Spitfire Mk Va, R7347, assigned to USAAF for testing, Summer 1941
It seems there is always much to learn about the Spitfire. When my interest in the Spitfire first began, I probably did what most modelers do: I made a list. The list started with Mk I, followed by II, III, IV, et cetera until I thought (wrongly at the time) that I had the full List of All Spitfire Marks that began with I in 1939 and ended with XVI in 1945. I filled it in as I read about the different marks and where they were used. Rarely did I see the II, never a III or IV nor a VI; an occasional VIII, lots of V and IX. No X, XI or XIII. No XV. Oh joy, it’s really not a big list so it won’t take me long to make one of each just to see what they looked like, in the flesh (plastic) which was all I’d expect given how rare they are.
Then those darned suffix letters cropped up. What could that be? After nearly a year of reading and collecting books I realized it was the armament...sort of. And the Mark number was basically tied to the engine...sort of. Some other minor refinements came to play as well. Suddenly my list grew. And I hadn’t considered where the PR variants fell, nor those prefix letters. That's a story for another day...
The Mk V came about as a response to the Me-109F. Faster and higher flying than the Emil it was replacing, it outclassed the Mk I/II in frontline service with the RAF in 1940-41. Like any good aircraft manufacturer, Supermarine was working with the RAF to develop a better Spitfire in the guise of the Mk III. However so many improvements to the basic airframe as well as a new engine meant critical delays in production and one must remember that at the time, the RAF was licking its wounds from the BoB and facing Rommel in the desert.
So the obvious question was asked, “What if we stick the new Merlin on a Mk II airframe, and do it such that we don’t have to modify the airframe so much?” The engine in the Mk III was the Merlin XX; which was needed for the Hurricane II so an uprated Merlin 45 that was based on the Merlin III was chosen. It fit the cowling of the Mk I/II and just needed some slight mods that were easy and quick to implement. The engine was “hotter” so needed a bit more cooling...the larger oil cooler from the Mk III would do. A bit more torque so we’ll need to stiffen the fuselage...that’s a bit easy. The Mk V was born and would be a short production run until the Mk III was ready.
History tells us the Mk III was cancelled and the Mk V the most produced single Mk of the Spitfire family (if one doesn’t combine the Mk IX and XVI production). So much for an interim type.
The Aircraft
When Mk V production began, the cannon armed wing was still causing problems. So initial production was the 8-gun Va. The intent all along was to make the Mk V a cannon armed variant. Some Mk V were conversions from earlier Mk I/II airframes. Later in 1941 when the cannon armed “b” wing was fixed most surviving Mk Va aircraft were retrofitted to the Vb standard; as well as any Mk Ib/IIb that were still operational. Some didn’t but those generally were no longer considered front line aircraft and were used for OTU duties.
R7347 was one of the last of a batch of Mk I’s ordered as Mk I’s but delivered as Mk Va. Delivered in April 1941 to 39 Maintenance Unit, then transferred to the USAAF for testing at Wright Field later in April 1941, arriving in November 1941. It remained there for testing until January 1943. Unfortunately, I do not yet know the fate of R7347.
References: Spitfire the History, RAF Fighters 1945-1950 Overseas Based, Spitfire in Action
The Model
There are currently three alternatives for making a Mk Va:
The recent tooling by Airfix includes not only all the parts necessary to model the Mk I and Mk II, but the larger oil cooler for the Mk V as well as the proper De Havilland prop. When first released in 2009 there was speculation that a Mk Va was soon to follow, but after 3 years still no Mk Va from Airfix. So it was off to the spares box for decals.
It turns out the AZModel boxing has the decals for R7347 when tested in the US. That certainly makes this all very easy.
Construction is straightforward, but use part numbers 41 and 42 for the oil cooler, the round exhausts parts 21 and 22, and the DH prop. Photos show the IFF aerials, so I drilled 0.1mm holes on each side, at about frame 17.5. That is about 12 inches forward of frame 18, which is the extreme trailing edge of the wing/fuselage fairing. I then measure up 9 inches from the horizontal stringer that aligns with the bottom of the cockpit door. My method for installing these after all painting and decalling is done, is to superglue one end of the invisible thread into the elevator hinge line (underneath where you can't see them) and once cured run each into the holes. Using tweezers I pull the IFF antenna taught through the cockpit opening and put a drop of glue to hold them. I then put the canopy on. You won't see them on this model as I didn't put them on...frankly I forgot and the canopy is on, so there you have it.
Now, technically when on the ground the IFF aerials should be disconnected from the horizontal stabilizers so a ground mechanic or plane captain cannot accidently break it; but it looks "wrong" to me as a model when done correctly because it appears the antenna are broken off.
