A Trilogy of Twinfires

[Captain Canada]

Nice one ! Always liked them with that intake, so I guess I like this one twice as much !

 

[NARSES2]

This shows the problems more clearly: misalignment of the lower jawline and various teeth due to the inherent clash between plane and elliptical geometries, flakes where decals got abused during the pushing around. All pretty unavoidable. My finest 000 brush is going to have to earn its keep.

I'm facing similar issues with my Me 109 at the moment, but as you say they are pretty much unavoidable.

I often wonder if in the heat of War some of things were applied as neatly as transfer/decal designers would have us believe ? That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it 

[Rick Lowe]

I saw a picture once of a Checkertail Clan Mustang (Squadron Signal 'in action' book, IIRC), where the 'squares' were anything but neat or square in some cases...

And the Memphis Belle had 26 mission markers in the photo taken after the last mission, before they wiped the extra one off, because the painter had already added the final marker to the plane before the photographer got there, and they had to re-stage him painting it on!

So the real world examples are there - I say go with your best shot, but don't sweat things too much.

[steelpillow]

That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it 

Yes, I had exactly that problem with one of the bits that broke off. Took me a good few seconds to discover where it had gone. Was a devil of a job getting it back onto the model without part of it folding over.

[Wardukw]

I've seen quite a few shark mouths on fighters which are far from perfect Steel mate..wouldn't worry about it to much ..decal world is perfect..real world far from it .
I just watch 2 vids on the P40 from Rex's hanger on youi tubed and in one part it showed a line of P40 and not one had the same shark mouth..some where Ok..others terrible..Rick said it best.. don't sweat it mate 

[steelpillow]

That's one of the things about What-If Land, even sharkmouths can be work to be proud of. Hey-ho. Black outline already gone on, red gums scheduled for tomorrow. More fun than tidying my clothes, anyway....

[NARSES2]

That's the attitude   

[steelpillow]

Sharkmouth Twinfire finished! The fighter pilot's ultimate machine was the Spitfire. The pilot's ultimate mark was the VIII. The ultimate warpaint is the sharkmouth. 457 Sqn. RAAF had the lot, with a "Grey Nurse" fuselage logo and Ace of Spades tail logo for luck. Wing Commander Robert "Bobby" Gibbes followed suit, adding his own Wingco pennant and kills to his machine. The ultimate dream Spitfire!
Surely the most persistent What-If meme on the Internet is the Twinfire. Put the two together and you have the ultimate What-If subject ever. At least, that's what I reckon. And why not add detachable wing tips too, an idea genuinely put to Supermarine but not taken up. So here it is, Wing Commander Gibbes' "Metal Mossie":

[Tophe]

Wonderful!!
Congratulations

[Old Wombat]

  

[su27rules]

      

[NARSES2]

Ooooh I like that 

[Rick Lowe]

 

[Wardukw]

Ok on my phone this plane looks quite bad ,,,but on my laptop thats a totally different story ...much better screen res 
Love it Steel ...totally love it   

[steelpillow]

Meanwhile the Twinful is not forgotten, but progresses slowly.

Firstly, from my ongoing researches I am now unsure whether it should be better called a Twinfang. Supermarine had converted the cancelled Spitefuls into Seafang Mk 31s, principally by replacing the rear fuselage extension under the rudder with an arrester hook. They then built a new batch of Mk.32s, which had contra-props, and also folding wings with the associated heavy wing reinforcements. The twin machine comprised two Seafang 31 wings sets with Mk 32 engines and a couple of reinstated Spiteful tail extensions. I think the fuselages were of Mk 32 vintage complete with engine mounts. So is this really a Twinfang 31/32 with Spiteful tail extensions, or should we consider them converted to Spiteful F Mk.15/16 standard (sources differ as to which Mk this was), as the type which received the contra-prop?

Secondly, much filling, fettling, undercoating, re-scribing and cussing has been going on, in a seemingly endless loop. At last my patience was exhausted and it is what it is. So I added the radiators and it is now ready for the endless rub-down and paint loop. Very little of the scribing is visible in the photos, but it includes the permanently-closed fourth undercarriage bay doors.