neilfergylee Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 Like many others I am, almost by default, building in 1/48 scale a Spitfire collection. One gap is a decent early Mk.XIVc as the one 1/48 model, from Academy, has an oddly-shaped fuselage which is slightly too short and rather too deep. Having acquired one of Airfix's beautiful late model XIVe kite and - shock, horror - a SPARE Airfix PR.XIX, I decided to have a go at creating a decent shape early XIV. By way of comparison, here is the Airfix XIX fuselage above the Academy XIV. The Academy fuselage is noticeably too 'dumpy'. Test fitting the XIX fuselage onto the XIV wings, the basic fit was pretty good but not quite perfect. The main issue was the underwing / fuselage joint where the XIV part was about 10mm too short, thus requiring my cannibalising the unused fuselage from the XIVe. It was also necessary to adapt the bottom cowling to mate with the XIV wing. One subtle area for modification was then wings themselves. The 'E' wing has the cannon (and hence fairing) outboard, whereas the 'C' wing cannon is inboard. In turn, the 'C' wing has the outboard .303 machine guns and whilst the panels are virtually the same, I did need to cut out the ejector chutes. For the cannon fairing, I cut out the Airfix part and, with a little filing, succeeded in mounting the fairings from the Academy kit which, very conveniently, come as separate parts. One other change I made was to remove from the XIV fuel tank the windscreen mounting and transplant it to the XIX fuselage. At first I regretted this, thinking that it might have been better to use the whole component. However, I am glad I did it because not only did it graft on very well but I shall be reusing the fuel tank for my next conversion, the Mk.III prototype. Here are some more views of construction. And finally, the finished article, RB159 of 610 Squadron using Xtradecal set X48130. Lovely they are too. By way of comparison with other marks: I hope you have enjoyed these, I have a full album of images here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/26690797@N02/albums/72177720300660623 Best wishes, Neil 34 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Smith Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 6 minutes ago, neilfergylee said: One gap is a decent early Mk.XIVc as the one 1/48 model, from Academy, has an oddly-shaped fuselage which is slightly too short and rather too deep. There is the Hobbycraft (later Kitech) XIV, which is well shaped, but a bit like a 72nd kit scaled up to 1/48th. Not been available for over 10 years, last was available really cheaply in Kitech box before that. The Academy kit is not short, but it is too deep (and the wings are too thick) along with a bunch of other faults, I keep meaning to 'do' the fixes, as they are fixable fairly easily 'with some modelling skill' , and a new spinner. Oddly enough, while the Academy kit kit gets panned on a regular basis, the Airfix Mk.XII kits has nearly all the same faults except for the over size nose ring/spinner, and over thick wing. I'd like my Airfix XII to end up as the Mk.IV... still after details of the Fowler flaps..... Two nitpicky and possibly fiaxable points AFAIK the Mk XIV, being based on the Mk.VIII has 4 spoke wheels during wartime. the 3 spoke was post war only. The yellow prop tips are 4 inch full size, which is 1/12th of an inch, or near as damnmit 2mm in 1/48th (some of your models look spot on this BTW so maybe just a simple misremembering, maybe making them 4mm yellow tips?) I mention these as you seem like a chap who likes getting things right. here's a great colour pic, also of note for the paint worn of the leading edge brass sheathing on the blades.. Spitfire XIVE by Etienne du Plessis, on Flickr 10 minutes ago, neilfergylee said: the fuel tank for my next conversion, the Mk.III prototype. Bear in mind there are several variations of the Mk.III, if you have not seen it, there is a useful thread here where I collated a load of images and a variant time line, along with a other useful observations from the usual suspects Also this post https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/58779-spitfire-mk-iii/#elControls_633096_menu I quite fancy the Mk.III family as well. Most is pretty simple, but I'm still pondering on how to do the very first windscreen with the straight lower edges, and they cowl look to be different on the upper part. be a great one to do as WIP on here. Anyway, very neat work on the conversion, looks great! 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spitfire31 Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 Beautiful Mk XIV! The only possible nit pick would concern the yellow prop blade tips, that look much too deep. A most excellent display of modelling skills! Kind regards, Joachim 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilj Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 Great work! You nailed it. I'm working on a couple of XIVs, a c and an e, by combining Eduard and Airfix plastic. WIP images are over on the other side... https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/hyperscale/spit-xivc-spit-xive-wip-t531512.html ilj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilfergylee Posted July 21, 2022 Author Share Posted July 21, 2022 On 19/07/2022 at 19:37, Troy Smith said: There is the Hobbycraft (later Kitech) XIV, which is well shaped, but a bit like a 72nd kit scaled up to 1/48th. Not been available for over 10 years, last was available really cheaply in Kitech box before that. The Academy kit is not short, but it is too deep (and the wings are too thick) along with a bunch of other faults, I keep meaning to 'do' the fixes, as they are fixable fairly easily 'with some modelling skill' , and