Tamiya Spitfire VIII converted to a VII

[denders]

I may be getting a bit too much with what I'm starting (P-40 and Bf 109K (GB elsewhere)) but here goes.

I like the 'pointy' vertical tail and the extended wings. Unfortunately, the markings in the kit use one or the other. And it appears that is the case for the MK. VIII. But it appears that the MK. VII used both. So, some more research into any differences is in order.

I picked up this kit at the IPMS Murfreesboro show in November. The box contained a bunch of AM that the original purchaser had added and I have additional AM on order.

 

[BlrwestSiR]

Great choice to do a VII Dave!

The biggest hurdle with doing a VII is the deeper rear canopy section. The other changes are reasonably straightforward to do. 

When I did my conversion using the same kit, after a couple tries at smash moulding the rear canopy, I ended up just carefully bending a piece of acetate to match the fuselage profile. 

Roy Sutherland did an article on the conversion in the Building the Tamiya Spitfire book. I used that as a reference for the other changes that were needed. 

Carl

[denders]

Okay, where do I find that book?

And what color is that aircraft?

And thanks!

[BlrwestSiR]

9 minutes ago, denders said:

Okay, where do I find that book?

And what color is that aircraft?

And thanks!

I found this. 

https://www.scribd.com/document/460074127/How-to-Build-Tamiya-s-1-32-Spitfire

It's chapter 9.

The Spitfire is Medium Sea Grey over PRU Blue. Barracudacal has the markings on one of their decal sheets but I used paint masks for mine. 

 

[BlrwestSiR]

I also found my original build thread on LSP. 

https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/66822-tamiya-spitfires-hf-vii-and-viii/

It jumps around a bit as I was building a couple other Spitfires at the same time but there's pics and descriptions of most of the conversion work I did. 

Carl

[denders]

Thanks!

[denders]

I happened upon this Osprey book that I don't have. It's on the way. Looks like it should have some useful information.

I also found this photo on the internet.

[denders]

The remaining AM has arrived, so I guess it's time to start.

[denders]

This came this afternoon. It appears that Squadrons 124, 131, 154, and 616 used the Mk. VII. Squadrons 131 and 154 used the paint scheme that I'm interested in modeling. But I'll wait 'til the Osprey book and the decal set arrive before deciding which specific aircraft I'll model.

 

[JohnB]

A bit out of the usual! Should good! 🙂

[denders]

Okay, almost time to get started. I'm still waiting for a set of decals. I want to see what information it contains about the specific aircraft represented on the sheet before finally selecting a particular subject.

 

I also started looking through the Barracuda resin addons that were in the kit. That will take some time to create a plan on what to use and what I'm not going to use.

 

I've also found some variations in the colors. The top color is either referred to as Medium Gray or Medium Sea Gray. I'm assuming both references are really the same. The underside color has been called out at Azure Blue or PRU Blue. Obviously, they're not the same. I'll also note that I found color references to the Prototype VII noting that it was PRU Blue on top and Dark Sky undersides.

 

Soooo, I decided to start with the PE flap set. I'll see how well I get them built before I do any cutting on the model.

[denders]

Working away on the flaps yet. Slowly. These are the mirrored pieces that go into the wing. Should be interesting cutting the plastic. I really didn't plan the picture, but you can see where the cut out is located.

I did receive the decal sheet that I ordered. They are DKdecals 32005. There are three aircraft shown in the colors that I want to use. There are markings for 12 Spitfires total. There is one Spitfire V, two Spitfire VI, four Spitfire IX, and five Spitfire VII. I've read that by the middle to late June '44 the extended wing tips had been removed, and they were repainted in the gray/green camouflage scheme. So, I'm going to paint this one Medium Sea Gray over PRU Blue with D-Day stripes. The stripes were 9" in the case of these aircraft. Since I have a Cameo cutter, I can pretty much mark it whatever particular aircraft that I want. And the 'Squadrons' book shown above contains a thorough list of matching Serial Numbers/Squadron codes too. I will stick to 131 Squadron because I have the impression that they were all the desired paint scheme around D-Day. It should be fun.

[BlrwestSiR]

That should be a nice looking Spitfire with the narrow  D-Day stripes on it.