Ok, just wondering what’s involved, lets see if what I think to be true is true, the C wing would have four 20mm cannons, but usually had two, and two bumps for the missing cannons in the leading edge, is that right? what besides those bumps would have to be modified? scribbing different panels? changes to cassing chutes? I know nobody here is by any means a fan of spitfires… so thanks in advance.
I have just recently been reading up on the spitfire so I am no expert yet. If you can get the squadron book spitfire in action is has a good clear diagram of both wings. It looks like you will need to redo the cannon bulge, add small ones near the wing root, change the gun access doors and add panel lines and a plug for the missing cannon? Antoni (I think that right?) is the expert on spitfires see that he has to say. He has helped me out in the past.
The ‘b’ wing was made to house only 2x 0.303 Browning mg’s + 1x 20mm Hispano cannon on each side. The ‘c’ wing - classified as the universal wing - had provision for the following: 4x 0.303 Brownings, or 2x 0.303 brownings + 1x 20mm Hispano, or 2x 20mm Hispano’s on each side. Along with this, the wing structure was made stronger & the wheel struts were raked forward by 2" to provide more stability for the heavier wing.
So… in reality, you wouldn’t need to do anything for the armament as the arrangement for the ‘b’ was also carried in the ‘c’, but you would need to alter the struts. As a way of further distancing the c from the b, you could change the ailerons to metal (adopted from about the middle of '41) & add a bulkhead behind the pilot (used to separate the fuel tank from the cockpit).
HTH
Er, no; the Spitfire V did not have a fuel tank behind the pilot. To modify the VB wing, you need to rescribe the cannon bay covers, delete the under-wing bulge, and move the over-wing fairing (some had a large fairing, big enough to cover both bays, others had the smaller, narrower, bulge.) The position, of the no.3 Browning, was moved outwards, into the next bay, to make room for the cannon ammunition bays; the cover needs rescribing, and the under-wing ejection ports need to be moved. Some VCs did retain the four cannon; one C.O., in Malta, stayed with that configuration. There are conversion sets available; Airwaves (Hannant’s) do/did a pair of wings, (for the Tamiya kit I believe.)
Edgar
Or you could try my method…
Stick the extra cannons on it and say “Hey! Now that’s a Vc!” [;)]
LOL
The Airwaves line were originally sold by ED Models in Birmingham. When the shop closed about two years ago it the products were taken over by Hannants. The complete range is not available all time and when I looked a few weeks ago the ‘c’ wing was out of stock. It’s not cheap either, about £25 I think. However, the range is also stocked by the Aviation Megastore in Holland and according to their website thay have two left. Grab them while you can as there is no telling when they will produce more.
You could also try Aeroclub. They have a number of Spitfire and Seafire conversions and one of those might have a suitable ‘c’ wing you could use.
Model Design Construction do a C wing conversion too. You can find it here:
http://www.shopcreator.com/mall/departmentpage.cfm/ModelDesignConstruction/52182/1/1/-/52182
There is also a rumour that Special Hobby is set to release a new tool Spitfire Vc in the future. I would’nt hold yiur breath though, I’m still waiting for the Seafire III they promised!
Always test the link after posting. This is the correct link
http://www.shopcreator.com/mall/productpage.cfm/ModelDesignConstruction/CV48025
Edgar: I took my refs from a supplement mag released earlier this year, by the publishers of FlyPast, to commemorate the 70th ann of the plane. So if you have an issue with that piece of info, write to the people at the magazine. It’s a fairly in-depth piece of book, so I should think they were pretty close to the right sources.
I don’t have an issue with anyone, since my information comes from the Air Publication 1565E, which was the wartime manual, for the Spitfire V. It states that the 29 gallon fuselage tank was an auxiliary system, which was only ever fitted, and used, with the 170 gallon “drop” tank (in fact it was a ferry tank.) The tank sat immediately behind the pilot’s headrest, under the rear part of the canopy, would have interfered with his rearward vision, and, if it failed to feed, would have quickly made the Spitfire uncontrollable, being aft of the C. of G. For normal combat the Mk.V relied on the two fuselage tanks, in front of the pilot, plus a 30 gallon, or, occasionally, a 90 gallon drop tank. The permanent fuselage tank came into use in the longer-nosed Marks, like the bubble-canopy XVI (even the IX didn’t have one, as standard.)
Edgar
ok, I open a larger can of worms than I thought I would, oops. Well, maybe I won’t start that one up next until I figure how dedicated I am to getting a Mk.Vc just right. Thanks for the info.
Ok, appearantly you really have to bend my arm, I took one look at that link and ordered 'em up, Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.
Putting 30 cal machine guns on a fighter plane in 1941 is so… British.