1/32 Seafire III, Denavalised Irish Air Corps aircraft Options

[Radub]

Hi everyone,
This is my next project. For those who are looking for my "next thing" let me reassure you that this is just a model for my own pleasure and no part of it will be copied in resin.
This needs to be finished for the big show in Dublin Castle on 17/18 May, so there will be no diversions.

The IAC Seafire III was a denavalised Seafire. They kept the folding wings, but the arrestor hook and the catapult spools were removed.
This is going to be a kitbash of Hasegawa fuselage, Revell MkI wing, Aires cockpit, Eduard photoecthed parts, Warbirds parts, Airwaves parts and lots of scratchbuilding.

Photos will be posted soon.
Radu

[Radub]

The sidewalls were thinned to take the Aires cockpit.
By the looks of it, I will need to make some alterations to the Aires set.
Radu

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[LSP_Kevin]

Ah, another great build to follow! Looking forward to watching this one Radu, but I have to admit that I'm mildly disappointed that you won't be scratch-building the entire cockpit.

Kev

[LSP_Dave]

[Radub]

Ah, another great build to follow! Looking forward to watching this one Radu, but I have to admit that I'm mildly disappointed that you won't be scratch-building the entire cockpit.

Kev

If it were not for the deadline, I would have. I have another Seafire planned, a more leasurely one, and that one will have a scratchbuilt cockpit.
Anyway, there will be some scratchbuilding it it. The Aires cockpit has some flaws and I am already working on fixing them. More photos soon.
Radu

[Radub]

I started to modify the Aires cockpit. I did not like the way they depicted the rudder bars and the floor boards. To me, one of the most interesting things about the Spitfire cockpit is the "hollow" look of the floor. The Aires floor is too solid for my liking.

Here is a photo of the Aires parts, taken from the review on LSP.
Photo: http://www.largescaleplanes.com/reviews/Af...t/images/02.jpg
Review: http://www.largescaleplanes.com/reviews/Af...Aires_2061.html

All that detail was removed with a dental burr. I already started to detail it with the perforated strip.

More photos soon.

Radu

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[Dave Pratt]

Hmmm,a Spitfire,eh? I'll be sure to keep an eye on this build Radu.Looking good so far...

[mgbooyv8]

Looking at your pictures of the resin parts,
it seems that improving the Hasegawa bits is a better bet than upgrading the resin parts......

I'll follow your build. Interesting.

Cheers,

Peter

[Radub]

Looking at your pictures of the resin parts,
it seems that improving the Hasegawa bits is a better bet than upgrading the resin parts......

I'll follow your build. Interesting.

Cheers,

Peter

Well, yes and no... I will actually use bits from both. I did lots of work today. I will have some photos soon.
Radu

[Azgaron]

Nice start Radu! Looking forward to see more of this build!

Cheers,

Azgaron

[bcauchi]

Some casual work from the master at last. Good to see you doing a build for yourself. Will love this, especially since it is a spitfire. Your work is always awe inspiring. Can't wait for more pics.

[Scotsman]

I'm really looking fordward to this build - I was thinking about a Seafire at somestage this year - with the re-release of the Airwaves set - I'll just sit now at the feet of the master ,and watch how it should be done!

[Radub]

OK folks,
I did not forget about this... My last two weeks have been hectic. I changed my computer (with all that it entails) and upgraded to some new software (new steep learning curves). Then, I decided that it was time to close the Ebay store (they are getting too greedy, no support, strange policies, insanely cumbersone practices, etc... ) so I began the work to open a new store. I am in the process of building the new store website and I hope to be up and runing in about one week, when I will give up Ebay, except for the occasional auction.

Anyway, back to business now. the cocpit floor is finished. here are a couple of pictures.

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[Radub]

And another

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[Radub]

The rudder pedals are from the Aires set and the other metal parts for the drop tank (on the side of the floor) are from Eduard. All cables and pipes will be added after painting.
The conrol column grip is piece of guitar string. Other than that, the rest is all plasticard and Evergreen rod. I did some work on the other parts of the cockpit. More photos soon.

So far, I must say that I do not think this is Aires' best effort overall. I have been a fan of their work for years, and I know that they are capable of stellar work, but this set is almost as if it was outsourced to someone else... The absence of the front wall/firewall is impossible to understand. Without it, you can see through the wheel wells. Actully, more issues will become obvious when you see the other work I needed to do to fix what the "update set" was supposed to fix. And this is not me being a fusspot or a perfectionist...I could live without a cable, a lever or a box...but things such as a firewall are things that are conspicuous by their absence.

Radu