a new spinner. Oddly enough, while the Academy kit kit gets panned on a regular basis, the Airfix Mk.XII kits has nearly all the same faults except for the over size nose ring/spinner, and over thick wing. I'd like my Airfix XII to end up as the Mk.IV... still after details of the Fowler flaps..... Two nitpicky and possibly fiaxable points AFAIK the Mk XIV, being based on the Mk.VIII has 4 spoke wheels during wartime. the 3 spoke was post war only. The yellow prop tips are 4 inch full size, which is 1/12th of an inch, or near as damnmit 2mm in 1/48th (some of your models look spot on this BTW so maybe just a simple misremembering, maybe making them 4mm yellow tips?) I mention these as you seem like a chap who likes getting things right. here's a great colour pic, also of note for the paint worn of the leading edge brass sheathing on the blades.. Spitfire XIVE by Etienne du Plessis, on Flickr Bear in mind there are several variations of the Mk.III, if you have not seen it, there is a useful thread here where I collated a load of images and a variant time line, along with a other useful observations from the usual suspects Also this post https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/58779-spitfire-mk-iii/#elControls_633096_menu I quite fancy the Mk.III family as well. Most is pretty simple, but I'm still pondering on how to do the very first windscreen with the straight lower edges, and they cowl look to be different on the upper part. be a great one to do as WIP on here. Anyway, very neat work on the conversion, looks great! @Troy Smith thank you very much indeed! You have made some lovely comments and observations and I've tried to respond below. I didn't know about the Hobbycraft kit and I'm rather grateful I didn't! I used the back end of the Academy kit to make a F.21 and it did feel a tad portly, while I'd swear the engine area looks a bit inflated too. I used the Special Hobby VII to make a model of DP845 in its later - XX / VII prototype phase and do fancy a bash at the Mk.IV but, again, those bloody mystery flaps!! Yes, you're spot-on about the wheels. I used the XIX wheels and immediately regretted them. I might raid the spares box! Those tips! Yes, I got the yellow tips wrong and the Old Humbrol 33 will be coming out shortly! That's a lovely pic! Thanks also for the links on the Mk.III: I'm going to start a thread shortly and shall add the link once it's up. Thanks again for your really nice response! Best wishes, Neil On 19/07/2022 at 21:15, Spitfire31 said: Beautiful Mk XIV! The only possible nit pick would concern the yellow prop blade tips, that look much too deep. A most excellent display of modelling skills! Kind regards, Joachim Thank you very much indeed! Yes, I'll get the black paint out and fix those props! Cheers, Neil 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilfergylee Posted July 21, 2022 Author Share Posted July 21, 2022 On 19/07/2022 at 22:51, ilj said: Great work! You nailed it. I'm working on a couple of XIVs, a c and an e, by combining Eduard and Airfix plastic. WIP images are over on the other side... https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/hyperscale/spit-xivc-spit-xive-wip-t531512.html ilj That's a brilliant job there! I too thought of using a Mk.VIII - how did you get on with the tail fin? Cheers, Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antti_K Posted July 21, 2022 Share Posted July 21, 2022 Beautiful work Neil! You created a very good looking Mk.XIV. Cheers, Antti 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilj Posted July 22, 2022 Share Posted July 22, 2022 22 hours ago, neilfergylee said: That's a brilliant job there! I too thought of using a Mk.VIII - how did you get on with the tail fin? Cheers, Neil I followed the suggestions in Paul Budzik's video, working slowly, and it worked out pretty good... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAT69 Posted July 22, 2022 Share Posted July 22, 2022 What a beauty! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Ballman Posted July 23, 2022 Share Posted July 23, 2022 Well done!!! Nicely presented. Appreciate seeing the comparisons with the Academy kit. What a difference. Viola. a High back XIV. Thanks for sharing this. JB 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilfergylee Posted May 22, 2023 Author Share Posted May 22, 2023 Update. I wasn't entirely happy with the finished result. I had received some genuinely helpful criticism concerning the propellor tips (waaaaaay to much yellow), undercarriage (the three-spoke wheels would not be right for a first-batch Mk.XIV), while I had messed-up the weathering and the finish was too glossy. Therefore, I set about to fix these errors: the poor weathering was removed using isopropyl alcohol, extra black was added to the propellor blades and I very carefully removed the wheels and replaced them with a lovely pair of four-spoke wheels from the original Academy kit. Finished product below. Best wishes, Neil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keith in the uk Posted May 22, 2023 Share Posted May 22, 2023 That s better , brilliant , just brilliant . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cees Broere Posted May 22, 2023 Share Posted May 22, 2023 Apart from the exaggerated forward stance of the gearlegs I absolutely love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgeusa Posted May 22, 2023 Share Posted May 22, 2023 Great looking Spitfire in both the original mode and the redone mode after comments. Just lovely. Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Klaatu Posted May 23, 2023 Share Posted May 23, 2023 Oh, those are nice! Love the paint and camo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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