alt-92 Posted May 22, 2021 Share Posted May 22, 2021 9 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said: not even remotely available this side of the Atlantic, I've tried for years to find either Mk.XII, but have pretty much given up. Would you like the version with or without a V-1? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted May 22, 2021 Share Posted May 22, 2021 Sword kits sell out quickly, but the spare parts may well be available from other modellers. The Mk.XII radiator is the same as the tropical radiator for the Mk,V. As such any difference from the Mk.V or Mk.IX is small. I don't know of any kit offering any specific tropical radiator, but the widened exit to the oil cooler is presumably there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FinnAndersen Posted May 22, 2021 Share Posted May 22, 2021 14 hours ago, John Thompson said: I always thought of it as a sort of aerial hot rod - an aircraft originally designed for the 27-litre-displacement Merlin, swapped out for the Griffon, 10 litres bigger! John So did I. After having read Quills book (again) I did the prototype /Finn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steh2o Posted May 27, 2021 Share Posted May 27, 2021 Hello, a comment about the cowling shape- in my experience (supported by measurrments) the 1/72 Airfix Griffon cowling in both Mk.22 and Mk. XIX are basically correct. Sword has a fair profile but the cylinder bank fairings are mis-placed. Special Hobby has an incorrect profile and shape 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steh2o Posted May 28, 2021 Share Posted May 28, 2021 Yesterday I took a couple of pictures to better show the above statement about Sword cowling and fuselage. the half fuselage is a Mk XVII, drawings are 1/72 from J.T. The fuselage is aligned to the propeller line and lower contours. Of note: the length is almost correct. Apparent shortcomings: -the fuselage is not deep enough (see the mismatch in front of the windscreen; -the cowling is way too long; -the cockpit sits a little too far back Another look at the cowling: Again, aligned at the propeller line and lower cowling profile: -the profile is good; -the cowling is too long -the exhaust opening sits way too low! -the exhaust opening is too angled . In the real a/c the cylinder bank blister's upper line follows the exhaust line, while the Sword's part has this two lines slightly converging at the back (sorry I didn't take a photograph of the upper part). In my personal opinion using a Sword's fuselage is less painful than what I'm doing with Eduard+Airfix, but the end result wiil suffer in lack of accuracy. Adapting an Airfix cowling to an Eduard fuselage is not so painful, after all. Just my opinion! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Thompson Posted May 29, 2021 Share Posted May 29, 2021 Considering the enduring interest in the Mk.XII and the number of kit-bashes and conversions that have been attempted over the years (I even did one myself), I'm surprised the type hasn't been kitted in 1/72 by anyone - well, Merlin, ages ago, but I don't know of anyone else. It seems like a good opportunity. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted May 29, 2021 Share Posted May 29, 2021 1 minute ago, John Thompson said: Considering the enduring interest in the Mk.XII and the number of kit-bashes and conversions that have been attempted over the years (I even did one myself), I'm surprised the type hasn't been kitted in 1/72 by anyone - well, Merlin, ages ago, but I don't know of anyone else. It seems like a good opportunity. John Xtrakit did one in Injected plastic but its not the best shape wise from what Ive been told. Also isn't the easiest build from what I've read either. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denford Posted May 29, 2021 Share Posted May 29, 2021 (edited) On 5/29/2021 at 5:19 PM, Corsairfoxfouruncle said: Xtrakit did one in Injected plastic but its not the best shape wise from what Ive been told. Also isn't the easiest build from what I've read either. Just finishing one myself. I'd describe it as 'adequate'. Fuselage a little skinny, small parts rather crude (perhaps molding limitations) decals fragile. Instructions call for bulge over wheel well: just plain wrong, misses little bulge IFR? under rear f/u, radiator too shallow, etc. Annoying, but correctable. Hope Xtradecal/Hannants can 'follow up' my call for 'red' stripes to go over gun apertures. The kit ones just disintegrated. Yes: there might seem to be a 'call for' a 1/72 'mainstream kit: from whom? At Telford KP turned down flat the idea of 'extending' Vc to Xll. But surely, better than a mainstream Xll, isn't there a greater 'call' for a definitive XlV? Edited May 30, 2021 by Denford New deficiency found 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Thompson