SAAF Spitfire Mk IXe

[Cheetah11]

I have a Tamiya Spit Mk XVI in the stash and since there is not all that much interest in this Group Build I decided to pitch in with this one. It will be out of the box and hopefully finished by the end of the deadline. A couple of years back a fellow modeler build a Tamiya P-51 in a week to make the end of year contest, so 3 months should be doable.

 

 

The SAAF received more than 140 Spitfires after the Second World War and all were Mk IX's. The configurations differed as there were high back and low backs as well as clipped wing and normal wing configs. Some were LF and some HF subtypes. The Spits initially equipped 1, 2 and 60 Squadrons. By 1950 the Air Operations School at Langebaan were using many of these to train pilots for the Korean conflict.

Given the large amount of spitfires in the SAAF at the time very few photos of the type from the late forties and fifties survive. Here is one from 1 Sqn SAAF which I found on the net.

 

 

So here goes.

 

 

Cheers

Nick

 

Edited January 16, 2023 by Cheetah11

[MikeMaben]

Should be no problem Nick , I hear they fall together..  

[Phantom2]

That´s a supernice kit and It will just fall together, but be sure to follow the instructions, to the letter! 

 

Stefan 

[Marcleon]

Really great to have you joining in, Nick! I thought that you were really missing from this GB! You have chosen a wonderful subject (and a superb kit!) and I'm sure this will be a stunning lesson on how to do this kit justice! I take it you will use masks for the markings... but AlleyCat has some decals... Regards, Marc.

[Cheetah11]

On 11/29/2022 at 8:39 PM, Marcleon said:

Really great to have you joining in, Nick! I thought that you were really missing from this GB! You have chosen a wonderful subject (and a superb kit!) and I'm sure this will be a stunning lesson on how to do this kit justice! I take it you will use masks for the markings... but AlleyCat has some decals... Regards, Marc.

 

Hi Marc

thanks for the interest. You are right this is a super kit. I don't think  will be stunning but I will see what I can do in the time left. I will see how I handle the marking, masks or decals or a combination. I am not convinced with the color on the AlleyCat decals but it is still a long way to go.

 

Mike, Stefan and Maru thanks for the interest. A super kit but I get the idea I should have planned for a slower and more detailed build. This kit has a gazillion small parts and my eyes and hands are not getting younger. Tamiya has also made some strange choices where to use PE.

 

The aircraft I am modeling is a Mk IX and does not have the aux tank behind the pilot.

 

 

I removed the tank and at the same time drilled the holes in the bulkhead.

 

 

 

More soon

Nick

[Rockie Yarwood]

Nice choice, Nick!

[Marcleon]

Great to see progress on this build and the attention to detail... looking forward to this! Regards, Marc.

[Cheetah11]

 

Thanks for the interest gents.

 

After a week of building almost all the major assemblies are done and ready for painting. I will like Mark paint most of the cockpit after assembly. 

 

Fit was as perfect as one can expect. Only challenge was all the tiny parts. I can see there is a place for the Revell kit.

I also have a small criticism. I will most likely get drawn and quartered for this but in some places the fit is too perfect. All the control surfaces fit so exactly that there are no gaps at the ends. I have seen photos of control locks inserted , so a small gap is more realistic.

Anyway here is the progress.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now for a test fit

 

 

Cheers

Nick

[Marcleon]

Lovely progress, Nick! And it's always inspirational to get the major components together to "see how it looks"! Looking very good... and as you say, tight fit in places, like WNW! Regards, Marc.

[IainM]

Bakgat! Another one, can't wait to see the progress! Are you going be painting it in the markings of the 1 SQN machine you have a pic of above Nick?

BTW, James says hi, he says he will get hold of you!

With respect to the comments regarding the decals from Alley Cat - I used their decals for my Spit build - I wish I had owned my Silhouette machine at that time. The decals didn't handle well (and yes, I could see they were pretty old), they broke up, etc (no fault of the manufacturer - that's just what happens to older decals) - but I did find the colours slightly off, everything seemed a bit brighter than expected. If I had to redo it, I would use the sheet as a template to cut masks and paint the markings myself. Just IMO.

[Cheetah11]

11 hours ago, IainM said:

Bakgat! Another one, can't wait to see the progress! Are you going be painting it in the markings of the 1 SQN machine you have a pic of above Nick?

