1/48 Seafire Mk. III (Late)

[Old Collingwood]

So  another spit on the go  - this time I am rescuing the ICM Spit IX  kit  and turning it into a Seafire Mk.111  as I believe they were basically the same  apart from a few mods that I should be able to create  - seam on the wing that would have been for the  wing fold, and scribing under the bottom rear to simulate the cut out for the arester hook,  I will also fashion a hook and fit it  semi recessed,    the rest is basically  built  as  the kit  IX.

Reason I have chose to do this  is  during the war my father cut his teeth on Seafires  before moving on to RAF types.

 

So here it begins with the already fitted out cockpit wall - I  added the paintwork (cockpit green)  and picked out the details then my normal  pencil for shading and white highlight,   I then closed both sides together  as the cockpit floor/seat/insrument consol  are made as a unit  and popped in from underneath.

 

Here are the first pics.

 

OC.

Edited April 19, 2020 by Old Collingwood

[Canute]

Nice, a tailhook bird. I'm in.

[Egilman]

Draggin up a chair.......

[Jack12477]

Me too

[Old Collingwood]

32 minutes ago, Canute said:

Nice, a tailhook bird. I'm in.

Welcome Ken.

 

OC.

[Old Collingwood]

13 minutes ago, Egilman said:

Draggin up a chair.......

Welcome EG.

 

OC.

[Old Collingwood]

10 minutes ago, Jack12477 said:

Me too

Welcome Jack.

 

OC.

[jwvolz]

Another one, nice!

[Old Collingwood]

9 minutes ago, jwvolz said:

Another one, nice!

Thanks Joe,    yep it was my original one that I had scrapped  due to  me messing the engine up, but I was able to rescue it and build it as Seafire.

 

OC.

Edited April 18, 2020 by Old Collingwood

[Edwardkenway]

I'm in, bit late tho'😊

[Old Collingwood]

8 minutes ago, Edwardkenway said:

I'm in, bit late tho'😊

No worries mate  - more than welcome.

 

OC.

[Old Collingwood]

Evening all,   I did a bit more work  this evening  - firstly I removed the tape and checked the seams, these needed just a bit of sanding  (but no filler I dont think)  this was a supprise to find two companies who manage to build kits with quite high build standards  - it  also makes my first observations  what I first started to build this kist  (in my  earlier build log - Not Eduard one)   as being incorect.

Anyway  next off was to fit the prop cone bulkhead, then when set  I  had to fix one of the exhausts stcks that had broken in two, this was fixed then glued in place in the recess - same the other side,   then I got the engine cover  and test fitted it,  quite a bit of scraping and sanding was needed to get a good fit  - then this was glued down.

It needs sanding and cleaning up whne its set.

 

So here are a couple of pics including one of my Supermarine  prod line.

 

OC.

[Old Collingwood]

Hi all,   a little more progress  - just cleaning up the front engine cowl seams,  also added the smallest amout of putty.

 

OC.

[Old Collingwood]

Evening all  - hope everyone is ok,     so it continues  -  next stage is the cockpit seat assembly,   same build really as my other spit,  rear bulkhead/armour plate/seat/base/pedals  and columb,   these were glued together  then I did a bit of magic  - dry fitted the assembly inside the fuselage.

 

No secret  it pops in from underneath.

 

OC.

[Old Collingwood]

Found this pic on the net  -  this is where my farther worked at the beginging of his service, also quite possibly doing the same kind of work.

 

OC.

Edited April 22, 2020 by Old Collingwood

[jwvolz]

That's good engineering when the cockpit goes in from underneath like that. Accurate Miniatures kits do that and they are some of the most well thought out kits I've ever built. 

[Old Collingwood]

8 hours ago, jwvolz said:

That's good engineering when the cockpit goes in from underneath like that. Accurate Miniatures kits do that and they are some of the most well thought out kits I've ever built. 

Indeed Joe,   it helps having the fuselage buttoned up,   glad the dry fit was ok  after closing the halves together,

 

OC.

