 4/13/2020 at 12:23 AM, JeroenS said:

Hey Cookie, couldn't you glue in a strip on the inside of the nose and fill the rest of the gap with putty?

That would be a viable plan too, the nose was just too fragile with 5 butt joins all having to hold at once, but the biggest problem would have been if it had gone together, no spinner would have been big enough to fit the new nose. The shapes are just too different, the Sword nose needs to be wider at the back to fit the Eduard fuselage and then would need to taper to the same size at the spinner backplate, which would require some sort of professional sculpting.

The Airfix Mk 22 nose was a little narrow for the Eduard fuselage, but fit just fine with some spacers:

IMG_4394_zpsfzpq0fjt.jpg&key=5248073de08

 

I thought adding a Sword Mk V nose would be much simpler than that, but guess not!

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Sorry Cookie  

 

Just a couple of quick questions about this aircraft,  were you able to ascertain if the C wing cannon bulges were wide or the later narrow versions please?  I am assuming it was clipped wing.

 

I ask because I am looking to do the same aircraft in 1/48.

 

And will you now be doing this one now with the Airfix 1/72 kit; it is a nice model to build.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Hi @Olmec Head, I saw one pic of this aircraft and it had the narrow cannon bulges and I'm pretty sure it had clipped wings.

I have purchased the 1/72 Airfix kit for just this purpose, and made sure to grab a couple of spares box narrow cannon bulges from an AZ Mk IX.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It will have been built with the wide bulges, but the panels could have been replaced.

 

I've just received Wojtek Matusiak's Polish Wings Spitfire Mk.V volume 2, and was looking for just this point - and the elevators.  The only examples I could find with the thin bulges were an MAxxxx and an MHxxx.  As late as a JGxxx still hade the wide ones.  However the MAxxx still had the old elevators - couldn't tell with the later one.  The only example in the book clearly with the later elevators was a rebuild Rxxxx!  (The book obviously has the full serials, but it is downstairs and we've closed up for the night.)

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 hours ago, Graham Boak said:

It will have been built with the wide bulges, but the panels could have been replaced.

 

I've just received Wojtek Matusiak's Polish Wings Spitfire Mk.V volume 2, and was looking for just this point - and the elevators.  The only examples I could find with the thin bulges were an MAxxxx and an MHxxx.  As late as a JGxxx still hade the wide ones.  However the MAxxx still had the old elevators - couldn't tell with the later one.  The only example in the book clearly with the later elevators was a rebuild Rxxxx!  (The book obviously has the full serials, but it is downstairs and we've closed up for the night.)

 

Thanks Graham, I didn't think about the elevators, I presume these would be the extended horn version, I didn't even consider about that.  

 

23 hours ago, Cookenbacher said:

Hi @Olmec Head, I saw one pic of this aircraft and it had the narrow cannon bulges and I'm pretty sure it had clipped wings.

I have purchased the 1/72 Airfix kit for just this purpose, and made sure to grab a couple of spares box narrow cannon bulges from an AZ Mk IX.

 

I would also guess that the cannon bulges would be narrow as well, which is good as I have the C Wing conversion set for the Airfix 1/48 Vb with the narrow bulges!

 

I am looking to do the Airfix and Special Hobby 1/48 Spitfire Vc  as a tandem build.  But with the need to chop about both kits, it is receding into maybe next month.

 

I just built the Airfix new 1/72 Spitfire Vc as a SAAF aircraft for the Africa GB, its a nice kit without any gotchas.  Interestingly, the nose width is less than the Airfix 1/72 Spitfire 1a which suggests that the 1970s Airfix Spitfire 1a was accurate.

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Hi @Olmec Head and @Graham Boak, I just found this review of the 1/48 Hasegawa Vc and there is a photo of the actual aircraft near the bottom of this link:

 

https://modelingmadness.com/review/allies/gb/spits/presspit5.htm

 

I've seen a photo of it with the D-Day stripes in Red Kite's 303 Sqn series, but no longer have access to it. I definitely recall it having the narrow cannon bulges in that pic - but still that opinion is based on my quite possibly faulty memory of a photo.

 

I'm pretty sure the Sword instructions in the following link are correct:

 

https://www.super-hobby.com/products/Supermarine-Spitfire-Mk.Vc-3113197.html#gallery_start

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...