Supermarine Seafire III Conversion
Airwaves Seafire III conversion is a multi-media set, specifically intended for the Airfix Spitfire Vb. Conceivably it might be adapted to fit the Italeri or Tamiya kits.
The resin parts consist of two one-piece wings, with appropriate wing fold lines scribed in (the set is also available with the wings folded); a replacement spinner and four-bladed prop (each blade is moulded separately, with no alignment aids); an insert for the underside of the rear fuselage, with the arrestor hook moulded in the retracted position; a narrow oil cooler for the underside of the port wing; two 20 mm cannon barrels, mainwheel (unflattened) with unspoked outer faces; and two catapult spools.
A pair of six stack exhausts are the only white metal parts in the set. In my sample these suffered from mould shift, and will likely need to be replaced.
A small fret of photo-etched brass provides all the external reinforcement plates, new maingear doors, and a centreline fuel tank/bomb carrier.
The final component is a vacuformed canopy. The windscreen and sliding section are moulded as one piece, while the rear fixed section is separate.
The resin and vacuformed parts are of excellent quality. A single air bubble marred the mating surface of the oil cooler. The recessed panel detail is somewhat soft. If the parts are used with the intended Airfix kit, the fuselage will likely need to be rescribed to match. The wheel well detail in the replacement wings is basic, but the wells themselves are nice and deep.
A single double-sided A4 sheet provides instructions, and numbers all the photo-etched components. The required cuts to wing and fuselage are shown reasonably clearly, though the reinforcement plate locations are less apparent. A profile view of the fuselage with the reinforcement plates would be useful. I believe Seafire III plans have recently appeared in Scale Aviation Modeling (SAM), and these would be useful during assembly.
The kit provides no decals, nor does it suggest any schemes. Aeromaster sheet 72-193, Fleet Air Arm Part II includes markings for an aircraft of Flotille 54F, in the post WWII FAA scheme.
References on the Seafire include the old Aircam Spitfire/Seafire book, as well as the monograph by Frelaut and Pierquet.