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Preserved Spitfire (circa 87) kit options in 48th scale?


Filler

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Apologies first. I know next to nothing about Spitfires and this enquiry doesn’t really fall under WWII.

 

My area of interest is mid to late eighties NATO aircraft that you could well have seen at an airshow of the time. Recently I got a bit of a hankering for a Spitfire, Hurricane or Mosquito to break up the jets and I also have a set of Mr Color RAF paints (no idea how or when I came to acquire them) sitting in a drawer.

7-DD7-CE09-AA9-E-4897-929-D-1-CC8-A435-C

 

My question is: What options do I have for a Spitfire that was on the airshow circuit in the 80’s and was in a scheme where I can use those paints?

 

I have been having a look around, and I am really confused. I found photos of G-AWII (AR501) and it looks to have been in those colours, but I have found photos of it labelled both Mk Vb and Vc. I fancy it is a Vc, but confusingly it appears to have clipped wings and the Special Hobby Vc kit I have found looks to have elliptical wing tips.

 

I also anticipate that decals might prove a challenge as I suspect that many preserved examples haven’t had decals produced and often would have been in inaccurate markings to boot.

 

It does seem a tricky period for me as I had once looked into building the Mk.XIV Spitfire G-ALGT only to find that whilst there was a Mk.14 kit, it was the wrong Mk.14 And I also wanted to build British Aerospace’s Mosquito, but that turned out to be some oddball variant that has not been and quite possibly will never be kitted.

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21 minutes ago, Filler said:

I fancy it is a Vc, but confusingly it appears to have clipped wings and the Special Hobby Vc kit I have found looks to have elliptical wing tips.

Vc

http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p022.html

AR501VcWASP20/223WestM468MU 22-6-42 310Sq 19-7-42 AST 1-12-42 GA struck by Mosquito Exeter Westland 23-3-43 504Sq 18-8-43 312Sq 16-10-43 422Sq 27-2-44 58OTU 30-3-44 FACB 9-9-44 AST CGS 24-4-45 Dept Aeronautical Eng Loughborough 21-3-46 Shuttleworth Trust as G-AWII BoB film extant codes NN-D 310Sq

 

I'd suggest getting the Eduard kit.   It's easy to clip wing tips if you do go down the Special Hobby route,  the kit has both in the box IRC, but the Eduard is going to be an easier build.  

 

Re markings, well, the ones in the Air Britain link look like the are markings AR501 wore in service 310 sq is NN,, 312 Sq is DU

Given the intense interest in Czech Squadrons these will be do-able, and maybe already have.....  

 

HTH

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Thanks Troy. The Eduard kit is twice the price, but presumably a far better kit and Christmas is just around the corner! I did wonder whether it might just be a case of mixing and matching from a few sources for the decals, but with the extra info you've given me I can hopefully find them in one set.

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13 minutes ago, Filler said:

Thanks Troy. The Eduard kit is twice the price, but presumably a far better kit and Christmas is just around the corner! I did wonder whether it might just be a case of mixing and matching from a few sources for the decals, but with the extra info you've given me I can hopefully find them in one set.

The Special Hobby is a little short, and not the easiest of builds.  

 

 

I'd keep an eye on Edaurd,  they do turn up less than retail,  and the profipacks have etch and masks.  

At the moment the only issue of the 1/48th Vc so far is in this dual combo AFAIK.  

https://www.eduard.com/eduard/plastic-kits/limited-edition/aircraft/1-48/eagle´s-call-1-48.html

 

but there will be specific boxings in due course....  I'd expect a Czech option in one of them.    My not be for a while,  looks like they are just doing the Vb at the mo.

 

And, if you can find it, this would make life easier...

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/special-hobby-sh48091-supermarine-spitfire-mkvc--112494

 

112494-10263-pristine.jpg

 

Or just ask for decal leftovers.

 

But,  you can almost guarantee Eduard will do a boxing like this in due course....

 

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The BAe Mosquito, RR299 was a T. Mk. III, hardly an oddball variant.  Conversion from the Airfix or Tamiya FB. VI isn't impossible and involves the deletion of the installed weapons (0.303 in and 20 mm), addition of a second control column and set of rudder pedals, extension of the instrument panel on the right hand side of the cockpit and a folding seat on the right hand side similar to the normal pilot's seat. There are images of the T. III cockpit on the interweb, but beware of restored examples (at least one of the currently flying Mosquitos started life as a T III).  If you use the Tamiya kit you'll also need to shorten the fin by a scale foot at its base.

 

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Thanks @stever219. That’s great info on the Mosquito. It was a good few years back I asked about it and I seem to recall being left with the impression that there was quite a bit involved in modifying Tamiya’s kit including something to do with the engine exhausts(?) being wrong for BAe’s aircraft. Sounds like it’s not so bad and worth another look.

 

Regarding shortening the tail. Is that an error in the Tamiya kit or just a difference in the version of Mosquito?

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@Filler

I’d need to look at some images of RR299 to check the type of exhausts fitted but she’d have had to have the 5 outlet arrangement common to all Mosquitos with single-stage Merlins, e.g. Mks. II, III, IV, VI, XII, XII.  The Airfix kits have the early style included but the post-war style may have differed slightly.

