Tamiya 1/32 Spitfire Mk IX backdated to Mk.V

[11bravo]

Hi folks,

 

I’m toying with the idea of backdating the 32nd scale Tamiya IX to a Vb (or Vc if it simplifies things).   I’d really like to build a Malta Spit V and the available kits out there leave much to be desired.   I’m a complete novice when it comes to Spitfires, just wondering if any of the experts might have some thoughts about how they would approach this?  Any and all suggestions are much appreciated.   
 

John

[spitfire]

Some information here

https://forum.largescalemodeller.com/topic/3691-converting-the-tamiya-spitfire-mkixc-to-mkvc-trop-feasibility/

 

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Ossington 2]

Shorten the nose at the firewall. By about 3/8th of an inch or thereabouts (You can check online) Alter the prop to 3 blades. Make a tubular oil cooler in place of one of the rads Alter armament, wheel hubs and exhaust to suit. To be honest, buy the Revell Mk. II and chop out of it what you want. The first Mk.IX's were converted from Vs at Hucknall, early 1941. Just work backwards.

[Work In Progress]

A Vc will be much, much less work than a Vb as you can leave the armament and undercarriage alone.

As Ossington says the Revell II will supply some parts as it is closer to Va configuration than a I/II, or you could just as well use a Hasegawa Vb as a donor for the bits you need to pinch. In fact the Hasegawa kit would be better as it gives you a choice of usable prop and spinner: you get both Rotol and dH types in the Hasegawa kit whereas the Revell gives you one choice that fails to represent either properly. 

Edited December 15, 2020 by Work In Progress

[elger]

I became somewhat obsessed with this idea about 9 years ago. It's difficult - as indicated above by the others, the Tamiya kit would need a shorter nose and the asymmetrical oil cooler. And a 3-bladed propeller.

 

Kitbashing is possible - not with the new Revell I/II because the nose is bigger and the nose panel pieces won't fit. (Don't know about old Revell kit).

 

The Hobbyboss nose panel pieces do sort of fit the Tamiya fuselage, and more importantly, the Hobbyboss wings could be made to fit replacing the Tamiya wings with relative ease which makes a mk.Vb the easiest option for a kitbash in my opinion. If you just use the oil cooler from Hobbyboss instead of the entire wings, a mk Vc is feasible too, I guess, but that requires more cutting. The wing is of Hobbyboss slightly pointier than all of the other kits and I strongly suspect that Hobbyboss has made an error there.

 

The old Hasegawa Vb wings have the same chord as Hobbyboss and Tamiya, and could therefore also fit with relative ease, but it has raised panel lines, while the Hobbyboss Vb wing has similar fine engraved detail as Tamiya.

 

So given the choice, Hobbyboss would be preferable because it has similar surface detail as Tamiya, and it also has separate nose panels, while the Hasegawa kit doesn't have separate nose panel pieces.

 

Alternatively, if you want a Mk.Vc in 1/32 in my opinion the best way to go is combining the Revell I/I and IX kits. Swap nose sections but otherwise pretty much build the IX kit. The I/II kit has a type V oil cooler anyway which you could use, but you'd still need to source a mk.V carburetor intake (or Vokes tropical filter) and an appropriate mk.V propeller from somewhere.

[FG2Si]

I read several reviews where they said the newer Revell Spitfire II kit was closer to a V so that's what I did mine as. I used the AML VB conversion set for the wing cannon bulges. The hardest part of the conversion was I swapped the canopy for one from the Tamiya kit as I had a spare one. .

 

 

 

 

 

If you want to see the WIP, I think it's on LSM.

 

Carl

[tonyot]

Personally I`d do a Malta Mk.IX,..... 249 Sqn had some painted blue on top!

https://tr.pinterest.com/pin/70579919144808766/

 

Another pic,.... 1435 and 185 Sqn also hd them on Malta;

http://www.spitfireperformance.com/spit9v109g.html

 

I did one in 1/72nd;

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/77146-malta-spitfire-ix/

 

Good luck,

                Tony

Edited December 16, 2020 by tonyot

[11bravo]

1 hour ago, tonyot said:

Personally I`d do a Malta Mk.IX,..... 249 Sqn had some painted blue on top!

https://tr.pinterest.com/pin/70579919144808766/

 

Another pic,.... 1435 and 185 Sqn also hd them on Malta;

http://www.spitfireperformance.com/spit9v109g.html

 

I did one in 1/72nd;

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/77146-malta-spitfire-ix/

 

Good luck,

                Tony

Well that gives me something to think about.  I posted elsewhere about the possibility of Mk IX’s being done up in the Malta scheme and was told none were.    

[tonyot]

11 hours ago, 11bravo said:

Well that gives me something to think about.  I posted elsewhere about the possibility of Mk IX’s being done up in the Malta scheme and was told none were.    

Glad to be of use then!