Posted May 29, 2021 Share Posted May 29, 2021 43 minutes ago, Denford said: Yes: there might seem to be a 'call for' a 1/72 'mainstream kit: from whom? At Telford KP turned down flat the idea of 'extending' Vc to Xll. But surely, better than a mainstream Xll, isn't there a greater 'call' for a definitive XlV? You're right - I actually had the same thought, regardless of how I worded my post. The Mk.XIV obviously had much wider use and would be more likely to interest modellers in general, not just online forum fanatics. I know I'd be more likely to buy multiples of the Mk.XIV than of the Mk.XII. And a good Mk.XIV could be used to kit-bash more Mk.XIIs... John 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Thompson Posted May 29, 2021 Share Posted May 29, 2021 2 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said: Xtrakit did one in Injected plastic but its not the best shape wise from what Ive been told. Also isn't the easiest build from what I've read either. Now that I think of it, there was also one back in the 1990s from a small Czech outfit called Model News, IIRC. Not an easy build either - I actually own at least one of them, but I don't think I had the courage to try it! John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The wooksta V2.0 Posted May 29, 2021 Share Posted May 29, 2021 The Model News one is vile. Not for nothing did others nickname them Bad News. Somewhere I have an obscure Czech resin that's two fuselage halves with the wings and tailplanes moulded with them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted May 30, 2021 Share Posted May 30, 2021 CMR did an all resin Mk XII; I have one, and it's pretty good, but is one of their earlier kits and not up to the same outstanding standards as their later releases. Yes, Model News did a XII, and it was pretty shabby, as was the Xtrakit one, which I also have. My personal hope, although it is not very likely, is that Arma Hobby will do one, and maybe with a different fuselage sprue to do a Seafire XV. I know they only built a hundred or so, and it only equipped two squadrons, but there seem to be a ton of 1/72 modelers out there, myself and @Corsairfoxfouruncle included, who have been asking for a state of the art kit for years. Fer cryin' out loud, a re-release of the Paragon XII conversion to fit an Eduard VIII or IX or even the new tool Airfix Mk Vc would sell like the proverbial hot cakes! ( I have one Paragon conversion set left, and it is kept in a guarded box in my hobby room waiting to be turned MB882, EB-B!) Mike OK, rant over; I will now go sit quietly in the Naughty Corner.) 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FinnAndersen Posted May 30, 2021 Share Posted May 30, 2021 Perhaps the secret of the interest in the XII lies in the fact that's a damn good looking airplane. I stick my neck out at declare it better looking than the earlier merlin engined ones and not quite as large and brutish as the later Giffons, with the possible exception of the PR XIX. If a manufacturer came out with a decent XII, I'd certainly buy one or two, even if I have a nice selection as it is. /Finn 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted May 30, 2021 Share Posted May 30, 2021 1 hour ago, FinnAndersen said: Perhaps the secret of the interest in the XII lies in the fact that's a damn good looking airplane. I stick my neck out at declare it better looking than the earlier merlin engined ones and not quite as large and brutish as the later Giffons, with the possible exception of the PR XIX. If a manufacturer came out with a decent XII, I'd certainly buy one or two, even if I have a nice selection as it is. /Finn Ditto ! I couldn't agree more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted May 30, 2021 Share Posted May 30, 2021 I disagree, the longer lines of the Mk.XIV improves the looks, as such things generally do unless taken to extremes. But the Mk.XII has the short stubbiness of a real bruiser, and an attraction all its own. Apart from the Seafire Mk.XV. of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steh2o Posted May 30, 2021 Share Posted May 30, 2021 Just finished my Mk.XIVe (pics at the end of page 4) I definitely can live with that brutish look! We could try and write some e-mails to Arma.... After all they listened to the pleas for a state-of-the art P-51B and they have the capability to develop a perfect Griffon Spit family Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted May 31, 2021 Share Posted May 31, 2021 23 hours ago, FinnAndersen said: Perhaps the secret of the interest in the XII lies in the fact that's a damn good looking airplane. My personal opinion is that there is something special and attractive about packing a big powerful engine into a small airframe, much like the F8F Bearcat and F2G Corsair, and to my admittedly highly