Quickboost

1/72 Spitfire Mk VII Conversion For the Hasegawa Spitfire IX

Stock Number: 72163

Reviewed By  Jim Pearsall, IPMS# 2209

MSRP: €3.30 ($4.50) Website: www.quickboost.net This is a nice, simple conversion. You take the wingtips from the conversion set, add them to the Hasegawa kit, add the external intake for the cabin pressurization to the right side of the engine cowling, and finish the model as a Spitfire VII. It's the details that made this a "more interesting than usual" build. The research began with the question of "which Hasegawa kit?" I found that my library was somewhat deficient, and the Internet wasn't a whole lot of help. I e-mailed Quickboost with this question. I still haven't gotten an answer. Here's the problem I encountered. The British, being involved in a major war, weren't as worried about keeping their Mark numbers in chronological order, nor were they particularly interested in whether historians and modelers could easily figure out what aircraft was what. So, the Spitfire Mk VII came out after the Mark VIII and Mk IX models. It had a pressurized cockpit to allow high altitude operation, a feature also found on the Mark VI. The RAF was pretty worried that the Ju-86P models, which had come to their attention, might bomb or do photo recon from altitudes where no one could intercept them. All Mk VIIs had long wingtips and tall, pointed tails. With different engines, they were classified as FVII or HFVII, but externally they were all the same. There was also a Spitfire PR VII. It was a different aircraft. Originally called the Spitfire G, it was a Mark V converted for photo reconnaissance work. It had the normal Spitfire wing, and the shorter, rounded top tail found on the Mark V. But it was confusing to me. All of this information came from "Spitfire: The Story of a Famous Fighter". Please see the bibliography for more info. I borrowed this book from Brian Baker. If you are interested in Spitfires, and can find a copy at a swap meet or used book dealer, get it. Now I had the info I needed. Well, almost. I had a Hasegawa Spitfire VIII in the stash. I got it out, and started the kit. You know, paint the seat, do the interior, put on the instrument panel decal, etc. And then I hit another "oh oh" moment. The intake didn't look right. On the Hasegawa Spitfire kits, the bottom of the cowling is 2 separate parts which include the intake. And it just didn't look like the drawings I had of the Mk VII in the book. So I found the one nugget of info I needed in another book. This was William Green's "Fighters" Volume 2. I quote from page 102: "Lacking the Mk VII's pressure cabin, all Spitfire Mk VIIIs had a Vokes Areo Vee tropical filter fitted on the air intake as standard…". I had started the wrong kit. Fortunately, the Local Hobby Shop had a Hasegawa Spitfire Mk IX in stock, kit # AP42. This picture shows the Spitfire IX intake at the top, the Mark VIII intake is below. Now things began to work out MUCH better. The fuselage halves for the Mk VIII and Mk IX were identical, as were all the wing parts. The Mk IX kit was identical to the Mk VIII, except it had extra parts for both the tall and round tail, normal and clipped wing tips, and both styles of air intake. So I clipped off the parts I needed for the Mk VII from the Mk IX and put everything from the Mk IX in the Mk VIII box, and it went back in the stash as an unstarted Mk VIII. The build was standard Hasegawa. The QuickBoost wing tips fit nicely on the Hasegawa wing, with no gap, and the front and rear edges aligned very nicely, thank you. There was a slight difference in thickness between the Hasegawa wing and the Quickboost tips, but that's why we're so good with putty and sandpaper. The intake for the pressurization took a couple of swipes with a sanding stick to get the back flat, so it would fit on the side of the cowling. Now the conversion is basically finished. Well, almost. What about markings?

Well, it turns out that Hasegawa did a Spitfire Mk VII kit. Brian Baker also built this kit, and he still had the instructions. It's out of production. So if you're going to do a Mk VII in 1/72 scale, I recommend Red Roo Decals sheet 7242. Recommended. The Hasegawa Mk VII kit is long out of production. I couldn't find one listed anywhere. If you want to build "one of every Spitfire", here's your opportunity. The conversion is a simple one, the parts fit, and since you now KNOW which Hasegawa Spitfire kit to use, this is a piece of cake. Going a little further, this kit could be used to convert a Hasegawa Spitfire V to a Mk VI, with the long wingtips and the pressurized cockpit. Thanks to Dave Morrissette and QuickBoost for the review parts, and an advanced degree in Spitfires. Bibliography · Green, William, Warplanes of the Second World War, Fighters, Volume 2. MacDonald & Co, London, 1961 · Robertson, Bruce, Spitfire - The Story of a Famous Fighter, Harleyford Publications Ltd, Letchworth, Herts, UK, 1961.

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