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Spitfire XII in 72nd Scale


fishplanebeer

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7 hours ago, Jazzie said:

 

Funny you mention the Messerspit as there is a spare Vb fuselage in there. Not sure if this is related to the AZ or Sword kits so confirmation welcome, but maybe a good candidate for a nose job.

Arabest,

Geoff.

Indeed. Funny thing I did not think of it as I wrote the post above, because I took the Daimler-Benz and added it to a Tamiya Mk. V. 

 

Don't know why I do this all the time, unless it's because I can?

 

/Finn

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On 5/24/2022 at 3:17 AM, fishplanebeer said:

Ps. still can't understand why it's never been done in 72nd scale (especially Airfix given their 48th offering) if the level of interest on this forum is any indicator of potential demand

 

On 5/24/2022 at 6:44 AM, John Thompson said:

Personally, I think you're right, but the last time I said I thought a new and accurate 1/72 Spitfire XII kit was a good idea, I got howled down for it - only served with two squadrons; only had standard camouflage and markings, no special schemes; short service life, etc., etc.. So, wait and see, I guess.

I'm very much in this camp too. I think it is the fact that it's production & use was so limited is what gives it a certain uniqueness factor & makes it attractive to so many, howlers excepted. <_<

Even though I have done one from a Ventura Seafire XV with A frame hook & have an Aeroclub conversion in stock, I'd buy another or two in a heart beat. :)

Steve.

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3 hours ago, stevehnz said:

 

I'm very much in this camp too. I think it is the fact that it's production & use was so limited is what gives it a certain uniqueness factor & makes it attractive to so many, howlers excepted. <_<

Even though I have done one from a Ventura Seafire XV with A frame hook & have an Aeroclub conversion in stock, I'd buy another or two in a heart beat. :)

Steve.

 

Compared to the Sword option, the Ventura Seafire fuselage has the disadvantage of having the front part of the intake moulded aslpart of the lower cowling halves. However the canopy area is IMHO better represented as the Sword kit seems to suffer from a too low rear canopy shelf, that results in an slightly too deep clear part. For some reason Sword seems to have made this mistake in most of their Spitfires.

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8 minutes ago, Giorgio N said:

Ventura Seafire fuselage has the disadvantage of having the front part of the intake moulded aslpart of the lower cowling halves.

This was certainly one part that took a bit more effort, it was sliced off, reshaped & repositioned, all pretty much by eye but it looks the part in the end I think. I did have the rather nice drawings that came with the Aeroclub conversion & they were a big help.

DSCF2705

 

DSCF2701

The prop blades are probably a bit too wide, being Seafire ones. :( next time. :) 

Steve.

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Given that Cookenbacker above has shown it to be short in the rear fuselage, possibly not.  I wouldn't turn it down for being a resin kit.  A good resin kit is not appreciably more difficult to make than an injected polystyrene one.  You do have to be a little more careful cutting/scraping it to avoid bending it as the resin has next-to-no give and may snap.  Some of the older resin kits had a poor reputation for that.  I've not done a CMR one but they do have a good reputation, so this could be a good one to try.  The price is another matter - you could almost certainly get a Ventura Seafire for less.  Probably cheaper still to try x-kitting at a lower price.  (One suggestion if you go that route: pick as a donor kit one that you know is faulty other than the bit you want: say the engine from the Airfix PR Mk.XIX?)

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So would an Airfix Vc and the Ventura or Sword Seafire XV (nose) be a good start point perhaps as all are available at the moment?

 

That said the combined cost would be about the same as the CMR kit so I'm now a little undecided which way to go, but with the CMR presumably everything is there and quite accurate, of does it need any extra parts from another donor kit? I'm thinking prop blades and spinner especially.

 

Regards

Colin.

Edited by fishplanebeer
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53 minutes ago, fishplanebeer said:

So would an Airfix Vc and the Ventura or Sword Seafire XV (nose) be a good start point perhaps as all are available at the moment?

 

That said the combined cost would be about the same as the CMR kit so I'm now a little undecided which way to go, but with the CMR presumably everything is there and quite accurate, of does it need any extra parts from another donor kit? I'm thinking prop blades and spinner especially.

 

Regards

Colin.

Again, from the pictures posted by Cookenbacker, the CMR kit may have the parts, but is noticeably short. Kinda up to you, get a purpose molded XII kit and accept the length issue or start to develop your kit bashing abilities to obtain a probably more accurate overall XII, at least with regard to overall length

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1 hour ago, fishplanebeer said:

I've just noticed that Hannants have the CMR kit but at an eye watering £28.83 so is it worth it in terms of accuracy and ease of building given that I've never attempted a resin kit before?

 

Regards

Colin.

I have ditched mine as being difficult to build and curiously out of shape. I consider the fuselage as being too wide and short.

 

But, it has a decal sheet and can with care and loving be built with more modest skills that a full conversion, where you will have trouble getting decals. 

 

So if you want a Spitfire XII more that your afternoon tea, go for it, but you should perhaps try a different resin kit before attempting the XII to gain the necessary skills. 

 

/Finn

 

 

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To be honest having never attempted a serious cross kit pollination I'm sort of tempted to go for the CMR kit not withstanding it's length issue (which I'm happy to live with) but importantly does it need any extra bits in terms of the prop, spinner and possibly canopy? I just need to know what else I need to find to make sure they are still available as I don't want to get 80-90% there and then find it has to be parked until a rare or OOP item appears again.

 

Many thanks for all the replies so far which have pointed me in what I think is this best direction given my modest but reasonable skills, plus I do have a lot of patience!

 

Regards

Colin.

 

Ps. I'm assuming resin kits need 2-part expoxy and/or ca, both of which I'm reasonably well versed in using, plus wearing a mask when sanding the resin parts.

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Hannants  have now increased the CMR kit to £34.60 for some reason so think I'll now pass and wait for something better and/or more affordable as this is way beyond what I'm prepared to pay for a 72nd scale fighter. It even makes Arma and Hasegawa seem like bargains!

 

Regards

Colin.

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