SPITFIRE GROUP BUILD 2007-2008

I pulled this out of the stash, I think I will do her up as a U S Spit in Africa.

Thad

Thad,

You're gonna love building that kit!

May I have your attention please.

41 airplanes in the stash and only one Spitfire.

With your permission, I hereby submit my application to the SPITFIRE GROUP BUILD 2007.

Thank You

Tony

Ok tango count me in.

Trumpeter 1/24 Mk.Vb

I finally got my back ordered decals so i'll be doing it in the marking of 303 squadron. piloted by Jan Zumbach, I have a choice of three Vb he flew not sure which one I'm going to do yet.

TGregory and phoenix7187,

Its great to have you on board fella's!

There are 21 of us signed up already! Thanks to all of you for putting your hats in the ring.

Mine's underway, Darren. I'm looking at some Soviet colors to do this bird in, since it appears to have been overpainted (thanks for that awesome photo, Frank! ). The cockpit is where I'm starting, and I'm going to add a bunch of extras to really try to beef it up....some scratchbuilt stuff and a nice resin seat w/belts from Cutting Edge. I also found some instrument gauge decals for the panel, as the Tamiya kit is pretty sparse in that department.

Nice pickup Frank, I hope you got it for a good price.

Cheers

I'll do the Airfix 1/72 Mk IX "Aircraft of the Aces" from my stash when I get all set up again.  Think I might do something different to Johnnie Johnson's aircraft though.

Not looking forward to the four piece wings as my first attempt back in the game!  Old Airfix kit may batter my enthusiasm too!  LOL.  Should be perfect practice.

to the build Andy and welcome back to the hobby as well (if I read your post correctly).

If you are looking for some after market decals for your Mk.IX, check out Aussie Decals or Red Roo decals as they both have 1/72 Spitfire M.IX markings available.

Cheers

Frank, So your the one who sniped my kit....

Thad 

I was about to make a trip to the LHS to pick up a few things including checking out what decals are in stock for a Spit.  I decided to look in the pile I have here and found these.  I don't even remember buying them. I am going to do the Mk V of Flt/Sgts Gilbert & Grinlington.  What little I know about Spits is only surpassed by how much less I know about the RAAF. 

So my Spitfire question first.  Is there a major difference between the Mk Vb and Vc?  I have a Vb kit and plan to use it...I just want to know if people are going to rolling their eyes in disapproval from across the room.

Now for the RAAF question.  The camo scheme shows that it is 3-tone on the upper part.

Correct or not? If so, does someone have a color profile, top and side views, they can scan to see the pattern

And as long as I was going through my stuff... I found a True Details resin cockpit set I bought about 2 years ago for $1 I think when one of the LHSs went out of biz.  Also a set of Quickboost Mk V resin exhausts.  So I have a kits, resin goodies and decals. It's like I knew that this GB was going to happen I'm all set to GO GO GO.

And just to make the post a bit longer... here is the only Spit I have built (so far), form about 1 ½ years ago.

Marc, as far as I know (and that's not very far when it comes to Spits) the main difference between the 'b' and the 'c' is the wing. My build is going to be a Soviet Spit Mk.Vb using the 1/48 Tamiya kit, Aeromaster decals, some Cutting Edge resin goodies, and a bit of scratchbuilding. If it had been a 'c' like I first thought, I was prepared to add two more hispano cannons and sand off the bulges above the gear bays. As luck would have it though, mine did turn out to be a 'b' wing. I'm sure there is somebody here who can give you more info.

Now, it's off to the workbench....got 'Battle of Britain' all cued up on the DVD player to set the right mood!

The "b" wing was built to hold a single 20 mm cannon and two .303 mgs in the outboard positions per wing.

The "c" wing was called the universal wing, and could hold two 20 mm cannons in each wing (side by side in the in-board position), or a single 20mm and two .303's in the outboard position, or 4 303s. Plus, the wheels were moved slightly forward on the C wing, and it could hold a 250 lb bomb under each wing.

