HobbyBoss and Revell 1/32 Spitfires - matching fuselage cross sections?

[WV908]

Hi all,

  Does anyone know if the Revell 1/32 Spitfire IX and the HobbyBoss Spitfire V.b share the same fuselage cross section at the engine firewall and cockpit Window screen? 

 

I'm building the BBMF in 1/32 and have conversion parts to turn a Revell IX into TE311, the low back XVI and plan to pick up a HobbyBoss Mk.Vb to do AB910. I know of the cross section issue of the HobbyBoss V.B in the spine area which also mucks up the canopy, hence this request.

 

I plan to swap the fuselages between kits but also need to swap engines and cowlings between fuselages. I will then use the grey matter low back conversion on the HobbyBoss fuselage which literally cuts out the spine issue.

 

Doing this I'll hopefully end up with an accurate V.B and XVI that consist of;

 

V.B - HB wings and engine, Revell fuselage

 

XVI - Revell wings and engine, HB fuselage, GM spine and canopy 

 

Alternately, how easy would it be to convert a C wing to a 'B' wing? That way I could pick up a Revell II and an IX and, swap the fuselages and end up with a V.B and then a Frankenstein IX with 'A' wings which will then be consumed in the second PR.XIX conversion.

 

Lastly I do have conversion parts for a V.B for the Revell Mk.II, but that involves a lot of mucking around with re-scribing and I feel that the method above would be easier.

 

Cheers,

 WV908

[Scimitar F1]

No idea but I share your pain

 

Am kitbashing a Hasegawa Mk II kit with a Tamiya Mk IX rear fuselage create a Mk 1

 

Of interest is that it is almost like Tamiya planned a Mk1 from the outset with the front part of the wing fillets being small separate parts and an HF radio wire attachment points on the top of the rudder

Edited September 19, 2020 by Scimitar F1

[elger]

I had both kits and ended up building the Revell I/II as a Vb and using a few parts of Hobbyboss for spares. I remember toying with similar ideas, here's what I recall:

 

The Revell and Hobbyboss front fuselages have different dimensions and shapes. Perhaps not so much the width, but the Revell nose is much taller than Hobbyboss. The sides of the engine side covers are almost 2 mm taller on the Revell kit as I recall, so you can't just swap the engine panels.

 

The shape of the parts is different in cross section - The Revell kit fuselage is more oval (really egg shaped) in cross section when looking from the front, which is accurate. It has the inverted horse shoe shape. The Hobbyboss fuselage at the front has practically vertical sides making it look more boxy. The top cowl part of Revell - and subsequently also the oil tank section - is rounder making it difficult to just swap noses.

 

For my Vb conversion, I did use the Hobbyboss lower cowl panel (I made a Vb Trop) and made that fit the Revell kit without too much trouble, however.

 

The Revell wings are a bit broader in chord than Hobbyboss and Tamiya. You could relatively easily fit the Hobbyboss B wings (as well as the old Hasegawa wings by the way) to a Tamiya fuselage - but the Revell wings don't fit any of the other kits particularly well. In other words, the Tamiya, Hobbyboss, and Hasegawa Spitfire wings are all - relatively - interchangeable with the respective fuselages. Revell not so much.

 

Since you mention you have resin parts for a Vb conversion using the Revell kit - to be honest that sounds a lot easier than kitbashing Hobbyboss and Revell.

 

Here's my build thread in case you are interested:

 

 

 

 

[bigbadbadge]

Hi 

I have been building a Hobbyboss MkVb and the shape issues are well documented. I corrected the spine using square rod glue around the spine longitudinally and the Revell rear canopy fits very well.  The revell IP also fits well and I used the top half of frame 12 from Revell and the bottom half of the HB frame, i think I also used the Revell seat frame and mount.  The build is in Work in progress now if you want to take a look.   

Chris

[WV908]

Thanks for the replies all,

  I'll be sure to take a look!

Cheers,

  WV908