Supermarine Seafire FR Mk 47

[Jon Kunac-Tabinor]

Hi gang - so the ultimate Seafire hits the workbench. I'm not entering the current groupbuild with this, because our house has just gone on the market, and modelling may be reduced during this "keep the place looking spotless or you be talking with a higher pitched voice than you have now" period , so there's no guarantee it would be finished within the time frame.

However - I note a number of Airfix 47s being built, so as promised - heres my top tip for improving the characteristic ducted nose intake.

Heres the flat nose bottom that airfix would have you attach the ducted nose cowl too - the problem here it that it will leave a big flat gap which is noticeable when the prop is attached. Not a massive thing I know - but it annoys me. However the solution is in the kit!!

The kit also provides the more usual lower nose cowling for the Mk 46 version. If you use this peice and sand down the sides to create a step - as shown - then the ducted cowl will fit over the top...

...and fairs in the inside of the ducted intake giving a rounded edge which when mated with the prop...

...gives a nice smooth transistion between prop and fuselage cross section.

Which means you get a nice ducted internal surface running all the way inside the intake. Simples!!

In case you are wondering - the prop is Aeroclubs as I robbed the kit of its contra prop for my Mk 21 conversion a year or so ago.

Next up its the cockpit and wing fold details.....

Hope this is of use.

Jonners

Edited May 2, 2011 by Jon Kunac-Tabinor

[jacksdad]

[Karl]

Excellent stuff, I knew there was an issue with the duct - I don't have a Seafire 46/47 yet but I hope to get one when Airfix re-release it.

Thanks for the info.

Karl

[thx6667]

Boy, those wings look a little short in span...

[Jon Kunac-Tabinor]

Boy, those wings look a little short in span...

Its the little known clipped wing LFR-47

cheeky.

Jonners

[T-Tango]

Looking good Jonners, great heads up tip.

[Andrew Jones]

Nice fix Jon, wish I'd thought of that before attaching the ducting to mine.

[Mike]

Good idea Jonners - will you remind me about that when I finally get round to mine in my dotage?

[TheModeller]

Really neat fix Jonners, wish I'd thought of that before carving and sanding lumps of 60 thou!

Do you know if John still making the contra-prop? It looks like a really sharp bit of work, is it resin or have you primed it?

[Jon Kunac-Tabinor]

Really neat fix Jonners, wish I'd thought of that before carving and sanding lumps of 60 thou!

Do you know if John still making the contra-prop? It looks like a really sharp bit of work, is it resin or have you primed it?

Hi Les - the prop is injection moulded. I guess John might have some spares - worth a PM to him. It needs a bit of a clean up but its got good shape to it. The colour is just the way the sanded pale grey plastic looks in the light .

cheers

Jonners

[ollieholmes]

He had a few last year as i orderd a pair from him.

[Jon Kunac-Tabinor]

Wingfold time!! the 47 has a different wingfold to every other Seafire - being powered and further outboard on the late Spit wing.The Crowood Press book fortunately has a very usedful diagram to work from. And thats what this is based on - with a few bits and bobs added to busy it up.

The airfix wing fold details are a bit small to my eye, and dont actually join on the main hinge. These bits are overscale on my effort - but it does help show the hinge!!

And just to show they fit too!!

Plastic sheet, brass tube, strtched sprue and wire are your friends in situations like this!

[Jon Kunac-Tabinor]

One thing thats puzzling me about this model - the more I look at pics of the mk 47s undernose air scoop the more it seems to me that the cross section of the engine as a whole is a smooth oval shape around its base. The Airfix kit has the chin scoop moulded so it makes a "double bubble" cross section, with the lower smaller bubble being the air intake

Its hard to find pics of the mk 47 engine area where you can see if this is clearly the case ( the contra props always seem to be in the way), but going by the lack of any shadow in this area on the photos I can find - it seems as though it should be a smooth transition from engine side into the lower air intake scoop fairing.

