1/48 Special Hobby Seafire XV

Gallery Article by Wlad Franco-Valias on Oct 22 2015

 

      

In this second part I present the stinger hook version of the Seafire XV. Special Hobby provides parts for both A-frame and stinger arrester hooks on the same kit. This includes the different rudders each version had: the stinger hook uses the bottom part of the rudder and that part only moves up and down, so the upper part was widened to compensate for the loss in lateral control area. This detail is something both Squadron and Hobbycraft missed in their renditions of the plane as they combined the smaller rudder of the A-frame model with a stinger hook.

This kit was built side-by-side with the A-frame version, so I had twice the fun and twice the pain. All the changes I made for the first kit apply here, other than deflecting the ailerons, and in addition I replaced the center piece of the tail wheel protector with piano wire as the kit piece was too short. I ran into the same issues with the canopy and main landing gear attachment. I left this one is in clean configuration.

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Looking very much like a hand-me-down from the Royal Navy, this version represents PR 479 while serving with 803 Squadron in the initial temperate sea scheme (CSMA Ia) as used by the RCN for the first couple of years of Seafire operations in Canada. The colours used were Polly Scale acrylic Extra Dark Sea Grey and Dark Slate Grey over Tamiya acrylic Sky and yellow. The spinner is painted with Alclad Duraluminum and a mix of Tamiya red with black to match the tone in the decals.

This scheme proved rather problematic as this aircraft sported different coloured wing tips and a portion of the engine cowling. The black-and-white photos don’t always show this clearly and it is hard to determine what colour it was. It could be yellow, though one photo of a landing 803 Squadron Seafire clearly shows a well defined light patch on the cowling and a darker tone under the wing tips than I would expect for yellow. Other pictures show a Seafire coded ‘L’ with just the camouflage colors and “18” on the rudder. The latter could have been PR 504 as it was also coded ‘L’ at one time while in temperate sea scheme. I figured the plane must have come from an Operational Training Unit (OTU) so I used yellow for the mystery colour. Most pictures show the finish to be rather shiny, consistent of the paint used in that time period.

Main decals came from the Belcher Bits BD 13 sheet. Additional stencils from Arrow Graphics A-11-48 Spitfire “Scribbles”. The Belcher fin flashes cracked instead of conforming to sharp bend around the fin, must be age as I’ve had the sheet for over ten years. The kit decals were used only for propeller logos and tire creep marks.

Happy Modeling

References:

  • Humphreys, Robert; The Supermarine Spitfire: A Comprehensive Guide for The Modeller. Part 2: Griffon Powered. Bedford: SAM Publications, 2001

  • Martin, Patrick, and Pettipas, Leo. Royal Canadian Navy Aircraft Finish and Markings 1944-1968. Martin Slides, 2007

  • Pettipas, Leo (1987). The Supermarine Seafire in The Royal Canadian Navy. Self-published. Winnipeg, Manitoba. ISBN: 0-9692528-2-X

  • Scutts, Jerry; Spitfire in Action. Carrollton: Squadron Signal Publications, 1980

  • The Military Museums of Calgary – PR 451.

Wlad Franco-Valias

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Photos and text © by Wlad Franco-Valias