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Post by silverarrows19 on Apr 28, 2015 21:21:20 GMT 12
Hi,
Does anyone have any information / photos of Spitfire IXc that were used by 485 Squadron? I'm currently building the Tamiya 1/32 kit with the intention of building Max Collet's "Waipawa Special" aircraft and have just realised that it wasn't a c-wing aircraft.
Unfortunately, I started with the wings, hence my enquiry.
Regards
Blair
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Post by joesmith on Apr 28, 2015 22:22:23 GMT 12
Hi, Does anyone have any information / photos of Spitfire IXc that were used by 485 Squadron? I'm currently building the Tamiya 1/32 kit with the intention of building Max Collet's "Waipawa Special" aircraft and have just realised that it wasn't a c-wing aircraft. Unfortunately, I started with the wings, hence my enquiry. Regards Blair Hi Blair, Don't panic.... If you have the 1/32 Tamiya IX kit with the "C" wing then that is the one you need for Max's "Waipawa Special" NH432 if this is the one you wish to build. It is a little confusing but a number of 485's Mk.IX Spitfires had the "C" wing armourment but were field/depot level altered to the "E" wing armourment configuration. Hence you will find pictures of 485 sqn Spitfire IX's with the 20mm cannon installed in the out board location (.50 cal inboard) and the patched over redundant .303 browning gun tunnels evident in the wing leading edges. NH432 still had the nice early rounded rudder but was fitted with the later elevators that featured the extended mass balance. Basically you just need to change the cannon blister and its location on top of the wing to suit the "E" weapon fit and a shorter cannon fairing of course. These features are quite evident in the picture of Max standing next to the burnt out remains of NH432 when destroyed on the ground at Maldegem in Belgium on January 1st 1945. Andy
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Post by silverarrows19 on Apr 29, 2015 9:27:04 GMT 12
Thanks for the info Andy. I've decided that I'll still try and build "Waipawa Special", I'll have to remove the "c" wing fairing and attempt the surgery on the kit part to change it to an "e" wing. I'll post some photos to show you my success or failure.
Any chance you could scan that picture for me?
Cheers
Blair
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Post by McFly on Apr 29, 2015 12:50:56 GMT 12
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Post by Calum on Sept 3, 2019 22:23:53 GMT 12
To resurrect this old thread. Like the OP I fancy building 485 Sqn Spitfire . But I'm thinking of doing John Houlton's OU-V as per the profile below h Does anyone know if this machine's wing was similar to Max Collets s "Waipawa Special" NH432 as explained by Andy in the 2nd post above? The few wartime photos seem to show it has the longer canon barrels that C wing aircraft had as opposed the shorter ones used on the late e wing aircraft. To date my research leads me to think ML407 was an E wing aircraft from the beginning but would be interested to hear others thoughts Thanks all for any assistance
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petera
Flight Lieutenant
Posts: 88
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Post by petera on Sept 10, 2019 19:08:10 GMT 12
There is no such thing as a Mk IX 'C' type wing. It is just a Mk IX wing. It was never universal, as on the Mk Vc. When the 'E' wing was introduced with the .5 Browning on the Mk IX it became the Mk IXe and all references in the combined Spares manual refer to 'Early MK IX' and 'Mk IXe'. You will not find any reference to a MK IXc in any of the official documentation, manuals, Pilots Notes etc. In error 'Mk IXc' has been perpetuated in books and by modal makers for many years. On the Mk IX the cannon is located in the inner station and on the Mk IXe in the outer station. The Mk IX wing, which initially was to be a stop gap short term build whilst the MK VIII wings were sorted, was based on components of the Mk Vc wing...hence the twin leading edge stubs, the outer of which was capped off.
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Post by Calum on Sept 24, 2019 15:48:41 GMT 12
I believe you've posted this somewhere else on this site. But for simplicity's sake I've used what has come to be common convention when referring to Spitfire wings.
Regardless, nothing above really answered the original question, that being was ML 407 field converted to a e wing armament or did it come from the factory (I've gone with the latter).
Interestingly I've just finished Al Deeres book 9 lives and he talks about IXa and IXb aircraft. And whilst he doesn't differentiate these aircraft on wing configuration (it was IIRC supercharger performance) it seems that there were people other than modelers who saw differences in the MK IX outside what the IPB says
g
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Post by steveh on Dec 31, 2019 8:32:08 GMT 12
Did you get any info on this from other sources Calum, its a matter that has vexed me & relevant just now as I'm in Spitfire model ordering mode. Cheers, Steve.
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Post by hbpencil on Dec 31, 2019 19:12:07 GMT 12
In his auto-bio, Houlton states ML407 was one of the batch of brand new aircraft the squadron received at the end of April '44, so I'd guess it was built with the E wing rather than a conversion?
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Post by agalbraith on Dec 31, 2019 21:49:20 GMT 12
Steve, I have the book 2nd TAF Spitfire- The story of ML407. It states in there she was fitted with the universal 'c' wing but was configured like an 'e' with an extra .5in Browning fitted. Johnny and his armourer (Ernie Bongard) recall the extra browning's.
Hope that helps
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Post by steveh on Jan 3, 2020 20:59:41 GMT 12
Hi Anthony, thanks for that, I'm not sure if it helps me a lot, whether to start with a C-wing & use a Master E wing set to swap the barrels over, or just start with a E & call it good. In my 1/72, not such an issue. I'm guessing the .303s were removed & muzzle holes & cartridge slots under the wing plated over, or not. Either way, it'll be more of an issue in your scale. What are your thoughts on these things other than I'm over thinking it again. Steve.
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