Ian M's Spitfire Mk.II Revell 1/32. Conversion to a PRXIX.

[Ian M]

As per the title this will be a conversion of the Revell MkII in 1/32 scale, which is a nice kit in its own right.


However; I have had this conversion set laying around for ages. A GB must be the place to chew through this one!


Here are the bits: First the Revell.








And here are the resin bits. The Nose is quite a chunk, Might pin that one!



Oh! A vac formed can of peas..... LOL got to love auto correct at times. CANOPY Hate then like the plague!

We'll se how it goes but it should end up looking like this 1/48 version from Airfix which I built a while back.



As to if it will get the "The Last!" nose art....that depends.

 

[peterairfix]

Definitely looking forward to seeing this build as I have built a few revell 1/32 spits and it is a nice kit for the price

 

[The Smythe Meister]

As per the title this will be a conversion of the Revell MkII in 1/32 scale, which is a nice kit in its own right.
View attachment 454543

However; I have had this conversion set laying around for ages. A GB must be the place to chew through this one!
View attachment 454550

Here are the bits: First the Revell.
View attachment 454546

View attachment 454547

View attachment 454548

View attachment 454549

And here are the resin bits. The Nose is quite a chunk, Might pin that one!
View attachment 454545

View attachment 454542
Oh! A vac formed can of peas..... LOL got to love auto correct at times. CANOPY Hate then like the plague!

We'll se how it goes but it should end up looking like this 1/48 version from Airfix which I built a while back.
View attachment 454552

View attachment 454551
As to if it will get the "The Last!" nose art....that depends.

Blimey.... I`m gonna have enough trouble just BUILDING my entry..... Let alone trying to CONVERT one!! !!
I look forward to seeing this develop Ian...... BTW,That "The Last" one you`ve shown above looks superb !!
Andy

 

[papa 695]

Nice one Ian.

 

[Ian M]

Blimey.... I`m gonna have enough trouble just BUILDING my entry..... Let alone trying to CONVERT one!! !!
I look forward to seeing this develop Ian...... BTW,That "The Last" one you`ve shown above looks superb !!
Andy

It's not to bad once you get over the idea of chopping up a kit in to three bits lol.
If you dug a couple of years back in completed builds you should find a few more photos of it.

I might have a go at the text, but promise nothing. She only had it painted on just before it flew the last flight of any spits in active service.
I just think the colour como works so well.

 

[adt70hk]

Interesting!

 

[Geoffers]

Good luck with your build Ian

Geoff.

 

[BarryW]

This is an interesting one. I will be watching.

 

[Jim R]

Hi Ian
This will be a very interesting conversion. The kit looks nice as does the conversion kit. You're probably wise to devise some extra support for that resin nose. The 1/48 build is very nice, as you say the colours looks good.
Jim

 

[Tim Marlow]

Nice choice Ian. Good luck with the cut and shut

 

[stillp]

Could you drill out that nose lump from the back to save some weight?
Pete

 

[Ian M]

Oh! spectators! No pressure then LOL.

Session One.
A closer look at things and where to cut what off and drill holes in.

The very concise instructions contained in the resin set...Short version cut somewhere around there...I mean would it have broken an arm to have put some more dimensions and sizes on the sheet? Anyhow...
Out with the masking tape it is then.

The position for the Side mounted camera marked. As good as I can figure it was central in the panel.
Also marked with tape is where I think the tail gets the chop... and below that the opening for the retractable tail wheel.
Talking of wheels: The wheels in the conversion set have four 'spokes', all the XIX I have seen period correct photos of the wheels have three. Even the Airfix has three! Bummer. lol
The Revel wheels have five!

So About here is where the nose gets the chop. I have marked it a couple of mm under so there is a bit of wiggle room if the fit needs adjusting.


The two belly camera openings marked and the hole for the position/id/nav light needs closing off.


HOWEVER. Befor I start cutting bits off and regretting it, a few thoughts.
The resin set: The Nose is well cast and the detail, for the most part, crisp as are the wheels, even if they are maybe not the right type.
The Vertical stabeliser and the cooler covers look like they have been carved in soap on a warm day. The 'tail' has no rivet detail either. The XIX did not have as may rivets as a MkII But access panels had to be held on some how...
I must admit that my disappointment is rather high at the moment and am considering just building the base MkII.
I would rather have a Good MkII than a 'naff' PR 19.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Must admit, the panel detail you’ve shown on the resin parts don’t seem to get anywhere near as crisp as those on the donor kit Ian. Looks like something you’d get away with in 1/72, but 1/32 is going to show it up. Might look OK in real life…….

 

[Gern]

I guess you may already thought of this, but with those big chunks of resin for the nose and spinner, might you need some weight at the back to stop it sitting on its nose?

PS Love the 1/48 version!

 

[Ian M]

Must admit, the panel detail you’ve shown on the resin parts don’t seem to get anywhere near as crisp as those on the donor kit Ian. Looks like something you’d get away with in 1/72, but 1/32 is going to show it up. Might look OK in real life…….Wheels look OK though. I count four spokes?

Thanks and sorry, That was me mixing things up. I have edited my post. The XIX had three, the kit has five and the conversion set four. lol.

 

[tigersteve]

Looks like a nice project - Brave pilots to fly so far without any armaments. Just finished this great book with quite a few stories of PR .

 

[Tim Marlow]

Looks like a nice project - Brave pilots to fly so far without any armaments. Just finished this great book with quite a few stories of PR .
View attachment 454591

Got that to read in the book stash……must have been there a while now as well…..

 

[Tim Marlow]

Thanks and sorry, That was me mixing things up. I have edited my post. The XIX had three, the kit has five and the conversion set four. lol.

Had me wondering if I could count and did I really know what a spoke was LOL…..I’ll edit mine as well, or it will just look weird!

 

[Ian M]

Session two
Whilst procrastinating my predicament I stuck the cock-pit parts together, most of them. Unfortunately not the 100% correct cock-pit for a XIX but no-one will ever know.
I might add a few wires and cables here and there.




Then this happened:

Gulp!

Then these appeared:



And then we checked the fit of the tail and the nose...!

Something is amiss! I know I have to bring it aft by a couple of millimetre, planed that. My Biggest problem the height! I can have the top of the fuselage level and in line OR the wing root. Also the new nose is a good bit wider are the top than the kits parts.
Anyone got a suggestion how to solve that one?

The tail ain't a whole lot better either. Observe, the line of the rudder shows it needs to move back a mm. The tail wing rootcowl/fairing's leading edge says it needs to move forward two mm...Also the height is again an issue and though not clear in the picture so is the width. Admit that it could be lifted a mm but the the tail-wing root is to thick.
I get the idea that the original MkII this was sculpted to fit was a whole different one than I am using...
Oh, tail wheel doors fit!

 

[Tim Marlow]

I think I see a lot of filler and re scribing in your future Ian. With the nose, you have also got a profile issue on the width of the body. It will be much easier to reprofile the wing root on the casting to suit the kit part I think.