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Airfix Mk.IXc in 1/24.


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If doing JE*J, the million dollar (pound/euro??) question is, was that a green maple leaf or a red maple leaf? I know, most depict it as green but I think recent analysis would tend to point towards it being red which would be in keeping with the actual decal distributed by the RCAF at that time for application on RCAF squadron aircraft.

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6 hours ago, IanC said:

 

The French markings are great. I'd love to do that in 1/72.

 

The only problem for me is IF I had the space and money for a 1/24 Spit IX I think I'd have to do it in a more representative scheme, as I wouldn't be building another. But maybe not JE-J - that really is too well known!  

The silver one from the Dutch Decal sheet is quite attractive too.....

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32 minutes ago, cmatthewbacon said:

Sorry, but I’ll be joining the crowd as well. JE-J was the first model I built, with my dad, that pale blue Airfix plastic (no paint, then) and the Maple leaf are still etched on my mind 50+ years on…

best,

M

Like you, I remember that old kit well and with great fondness, though I glued its pale blue bits together unassisted (and made an almighty mess doing so!). Mine was also unpainted and the maple leaf is as clear in my mind today as it was 50 or so years ago.....though for some reason I've never had any inclination at all to do JE-J again. Nostalgia's a great thing, isn't it? 🙂

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10 hours ago, Grizly said:

If doing JE*J, the million dollar (pound/euro??) question is, was that a green maple leaf or a red maple leaf? I know, most depict it as green but I think recent analysis would tend to point towards it being red which would be in keeping with the actual decal distributed by the RCAF at that time for application on RCAF squadron aircraft.

I've not seen the decal sheet, but Airfix would be wise to provide the leaf in both colours and let the modeller decide.

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1 hour ago, Denford said:

I've not seen the decal sheet, but Airfix would be wise to provide the leaf in both colours and let the modeller decide.

 

Which is precisely what Airfix intend to do;

 

'Our decal sheet includes both options for the modeller, so you can proceed with this detail in the manner you see most appropriate,'

 

https://uk.airfix.com/community/blog-and-news/workbench/fighting-colours-new-124th-scale-spitfire-mkixc

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And while we're on the subject of decals and markings for the new 1/24 Mk IX, I see Xtradecal have some new sets out;

 

https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/X24005?result-token=v3nIj

 

https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/X24004?result-token=v3nIj

 

X24005 includes markings for Johnnie' Johnson's Spitfire Mk.IXe, MK392, 'JE.J'.

 

I haven't really been paying attention to the Mk.IXc / Mk.IXe debate on this thread, being happy to do the earlier IXc EN398. But I thought doing a IXe was going to be difficult with this kit? (apologies if this has already been done to death :deadhorse:)

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1 hour ago, Johnson said:

And while we're on the subject of decals and markings for the new 1/24 Mk IX, I see Xtradecal have some new sets out;

 

https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/X24005?result-token=v3nIj

 

https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/X24004?result-token=v3nIj

 

My eye was caught by the inclusion of ML407's markings. MH434 would have been nice too. Can't be that difficult to get a LF IXb from this kit? Anyhoo, I've got the Buchon Scale Models Mk XVIe lowback conversion on backorder, so mine is going to be TD248 from my time with her back in the early 90s.

 

Nice to see the aftermarket decals arriving though, but Airfix have certainly included some very nice options themselves. Can't wait to get the kit.....although thanks to British Gas, the bank balance might need to wait a bit longer!!

 

Steve

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34 minutes ago, fightersweep said:

 

Can't be that difficult to get a LF IXb from this kit? Anyhoo, I've got the Buchon Scale Models Mk XVIe lowback conversion on backorder, so mine is going to be TD248 from my time with her back in the early 90s.

 

 

Steve

The French option is an LFIX, so should be possible straight from the box.

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1 hour ago, fightersweep said:

MH434 would have been nice too. Can't be that difficult to get a LF IXb from this kit? 