[Old Collingwood]

More progress later on today  as I fell asleep again - must be the pain killers I am on for me gob.

 

OC.

[popeye the sailor]

look'in good OC  

[Old Collingwood]

2 hours ago, popeye the sailor said:

look'in good OC  

Thank you  Denis.

 

OC.

[Old Collingwood]

Hi all,

 

Does anybody do a Rattle can eqv  of the colour  RAF Sky?    I have checked and can only find it available in small tins   not rattle cans.

 

OC.

[popeye the sailor]

chances are you may have to find an equivalent

[Old Collingwood]

4 minutes ago, popeye the sailor said:

chances are you may have to find an equivalent

Been looking online and Ebay  but cant find anything close, Tamiya do it in Tin for  XF21   but no Rattle can eqv.

 

OC.

[Egilman]

Brother the pantone color code for Sky color is #d6e4e5 that give you the range of colors and manufacturers that make it....

 

RAF Sky is a pale green color... The closest I can come to it is RAL 170 90 05.....

 

RAL 170 90 05

On your side of the pond you can get it from here....

 

Yourspraypaints.com

 

They will make you up a spraycan....

 

EG

[Old Collingwood]

Thank you for  looking into that for me EG,   I was thinking   - I  have hand painted the bottom wings on my Mossie and hasn't turned out too bad,  so I should be able to hand paint the Bottom of the Seafire  to the same standard  - cheaper as well   just a few quid (UK pounds).

I have the Dark Grey rattke can I need  I brought that months ago as I wasn't sure about the color on my mossie.

So I will order a tin of XF21  off flea bay.

 

OC.

[Egilman]

10 minutes ago, Old Collingwood said:

Thank you for  looking into that for me EG,   I was thinking   - I  have hand painted the bottom wings on my Mossie and hasn't turned out too bad,  so I should be able to hand paint the Bottom of the Seafire  to the same standard  - cheaper as well   just a few quid (UK pounds).

I have the Dark Grey rattke can I need  I brought that months ago as I wasn't sure about the color on my mossie.

So I will order a tin of XF21  off flea bay.

 

OC.

My pleasure, BTW...

 

The FS number for RAF Sky is FS34504.....

Edited April 30, 2020 by Egilman

[Old Collingwood]

Just now, Egilman said:

The FS number for RAF Sky is FS34504.....

Thanks mate.

 

OC.

[Old Collingwood]

Here's  the plan -  My farther used to tell me things about his service  one of those was about a Special version they were testing  of a Seafire, basically  it was a modiefied mk.III   - the FAA  where he was based  had a small outfit there called the  SSCU   Special Seafire Conversin Unit,   the idea was to see how far they could push a mk.III  by improving the already established airframe and engine.

They thought if they could make it breath better by putting the Two Rads under the wings same as the Spit IX  this should increase the airflow, also  they put on the pointed tail/rudder  to  give it more control,   there was a few other mods done also.

 

It was a sucess  but a Griffen engine upgrade was coming online soon  and this did a way with a few  proto's that my dad worked on.

 

OC.

[Old Collingwood]

Here is a pic off the net  showing a flight of new Seafires  (Mk 11's  I think)   they were delivered to Lee on Solent  where my dad did some of his service.

 

OC.

[Old Collingwood]

Another kit I have my eyes on doing  when funds allow and after I have sorted out a few important financial things  that are waying heavy on my mind,  is to do another kit that falls quite close to this one as they were both FAA  service  and both  based at the same Naval base  were my late father  worked  - the unique  one of a kind  F4U-1A/-D   Corsair,

 

My farther used to chat to me about "the bent wing bird"   and how they were like nothing else he had worked on,  and how they had initial  teething troubles  with them  that needed quite a bit of sorting out before they could go onto the British carriers.

 

This type  -  (Off the Net)

 

Will keep you posted.

 

OC.

Edited May 5, 2020 by Old Collingwood