Any Reviews or aftermarket for Revell/Matchbox Spitfire Mk. 22/24?

[Bill M.]

Are there any reviews out there about the Revell/Matchbox Spitfire Mk. 22/24? Short of a review, what do people think of this kit? I also seem to remember someone was offering or said they were going to offer a resin correction set for this kit. Am I remembering correctly?

[LSP_Ron]

It is the old Matchbox offering from the 70's. It's a bit dated but can be made into a decent looking model. Out of the box it's lacking in a few areas. There is no detail in the wheel wells. The cockpit is simplified, the canopy and prop are rather thick. Assembly of the fuse to wing is challenging.

 

There is another post here just now requesting instructions. Here is a link to that thread that shows instructions

 

<<<Link>>>

 

I can post some pics of my build if you want

 

Ron

[hunta]

Yes that would be great if you could post your images as I need all the help I can get...

 

Cheers Hunter

[LSP_Kevin]

While I can't point you to any reviews specifically, there are several great build of that kit here on LSP (Ron's included), and they're well worth checking out.

 

Here's some examples I found:

 

Butler's Mk XIV conversion

 

LSP_Dave's unfinished symphony

 

ruzlkampf's mutating beastie

 

There are others, but those are the ones I could find quickly.

 

Kev

[LSP_Ron]

While I can't point you to any reviews specifically, there are several great build of that kit here on LSP (Ron's included), and they're well worth checking out.

 

Kev

 

Thanks Kevin, I had to clean up my photobucket account so none of the photos show

 

I'll post some tomorrow.

 

Ron

[Bill M.]

Thanks all for the responses.

 

Ron, yes I would love to see pictures of your build.

 

From what I read here, it looks like it is a buildable kit but would benefit from some aftermarket resin and the like--- particularly the cockpit, wheelwells, wheels, etc. Are there any areas that are just flat-out inaccurate?

[Guest TheModeller]

Thanks all for the responses.

 

Ron, yes I would love to see pictures of your build.

 

From what I read here, it looks like it is a buildable kit but would benefit from some aftermarket resin and the like--- particularly the cockpit, wheelwells, wheels, etc. Are there any areas that are just flat-out inaccurate?

 

From my notes I made years ago when the Matchbox kit was available you'll find that the tailplanes are too small, in span and chord, this makes the elevators too small as well, and the rocker-cover fairings on the upper cowl halves are also incorrect, they don't look much like the real thing at all. The wing root fairings are also to long. The prop blades are a bit heavy and the spinner looks too rounded to me.

 

Aside from that the heavy panel detail needs some work to improve it and the maingear fairings on the upper wings are a bit oversized. Finally the actuator fairings for the ailerons and trim-tabs are just moulded 'swellings', they need reworking to look right.

 

If you want to dress her up try and get hold of an Airfix 1/48th 22/24, its a very good job and an ideal '3D' reference.

 

There is a decent build-up/conversion article in the April issue of Model Aircraft Monthly, Vol 8 Iss 4.

 

HTH.

[Edgar Brooks]

I think that Matchbox got their 24 drawings mixed in with some of the Seafire 47, since the radiators are too short for the 24. On the 47, the flaps were made broader, and the radiators were shortened to match; those on the Matchbox kit should extend back to the next panel line. This might be the reason for the wingroot fairings being too wide at the trailing edge of the wings. I haven't seen a 47 (the only one is in the U.S., somewhere,) but maybe the 47 had larger wingroots, because of the deeper flaps; it would need someone to look at the 47 to check.

Edgar

[LSP_Ron]

Here you go, IMO, it may have some dimensional issues if you pull out the dividers and scale drawing but it still looks like a Mk 22. In general the single larges gripe about this kit is the heavy panel line scribing (which can be filled and redone if you want) and the difficult wing fillet/Fuse/Wing assembly. You almost need four hands to get it all fitting correctly. Ref Revel's on line instructions to see what I mean.

 

Let me say before this gets torn apart on Spitfire accuracy, this was NOT an effort to make a 100% scale Spit. Most details are close but it is not 100% accurate.

 

I added some interior details, forgot to soften the wash with a Qtip before taking these shots. I use enamel paints for base color and Tamiya acrylic black heavily thinned as a wash. Once dry it can be blended with a Q-tip moistened with rubbing alcohol.

 

 

 

The door was a little hooky in the kit so I made one out of a beer can and sheet plastic

 

The wheel wells have zero detail. I added some that is reasonably accurate so they don't look so plain.

 

This was taken while decalling and before dull coat and weather Pls ignore the water spot on the rad.

 

I made new gear doors out of sheet plastic

 

Hollowed out the spokes on the wheels

 

It definately needs some putty!

 

The cowl is to narrow to fit the spinner and requires a little sheet plastic to seperate

[LSP_Ron]

The cowl is to narrow to fit the spinner and requires a little sheet plastic to seperate

[Bill M.]

Ron,

Thanks for posting the pictures. Your Spit looks good and after viewing them, I am encouraged to try building one of these kits myself. It still would be nice to have some aftermarket detail and correction resin parts.

[Butler]

I'm sure some of the resin mk XIV conversion sets would have the most obvious parts, i.e. the prop, cowls and thin canopy. I don't know if anyone sells parts separately?

 

The extra wide wing root is just a case of moving to the right place, the fit is poor here anyway so you'd probably end up filling and rescribing anyway

[Kagemusha]

Very nice Spit Ron.

 

Just saw this: http://forums.europeanmodeller.com/index.php?showtopic=2704 There is of course Jen Wright's Seafire 46/47 conversion which Freightdog are to re-release with decals: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=26665

[Bill M.]

I see from your link that Master Casters is coming out with a Spitfire Mk. 22/24 cockpit set and external detail set in resin. This is very good news as far as I am concerned.

 

Also a 1/32 Swordfish cockpit set and weighted wheels.

[Nigel Bunker]

Can I recommend the April Issue of Model Aircraft Monthly. It has 2 articles, one on building the Matchbox/RoG Spitfire 22/24 and another on converting it to a Seafire 47. If you can't get a copy, you should be able to get it from here.