Spitfire Mk.IX cross kitting (Has anyone tried it)

[Douglas skipper]

Hi All,

I have an old original 1/48 ICM Spitfire Mk.IX, which has loads of moulding problems especially in the cockpit and undercarriage components. So I was considering using the good parts to complete my Airfix Mk.IX. I am intending to try and cross kit the engine, some cockpit components and the main wings from the ICM kit over too the Airfix kit. Has anyone else tried this, if so where there any major problems?

I have three ICM kits and this is the only one which suffered these moulding problems, Which is why I wanted to use it to detail the Airfix kit and I have heard that the Aifix kit is let down by the thickness of the Leading and Trailing edges of the main wings, other than that it is of good shape and dimensions, so as the ICM wing is suposed to be spot on I thought I would try the cross-kit rather than try and rub down the leading and trailing edges of the Airfix wings.

I would be glad to hear from anyone who has tried this cross-over or is thinking about it, even if you think it's a bad idea! Thanks in advance for any responses.

Doug

[Matt]

Hi All,

I have an old original 1/48 ICM Spitfire Mk.IX, which has loads of moulding problems especially in the cockpit and undercarriage components. So I was considering using the good parts to complete my Airfix Mk.IX. I am intending to try and cross kit the engine, some cockpit components and the main wings from the ICM kit over too the Airfix kit. Has anyone else tried this, if so where there any major problems?

I have three ICM kits and this is the only one which suffered these moulding problems, Which is why I wanted to use it to detail the Airfix kit and I have heard that the Aifix kit is let down by the thickness of the Leading and Trailing edges of the main wings, other than that it is of good shape and dimensions, so as the ICM wing is suposed to be spot on I thought I would try the cross-kit rather than try and rub down the leading and trailing edges of the Airfix wings.

I would be glad to hear from anyone who has tried this cross-over or is thinking about it, even if you think it's a bad idea! Thanks in advance for any responses.

Doug

Not specifically the new Airfix IX

A few years ago we had a lively debate over 'accuracy' of various Spitfire kits. As part of that I had pulled out multiple 1/48th kits (ICM, Tamiya, Revell, Airfix Vb) to photograph and compare the various wings. During that time I looked at how easy/hard to cross kit the various wing/fuselages.

The engineering of the ICM is very similar to the Tamiya, but even there, its not a simple 'bolt on'. In all cases, the match at the wing root was problematic, both in terms of chord, the gull wing area and the shape of the separation between the upper wing and the rendition of the fillet panels on the Fuselage.

At the end of the day, its just styrene, so with a enough cutting, scratch building , glue and putty you can join pretty much anything to anything.

Cheers,

Matt

[Douglas skipper]

Thanks for that Matt,

Very helpful information, the new Airfix 1/48 Mk.IXc/XVIe is based on thier New mould of the Mk.1a (Which was based on their 1/48 Mk.Vb kit of years gone by, and in my opinion a much better kit than the original), but differed from the New Mk.1 in that it had a new wing, nose and armament, but the new wing is much thicker than the Mk.1a, which is as good as it get's so I am told. I could simply thin the leading and trailing edges of the Airfix Mk.IX kit wing, but you can never be sure by how much. The big problem is that the wing tip pieces don't fit the thickness of the wing if left un-thinned, which is why I wanted to fit the ICM wing. I will match up the parts and see what type of fit I get, if I can I will take some photo's and post them.

Thanks once again for your response.

Doug.