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1/24 Airfix Spitfire FINISHED

Nice shots Paddy, I'd say dirt and grime but not a lot of oil, we really don't want a leaky engine now do we?
 
That colour picture is great because thats the main factory and that coolant tank that a lot of people do interior green is grey and a few parts are bare metal and some painted silver. Most brass parts are not painted.
 
OK scrap all that, its a black and white picture that some plank has colourized any old colours they wanted....Makes me so mad !! why do they do this.


PM2661449@.jpg



This exactly why there is so much confusion these days with original detail
Greg highlighted this above when he mentioned that Johnnie Johnsons Spit had a green maple leaf emblem but Airfix has also supplied a red emblem because some say it was red...despite johnnie saying it was Green.
one of the first kits i bought was the airfix Spit 1/72 in the early 60's

s-l1600.jpg


The maple leaf was green .........this was less than 20 years after the end of the war, is it likely Johnnie then just 47, and the world really forgot what colour the maple leaf was ? Again someone re writing history.
 
That one line hanging out the side, in front of the firewall, looks to be braided, did they have braided lines back then?
The hue of the lines are different than the firewall, what color are they is speculation. But do you thnk they would have taken the time to pain copper lines that do not corrode like aluminum panels do? that's why the interior was painted correct?
 
As for the red or green maple leaf, to be fair they could have been different colours for different flights. I'm not saying that is the case, just a thought. Doing a light surface search though I found this interesting snippet.

"A Canadian Maple leaf on a white circular background was carried on both sides of the fuselage under the windscreen. Its colour has been a matter of some controversy. In his memories, Johnson stated that the the leaf on his aircraft was green. However, all the Canadian squadrons of the Kenley wing had this national symbol painted in red. Was green the conscious decision on the part of Johnnie to underline his British origin, or did the memory fail him on this rather small detail? Perhaps we will never know.

It is known that “Johnnie” customized his aircraft. Like many other aces, he ordered EN398′s guns to be harmonized according to his personal preference. Judging from the photos it would also seem that the circular rear view mirror was attached to a modified, taller mount."


At the time as far as I understand the Maple Leaf was usually done in Red or Blue. The reason I suggested it might be a flight thing goes back to WWI where the Maple Leaf used at the end of the war on aircraft was coloured depending on flight in red, blue or green. Will have to search for the ref for that as I dont remember where I found it. Anyways this build log might be of interest to you. https://forum.warthunder.com/index....’s-spitfire-34the-most-successful-spitfire34/

As a side note I did meet Johnie Johnson in St. Croix Sur Mer back in I think it was 1989 when I was on an honour guard to open a cairn for the first Allied Airfield on European Soil and home to the Canadian 144 Wing whom Johnie was CO of.
James
 
That one line hanging out the side, in front of the firewall, looks to be braided, did they have braided lines back then?
These are corrugated sheathed lines... not braided (as some electrical lines are to stop interference). They may be for air ducting. I have been resisting temptation to provide TMI.
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From the Rolls Royce Merlin 22-24 handbook, instances showing corrugated piping:
1682789451303.png

1682789494960.png



1682789557691.png
 
From the Merlin MANUAL! Honey hush. That's TOO friggin' cool! or, Jolly good that, ol' chum.
 
And the bulk head pipes are copper and i just painted mine....
Good to know! I still have not gotten that far yet so I will leave them copper.

Also, one other question. I would like to leave some panels open on mine and am wondering about this particular panel...
20230429_210312.jpg

It looks like it hinges at the top. Would it ever be open on the real plane? If so, how would it stay that way? Sorry to bug you here! I could not send you a private message. Said I wasn't "allowed". (?)
 
I would like to leave some panels open on mine and am wondering about this particular panel...
View attachment 159514
It looks like it hinges at the top. Would it ever be open on the real plane? If so, how would it stay that way?

If you start your thread, I can post a LOT of what you need for that radio access panel.
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51048846713_163a28b6df_b.jpg


Note that the recon variant used this hatch as well and is show here to show how it's held open:
spitfire-pr-xi-photo.jpg

b25lY21zOjJhOTk5MmRiLTU3MTgtNGMxOC1hZDA1LWMzYjQ2NDI1MzhlODpmNGZiNWViMC01MWQ2LTQ3ZGQtYjQ2Ni1kMDc5YTU2OTAxMTQ=.jpg
 

That guy is putting the camera in back to front :)

It was a disinformation shot so the Germans would think we had a new camera system.

No, its the right way. Part 113.
spitfire-pr-mk-xi-crop-jpg.564630

James

No its not, he is putting it lens first

It's the downward pointed camera
I did state I was avoiding my TMI urge but:

As James stated, this is the aft F24 vertical camera. Indeed, as Bob stated, downward pointing. Lens housing goes first to slide into the cup shaped holder. Note the man eyeing where to place on this other image:
38d75d_d96489f7d9fc4383a3e6160fe19d5015~mv2_d_2500_1714_s_2.png

1682897580528.png


A larger image with the full legend of the illustration James posted:
supermarinespitfireprmk.jpg
 
My mistake then, i thought the vertical camera went in the access panel on the other side under the horizontal camera.
All models were different. In the MkIX the door on the kit is the radio access door but Airfix have cast in a window on the inside for possible future variants, poss a PR model, thats my guess. The cutaway above shows a second panel opening for the Camera behind the radio opening. The photo above shows the RHS access panel for the vertical camera open
The cutaway shows a plywood panel behind the camera ? My understanding this was canvas and was added to keep the heat in the camera bay from the camera heaters.
I'm not sure any Spit other than specific PR versions carried cameras because they would have to add heating and relocate the radio etc. or as a minimum add 2nd and 3rd access panels...
Never a good idea to voice any opinion or fact to do with Spitfires :)
 
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