Spitfire Mk 1 (early)

[mozart]

No,sadly I haven't got an early release of the Kotare Spitfire 1 (early), but in anticipation and as a placeholder as is my wont, I've been doing a bit of research.  Two definite requirements as far as I'm concerned about which aircraft I'm doing: a) must be a two-bladed Spit and b) must have the flat canopy.  This limits my choices to some very early production ones, and 19 Squadron's were in the initial batch of 310 serial range K8797 to L1096, ordered 3rd June 1936 and delivered from July 1938 to Specification F.16/36.  19 Squadron started receiving theirs in August 1938, the first service squadron to be equipped.

 

A few pictures of probable candidates:

 

 

Sadly a few days into the war K9795 was damaged in a crash and relegated to ground instruction work!

 

What’s interesting about the Section picture below is just how varied the camouflage pattern is on each aeroplane:

 

And a couple of extracts from the ORBs during the "Phoney War":

 

 

 

Glamorous duties for the Spits.....fishing fleet patrols!! You can imagine the frustration of the eager young men in Blue Section when this happened:

 

 

 

Example above of how ORBs, despite being written “on the spot” are still subject to human error, can be wrong and therefore not trusted 100%! The date is wrong, this event took place on 21st October not 22nd. 

 

More research for sure before the kit arrives. 

 

A distinctly possible contender:

 

 

 

Edited November 21 by mozart

[monthebiff]

I'm equally itching to get my hands on the early boxing Max and will be doing K9795. Hopefully we will recieve them thus side of Xmas!

 

Regards. Andy 

[mozart]

  Christmas comes “Early” with luck Andy! 

Edited November 21 by mozart

[Archimedes]

Nice bit ‘o research Max. 

 

I noted F/O Bader and one Sgt Unwin (George ‘Grumpy’ Unwin) amongst the ranks of the guilty.

 

I saw the upside down airframe and could only think “Bumps-a-Daisy…..it’s enough to make you bleedin’ weep!”

 

Looking forward to another peerless build.

 

Kind regards,

Paul

[Uncarina]

Looking forward to seeing you work your magic Max! This is a great historical context.

 

Cheers,  Tom

[Dpgsbody55]

Yeah, I'm looking forward to getting mine too, and before Christmas which is barely a month away now.

 

Great pictures and context too.  Lots of variation in the camo patterns, as you say.  Some are B type camo which was a mirror image of the more common A type, but other variations would suggest that the factory had not yet made enough pattern masks to get consistency.  Apparently only the first fifty planes had the flat canopy, and those planes were quickly converted to the bulged version.  So it would be quite valid to do a bulged canopy two blade prop version, but not a three blade prop with the flat canopy.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[mozart]

Another thought occurred to me in an idle moment…..how much difference is there between the prototype Spitfire and the first production ones? Two obvious things, exhausts and tail skid, but others? I need to look into this in more detail. 

[Archimedes]

44 minutes ago, mozart said:

Another thought occurred to me in an idle moment…..how much difference is there between the prototype Spitfire and the first production ones? Two obvious things, exhausts and tail skid, but others? I need to look into this in more detail. 

Hi Max, the differences are significant. To do K5054 would require the wings entirely rescribing and certainly some of the fuselage. Off the top of my head; K5054 had a different screen, prop spinner & unshrouded exhausts. Aerotech do a reasonable model of the prototype. I don't see Kotare doing this because it would require a different mould to do it. I'll hunt down some pictures of the panel lines...

 

Kind regards,

Paul

Edited November 22 by Archimedes

[mozart]

Hmmm, I’m a little more sanguine Paul! This from Bruce Robertson’s “Spitfire- the Story of a Famous Fighter” (admittedly published in 1960 but should that matter?):

 

 
and I think it’s more a matter of filling in panel lines rather than rescribing?

 

 

 

or am I being naive? 
 

I’ve done a lot of research on the Hurricane prototype which does involve major changes

 

 

but it’s on my “to do” list. The two of them side by side would be something else. 

Edited November 22 by mozart

[Dpgsbody55]

Just adding to what others have said.  As K-5054 originally flew, the fin and rudder had a different shape.

