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Can the Tamiya Spitfire VIII be built as a Mk IX?


Joe Hegedus

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I think he’s saying that you could go the other way, make a Mk VIII from the Mk IX kit, but not the way you want.  That said, I’m not sure that’s entirely true either.  IIRC, the fixed tail wheel is only in the IX kit, while I think the VIII kit only has the retractable tail wheel.

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I have built the Mk ix a couple times and considered making a MK XVI with the high back.  You can usually get specific parts trees on ebay and the various instructions are posted on line so you can purchase the parts to make a conversion, however I think the best economics would be to trade an 8 for a 9.  

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Right now, I have neither the Mk VIII or Mk IX; was considering purchasing one from Tamiya as the Mk VIII and MK XVI are both on sale for $99, but I really would rather have the Mk IX which is not on sale.  Hence the original query.

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To make a high back XVI you will need the E-wing armament from the low back XVI kit to combine with the Mk. IX kit.  If you plan to expose the engine, you may want the additional pieces for the Packard Merlin too.

 

The high back fuselage has a piece at the rear that takes the non-retractable tail wheel in the IX kit and the retractable tailwheel for the Mk. VIII, so it is possible to get the sprues you need to make a Mk.IX from the VIII kit.  Both those kits have C-wings, so a late IX will require the relevant E-wing sprues from the XVI kit.

 

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2 hours ago, Joe Hegedus said:

Right now, I have neither the Mk VIII or Mk IX; was considering purchasing one from Tamiya as the Mk VIII and MK XVI are both on sale for $99, but I really would rather have the Mk IX which is not on sale.  Hence the original query.

 

Had a similar thread not long ago, there are some decals available for the VII and VIII, and a book from Kagero which includes a wide variety of markings.

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On 1/18/2021 at 2:10 PM, jenshb said:

To make a high back XVI you will need the E-wing armament from the low back XVI kit to combine with the Mk. IX kit.  If you plan to expose the engine, you may want the additional pieces for the Packard Merlin too.

 

The high back fuselage has a piece at the rear that takes the non-retractable tail wheel in the IX kit and the retractable tailwheel for the Mk. VIII, so it is possible to get the sprues you need to make a Mk.IX from the VIII kit.  Both those kits have C-wings, so a late IX will require the relevant E-wing sprues from the XVI kit.

 

The Mk.VIIIs have the short span ailerons and they all had the pointy rudder, which only appeared on some IXs and XVIs (I’m pretty sure all the bubble canopy XVIs had it though).

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1 hour ago, VMA131Marine said:

The Mk.VIIIs ... all had the pointy rudder...

Sorry, not so: early Mk VIIIs had the smaller rudder, which is included in the Tamiya kit and iirc is used for one of the box marking options.

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On 1/19/2021 at 2:07 AM, cbk57 said:

I have built the Mk ix a couple times and considered making a MK XVI with the high back.  You can usually get specific parts trees on ebay and the various instructions are posted on line so you can purchase the parts to make a conversion, however I think the best economics would be to trade an 8 for a 9.  

 

As well as the Ebay sprues mentioned, you will also need to get the MkIX cockpit sprues as there are differences here in each of the MkIX and MkXVI kits.  Some of this relates to the seat and rear frames in each kit, the canopy closing mechanism variations, and whether or not your high back MkXVI subject has the rear fuselage fuel tank.

 

 

Hope this helps some,

Michael

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On 1/23/2021 at 10:21 AM, Dpgsbody55 said:

 

As well as the Ebay sprues mentioned, you will also need to get the MkIX cockpit sprues as there are differences here in each of the MkIX and MkXVI kits.  Some of this relates to the seat and rear frames in each kit, the canopy closing mechanism variations, and whether or not your high back MkXVI subject has the rear fuselage fuel tank.

 

 

Hope this helps some,

Michael

How do you know if the fuel tank should be in there?  I have wondered that, and was it the same fuel tank or was it larger based upon the airframe shape?  

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