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Seafire FR47


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Hi,

 

I started this project some years ago but it is still a "long" work in project. I've always been fascinated by this plane. I guess that it is possibly because it was the final Spitfire iteration used in British-led operations and also because this is a mysterious topic.

 

Mysterious? Yes, indeed. You'll be surprised to see that so few books cover this final variant correctly. Most scale plans have many major errors, technical manuals are nearly impossible to find, no walkaround has ever been published and the only survivor is not in a museum in UK but hidden in a US private collection and has been deeply modified to go on flying... :-(((

 

So, with regard to references, without a major effort, I cannot say that the context was favorable...!

 

And with regard to the kit? Well the situation is not really better! We have the Matchbox/Revell Mk22-24 and some resin parts but they do not cover all Mk47 idiosyncrasies... So, the hunt for parts intended to save time was already a project!

 

So globally, what is currently in my list of items:

 

- the Matchbox kit

- the Alleycat FR47 set and its previous Brit bits iteration

- the Mastercasters Mk24 cockpit set

- the MDC Q-type harness

- the Warbirds (now Greymatter) Mk22/24 airframe update set and the Seafire drop tank

- the SAC copy of the Tamiya landing gear legs

- the rockets from the Hobby craft Sea Fury

- some MR models lenses for the camera ports

- one resin British camera from Silver wings

- the Iconicair Mk22-24 cowling update set

 

plus tons of plastic sheet, rods, strips, aluminium sheets, etc. etc..... and a good set of scribing tools!

 

Some of the items were purchased after the project started. We will see how it is possible to put all those elements together. I also hope to clarify some blurry matters.

 

Next step will ask for pictures!

 

 

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Be prepared for a ton of work as there is not one area of the kit that may be left as such for two reasons: first, because the kit is already a caricature of a Mk22-24 as such and second because the type 47 had many, many small differences...

 

Just to give you an example: more than 80% of the panel lines were filled!

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But at least Edgar Brooks pointed out the wing root fairings seem to be the right size for a FR47, but too big (wide at the trailing edge) for a 22.  I didn't realise they were different, but looking at some pics, it does look like they are!

 

Thierry, I have a box with an almost identical collection of parts in it !!  Your build may well inspire me to have a go too....

 

Tim

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Yes, this is one of the common errors you see...! There are many other ones such as too small landing gear wing bumps, wrong panel lines, wrongly dimensioned wing gun panels, wrong camera access panel, wrong windscreen shape, wrongly shaped landing gear doors, too small radiators and so on! Ouch!

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Guest Clunkmeister

Some people are suckers for punishment. You're a better man than I am. I'd run screaming from this project.

Thierry, good luck, friend. This will be interesting.

Edited by Clunkmeister
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Thierry-

I started researching this build as well and quickly became quite overwhelmed with all the work that is needed to do an accurate Seafire.  It is extremely insightful to see the work that you've done on this.  It's clear from your pics that you've already addressed many of the nuances- perhaps you could recap some of the steps you've taken?  I'd love to follow in your steps someday with a similar build!

 

Hope to see more soon!   :popcorn:

 

Kai

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Hi folks,

 

So we will start with the nose. Far before the release of the Iconicair set, the only aftermarket option to correct the odd engine rocker bumps of the Matchbox kit was the Warbirds (now Greymatter) Mk22/24 resin set. The set had many useful parts but the nose... does not fit!

 

I had already drilled in the nose from the rear and the bottom to remove as much as possible resin as the nose is not hollow. It is in fact far too heavy to be used as such. I drilled also from the bottom as in any case it had to be replaced by the long air intake used on the FR47. The (somewhat blurry - sorry!) picture hereunder shows the FR47 resin parts with the Warbirds nose.

 

I was puzzled when I realized far later in the conversion process it was not possible to use the nose. I suspect that the reason lies in the fact Warbirds made similar conversion sets for the Hasegawa MkV/VI kit. This probably explains that. The master was not changed to take into consideration a major cross-section difference between the two kits.

 

So, Houston, we have a problem...

 

P1070348.jpg

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I finally concluded that the main benefit of the resin nose was the use of correct bumps. So, a way to solve part of the problem was to limit the use of resin to the upper cowling. As I had two resin sets, i decided to change the correction approach. I sawed the upper section from the rest. By the way, this also improved the weight issue. Here is a view of the full nose without the rear section.

 

P1070353.jpg

 

And here is a view without the upper section. This shows you the amount of resin I removed!

 

P1070347.jpg

 

And finally the upper section:

 

P1070354.jpg

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