 

Steve

Just in case, the b in a Mk IX was the early designation for an LF version and did not refer to the wing. It was changed very quickly to avoid confusion. My apology if you already knew that.

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Will be interesting to see how many books come out helping build the kit. The Ausie editor from another  site is at the top of my list.

Dick...... never knowingly under Spitfired.

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20 hours ago, Grizly said:

If doing JE*J, the million dollar (pound/euro??) question is, was that a green maple leaf or a red maple leaf? I know, most depict it as green but I think recent analysis would tend to point towards it being red which would be in keeping with the actual decal distributed by the RCAF at that time for application on RCAF squadron aircraft.

The latest IPMS Canada quarterly has an excellent article on this very topic.

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Airfix finally responded to my email about the incorrect wide blisters. Not good news, but now that we know the correct wide blisters won’t be provided in the kit, the first aftermarket company to provide them will have my order. I don’t think these will be as correctable as the Tamiya 1/32 IXc, because they will have to clear the cannon breeches. Below is the response I received.

Hi there,

 

Thank you for your email and apologies for the delay in responding to you.

 

We are aware of the issue relating to the wide blister shape but unfortunately it came to late for the change to be implemented in the production kits.

 

Kind Regards,


Matt Jordan
Customer Technical Advisor

I have sent this information to @Barracudadude Barracuda.

 

Cheers,

Jeff

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17 hours ago, Grizly said:

With so many possible IXc subjects that one could want, I'm surprised that the after market decals have included a number of IXe (XVIe???) options.

Don't think it'll be that long before an "e" comes along, either from Airfix or the aftermarket people.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 7/13/2022 at 10:17 PM, MrB17 said:

Airfix finally responded to my email about the incorrect wide blisters. Not good news, but now that we know the correct wide blisters won’t be provided in the kit, the first aftermarket company to provide them will have my order. I don’t think these will be as correctable as the Tamiya 1/32 IXc, because they will have to clear the cannon breeches. Below is the response I received.

Hi there,

 

Thank you for your email and apologies for the delay in responding to you.

 

We are aware of the issue relating to the wide blister shape but unfortunately it came to late for the change to be implemented in the production kits.

 

Kind Regards,


Matt Jordan
Customer Technical Advisor

I have sent this information to @Barracudadude Barracuda.

 

Cheers,

Jeff

 

that's very disappointing, but ultimately not the end of the world; the breakdown of the part in question means if aftermarket choose to step in, it will be an easy fix

 

as a 1/32 builder who occasionally goes into 1/24 eg for the excellent Trumpeter Hurricane, I will be interested to see how this one stacks up to Tamiya's fantastic offering in 1/32; for me personally unless it is markedly better than Mr T's, I won't get it just because it's bigger; although I know there are many who will buy it because of that size differential (and that's cool too)

 

re detailing the cockpit (even if you button the cowling up), 1/32 is just about ok but in 1/24 there really is no place to hide, but on the upside there is a huge scope for super detailing

 

for those not used to big scales, I would say forget decals unless it's for nose art; masks are the way to go

 

i hope this kit does well for Airfix

 

kind regards,

Nick

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36 minutes ago, Max Headroom said:

Couldn’t Airfix do a small correction sprue?

Probably could Max. But this issue is probably already bagged, boxed and sealed. Maybe in the next issue?

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1 hour ago, nicholas mayhew said:

that's very disappointing, but ultimately not the end of the world; the breakdown of the part in question means if aftermarket choose to step in, it will be an easy fix

I sent an email to Barracuda immediately after the reply from Airfix, because they did a correction for the Tamiya 1/32 Spitfire IXc, hopefully they will do a set for the Airfix 1/24 Spitfire IXc. I haven’t had a response from Barracuda as of yet. They’ll need a set of sprues before they make them.

Both of the 402 Squadron RCAF Spitfires offered in Airfix’s schemes will require the wide cannon blisters. There are considerably more late versions than early, so for most, the wide blisters aren’t going to be necessary, maybe they factored that in when deciding to not correct the wide blisters.


