Can you convert the Revell Spitfire Mk IX to a Mk VIII?

[oyoy5]

Not close to a spitfire expert just wondering since the Revell kit has the pointy rudder. Thanks

[Chek]

.. and to shorten the ailerons by one rib bay.

[MikeMaben]

...and leading edge fuel tank panel lines ...

 

[Mr Creosote]

Gray Matter Figures have a retractable tail wheel.

 

https://www.greymatterfigures.com/

[justjim1]

Hi the retractable tai wheel is also available from   me on my ebayshop  .  http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/lroybrownmodels

[LSP_Ray]

Didn't Roy Sutherlin do a MkVIII conversion of the Tamiya IX when it first came out? I would think it would be the same routine. 

[Alburymodeler]

Roy did the Mk VII, but many similarities.

[Fred Jack]

You wouldn't go wrong getting the Tamiya Spitfire Mk.Vlll. If worst comes to knockwurst, you could use the Tamiya kit to help detail your Revell Mk.lX.

[Fred Jack]

You can get a lot of details from Grey Matter Figures and Baracuda to spruce up your Mk. lX.

[MikeMaben]

More info I saved from a couple of Spit gurus :

 

There is more to a Mk VIII Spitfire than the tailwheel although that is the most notable difference. The Mk VIII Spitfire was really a MK VII Spitfire without the pressurized cockpit. Early Mk VIII's had extended wingtips and the regular "rounded" rudder. Later the rugular wingtips were fitted and the Mk XII rudder (the "pointy" one or "deep chord") was used. But the Mk VII, and cosequently the Mk VIII, had short span ailerons and leading edge fuel tanks. You will need drawings to scribe in the fuel tanks and fillers and since the Tamiya kit is so intricately scribed and rivetted it will test your scribing skills to match what Tamiya did.
Cheers
Bob Swaddling

 

. From late 1942, the paints changed to smooth finish, and the front 20% of the wings was "stopped" (i.e. filled,) rubbed down, primed, painted, then rubbed down, again, with special attention being given to the rivets, and panel lines, especially the line of the mainspar. This added 50 hours to Spitfire production, but added to the top speed.
The VIII (and the VII) originally had red and green downward recognition lights, one in each wing, but they were deleted from May 1943.
In December, 1943, the VIII's cannon cover had two small blisters (rather like the 22/24 later,) instead of the single large, since it was envisaged as carrying four cannon, but this didn't happen, probably due to weight (and possibly wing strain) considerations, so the single small blister became standard, but I can't find out when. Certainly, as late as 1944, there was still talk of the VIII having 4 cannon, or a combination similar to the "E" wing, but, as far as I can tell, it never happened.
Edgar Brooks

The Mk.VIII had a retractable tailwheel, a fuselage with recessed rivets, a shorter aileron (doesn't extend so far outboard), and leading edge tanks in the wing near the root (ignore this on a small model).  Many early ones had the extended wingtips, and also the broader cannon fairing meant to allow for two cannon in each wing.  I'm not sure, but suspect the increased-area elevator horn balance also appeared partway through the Mk.VIII production.
 

Edited April 5, 2018 by mmaben