1/48 Spitfire Mk V 401 Sqdn - Home Country Modern Aircraft/Spitfire Marks GB

[Crimea_River]

Thanks everyone. Brooks, hopefully more knowledgeable people will chime in on your seat question but to the best of my knowledge, the redish plastic (paper/resin mix) seats were common on all Spitfire models after 1940. Thoughts are that some Seafires might have had metal seats which could have been cockpit green.

 

[Airframes]

Yes, the 'composite' seat was as Andy has depicted, but the support frame (from open 'bulkhead' frame, running forward, on seat sides) was the cockpit grey green colour. On later much marks, with metal seats, these were often the grey green, but also, especially in the FAA, when black was introduced as a cockpit colour, the seat could be seen in black also.
For the MkXVI, paint it as Andy's, with the separate side frames in the cockpit colour. If in doubt, let me know, and I'll provide a photo or diagram, showing the frame I mean.

 

[Wayne Little]

good progress Andy!

 

[A4K]

Nice work Andy, and great info as always Terry!

 

[Crimea_River]

Cheers guys.

... If in doubt, let me know, and I'll provide a photo or diagram, showing the frame I mean.

I posted a good one over in JayL's 601 squadron build. Check it out.

 

[Airframes]

That's taken care of that then! Nice one Andy.

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

Thank you Terry and it's looking superb as usual Andy!

 

[meatloaf109]

I think it was my first Otaki kit where I discovered cockpit detail as opposed to Monograms early efforts with those decal I.P.'s!
Nice detail for OOB, but can't some stretched-sprue be considered OOB, as long as the sprue comes from that kit?
(Just throwing the proverbial monkey wrenches.)

 

[Crimea_River]

Stretched sprue would be, ahem, stretching it.

Wing on and the model in my "jig". A tiny bit of filling will be need in the wing root seam.

 

[brucejscott]

Looking very nice Andy. Almost time for some paint.

 

[Wayne Little]

Looking very nice Andy. Almost time for some paint.

Yep...real close now!

 

[Airframes]

Looking good Andy, and I like the high-tech jig!
Good point about the stretched sprue being OOB - technically, it is! Judges probably wouldn't look at it that way though!

 

[Crimea_River]

Just a couple of snaps showing some minor filling along the wing root and on the underside. The radiator grilles were drybrushed and masked prior to setting the duct in place. Once the MSG goes on, I'll dig the masks out with some tweezers.

So, wheel well stiffener strips on or off? Photos of YO-A are inconclusive.

 

[fubar57]

Looking good Andy.

Geo

 

[A4K]

Yep, coming along sweet!

How do you mean with the wheel well stiffener strips? Were some reinforced?

 

[Airframes]

Good stuff Andy. Not sure on the wing stiffening strips - I'd need to check the date when they were production fitted and retro-fitted, but I think it was from late 1941.

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks Terry. EN921 was built in the spring of '42. I didn't realize these were production additions after some point. Always thought they were field mods that were not necessarily carried out on all active a/c. From what I gather, there were directives to reinforce this area but it could have also been construed to add thickness to the sheet metal.

Evan, we're talking about the the two strips that you can see running longitudinally on the upper wing surface over the wheel well (top pic above). These were added to prevent flutter of the sheet metal over this otherwise unstiffened area.

 

[Airframes]

Sorry Andy, I didn't word that very well. Yes, the reinforcing strips were field mods, sometimes done at squadron level, more often at an MU or during a deep service programme. Production mods were, if I remember correctly, the skin thickness and,I think, internal stiffening across the wheel well itself. I could get the full details I think, but my wrists and fingers can't tackle the weight of the Shacklady/Morgan book at the moment!
The way I look at it, as the field mod doesn't seem to have been carried out 'across the board', then with mid to late production serial blocks, unless there's evidence to show the stiffeners on a particular aircraft at the time being modelled, I'd omit them. These were sometimes added late in the airframe's life, for example after general squadron use, if the aircraft had been passed on to an OCU or other training outfit. A 'real life' example of this is the MkV AB910, now with the BBMF; this aircraft has the strips, and around 1982, when I was doing the AV production at the 'Flight, I was curious about these, as I hadn't really seen them before, or at least they hadn't registered fully if visible on period photos of MkVs. When I enquired about the strips, from what I remember, I was told they were a later addition, I think as late as 1943, when the aircraft had by then seen some service.
As EN921 was built in spring '42, it makes we wonder about the photos you posted, as one shows the earlier, MkI/MkII type of windscreen, with external armour, which had been replaced by then, whilst the other has the internal armoured screen. I wonder if these are two different aircraft with similar nose art?

 

[Crimea_River]

Well, I can't be sure of the manufacture date. It was an assumption on my part in that the first entry for it from this site production page 037 has it at a MU in May of 42. The captions for the various pictures I have of this aircraft make mention of the fact that the windscreen was changed from the early style during its service. It made me wonder if that's why it had an odd camo scheme around the pit but the picture with the early windscreen already has the non-standard pattern. Furthermore, the a/c record noted above also shows that it was damaged in a flying accident in July of 42 but this was before it was delivered to 401 Squadron so if the windscreen was changed out during its life with 401 Sq, it was not due to this accident.

 

[Airframes]

Yep, found the same details from the Aircraft Movement Card in Shacklady/ Morgan. Completed aircraft were normally shipped straight to a MU after test flight, so we can assume it was built probably around April/May. I had noticed the camouflage pattern in both pics, which made me pause, but just wondered if it was possible they were different aircraft.