prejudiced Mk 1a eyes, that large spinner and four blade prop and clipped wings make the XII a handsome brute. While the Mk XIV and subsequent land and carrier-based variants are also beautiful Spitfires, to me they are stretched and look like Spits on steroids. I think the FR18 also has a cult following, on both sides of the pond, and to me is the ultimate expression of the Spitfire, for the same reasons so many of us love the XII- lean and mean, built in small numbers,, and never got the chance to prove itself. I'm guessing that there are as many of us who have been hoping for a state of the art XII that also are hoping for an XVIIIe. (I wish I had snagged the excellent CMR FR18 esin kit, when they were still available.) OK, rant over, back to the Naughty Corner! Mike How could you not want to build a model of one? http://www.spitfireperformance.com/spitfire-XII.html Or this one? (You have to squint your eyes, but you can still see the lineage.) https://www.asisbiz.com/il2/Spitfire/Late/pages/Spitfire-FR18-RAF-TP265-reconnaissance-variant-on-the-ground-web-01.html 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick4350 Posted May 31, 2021 Share Posted May 31, 2021 My Xtrakit Mk XII needs a coat of satin varnish as it's too glossy at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M20gull Posted May 31, 2021 Share Posted May 31, 2021 On 21/05/2021 at 21:30, John Thompson said: I always thought of it as a sort of aerial hot rod - an aircraft originally designed for the 27-litre-displacement Merlin, swapped out for the Griffon, 10 litres bigger! John Like others this is my feeling too. It must have been glorious on first flight after the Vs. I've bashed a couple of very crude XIIs just to keep them in the cabinet with all the other Spitfires but they are not my finest hour. I would love a better kit but I cannot see me buying more than a couple. XIVs on the other hand... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Thompson Posted May 31, 2021 Share Posted May 31, 2021 27 minutes ago, M20gull said: I would love a better kit but I cannot see me buying more than a couple. XIVs on the other hand... My thoughts exactly - a new 1/72 Mk.XIV would be a multiple buy for me. Years ago I kept chasing that dream; I'd be ashamed to admit how many still-unbuilt Ventura XIVs I have, and that was not an inexpensive kit! There's also a few of the Academy rendition, of which I've built one or two, but, to quote U2, "I still haven't found what I'm looking for"... John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denford Posted May 31, 2021 Share Posted May 31, 2021 2 hours ago, Mick4350 said: My Xtrakit Mk XII needs a coat of satin varnish as it's too glossy at the moment. So does mine: or even matt. What \ whose varnish do you plan to use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The wooksta V2.0 Posted May 31, 2021 Share Posted May 31, 2021 The Ventura 14 is a nice build once you get it cleaned up and raided the spares box. The one I finished a few years back looked the part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Thompson Posted May 31, 2021 Share Posted May 31, 2021 25 minutes ago, The wooksta V2.0 said: The Ventura 14 is a nice build once you get it cleaned up and raided the spares box. The one I finished a few years back looked the part. Agreed - I've actually built several Ventura Spitfires/Seafires, although only one of them has received any paint so far. My "spares" came from those Academy Mk.XIVs I mentioned. What always impresses me is how very fine the panel lines are on the Ventura kits. These limited-run products were first released nearly 30 years ago, and yet even now, some of the big name brands can't equal the quality of this detail. Mind you, there is the occasional sink mark which has to be dealt with, though... John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 9 hours ago, John Thompson said: My "spares" came from those Academy Mk.XIVs I mentioned. Thank goodness for that, I had been left wondering "why?". Presumably the donor kit of choice would be the Eduard Spitfire nowadays. I still have a small stock of the Venturas, all prepared but not yet assembled. They (with others) were bought cheaply some years back when Shrewsbury Model Centre had a mass clear-out. The competition from other Spitfire kits (not to mention others) is just too strong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The wooksta V2.0 Posted June 2, 2021 Share Posted June 2, 2021 Rather than buy the Academy kit again, I just made a set of moulds for the cockpit interior and cast them whenever I need a cockpit interior to upgrade a given Spitfire - Ventura and Fujimi spring to mind. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
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 accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now