More Spitfires anyone?

[Tango India Mike]

Well, it seems that the incomparable Spitfire is just that! Miles Masters and target-tug Defiants are all very well, but can't possibly hope to compete if there are Spitfires to look at, so . . . as my dear late Dad would say, give the people what they want! Here then, are some more Spitfires . . .

How I would have liked to have the new Pacific Coast 1/32 Spitfire Mk IX all those years ago, instead of having to kit-bash this Hasegawa Mk Vb! Pretty happy with it at the time, there's no denying now that this model has a so-called 'fatal flaw'. However, I'm not about to tell you what it is! Let's just see if all those fellow Spit-worshippers can spot it!

Here she is again in company with another kit-bashed Spitfire - in this case Otaki's 1/48 Mk VIII. Remember, this was LONG before ICM and Hasegawa turned out their Mark Nines in this scale. These are REALLY old models . . .

Japanese Spitfires? Here's the Otaki again, but this time keeping company with a couple of more up-to-date 1/72 Hasegawas . . .

And the two little Hasegawas on their own - in fact, everything's 1/72 from here on . . .

Various Mk I & II Airfix.

And various Airfix Mk Vb. Some of these are a bit long in the tooth now . . . and I think they look it too!

Can't remember what the limit is on posted images, so I'll stop here and call it Part 1 (or is it Part 2?)

[dswoofie]

Luvverly!!

Karl.

[keith in the uk]

Stunning , simply stunning. All fantastic builds and great photography some of the in flight shots look so real its hard to believe their models. Got any Lancs? or Hampdens

[Tango India Mike]

Thanks Karl and Keith - Keith, here's one of each for you. More to come some other time . . .

Oh, and more Spits to come too - just been a bit busy with other things. Probably tomorrow, now . . .

[keith in the uk]

Whooo thanks Mike. Love the Lanc and Hampden . Which kit have you used for the Lanc ? I take it the Hampden is the Airfix kit?

[daz greenwood]

Nice Lanc Tim.

Another one of my favourite aeroplanes.

[keefr22]

Those are simply stunning!!

Can I ask where the figures are from? Some look like the old polythene Airfix ones? Are the others also Airfix & converted? If so - how? I've never managed to find a glue that'll stick them! Sorry for all the questions, but I'm trying to add more figures to my models & am struggling to find any.

Fantastic work - both models & 'photography'!

Keef

PS

To 'Keith in the UK' - that's a blast from the past - it was my user name when I first started posting on an internet forum - a US NASCAR model board back in the nineties!!!

[Tango India Mike]

Whooo thanks Mike. Love the Lanc and Hampden . Which kit have you used for the Lanc ? I take it the Hampden is the Airfix kit?

Both Airfix, Keith. I haven't caught up with the Hasegawa or Revell Lancs - yet. All the same, the Airfix is still a good kit.

Tim.

[Tango India Mike]

Nice Lanc Tim.

Another one of my favourite aeroplanes.

Thanks Daz - you're lucky you can still see one flying over there. We have one here too (yes, in Perth!), but grounded, unfortunately. A shame because it was airworthy when it came here.

[Tango India Mike]

Those are simply stunning!!

Can I ask where the figures are from? Some look like the old polythene Airfix ones? Are the others also Airfix & converted? If so - how? I've never managed to find a glue that'll stick them! Sorry for all the questions, but I'm trying to add more figures to my models & am struggling to find any.

Fantastic work - both models & 'photography'!

Keef

PS

To 'Keith in the UK' - that's a blast from the past - it was my user name when I first started posting on an internet forum - a US NASCAR model board back in the nineties!!!

Yes, some of those figures are the old polythene ones. Others are from many sources, cobbled together from a long-hoarded biscuit tin full of 'body parts'. I collect figures no matter what they are, as long as they have heads, arms and legs! Friends who 'don't do figures' know where they can get rid of them - all donations gratefully received!

Hasegawa USAF ground personnel figures are very useful if you can find them, and Preiser make some very good figures too. The Airfix RAF vehicles include a few useful figures too.

The polythene ones are of limited value, but can be stuck together with cyano. They can't be carved about like the styrene ones and flash removal isn't so easy. It's annoying that they persist with moulding the things in such useless material, but I believe it's to comply with some sort of child safety standards.

Why single these out from all the other so-called 'toys' that little Johnny could swallow or poke his eye out with? I don't know, but there it is!

Tim.

[keefr22]

Yes, some of those figures are the old polythene ones. Others are from many sources, cobbled together from a long-hoarded biscuit tin full of 'body parts'. I collect figures no matter what they are, as long as they have heads, arms and legs! Friends who 'don't do figures' know where they can get rid of them - all donations gratefully received!