Painting is standard Spitfire scheme for April 1941: Temperate Land Scheme of Dark Green (Humbrol Hu116), Dark Earth (Hu29) with Sky (Hu90) undersides, spinner and fuselage band. I used acrylics throughout. Night serial and no squadron codes.
Summary
An easy build, albeit I didn't do this one over a weekend, I could have had I wanted to. I spent extra time on it and unfortunately the build got delayed by 3 months when I transferred due to a job change.
Thanks for looking...
It seems there is always much to learn about the Spitfire. When my interest in the Spitfire first began, I probably did what most modelers do: I made a list. The list started with Mk I, followed by II, III, IV, et cetera until I thought (wrongly at the time) that I had the full List of All Spitfire Marks that began with I in 1939 and ended with XVI in 1945. I filled it in as I read about the different marks and where they were used. Rarely did I see the II, never a III or IV nor a VI; an occasional VIII, lots of V and IX. No X, XI or XIII. No XV. Oh joy, it’s really not a big list so it won’t take me long to make one of each just to see what they looked like, in the flesh (plastic) which was all I’d expect given how rare they are.
Then those darned suffix letters cropped up. What could that be? After nearly a year of reading and collecting books I realized it was the armament...sort of. And the Mark number was basically tied to the engine...sort of. Some other minor refinements came to play as well. Suddenly my list grew. And I hadn’t considered where the PR variants fell, nor those prefix letters. That's a story for another day...
The Mk V came about as a response to the Me-109F. Faster and higher flying than the Emil it was replacing, it outclassed the Mk I/II in frontline service with the RAF in 1940-41. Like any good aircraft manufacturer, Supermarine was working with the RAF to develop a better Spitfire in the guise of the Mk III. However so many improvements to the basic airframe as well as a new engine meant critical delays in production and one must remember that at the time, the RAF was licking its wounds from the BoB and facing Rommel in the desert.
So the obvious question was asked, “What if we stick the new Merlin on a Mk II airframe, and do it such that we don’t have to modify the airframe so much?” The engine in the Mk III was the Merlin XX; which was needed for the Hurricane II so an uprated Merlin 45 that was based on the Merlin III was chosen. It fit the cowling of the Mk I/II and just needed some slight mods that were easy and quick to implement. The engine was “hotter” so needed a bit more cooling...the larger oil cooler from the Mk III would do. A bit more torque so we’ll need to stiffen the fuselage...that’s a bit easy. The Mk V was born and would be a short production run until the Mk III was ready.
History tells us the Mk III was cancelled and the Mk V the most produced single Mk of the Spitfire family (if one doesn’t combine the Mk IX and XVI production). So much for an interim type.
The Aircraft
When Mk V production began, the cannon armed wing was still causing problems. So initial production was the 8-gun Va. The intent all along was to make the Mk V a cannon armed variant. Some Mk V were conversions from earlier Mk I/II airframes. Later in 1941 when the cannon armed “b” wing was fixed most surviving Mk Va aircraft were retrofitted to the Vb standard; as well as any Mk Ib/IIb that were still operational. Some didn’t but those generally were no longer considered front line aircraft and were used for OTU duties.
References: Spitfire the History, RAF Fighters 1945-1950 Overseas Based, Spitfire in Action
The Model
There are currently three alternatives for making a Mk Va:
- AZModel (limited run, limited availability but a very nice model)
- Airfix Mk I/IIa (contains the parts but no instructions)
- Bash together a Mk I/IIa with a Mk Vb to get a Mk I/IIb and a Mk Va (been there, done that, it didn’t work for me)
It turns out the AZModel boxing has the decals for R7347 when tested in the US. That certainly makes this all very easy.
Construction is straightforward, but use part numbers 41 and 42 for the oil cooler, the round exhausts parts 21 and 22, and the DH prop. Photos show the IFF aerials, so I drilled 0.1mm holes on each side, at about frame 17.5. That is about 12 inches forward of frame 18, which is the extreme trailing edge of the wing/fuselage fairing. I then measure up 9 inches from the horizontal stringer that aligns with the bottom of the cockpit door. My method for installing these after all painting and decalling is done, is to superglue one end of the invisible thread into the elevator hinge line (underneath where you can't see them) and once cured run each into the holes. Using tweezers I pull the IFF antenna taught through the cockpit opening and put a drop of glue to hold them. I then put the canopy on. You won't see them on this model as I didn't put them on...frankly I forgot and the canopy is on, so there you have it.
Now, technically when on the ground the IFF aerials should be disconnected from the horizontal stabilizers so a ground mechanic or plane captain cannot accidently break it; but it looks "wrong" to me as a model when done correctly because it appears the antenna are broken off.
Summary
An easy build, albeit I didn't do this one over a weekend, I could have had I wanted to. I spent extra time on it and unfortunately the build got delayed by 3 months when I transferred due to a job change.
Thanks for looking...
..excellent work Tim!
ReplyDelete