 

The too-tall fin is peculiar to the Tamiya and, now long out of production, Monogram kits.  The cut needs to be made along the upper edge of the fin root fairing and then a quarter-inch section following the same curve needs to come off the base of the fin (and rudder, of course).

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Just having a quick search around and I found a build thread from a few years back where the builder replaced the kit carburettor intakes with tropical filter versions as they said were fitted on RR299. No idea where they were sourced from.

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I've found another potential candidate for a 80's airshow Spitfire. This is MH434/ZD-B an LF Mk.IXb. I've found it pictured at airshows in both France and England in 1987.

 

At first it  'looked' like I had more kit options available. But looking a little closer, there seems to be many IXc models and possibly no IXb models. And even then, the IXc also comes in an 'early c' boxing. How significant are the differences between the various IXs? Does anyone have any advice which kit can be made OOB to represent MH434 (decals excepted of course)?

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Third time lucky? Spitfire NH238 DA, G-MKIX is I believe a IXc and that gives me the readily available and well thought of Eduard kits (Weekend or Profipack) to choose from. The one small caveat is that Eduard call it a IXc late version and I have no idea if G-MKIX is late or early. Perhaps being in civvy hands after 50 years it is neither. Looks nice, although not 100% sure I like the red spinner that much. But hey, beggars can't be choosers.

 

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Well, if you fancy something bright and colourful instead, Spencer Flack's Spitfire Mk XIV G-FIRE was a popular participant on the airshow circuit up until 1986. Airfix give you everything you need in one box:

 

51704535340_5c137f165a_c.jpg

 

Being a really regular visitor to airshows from 83 to 92, Stephen Grey's fleet was a frequent visitor to the Mildenhall shows (for that jet/warbird mix), as was the BBMF. So any of their aircraft are good candidates. As previously mentioned, Spitfire MH434 was everywhere back then along with Ray Hanna of course!

 

Steve

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That is very striking and tempting, but I do want to pick a subject where I can use the Mr Hobby paint set I have.

 

And as the Spitfire seems to be causing me much confusion about versions, I just thought, I wonder if there were any Hurricanes in those colours and that were being flown around 1987ish. The good news is that there was, the BBMFs PZ865 Hurricane MkII. The bad news is that a quick shufty at Hannants, KingKit and eBay gives the impression that the MkII doesn't seen to have been of much interest to kit manufacturers.

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21 hours ago, Filler said:

This is MH434/ZD-B an LF Mk.IXb

No such thing as a IXb, as in a IX with a B wing.    The confusion is there was an unofficial IXA/IXB term used to differentiate between engines.  the other terms used were LF, F and HF, for engine type fitted Low, standard, High.   

 

MH434 is a IXc, with a removed outer stub. Which look like a B wing, but isn't  (the term IXc only come about to differentiate between a IX and a IX with the later E wing) 

 

I'll add in links on these later. 

 

I'll have a look at MH434 and the various Eduard kits,  as the Eduard kits vary in that they have different wing with different gun bulges.  

It really depends how picky you want to be, as IIRC MH4343 may have the post war wheel bulges.  If that doesn't bother you, a late MkIXc kit should have all you need.

Decals  should nit be a problem, as MH434 flew with a Polish unit, and like Czech options, these are very popular with modellers there! 

2 hours ago, Filler said:

the MkII doesn't seen to have been of much interest to kit manufacturers.

there are several 1/48th Hurricane Mk.II's, just none are available at the mo,  and with the upswing in stay at home hobbies, the 2nd hand market is a seller market...

Note, the basic standard Hasegawa IIc kit has these markings. 

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I have Eduard's 1/48 IXc Late reserved for MH434 myself, as that is closest to how she appears in her warbird guise. 

 

As for doing a Hurricane IIC in 1/48, Arma Hobby are planning to release their take on it for the coming year. That should offer a good one to use the rest of the paint on :)

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Thanks to you both for the clarifications and extra information. @Troy Smith, I picked up the IXb reference from Airliners.net photos. Perhaps not the best point of reference.

 

I'll keep my eyes peeled for the Hasegawa Hurricane, but the Arma one looks like it'll be very nice. I'll probably follow @alt-92's lead with MH434. I do have to admit that whilst it's good to be 100% accurate, I am a bit of a pragmatist and near as damn it will usually suffice for me. After all, my modelling skills aren't really good enough for 100% or even 75% accurate. I'll probably even run out of that paint after my umpteenth time around tidying up the camouflage.

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The initial MkIX Spitfires fitted with the Merlin 61or 63 were referred to in the RAF at squadron level as 'A's but were correctly Mk IX.F's, The later examples fitted with the Merlin 66 (the Mk IX.LF) were referred to as 'B', which was not a reference to the wing type but simply a means of differentiating between the two types. The F, LF and the later HF (with the Merlin 70) all had the 'c' wing fitted. MH434 had two of the canon apertures blanked over giving the incorrect impression that it had the 'b' wing which over time has just added to the confusion.

 

Regards

Colin.

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