Me too!! I have my latest plastic bag full of donated 'victims' sitting next to me as I type! I've not been anywhere near as succesful at getting such a variety of people as you though, and I'm nearly more impressed by them than the aircraft - which are themselves mightily impressive!

Thanks for such a comprehensive reply Tim, I shall keep attacking them!

Keef

[Tango India Mike]

Me too!! I have my latest plastic bag full of donated 'victims' sitting next to me as I type! I've not been anywhere near as succesful at getting such a variety of people as you though, and I'm nearly more impressed by them than the aircraft - which are themselves mightily impressive!

Thanks for such a comprehensive reply Tim, I shall keep attacking them!

Keef

I guess that makes us a right pair of Frankensteins!

[Tango India Mike]

Alright, here we go with Part Two (or Part Three, if you like). About time I got back to it, I suppose . . .

Here are some Airfix Mk Vb kits converted into Mk Vc . . .

Another look at ZP-X . . .

And a Mk VI . . .

Italeri Mk Vb . . .

Ventura Mk VII . . .

Hasegawa Mk IXs . . .

To be continued . . . tomorrow.

[Tango India Mike]

Well folks, I'm sorry that tomorrow took rather a long time to get here, but I HAVE been rather busy with other things for a while. Anyway, I'm just home from another night of rehearsals and am wide awake with no desire to hit the sack just yet, so . . . here's another selection of 1/72 Spitfires.

This Mk XVIe is from the KP kit, with rather a lot of surgery to make it reasonably accurate. I find it rather amusing now that when this kit first appeared some time in the early '80s I wrote a glowing review of it for the A.P.M.A. (Australian Plastic Modellers' Association) magazine. If I can find it, it might be good for a laugh - but of course at the time, this kit represented a quantum leap forward if compared to its rivals . . .

Another Mk XVI was, of course, this one from Heller - though I can't recall if its appearance pre-dated the KP kit. This one too was subjected to a fair bit of surgery. It still isn't perfect, but it's better than it would have been straight from the box . . .

Here's an Airfix Mk I converted into one of the early PR types - not only to fill a gap in the collection, but also an excuse to paint a Spitfire pink (my sister thinks it's lovely!)

And of course the prototype deserves a place in any Spitfire line-up too. This is the Pegasus kit . . .

Not the main focus of the picture, I know, but that Mk 24 is from the Ventura kit. The rather gloomy and grainy atmosphere is courtesy of a dud batch of film, and it's the only picture I have of it - the model currently resides on one side of the workbench, stripped down and awaiting a re-build and re-paint.

This Mk 21 is from the Aeroteam kit - a kit that COULD have been very good, but is let down by (amongst other things) a pair of wings that are so grossly thick that they almost look inflated . . .

. . . and yes, I know it should have the larger rudder - it's been retro-fitted with one since these photos were taken . . . (also given it some nav lights - fancy forgetting those!)

Here's another Mk 21 from Aeroteam. Some time prior to building this, I had purchased some (very expensive) resin kits by CMK which, to be honest, were hopeless. However, it was strikingly apparent that Aeroteam and CMK were one and the same - identical in almost every respect, BUT . . . the resin wings were far superior and fitted the Aeroteam fuselage perfectly . . .

And since we're looking at Griffon-engined Spits, here's a couple of Mk XIVs from Fujimi . . .

One from Academy . . .

And one from Ventura . . .

Also from Ventura is this PR Mk XI . . .

And that makes twenty photos - the limit for posting in one sitting. Since it's now 2 am, I think I'll call it a day . . . for now.

[Miggers]

Hi Tim.

Superb as usual.

You can feel for the poor soul who has his"foot to the floor" trying to catch that errant V1

D'you know I can almost hear the snarl of his bloody Griffon!!!!!.

I've also only just noticed,whilst studying the pics of the Mk1 taking off,you've got a whiff of rudder on to counteract the prop torque and also one undercart leg is very perceptibly shorter than the other again depicting prop torque

All the best matey and keep up the good work.

Mark

Edited August 14, 2008 by Miggers

[keefr22]

Well folks, I'm sorry that tomorrow took rather a long time to get here,

Well worth the wait Tim, another lovely selection of models, superbly photographed in very realistic settings! Top work again!!

Keef

[martin_sam_2000]

Beautiful spitfires!!! Your photography skills are astounding can I ask ywhat your technique was for the in flight ones??

as for that "fatal flaw" in the first few..the only thing I can see is that the mirror on the canopy should be square...not round.

Sean

[F-32]

Wonderful, you can never have too many Spits