1/72 Supermarine Seafire F.Mk.III

[Spey_Phantom]

originally i was planning to build this as a pimped out Spitfire Mk.V for the spitfire GB some time ago, but i recentry changed my mind and yesterday i decided to build her as a Seafire F.Mk.III, perhaps in Dutch East-Indies wartime colors  . but im not sure yet 

the model im using as a baseline is the Revell spitfire Mk.V as i already have this kit and the FAA's Seafires were actually converted spitfire Mk.Vb's. the Seafire III actually differed on some points from the Spit Mk.V.

1. i will replace the 3-blade prop with a 4-blade from a heller 1/72 spitfire Mk.XIV
2. the Seafire III was powered by  a V12 Merlin 55 engine, so i replaced the exsaust pipes from the spit (2 x 3) by those from the academy 1/72 spitfire Mk.XVI.
3. sawed off the wings in order to present them in a folded configuration, i scrached the edges from the wingspars from styrene card.
4. (not visible) i cut out part of the rear fuselage's bottom to acomodate an arrestor hook.

also  still need to be scratched are the eyes behind the engine bulkhead to enable it for catapult launch.

here are sme WIP pictures 

here's a view of the components.



here's a couple of pictures of the wings, took me almost 1 and a half hours to get them right last night.




and here a pic after the fitting of the exsaust parts 

[Captain Canada]

Isn't playing with plastic fun ?

[sequoiaranger]

For my folding-wing Jinpu-Kai, I likewise spent HOURS getting the wings right.

It dawned on me (not back then, however, but AFTERWARDS---ain't that the thing?)    that I could make nice, EXACT airfoil wing end sections by....glueing the wing end onto a SHEET of appropriate-thickness plastic, then tracing around the wing and making the cut and drilling holes afterwards, instead of trying to match the airfoil freehand.

Anything with a tailhook and a propeller excites me. Good luck with your project!

[Spey_Phantom]

you said it, on the main fuselage part of the wing i used 1mm thick styrene, marked it off and then sticked it to it. the problem: try remembering witch side you made it for 
for the wings itself i used the method you mentioned, i sticked a piece of 0.3mm thick styrene sheet on it and then cut arround it, much cleaner and less fuss  .

the tailhook is build, all i have to do is paint it when its dry.
support bars for the folded wings have also been fitted and the decals have been sought after to. first i was thinking about fitting dorito's, but then ive seen pictures that the dutch navy actually used the current roundel with the orange dot in the middle. 
ive also been thinking about the paintjob. i was thinking all metal, red spinner and the dutch tricolor on the tail.

as seen here in a development profile i made 

[Spey_Phantom]

-UPDATE-

Wings have been constructed and painted (at least the top side), same thing for the prop  .




and, the proof she will be a dutch bird, here's the rudder in the 3 colors as seen on most dutch ww2 aircraft.



and here's the cockpit, most of the work was already done during the spitfire GB, all i had to do was paint the inside of the cockpit and slap on the decal of the instrument panel.




a shot of the nationality decals 



parts of the landing gear now drying.

[sequoiaranger]

No JMN here, but your "development profile" illustration of a Dutch Spit has the colors in the tail reversed of your model. I thought it odd when I saw the referenced illustration having the red on the bottom--the three-stripe "flag" insignia used by the NEIAF after February of 1942 had blue on the bottom, but did not have tail stripes of any sort, as I recall. I like yours better, but just wanted to point out that the illustration you provided had the opposite, if you were going to mimic the reference.

Anyway, the joy of a "whif" is that it is never really "wrong".

[Spey_Phantom]

yes Sequoia, i did notice that the colors on the tail were mixed up, that was because the colors on the profile were accidently inverted, so the model is accurate 

anyway, last update for today.

the model is nearing completion, the fuselage is now amost completed, canopy has been fitted, metallic paint has been applied and the first decals have been applied 



the wings are practicly completed, the support struts have been painted, so is the outside and inside of the wings.
if they are dry, they will merge with the fuselage tomorrow.

[NARSES2]

I like this Nil's - you are trusting the wing fit a lot with the way you've painted the sub assemblies though. Not built this particular model so I'm interested to see how she goes.

Chris

[Captain Canada]

Maybe that's the way she comes apart to fit on the small Dutch carriers ?



Looking good, Nils !

[Spey_Phantom]

-DONE-

althought not my best work, i think she turned out pretty good 

Back History.

in 1942, the japanese military was making its uprise throughout asia, hong kong had falen, allong with singapore.
the dutch were getting affraid there lightly armed forces could be in danger of being wiped out, most obviously the airfields on the indonesian islands and east india would be the first targets. the Dutch Navy wanted to place an order for 2 essex-class aircraft carriers. but the American gouverment was against this as it needed there aircraft carriers for there own war effort. the Dutch MoD in Java didnt give up that easely, and managed to persuede the US into selling 2 carriers, in return, the US was allowed to use the airfields in the dutch colonies as forward bomber bases for a possible attack on Japan.

the Dutch recieved there 2 aircraftcarriers and additional Brewster buffalo's and Douglas Devestators to equip the airwings. in mid 1942, the Japanese navy sunk the british carrier HMS Hermes, 30 Seafire Mk.III's managed to take off and escape the destruction, 6 of them were shot down while making an escape to Java. Once arrived in the dutch colony, RAF transport planes icked up the pilots and flew them over to Kalkutta, the 24 remaining planes were then handed over to- and repaired by the Dutch. the Seafire's served the MLD (Marineluchtvaardienst, naval avaition service) up until december 1943, when all Seafires and 1 carrier were destroyed by japanese navy fighters and torpedobombers.

the Model

[Brian da Basher]

Very well done, Nils! I've always thought Spitfires looked deadly in NMF and those Dutch markings definitely add to the look. Good job painting the rudder stripes. Those are always a challenge for me.

Brian da Basher