Seafire Mk III NN452 - 1/48 Airfix Kit Bash

[wellsprop]

Hi all,

 

Another one off the shelf already! I fancied building a Seafire int he striking colours of NN452 S/141 from HMS Indefatigable, I bought the Special Hobby kit, well aware of the fit issues, however I intended to convert the Airfix Spitfire V (given to me by a friend) using the Airfix Seafire XVII wing, kindly donated by @beastieboy.

 

The kit bash was fairly straight forward, I grafted the wing onto the fuselage, a bit of filler was needed and simply added the extra bits and pieces to marinise the Spitfire (this included the hook and adhesive vinyl from the SH kit).

 

The anti glare panel is finished in matt roundel blue, the "S 141" decals were home printed in roundel blue too. I'm really happy with the finish, if a little rough in places - I also need to sort out the front undercarriage being slightly too long!

 

Seafire Mk.III NN452 S/141, flown by Lt. Cdr. N. G. "Buster" Hallet of 24 Naval Fighter Wing FAA, HMS Indefatigable, British Pacific Fleet, 1945.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking!

Ben

[fastterry]

A very handsome Spit very well done.👍

[Valenstitch]

Nice work!

 

I think I have one of these in 1/72, I have a Sword bumper box of five Seafires of various Mks and this scheme looks familiar, unusual for sure, but familiar!

 

Granto

[PlaStix]

That's a great looking Mk.III! Very impressive. Well done! 

Kind regards,

Stix

[trickydicky210]

Lovely Seafire 👏👏

[Wulfman]

Great conversion and lovely finish !

 

Wulfman

[SAT69]

Beautiful! Clean! Very well done! Display proudly!

[neilfergylee]

That is just excellent.  Spitfire models were just made to be cross-kitted and you have done a great job here.

 

[F-32]

That's gorgeous work!

[fubar57]

Well done

[Troy Smith]

10 hours ago, Valenstitch said:

this scheme looks familiar, unusual for sure, but familiar!

tail is visible at bottom left

Seafire III's  in 1945. by Etienne du Plessis, on Flickr

 

@wellsprop, neat work.  

11 hours ago, wellsprop said:

I bought the Special Hobby kit, well aware of the fit issues,

I don't think it fits too badly with some care.  It's a little short, but fixable.

[72modeler]

Not my scale, but you have done a bang up job on your conversion- I really like the scheme you have chosen, as it sure stands out from the norm. I'm guessing you have the arrestor hook fitted, as I think I can see the reinforcement strap that went around the hinge point at the front, but you might consider fitting the front and rear catapault hooks to take what is already an outstanding build up another notch. See the link to a photo of a beautifully restored example that shows the hooks.

Mike

 

https://www.flyinglegends.com/aircraft/supermarine-seafire-lf-iii.html

[wellsprop]

13 hours ago, Troy Smith said:

tail is visible at bottom left

Seafire III's  in 1945. by Etienne du Plessis, on Flickr

 

@wellsprop, neat work.  

I don't think it fits too badly with some care.  It's a little short, but fixable.

I wasn't brave enough to try, haha! Tell the truth, I fancied the kitbash, not sure what to do with the SH III and Airfix V kit though, I have most the parts to scrape a couple Spitfires together, with a careful bit of converting. 

 

12 hours ago, 72modeler said:

Not my scale, but you have done a bang up job on your conversion- I really like the scheme you have chosen, as it sure stands out from the norm. I'm guessing you have the arrestor hook fitted, as I think I can see the reinforcement strap that went around the hinge point at the front, but you might consider fitting the front and rear catapault hooks to take what is already an outstanding build up another notch. See the link to a photo of a beautifully restored example that shows the hooks.

Mike

 

https://www.flyinglegends.com/aircraft/supermarine-seafire-lf-iii.html

Thanks! Yep, the hook is fitted, Just about managed to squeeze it all in

[At Sea]

Great work.

 

The Airfix Seafire XVII kit bashes very nicely with a Sptifire XII to make a Seafire XV if you fancy one.  

 

Other Airfix bashes I've worked out which need minimal work are:

 

The remains of the Seafire XV kit bash also leaves you with a WHIF low back XII or if you use an aftermarket Merlin engine and a bit of scratch building of radiators under the Stbd wing an exposed engine Spitfire XVI.  

 

On that subject a Spitfire XIX mated to a Spitfre XIV makes a lovely high back XIV and an un armed civillian low back XIV.

 

The possibilities are (nearly) endless!

[wellsprop]

5 hours ago, At Sea said:

Great work.

 

The Airfix Seafire XVII kit bashes very nicely with a Sptifire XII to make a Seafire XV if you fancy one.  

 

Other Airfix bashes I've worked out which need minimal work are:

 

The remains of the Seafire XV kit bash also leaves you with a WHIF low back XII or if you use an aftermarket Merlin engine and a bit of scratch building of radiators under the Stbd wing an exposed engine Spitfire XVI.  

 

On that subject a Spitfire XIX mated to a Spitfre XIV makes a lovely high back XIV and an un armed civillian low back XIV.

 

The possibilities are (nearly) endless!

