Jump to content

Spitfire MkVb to MkIX conversion 1/24 349 sqn


red Dog

Recommended Posts

Wow, Mk 9 out of Mk 5. I started this conversion 7 years ago but with Trumpeter Spitfire. Unfortunatelly never succeed. Too much scratchwork with almost no experience. This project ate me alive. I'll be watching because maybe someday I'll start it again. Keep up good work and don't loose fun out of sight :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks :) I'll try not to loose the fun - so far, all's good. :)

 

Having built the MkI almost two decades ago I know that one of the weak point of the kit is the wing dyhedral that is way too flat if nothing is done about it.early in the built.

It's barely visible in the next picture (taking at a Belgian expo last year) but it is clearly striking on most of the 1/24 finished airfix spitfire.

 

Spit_mkIX_24_029.png

 

So this time I'll try to address that problem.

I sgaped a metal clothes hanger and glued it on the bottom wing before solidifying the whole with milliput.

Hopefully that should provide a better angle this time and should also help on the wing/fuselage joint a bit later on….

 

Spit_mkIX_24_024.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Spit-IX.jpg

 

I though the above cartoon is pretty representative of what is to come :) 

 

The MkVb boxing provides the clipped wingtips and although Spit IX from the 349 had all sorts of different configurations during their activity, the one I am building has the clipped wings.

So out with the saw and the default wingtips were cut.

 

Spit_mkIX_24_025.png

 

Fitting of the clipped wingtip is far from being a no putty operation, and curiously the parts fit better when I switched the parts number from the instructions. 
I also had to adapt the cut according to the aileron to ensure the wingtips were properly aligned with the trailing edge of the ailerons.

 

Spit_mkIX_24_026.png

 

The early clipped wings were done in wood and had no position lights - but PT723 clearly sports the light.
Luckily, Airfix  provided transparent parts for them. Fitting is not perfect either, but that can be very easily overcome. I'll attach them later on.

 

The wing is now complete & ready for priming. Most of the panels were puttied, as were the clipped wingtips. The rivets were toned down by light sanding.

Spit_mkIX_24_027.png

 

Now I can really start this model by working on the cockpit :)

 

Edited by red Dog
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you make a line from the rear edge of your wing (corresponding to the rear wng/fairing junction) parallel to the aircraft centreline and make a sawcut, that will allow you to bend the wing dihedral. The inboard portion of a Spitfire wing is flat, with the outboard dihedral starting noticeably from that point, and not from the wing root

The frontal view drawing extract below is based on the Monforton ones shows what's required.

 

p.s the wheel bulges in the wing upper surfaces need to be deleted too. The Mk IX lowered the wheel position in the wing by means of using curved  undercarriage doors.

48289730251_979726d36e_o.jpg

Edited by Chek
p.s. added
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Merci Biggles

 

Some more goodies received in the mail for the Spit

 

Spit_mkIX_24_030.png

 

The flaps are meant for the trumpeter kit but should work reasonably enough for the airfix kit … Well we'll find out soon enough :)

Edited by red Dog
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cockpit is very sparse from the box, so a bit of scratching is required...
I'm not going into crazy detailling but just basic stuff

 

Default offer:

Spit_mkIX_24_031.png

 

Some bits added

Spit_mkIX_24_032.png

 

And being painted ....

Spit_mkIX_24_033.png

 

More work required and i'll revert to the original radio channel selector (top right) which is too large. The Airfix kit part will be better.

 

The airscale placards decals will come in handy

 

Edited by red Dog
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Same work sequence on the right side which provides a bit more challenges:

 

The kit's offering:

Spit_mkIX_24_034.png

That's rather sparse, but still better than the original 1970 kit I built above, as the gear handle assembly is already a dozen time better in the MkVb kit.

Still it's very empty in there...

 

Spit_mkIX_24_035.png

Some stuff added during a dryfit session:

 

and then painting and added some more details. Wires still need to be placed but I first need to work on the bulkheads. 
I'll do some weathering before doing that though. 

Spit_mkIX_24_036.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fabulous build, looking great so far!

 

You might want to have a look at the oleo length on the landing gear; iirc they are fully extended (so they fit properly when retracted) so might look a bit tall with the the aircraft sitting on them. I noticed it in drawings, not sure how noticeable it will be in the flesh. Err plastic. 

 

Greg V. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you very much gents for the comments

 

Greg, 

I read that before and I compared the oleo to the tamiya ones. They are 3.6mm in 1/32. That would make them 4.8 in 1/24

I checked the SAC I have for the trumpeter Spitfire in 1/24 and they are indeed 4.8mm. 

The airfix ones are indeed longer : 7.8mm.

So definitely something to do here. thanks for the pointer

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

With the side consoles done, the next obvious area to work with is the IP and the seat.

 

The IP was replaced by IP upgrade from Airscale. Very easy to install & paint and giving very nice results !! (I just need to make a few corrections in the photo below)

The seat demanded a bit more work because it's the Grey Matter meant for the trumpeter kit and the frame is quite different. 

 

Spit_mkIX_24_037.png

 

I redid the armor plate behind the seat with thinner plasticard and cut the support frame to fit the new resin seat. The frame supporting the seat was also modified as the original part was not quite accurate. I messed up a bit the hole for the harness I had to make in the head armor plate. I'll try to correct that later on...

 

Spit_mkIX_24_038.png

 

The front part (flare round storage? ) was cut from the kit's seat and replaced on the Grey matter seat. 
And the whole was assembled twice (initially, I smartly glued the seat on the wrong side of the frame making the first ever Spitfire rear faced pilot seat :)  )

 

The harness will be made with Eduard RAF late seatbelts.
I have never been a huge fan of PE seatbelts because of the unatural pose they always end into. IMHO PE is too rigid for that.
But that's what I have handy here so let's try to make use of them.

 

I must say they made progress because compared to the very early printed seatbelts they made, These are printed on both side (that helps) and more importantly the print is much more reliable than before. Ususally when you bent the PE the print was going AWOL and never at the right spot of course.

It's a problem I faced here as well, but to a much lesser extend than my past experiences.

That said, I would replace them with HGW seatbelts anytime...

Spit_mkIX_24_039.png

Here are the seatbelts assembled but not glued yet.

 

Then attached to the seat and frames:

Spit_mkIX_24_041.png

 

As I said, soft seatbelts anytime over rigid PE :)

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...