1/32nd Scale 'Revegawa' Spitfire MkXIVc

Oh boy, oh boy....a surgery. Is there any nurse for the assistance Terry?

Thanks for the compliments guys! Andy, go for it with the XV, it'll be the turning point of good times! I'll be posting the 'hulk' of the Spit 22 separately.
Wojtek, glad you like it so far. I could use a nurse, maybe the rather gorgeous Czech girl I know could help?

looking good Terry

I couldn't do what you guys do to your kits

Thanks Keith. I reckon you could do it mate. It just takes a bit of thought before hand, patience and careful work. Why not try a simple conversion, or some scratch-building? It's a good way to improve skills and learn.

thanks for that Terry

i will have to wait till i can get some cash saved up so i can buy a cheap model to try it out on

Terry the girl will be OK if you add "vigorous" to "gorgeous" .

And Keith I'm with Terry.You can do that as well.It is not as difficult as it seems.

thanks Worjtek

I'd be to scared in case i fluffed it up. but i would try it on a very cheap bit of kit

A good idea. I suggest Polish very cheap kits of Mastercraft.

Watching with interest Terry,

Such a pity about the Griffon engine though....

Darryl

Yeah, I know what you mean. But the bang of that Coffman starter doesn't half scare the S**t out of 'Joe Public'!!

Airframes said:

Yeah, I know what you mean. But the bang of that Coffman starter doesn't half scare the S**t out of 'Joe Public'!!

Click to expand...

looking good Terry, must be hard to move in your house with all these kits on the go !!!

Thanks Karl, and you're right! I've got some new shelves cut for the spare room, but haven't got the right sized brackets to put them on yet! The sooner the better, as I've run out of space in the lounge - there are four and a half more models since you were here, and another two or so on the way very soon!

I think we may need to start calling you Terry the Ripper of Essex (?) you seem to of gotten some strange afflication lately Mr Hyde

The Hasegawa Spitfire MkVI kit has finally arrived, delayed due to family illness at the model outlet. Unfortunately, contrary to what I was told, the kit does not include the 'normal' span wingtips. But, with all the other butchery needed for this conversion, I think that can be classed as a very minor problem! No doubt I can re-profile the 'pointed' tips supplied.
PIC 1 Is the box art for the Haegawa kit, now approaching 30 years old, and with the instructions in Japanese only - somehow, I don't think I'll need a translation!!
PIC 2 Shows the MkVI fuselage marked out ready for surgery.
PIC 3 Is a closer shot of the cowlings. The hatched areas will be removed, with the outlined area saved if possible, in order to provide more strength for the fitting of the scratch-built firewall, on to which the engine bearers will be mounted.
If this doesn't work out, then I'll use the already cut rear cowling sections from the Mk22 kit.
PIC 4 Shows the rudder, and the small area at the fromt of the fin, which need to be removed. A fillet will be added to the leading edge of the fin, and profiled to match the shape of the broad-chord MkXIV fin, whilst the Mk22 rudder will be cut and sanded to match the shape of the MkXIV rudder.
PIC 5 Is an overall view of the wing tops. Again, the hatched areas will be removed, and new gun bays etc either scribed or cut open. The removed areas will be 'plated over' with plastic card, then filled and blended into the wing's surface. The MkVI's cannons will also be removed, and replaced with the correct layout of armament.
PIC 6 Is the bottom of the wings, again showing those areas to be attended to.
PICS 7 and 8 Are closer shots, giving an indication of how neat the 'surgery' needs to be when removing the radiator, oil cooler and gun blisters. The latter will be replaced with 'home moulded' small blisters, whilst the former will have their areas plated, and then the deeper radiators from the Mk22 fitted, and blended in.
I hope to start the first cuts very soon, on the cowlings. Then it's a case of lots of test-fitting, in order to line up the scratch-built firewall. This needs to be as accurate as possible, in order to locate and fix the bottom cowling piece and the engine bearers, so that the other cowling panels, the engine, and the prop and spinner will all line-up correctly. Once that's complete, the rest of the conversion should be fairly straightforward, plus, of course, the assembly and detailing of the interior!

Well, the first stages of surgery have been completed, and I have to say, it went smoothly, and a lot quicker than I expected, relatively speaking.
PIC 1. Shows the fuselage halves after the removal of the cowling panels, rudder, and the base of the fin.
PIC 2.Is the forward angled cut at the front of the fuel tank cowling, with the curve around the wing root ready for trimming and sanding.
PIC 3. Is a close-up showing the rudder and the base of the fin leading edge removed, ready for re-profiling to the correct shape for the Mk.XIV.
PIC 4. The foreshortened fuselage halves have been taped together, to check alignment of the upper cowling angle, and in preparation for setting the position of the lower cowling panel.
PIC 5. The wings have been taped together and temporarily fitted to the fuselage. Again, this is neccessary in order to ascertain an accurate alignment for the lower cowling, and the firewall. This is a vital stage, which must be done as accuarately as possible, otherwise the whole front end, including the engine and prop, will be out of kilter.
PIC 6. The cowlings from the Mk22 have been loosely taped in place, again to identify the position where the forward end of the lower cowling should sit. From this, the position of the joint with the lower fuselage and wing centre section can be obtained.
PIC 7. With the lower cowl position now identified, the part from the Mk22 kit is taped in position, and the trailing edges marked onto the bottom of the MkVI centre-section.
PIC 8. This shows the area that needs to be removed, in order to fit the lower cowling. This will be 'tacked' into place initially, whilst the engine bay firewall is constructed, in order to achieve the correct alignment. Once the long Griffon engine has been fitted, the cowlings can once again be checked for alignment, and any neccessary adjustments made, before cementing the lower cowling in place.
PIC 9. Two of a kind!
Now that I've got this far with both conversions, I've had another stupid idea. Mate the modified fuselage of a MkV or MkVI to the wing of the Mk22, and I've got a Mk21, and then use the remaining parts from both kits to make a low- back LFXVI !!!
I think I need to get out more!!

The another Master Surgeon has appeared.Great work Terry.Keep it up.

Thanks Surgeon General Wojtek!

That last pic does it for me - I have to start my Seafire conversion !!!!!!