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Spitfire Vc 6 stack exhaust for the Airfix 2020 new tool


Cheshiretaurus

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Im planning to build the shuttleworth collections Spitfire Vc AR501 from the Airfix new tool 1/72 Spitfire Vc, I belive this kit has the parts to make a clipped wing version with a normal air filter. What I also need is a six stack exhaust for it, does anyone havecany recommendations for an after market exhaust?  

 

Thanks

 

Mark

CT

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30 minutes ago, Cheshiretaurus said:

Thanks I was wondering if a mk IX would be appropriate for a mkV. I'll have a look. 

 

The main difference between the Merlin fitted to a Mk.V and a Mk.IX is the supercharger on the rear of the engine, the cylinder block and thus the exhaust fittings are the same (at least dimensionally).  It looks like AR501 has the rounded style.

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Also, few Mk.Vs were employed in a role where it mattered.

 

Methinks if you put Spitfire exhausts on a Meteor, they wouldn't make the Cromwell go even 5mph faster.  Might run into other problems too - the Germans would certainly hear them coming.

 

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8 minutes ago, Graham Boak said:

Might run into other problems too - the Germans would certainly hear them coming.

 

Yes, and they weren't exactly quiet to start with. (There are as far as I know no running Cromwells but here's a running Comet, so for these purposes much the same thing).

 

 

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17 minutes ago, Work In Progress said:

Because most in-service Mark V lived and died before being retrofitted

 

Agreed, I wondered if there was a mysterious technical reason.

 

8 minutes ago, Graham Boak said:

Also, few Mk.Vs were employed in a role where it mattered.

 

 

I can't think of many examples although the one that does spring to mind is the Mk.Vs used by the US Navy gun spotters around D-Day

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I'd rule out those too.  The odd few MPH really didn't matter in the slightest for what they were doing.  Some of the ones in Italy might  count, which is where some were indeed seen, but even then they were mainly fighter-bombers so it didn't matter.

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10 minutes ago, Graham Boak said:

I'd rule out those too.  The odd few MPH really didn't matter in the slightest for what they were doing.  Some of the ones in Italy might  count, which is where some were indeed seen, but even then they were mainly fighter-bombers so it didn't matter.

 

Third picture down in this link.

 

 

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37 minutes ago, Graham Boak said:

Some of the ones in Italy might  count, which is where some were indeed seen

An earlier one was the well know mount of Kiwi Ace Rosie Mackie who apparently had his Vc so modified in North Africa & went so far to retrieve the 6 stub exhausts when his machine crash landed for fitting to its replacement.

Steve.

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I'm not sure the point of this side discussion.  It is well known that some late Vs had the 6-stack exhausts fitted- it is somewhat associated with LF.Vs, but there's no hard correlation.  IF your Mk.V has 6-stack exhausts fitted, then yes, "Mk.IX" ones should be appropriate.  Whether a set intended for one kit directly fits another is a separate question, but I wouldn't think it would be too hard to make it work.

Edited by gingerbob
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Mark I G-AIST / AR213 used to have six stacks a side, when in the Battle of Britain movie, when owned by Victor Gauntlett, and for at least a while afterwards. Highly visitble too is the four blade prop, of course

 

supermarine_spitfire_1a_ar213__g_aist_by

 

Edited by Work In Progress
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I think the point of the digression was not how many examples can be found of Mk.Vs with 6-a-side exhausts, but why was there not more of them.  I would discount warbirds completely: until recently they didn't have a lot of choice in what working exhausts were around, and they see no benefit from them as they never explore the outer limits of the performance envelope.  The basic answer to the question is that the cost of implementing this was outweighed by the lack of value.  There were simply more important things to spend money, time and effort on than semi-obsolete fighters that could carry out less demanding roles perfectly happily as it was.  In the case of the Seafire, there was a genuine need for whatever performance they could get.

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4 hours ago, Work In Progress said:

Yes, and they weren't exactly quiet to start with.

Bet the Germans didn't know whether to look up or down when they heard one coming! Now, if our M4 Sherman had only been fitted with a Merlin....:giggle:

Mike

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USN VCS-7 on D-Day, what photos are around show their Spitfire Vbs with a mix of the three a side and six a side exhausts across the various aircraft they used.  Examples of six a side:

 

50843818901_6d3af762e5_h.jpgVCS-7 1 by Colin Ford, on Flickr

 

50843820246_9a8e8f74b3_c.jpgVCS-7 by Colin Ford, on Flickr

 

26 Sqdn RAF and 63 Sqdn RAF who were also part of the Spotting Pool were equipped with Spitfire Vb at the time, from what few photos of them there are from this timeframe, some with, some without.  Looking at the AM78 for the Spitfire Vb issued to them at the time, some had been back into MU and contractors before being issued to the Squadrons before D-Day with various mods being implemented before issue.

 

 

 

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On 1/16/2021 at 11:21 PM, stevehnz said:

Get a lung full of that! :D I've long wondered how they got on starting these, they could hardly turn it over on the prop to cleat the lower cylinders?

Steve.

I don't have a Sherman manual but there are several ways to mitigate the risk. I imagine they would motor it over on the starter before switching the ignition on. This can be combined with a slipper clutch on the starter to prevent it pushing over a hydraulic lock with enough torque to bend, and thereby shorten a con-rod (as on the inverted Gipsy Queens on the Rapide I used to dally with). Another likely measure was one or more drain taps in the low points of the exhaust manifolds, as I had on my Yak.

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