1/48 Supermarine Spitfire F Mk.22 607 Sqdn - Your Favourite Aircraft of All Time GB

[ozhawk40]

Username: Ozhawk40
First name: Peter
Category: Advanced
Scale: 1:48
Manufacturer: Eduard
Model Type: Supermarine Spitfire F Mk.22 probably PK559
Details: No 607 (County of Durham) Squadron RauxAF - Cooper Trophy Air Race 1948
Aircraft Assignment: TBD
Accessories: Masks, Resin, and Etch all in the box!
Decals: Eduard

For me its got be a Spitfire. Don't care what Mark or model. Some like the earlies, some like the lates. I have this Mk22, and now's the time to use it!

 

[rochie]

very nice Peter, have the Airfix version of that kit myself

 

[jjp_nl]

Wonderful a/c! I like those late Griffon engined beasts as well. It's a truly wonderful kit as is (just the airfix plastic that is) and with all the extra Eduard goodies it makes it all that much better and more refined. Word of caution though....the resin interior bits are actually the Aires cockpit set...and while they look absolutely stunning in terms of detail I've found the fit to be rather poor.

Another thing which strikes me a being a little odd with this Eduard reboxing is the fact that they did not include as vac-form replacement for the terrible bubble-top hood as it is really badly shaped and way too small. With all that beautiful detail on the interior I would think you would want to leave the canopy and side door opened, but having that oddly shaped and sized canopy sitting in the open position just looks wrong. If possible I would recommend getting a replacement vac-form replacement.

 

[brucejscott]

Very Nice!

 

[Catch22]

Should be cool Peter!

 

[Wurger]

Very nice choice Peter.

 

[T Bolt]

Very nice Peter. I've built the Airfix Seafire Mk.47 version of that kit and can't say enough good things about it.

 

[Airframes]

Good one Peter, and a nice kit (got the Airfix original issue from around 15 years ago.) Must admit, I haven't noticed a problem with the canopy, but I've only looked at the parts on the sprues, matched to the fuselage, so far. That Squadron is one of my choices, as it was my local RAuxAF unit when I was a kid 'up north', the other Sqn being City of Manchester, local to where I've lived since moving from the North East.

 

[jjp_nl]

@ Terry
Fit isn't so much the problem with any of the plastic parts involved...on the contrary actually it builds very easily indeed...it's just the size and shape of the hood that is really off. If you're able to do so tape the fuselage together and have the hood sit on it, I'm sure (meticulous as you go about these things ) you'll notice it's a good bit off compared to a scale drawing. It sits way above the rails molded into the fuselage it's supposed to sit in and is essentially way too small. You can try to force it down into the rails with about a 50% risk of splitting the hood in half, but that still doesn't solve the problem of the shape and size of the hood.

Oh well, even without a replacement of sorts it still makes into a wonderful model ...but with a prominent feature such as that big glass hood I thought it was worth mentioning

 

[Airframes]

Thanks Jelmer, I'll have a closer look once I get around to building the kit. If necessary, I'll either mould a new canopy, or get a vac form item.

 

[ozhawk40]

Wonderful a/c! I like those late Griffon engined beasts as well. It's a truly wonderful kit as is (just the airfix plastic that is) and with all the extra Eduard goodies it makes it all that much better and more refined. Word of caution though....the resin interior bits are actually the Aires cockpit set...and while they look absolutely stunning in terms of detail I've found the fit to be rather poor.

Another thing which strikes me a being a little odd with this Eduard reboxing is the fact that they did not include as vac-form replacement for the terrible bubble-top hood as it is really badly shaped and way too small. With all that beautiful detail on the interior I would think you would want to leave the canopy and side door opened, but having that oddly shaped and sized canopy sitting in the open position just looks wrong. If possible I would recommend getting a replacement vac-form replacement.

Thanks for the heads up Jelmer, I'll have a good look at this issue, and see what can be done. I haven't opened the bag yet.... I better get cracking.

 

[meatloaf109]

I don't think I've ever seen this mark modeled, looking forward to it.

 

[Andy70]

Should be another great one! Looking forward as well!

 

[N4521U]

Werent they purty.
Have done a Mk.22 myownself.
Gonna watch your build mate.

 

[Wayne Little]

those late mark Spitty's look real nice.....look forward to it Peter!

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Nice one Peter a great an nostalgic machine that I believe was also used to great effect in the PR role from Hong Kong out over China.

 

[javlin]

I almost went down this road Peter myself with the Eduard Seafire in the cabinet and the Airfix with the additional goodies.I built one already in the Hong Kong squadron if I remember correctly something about that buldged nose and a five blade prop makes them that much more aggressive.

 

[imalko]

Nice choice.

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

This will be an excellent build!

 

[ozhawk40]

Thanks guys

I've been a bit quiet over the past few weeks, but time to get back into it and get this one done!8)

Pic 1
First step in getting this underway is to move the radio door to a more rearward position to suit a Mk22.
Here's the original hatch position, just behind the cockpit. The Mk.22 had them further back.

Pic 2
I found this illustration that shows the difference on the radio hatch as a reference, but this and the eduard instructions are a little vague, and didn't pin down the position precisely.

Pic 3 4
As luck would have it a MK.22, Pk481 resides in a museum 5min drive away. Here's a pic I took of the hatch position. The next pic shows PK431 which confirms the position, as well as some other great detail.

Pic 5
So, armed with the material on position, I can use the scribe template that's supplied on the photoetch frete (circled) to redo the hatch. I filled the original lines and used a sharp needle to add the panel lines and the duz fastener locations.

Pic 6
After a test coat of dark green, it looks like job done.


Cheers

Peter