 

 

Hi Iain,

My interest in SAAF aircraft is more towards the Second World War and Korea although some of the color schemes of the Fifties and Sixties are interesting as there were many changes and variations. As you are aware after the initial group of pilots who were WW II veterans, most of the SAAF pilots in Korea were trained on the Spitfire Mk IX at the Air Operations School at Langebaanweg. So I am leaning towards an aircraft from that unit at the time of the Korean War.

Apart from the color the  Springbok shape in the Alley Cat decals is also a bit off. This seems to be impossible to get right in modern decals. ( Worst is the Italeri Mir III decal sheet) The old decals produced by Model Decal in the late Seventies still seem to be the best. I still have a sheet of them and on a test they performed flawlessly. So much for progress in decal printing. BTW I have digitised the SAAF roundels from photos if you need the file.

 

A bit of painting the weekend and a week into the build.

 

I found a photo of the SAAF Museum Spitfire cockpit and although modified with modern radios there are differences between the Mk XVI in the kit supplied IP and the Mk IX. I did tot plan for AM but once seeing the difference I had to fix it (OCD).  Fortunately our local hobby shop had the Mk IX IP from Eduard.

 

 

 

 

The seat armour in the kit is supplied as a stainless steel photo etched part. This is super smooth and to ensure better paint adhesion I rubbed it over a sanding stick and then primed it with etched primer. Whatever you do do not decant this into an airbrush.

 

 

I painted the engine for fun as I am going to glue the panels shut. Even thought taking utmost care the fit with the magnets did not work for me. After taking the photo I also realized the ejector pin marks on the exhaust needs removal.

 

 

 

 

Cheers

Nick

 

Edited December 6, 2022 by Cheetah11

[Cheetah11]

 

Decision time. I wanted to leave the wing clean but looking at a few period photos I could not find a single example without rocket attachment stubs.

I sourced these from a Trumpeter kit.

 

 

 

A quick test revealed excellent fit. Hopefully I can finish the build this weekend.

 

 

Cheers

Nick

 

[Marcleon]

Wow! Really quick progress bur looking soooo good Nick! Lots of inspiration there... Regards, Marc.

[alain11]

Hi Nick

it's too easy !!!!!! ( I am kidding  ) but , we have to admit that the Tam 's kit , is a good base .. isn't it ,?.................but only the final result counts ... sure you will nail it 

cheers 

Alain

[Cheetah11]

On 12/11/2022 at 7:52 PM, alain11 said:

Hi Nick

it's too easy !!!!!! ( I am kidding  ) but , we have to admit that the Tam 's kit , is a good base .. isn't it ,?.................but only the final result counts ... sure you will nail it 

cheers 

Alain

 

Hi Alain, you are right that Tamiya is a good base. I struggled with the cowlings. I think the model is meant to be built with the engine covers open. 

This is like building a kit when I was a  youngster. Getting a Tamiya kit for the December break and then building for pure enjoyment.

 

 

The Tamiya Spitfire is a dream to build but finding and confirming the scheme was a bit of a difficult one . About half the time of this build was spent on finding all the info.  Alley Cat provides the option of Spitfire 5583 on their decal sheet. The aircraft was a Mk IXe based at AFB Langebaanweg during Jan 1953 and was the only silver aircraft of the type in the SAAF at that the unit. The Alley Cat instructions call for a natural metal finish. This was not uncommon in the SAAF where some base and squadron commanders had their aircraft in natural metal. A good example is the Mk VIII now residing in the South African Military museum, being the mount of Col Loftus when he was the base OC at Port Elizabeth.

 

Looking at the only photo of 5583 I decided to go for High Speed Silver. The aircraft was clearly used for line training and the finish on the photo does  show a fairly uniform finish. Here is a photo of the subject.

 

 

 

The roundels are further outboard than the Alley cat instructions . This made me wonder about the position of the roundels on the top of the wing. 

I called upon my friend Piet van Schalkwyk who is the co author of the South African Colour and Markings series and has a wealth of info on SAAF Spitfires.

He provided me with this period photo out of his collection.

 

Not a bubble canopy but a clipped wing clearly showing the roundels are right next to the wing tip.

 

Now I could start finalizing the paint and markings. I used old Model Deal roundels from 1980 and Tamiya Silver lacquer paint. I painted a base colour of gloss white where the roundels are to go. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Painting done. Now to finish the smaller details.

Cheers

Nick