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Alley Cat Tamiya Mk viii conversion to Mk xi


Dainis

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Just finishing up my Hasegawa 1/32 Bf 109 f4 of 9./JG3 yellow 4. Looking forward to perhaps building a PRU Spitfire, either in pru blue or the slightly pinkish colour. I would use the Tamiya mk viii kit along with the Alley Cat conversion to make a mk xi pru. My question is three fold: Has any one here used this particular conversion set; how good is the set; and since I have never tried any conversions before, am I biting off more than I can chew? Just wondering:hmmm:

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Here's the one I built a couple years ago. 

 

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On my two copies, the canopy fit wasn't the greatest but not impossible. The lower chin was also a bit short. Most people splice the front part of the lower cowl with the section of the  kit part that forms the centre of the wing. 

 

The pink PR Spitfire is a bit easier. You just need to drill a hole in the side of the fuselage and paint it pink. I did that one as well but keep in mind it's a IX and not an VIII. Barracudacast make decals for this one but I used custom masks for mine. 

 

IMG_20160312_115734-L.jpg

 

Hope that helps. 

 

Carl

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Thanks. The pink version does seem easier. I would have to use masks given that barracuda stopped production on this set of decals a while back. Any tips on drilling the hole out accurately for the camera?

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It is a very nice set but it has two drawbacks:

 

First the windshield is far too thick. It would already be excessivley thick for armored glass. So you can imagine the issue when you know that part was made of normal hardened glass!

 

Second, the cockpit parts are limited to two additional parts. This is not really correct. There were other changes on both sides. Just to give two obvious examples: the spare gunsight lamp holder should obviously be removed and the lever intended to open the shutter protecting the belly camera window is missing. Last, the three big oxygen bottles stored horizontally behind the seat are also missing. As most people do not know well such reco variants, this is not very obvious. So, solving such issues mainly depends on the level of accuracy you want to get.

 

I'm using such parts on an hybrid kit made of parts from the Revell Mk II and IX. This simplified the wing conversion tasks but complicates noticeably the nose, canopy and rear wheel changes!

 

Hth

 

BR

 

Thierry

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13 hours ago, Dainis said:

Thanks. The pink version does seem easier. I would have to use masks given that barracuda stopped production on this set of decals a while back. Any tips on drilling the hole out accurately for the camera?ll

For the camera hole, I marked the centre of the panel with a pencil and used a small drill bit. I then used an RC car body reamer to make the hole itself. This way it's easy to get the correct finished diameter as well making sure I was still centered. 

 

I may have the Barracuda decals leftover so I'll take a look and let you know. 

 

Carl

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Thanks for tips. And hey, if you have the barracudacals, I'm happy to pick those babies off you for your price.You say you are a bloorwest guy? We are in the Annex. Cousins in the Bloorwest villiage Prince Edward/Bloor area. Took me a while to get back, the lsp website would not let me reply for a number of hours. Cheers!

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I grew up in Bloor West Village. My folks and sister still live there. I was briefly in the Annex back in the early '90s when I bought my first condo right on St George. Then it was King West, then Brockton Village and now we're in the Junction. So almost back home but not quite. I can see my old school from the corner of our street though. Nice to see another Torontonian on here. 

 

I looked for the decals. I have the X code, roundels and fin flashes but not the tail numbers for some reason. Let me know if that will work for you. 

 

Carl

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