excerpt from
Fleet Air Arm Aircraft 1939 to 1945, Ray Strurtivant w. Mick Burrow, Air Britain Publication
Supermarine Seafire Ib's
MB328 - MB375 (34 conversions from F.Vb's)
NX879 - PA129 (138 Supermarine Type 340 conversions from Vb)
You can clearly see in the Type regulation and Production batch List, Ib, b is referring to B-Wing, aka Vb. Conversions means first ever so to
be Seafire to carry that name, previous things they called Spit Bla-Bla hooked.
As almost every other Landbased Spitfire M.IIa, Ib, Va, Vb, Vc and some of these Marks that carried the abrevieviation Hooked*, was the ancestor, basicly a Seafire, but not.
Adding a hook to a spitfire wasn't a Seafire, you know? It's confusing.
After these regular Spitfires and Spitires /hooked came Ib conversions (call it pre Series or kit modified Spitfires to Seafires)*
then came L.IIc + IIc, Seafire based upon Vc, not called conversion in the order, this came with and without Scoops in two Batches? I'm long out of the subject.*
The III Seafire had several productional fittings, structural side as well to mark her a real Seafire, as the earlier Marks carried more Spitfire structures (weak tail)
*To confuse you more, the Spitfire V Familly was dangerous as for Engine Marks, the definite Type you could only
see when opening that damn hatch and locate the Engine Plaque, no joke, the same was on the early Seafires.
You never knew what engine they gave it. That's what confuses people and get's them shivers, the sheer complexity of the standard,
that was and not, a inline evolution, steadilly aproving.
The original Seafire Mod plead respect to these facts, adding such Engine Variants as well.
The Seafire I maybe such different Engine variant IB, call it semi or not, in the Spitfire heaven everything
is historical. We have Scheiße 1946 that never made it to a Mockup, some of the Spitfires Rarities
made into Production, so what?
Why it's not included, the Ib is for the "Not another Spitfire Fanbase" sth. like a philosophy
about placing an egg on a table, an Aspergers dream that played a role in Training of Seafire Pilots on the homefront and abroad.
Please bow to the original Skin Folder I gave, what you see is what it was.
Correct me if I'm wrong, hope this helps
Enjoy the Seafires
Tobi