Easiest way to tell is the "C" wing had the little stub next to the 20mm cannon. The "B" wing had no stub. (if the C wing had only 303s it might be a little harder to tell from the A.... not sure)

Also, I believe (but I ain't got the reference in front of me) that the bulge over the cannon for the C wing was larger to be able to potentially accomodate the dual 20mm load in each wing.

I think the "C" wing was arrived at to allow the units to decide armament in the field.

So the B and the C could hold the same armament.... main difference is the stub and the size of the bulges. (Don't go there....)

(Warning and disclaimer: Now, having said all of this, I must now make the disclaimer for all Spitfire purists that I may certainly be wrong as I am trying to write this from memory based on a few readings of a Spitfire history magazine that I sorta recall, and a brief search of Wikipedia to check my sanity. So if I am wrong I understand going in that I am taking a chance by actually claiming to know much about Spitfires when you get right down to it. ) 

Hi Darren and Frank, thanks.  Yep, I'm getting back into the hobby, enjoying it so far mainly because of this forum!  Thanks for the decal info too, I'm definitely looking for soemthing besides those that came with the kit (which has one piece wings as it turns out!)

Hi Marc, the camo upper surfaces were usually two colours but from your sheet for UP-G, that's not the case.  The aircraft either served in North Africa or was destined for there but, with the Japanese raids on Darwin, was part of the response to our request for more aircraft/units.  I've got a great book at home by one of these pilots so I'll check it out for any references.  Really glad to see you doing an RAAF Spit.  Best colours on a Spit I reckon, but I am sllightly bias!

I googled this article from what looks like Hyperscale.  It might be of some help as it explains some of the history of the colour selection as well.

http://www.clubhyper.com/reference/foliagegreenrefgb_1.htm

So I was in Hobby Lobby today at lunch, and for the first time in months they had some new models in.

Among them a 1/48 Tamiya Spitfire Mk. Vb Trop.

And I had the 40% off coupon in pocket.

Which means I now have 12 unbuilt Spitfires in the stash.

Sadly, I don't have a single Mk. XIV....

Though I did see one at the LHS....

And I'm going by there at lunch tomorrow.....

Hmmmmm........ 

jwb wrote:

Among them a 1/48 Tamiya Spitfire Mk. Vb Trop.

Mmm, big chin rad!

Ouch... Is it too late to join the spit party??? I got me a couple of the kind myself. and a major love for em....already got 7 in 1/48 and a couple in 1/72  done...and some more in the stash

have 2 hase MkIX which shold be a norwegian Lf IX and a danish HF IX and a couple of Fujimi 1/72 Mk XIVs

Can I join??? please prittyplease

jwb wrote:

So I was in Hobby Lobby today at lunch, and for the first time in months they had some new models in. Among them a 1/48 Tamiya Spitfire Mk. Vb Trop. And I had the 40% off coupon in pocket. Which means I now have 12 unbuilt Spitfires in the stash. Sadly, I don't have a single Mk. XIV.... Though I did see one at the LHS.... And I'm going by there at lunch tomorrow..... Hmmmmm........

Jon,

Glad to see that you REALLY have the Spit sickness too.  I don't feel so alone anymore...

KINGTHAD wrote:

Frank, So your the one who sniped my kit....   Thad

Thad,

Sorry buddy!  Did I really?

Andy in West Oz wrote:

jwb wrote: Among them a 1/48 Tamiya Spitfire Mk. Vb Trop. Mmm, big chin rad!

What's cool is it has parts for both types of trop filters.... the Vokes and the Aboukir.

And since I need to have Spitfires built with both types, I guess I better go back and get another one....

Thanks for the answers guys.

Dave Thanks for that link... I have posted my appeal for help.

Seems there are a lot of differences in the wings. And This is one reason I like these GB's.  I usually learn a lot.  Now I know what the "a", "b", and "c" means. I found line drawings of each wing, top side only.  I will do some rescribing of the panels and add the stub outboard of the cannon.  That, and leaving the blisters below alone,  will have to do. I will call it a Mk Vc(ish).  I am sure not ready to cough up $40 for the Red Roo resin conversion

So far I can't find a photo of the "C" wing and the little stub.  Is it just a rounded off gun tube that would have held a cannon?  Anyone got a photo?

This shows it pretty good, Marc......