 

 

Note also the tail skid.  These two features are some of the earliest mods to the plane.  K-5054 was modified repeatedly and eventually brought up to full Mk.I standard.  The rudder balance was modified to production standard in April 1936, along with alterations to the wings (excessive fluttering) and cowlings, and it was given a coat of light blue paint along with it's undercarriage doors which had a hinged outer section to fully enclose the wheels.  The triple ejector exhausts were fitted in March 1937, having earlier lost the troublesome outer U/C doors.  At this time, it was painted in the now standard dark green/dark earth camouflage , with silver dope undersides.  The new exhausts added thrust to the plane and brought the speed up to 360mph.  All the while, it was subjected to constant tweaks, fiddles and improvements.

 

It suffered a number of forced and crash landings in it's life until it flipped on landing and broke it's back.  This happened on 4th September 1939, and it never flew again.  I believe it was finally broken up in early 1940.

 

It's almost unbelievable now, but K-5054 was the only Spitfire Mk.I prototype.  Imagine the consequences if the she'd been lost earlier in it's flight testing.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Rob Owens]

On 11/21/2023 at 7:41 PM, Archimedes said:

Nice bit ‘o research Max. 

 

I noted F/O Bader and one Sgt Unwin (George ‘Grumpy’ Unwin) amongst the ranks of the guilty.

 

I saw the upside down airframe and could only think “Bumps-a-Daisy…..it’s enough to make you bleedin’ weep!”

 

Looking forward to another peerless build.

 

Kind regards,

Paul

Undercarriage lever a bit sticky, was it, Sir? Well, I wouldn’t tell the C/O that if I were you!

Edited November 23 by Rob Owens
Complete quote

[mozart]

2 hours ago, Dpgsbody55 said:

Just adding to what others have said.  As K-5054 originally flew, the fin and rudder had a different shape.

 

 

Note also the tail skid.  These two features are some of the earliest mods to the plane.  K-5054 was modified repeatedly and eventually brought up to full Mk.I standard.  The rudder balance was modified to production standard in April 1936, along with alterations to the wings (excessive fluttering) and cowlings, and it was given a coat of light blue paint along with it's undercarriage doors which had a hinged outer section to fully enclose the wheels.  The triple ejector exhausts were fitted in March 1937, having earlier lost the troublesome outer U/C doors.  At this time, it was painted in the now standard dark green/dark earth camouflage , with silver dope undersides.  The new exhausts added thrust to the plane and brought the speed up to 360mph.  All the while, it was subjected to constant tweaks, fiddles and improvements.

 

It suffered a number of forced and crash landings in it's life until it flipped on landing and broke it's back.  This happened on 4th September 1939, and it never flew again.  I believe it was finally broken up in early 1940.

 

It's almost unbelievable now, but K-5054 was the only Spitfire Mk.I prototype.  Imagine the consequences if the she'd been lost earlier in it's flight testing.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

Thanks for your thoughts Michael. I did quite a bit of investigation into K5054 yesterday. I know hindsight comes into play once again but K5054 is relatively poorly documented and the debate about “that blue” is particularly intense. What interests me are the “planked” upper wing surfaces, strips of aluminium overlapped “clinker” style in the parlance of boat builders. When I went to Tangmere in 2020 I took these pictures of their replica:

 

 

The people who planned and advised on her construction include Jeffery Quill and R J Mitchell’s son, so quite a knowledgeable group.

Edited November 23 by mozart

[nmayhew]

20 hours ago, mozart said:

Another thought occurred to me in an idle moment…..how much difference is there between the prototype Spitfire and the first production ones? Two obvious things, exhausts and tail skid, but others? I need to look into this in more detail. 

 

You - and anyone else who likes Spitfire - need to get the WingLeader Photo Archive book on the Spitfire I; indeed there is another volume on the I and II by Richard Alexander no less just out.

 

These books (the whole Photo Archive series) are head and shoulders the best research and reference books for modellers out there at the moment; if you compare them to say the Valiant Wings books, there is significant difference in the quality and usefulness of the information provided (I have plenty of each btw)

 

WingLeader Photo Archive No1 Spitfire MkI

 

WingLeader Photo Archive No.26 Spitfire Special MkI & II

 

 

[mozart]

I agree totally Nick, I have several of them including the early Hurricane and their most recent, the Anson but I haven’t got round to ordering the Spit yet…..it’s on the list! 

[Shoggz]

Yeah, they are a brilliant resource