 

Ooooh I do like all those possibilities, makes for some fun conversions

[Troy Smith]

6 hours ago, At Sea said:

The Airfix Seafire XVII kit bashes very nicely with a Sptifire XII to make a Seafire XV if you fancy one.  

 

Only if you like inaccurate Spitfires....  The kits fit well and are decently engineered,  but are from the era where Airfix had forgotten what accurate sources they had...  and had plans that weren't.  (even after apparently measuring up a real Seafire XVII) 

 

Strangely the Airfix XII and Seafire XVII never drew the ire that the Academy XIV kit did, while sharing most of the faults.

 

Or even the amount flak the SH kits have got for some reason.

 

The above uses the Seafire XVII wing which is OK, but needs the chord reducing.  (this 'wing' problem is a feature of the old tool Tamiya I/V, Occidental/Italeri IX, Academy XIV and the Airfix XII and Seafire XVII) 

 

50620909 by losethekibble, on Flickr

the above is the Academy XIV wing, the left has been corrected,  the right shows a ICM wing over the uncorrected Academy, note the mat lines,  the wing bulges out too much in the centre, less at the front.(just visible)

Fix is easy,  take out top aileron, reshape trailing edge and aileron cut out.  Fill and rescribe lower flap lines.   A lot easier if you have a correct wing to use a s a template.

 

 

If you want a reasonably accurate  1/48th Seafire XV, or Spitfire XII,  go Special Hobby.   If you want  dimensionally accurate, add a couple of  fuselage extensions.

 

like this.  Note, this is very carefully laid out on the mat so the parts are in alignment,  top is the Airfix V, bottom is SH Seafire III

 

for more on this, and various problems and fixes, 

 

and

 

 

 

9 hours ago, wellsprop said:

not sure what to do with the SH III and Airfix V kit though, I have most the parts to scrape a couple Spitfires together, with a careful bit of converting. 

 

 

So, you have a basically complete SH Seafire III and Airfix Vb wings...?   

 

Does limit what you can do, unless you have another fuselage.   Either Vb, or A Seafire IB,  (Airfix wing, SH fuselage) or just do another Seafire III,  or as Seafire II if you fill the wing fold lines.

 

[bigbadbadge]

Ooooooooo this is very nice indeed, great work.  I also like all the extra info on the thread so I am adding to faves so I have a whole host of info in one place for potential future conversions too.

Thank you for sharing.

Stay safe

All the best 

Chris

[wellsprop]

1 hour ago, Troy Smith said:

Only if you like inaccurate Spitfires....  The kits fit well and are decently engineered,  but are from the era where Airfix had forgotten what accurate sources they had...  and had plans that weren't.  (even after apparently measuring up a real Seafire XVII) 

 

Strangely the Airfix XII and Seafire XVII never drew the ire that the Academy XIV kit did, while sharing most of the faults.

 

Or even the amount flak the SH kits have got for some reason.

 

The above uses the Seafire XVII wing which is OK, but needs the chord reducing.  (this 'wing' problem is a feature of the old tool Tamiya I/V, Occidental/Italeri IX, Academy XIV and the Airfix XII and Seafire XVII) 

 

50620909 by losethekibble, on Flickr

the above is the Academy XIV wing, the left has been corrected,  the right shows a ICM wing over the uncorrected Academy, note the mat lines,  the wing bulges out too much in the centre, less at the front.(just visible)

Fix is easy,  take out top aileron, reshape trailing edge and aileron cut out.  Fill and rescribe lower flap lines.   A lot easier if you have a correct wing to use a s a template.

 

 

If you want a reasonably accurate  1/48th Seafire XV, or Spitfire XII,  go Special Hobby.   If you want  dimensionally accurate, add a couple of  fuselage extensions.

 

like this.  Note, this is very carefully laid out on the mat so the parts are in alignment,  top is the Airfix V, bottom is SH Seafire III

 

for more on this, and various problems and fixes, 

 

and

 

 

 

 

So, you have a basically complete SH Seafire III and Airfix Vb wings...?   

 

Does limit what you can do, unless you have another fuselage.   Either Vb, or A Seafire IB,  (Airfix wing, SH fuselage) or just do another Seafire III,  or as Seafire II if you fill the wing fold lines.

 

I'm thinking K5054...

 

I found the issues with the XVII wing, about 1mm too broad at the root. I'm not sure why Airfix struggled so much with the wing....

[Troy Smith]

1 minute ago, wellsprop said:

I'm not sure why Airfix struggled so much with the wing....

wrong plans. But they are not the only ones.  The fuselage is worse. 

1 minute ago, wellsprop said:

I'm thinking K5054...

a lot of scratch work.  There have been threads on this on several occasions, and there are plans in Alfred Price - The Spitfire Story, which show the wing 'clinker' panel lines.

 

Given the amount of filling and rescribing needed,  I have suggested before using the 1/48 Airfix old tool Vb kit, which is well shaped,  and is mostly fine raised panel lines, so mostly just needs a rub down apart from the cannon bulges.

 

I have some stashed away for this and Speed Spitfire.   I did in 1980 do most of the work to convert one to a Seafire IIc, but never finished it.   Still in a box somewhere...  time for a KUTA maybe....

 

cheers

T