I would really like to know how they came up with what they moulded in the first place, (and Tamiya for that matter), Airfix should have taken a look at the Eduard 1/48 IXc early, they seem to know what they are doing. It boggles my mind, there’s no excuse, and I have yet to see a single clear photo of anything other than the teardrop shape.
Even Monogram got the blister shape right on their 1/48 IXc 60 years ago! Mind you there are many other issues with that vintage kit, but I have one in my stash anyway, the original box art was very cool.

 

 I do wish Airfix well with the sales of the kit, considering it’s made in the UK, it should do well. I have 2 on preorder myself, only one requires the wide blisters.

 

Cheers

Jeff

 

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On 7/24/2022 at 8:53 AM, Johnson said:

But this issue is probably already bagged, boxed and sealed. Maybe in the next issue?

I pretty much knew that by the time it was detected on the initial test shots, the mould was already pumping them out, and any further delays would have set back the target release date. Can’t really blame them for that, I just wanted to know if they had made a correction on the subsequent test shots. I think the test shots are more geared to fine tuning the sprue gates to ensure no short shots, and let’s keep our fingers crossed that short shots have been ironed out by Airfix in future releases.
A separate correction sprue would certainly give them some Brownie points, especially in the serious modeller community. The sprue containing the cannon blisters, is a large sprue and probably not modular, which would have enabled them to retool the module if it was. However I think I have a better chance of winning the lotto.

I’m hoping the next issue is a Mk.VIII, although a lot have mentioned that a Mk.XVI would be nice.  Somebody has to be planning conversion kits at any rate. I also hope to see complete mask sets, this scale is meant for it.

 

Cheers

Jeff

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  • 2 weeks later...

At my age that is classified as a  XXX porn film. 

 

 

 

Note to self....... need to get out more.

 

Dick

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I'm not sold on the frosted glass canopy 😆

 

It looks awesome. I expect the level of detail will be good enough for me. I like detail but I take forever to build anything so I don't like tons and tons of detail! The cannon detail looks pretty good and the engine should be at least up to the standards of their Mosquito 1/24, if not improved, and the Mosquito was already good enough for me too. The Mk 9 will make a nice partner for my Mozzie.

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I did notice the absence of the wide cannon blisters in the video above. I wonder when the first sprues will be made available to any aftermarket manufacturers?

However, I have been scouring books and the web for a photo of what Airfix have provided for the wide cannon blisters and I finally found what I believe is the same. Below is a photo I found on the ADF serials page, the source of which is the Australian War Memorial. If you look on the ground in front of the port wing, you can see the rather rare wide blister laying there. The sides of the blister run parallel to the edge of the panel and the front is not rounded, but squared off with the front shallow edge being almost perpendicular to the panel. This is a Mk.Vc however, not a Mk.IX, additionally the aircraft has a 4 cannon installation, which was never used on the Mk.IX due to the additional weight of the Merlin 60 series engine installation. I have been educating myself on Spitfires while putting my B-17 research on hold. I also posted information on the “all the Spitfire questions part 2” thread.

C572A5E8-CB12-471E-BF4F-8BA7218159F3

Cheers

Jeff

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  • 2 weeks later...

The kit looks a superb base with so much scope for many options and am sure this will be another winner for Airfix.

It'll be great for the aftermarket guys too I think.

 

I hadn't noticed any parts for external  drop tanks on the sprues so presume that'd be an area taken on by aftermarket?

Some good information about the external drop tank loads in the 126 Sqn (5J option) archives show that they flew with the 45 gallon ones on D-Day

and there's an interesting combat report by Plagis for the 14th August, where he broke the cable release for the tank by pulling too hard and had to fight on

with the 90 gallon tank still fitted, claiming an Me109 and FW190 as shot down and an Me109 damaged in that one sortie.

He states:-

"I found combat extremely difficult with 90 gallon tank - and at high and slow speeds aircraft very slovenly and difficult".

 

I will definitely be getting one.

 

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