Can anyone shed some light on this. As its moulded it just doesnt look "right" but that means nowt I know.

cheers in advance on this

Jonners

[Andrew Jones]

One thing thats puzzling me about this model - the more I look at pics of the mk 47s undernose air scoop the more it seems to me that the cross section of the engine as a whole is a smooth oval shape around its base. The Airfix kit has the chin scoop moulded so it makes a "double bubble" cross section, with the lower smaller bubble being the air intake

Its hard to find pics of the mk 47 engine area where you can see if this is clearly the case ( the contra props always seem to be in the way), but going by the lack of any shadow in this area on the photos I can find - it seems as though it should be a smooth transition from engine side into the lower air intake scoop fairing.

Can anyone shed some light on this. As its moulded it just doesnt look "right" but that means nowt I know.

cheers in advance on this

Jonners

I know what you mean Jon, have wondered this myself, photos seem to show the intake as slightly shallower than Airfix have moulded it and as you say with a smoother curve to the sides. The Falcon 1/48 vacform is more accurate in this area in my opinion.

[Jon Kunac-Tabinor]

I know what you mean Jon, have wondered this myself, photos seem to show the intake as slightly shallower than Airfix have moulded it and as you say with a smoother curve to the sides. The Falcon 1/48 vacform is more accurate in this area in my opinion.

Hi Andrew - funnily the shallowness was another issue I was thinking about. Good to have someone else flag this independently. As it is the depth reminds me of the Hispano Ha 112 Buchon a little!

Cheers

Jonners

[M4rk]

Nice work Jonners, I can see a lot more of these being built when it's rereleased as its a great looking aircraft. Looking forward to seeing your improvements to the wingfold areas as well, I left mine as Airfix intended but always thought they could do with more hardware there, I got round it by dirtying them up a bit though

[TheModeller]

Hi Andrew - funnily the shallowness was another issue I was thinking about. Good to have someone else flag this independently. As it is the depth reminds me of the Hispano Ha 112 Buchon a little!

Cheers

Jonners

I found this pic via Google which might help Jonners,

IIRC Roy Sutherlands old Cooper Details resin set came with a replacement intake that was shallower than the kit part. I'm sure I've seen this mentioned somewhere else...

[Jon Kunac-Tabinor]

I found this pic via Google which might help Jonners,

IIRC Roy Sutherlands old Cooper Details resin set came with a replacement intake that was shallower than the kit part. I'm sure I've seen this mentioned somewhere else...

Cheers Les - its amazing what you can miss when you spend hours googling!! its the shape of t he intake which seems to indicate its shallower than the Airfix part, and again - though hard to see the shape around the cross section looks smooth.

Me thinks an email to Roy is required!

Jonners

[davidelvy]

Thinking about it there has to be a "double bubble" as to make a smooth oval would have meant altering the cowling sides as well. The question is whether Airfix have overdone the depth of the opening. At the moment I am not sure I can say one way or the other.

[andy hood]

Great build so far! nice one

[Jon Kunac-Tabinor]

Thinking about it there has to be a "double bubble" as to make a smooth oval would have meant altering the cowling sides as well. The question is whether Airfix have overdone the depth of the opening. At the moment I am not sure I can say one way or the other.

Hi David - that did occur to me - my feeling is the depth of the intake on the airfix part makes the double bubble more pronounced, and the fact that this area is invariably sky on the real things ( ie pale) means any shadowing tends not to show as much)

I emailed Roy Sutherland earlier so I'll see what he thinks too

Cheers

Jonners

Edited April 5, 2011 by Jon Kunac-Tabinor

[stringbag]

Hi Jonners

Hope these will help to some degree.

The first picture shows the Airfix parts and the second pic shows the Aires part.

I did have the Cooper detail part but can't bloody find it at the moment. Of the two aftermarket items, I think the Cooper details set is the way to go if it is still available.

If I find the Cooper detail set I'll post a pic of that one as well.

All the best.

Chris.

[Martian]

Nice work! I love the intake fix; most resourceful.

Martin

[Dave Gibson]

Hi Jon,

Here's the Cooper Details front:

HTH,

Dave

[cynicaljohnny]

I have a wing fold question - to what angle do they fold up to? I've sure I've seen pics of then folded to approx right angles (90deg) and well past 90 (more like Seafire XVII) - how come? Surely they were either folded or not?

Edited April 5, 2011 by cynicaljohnny