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Spitfire Mk. XIV | 1/48 | Starfix Great Britain | S/L James H. "Ginger" Lacey, Pilot I finished this 1/3/2017. I started it 9/15/2015 and was one of the first two models I started when I got back into the hobby after a 15 year break. This was the worst model kit I have ever ever put together, bar none. Aside from the obvious shape and proportion issues: the scale is wrong (1/54 or 1/57, depending where you measure) the quality was terrible the decals were trash (pictures follow) the raised detail was ridiculously inaccurate and out of proportion (pictures follow) the box said "mk. 21", but the body seemed more like a Mk.V or Mk. IX. I decided to make it into a Mk. XIV But, I used it to try out a lot of techniques that I had read about during the 15 years I wasn't modeling. I figured that if I messed up, this model didn't matter much, so no loss (The F-14 I was working on at the same time had the same objectives and reasoning). During this build I had many firsts: rescribing panel lines pin wash black basing sun fading using various shades of the base colors using Tamiya smoke to create dirt and grime oil wash to make gas and oil stains using epoxy putty to make a new tail fin and try and correct the nose shape using Testors acrylic paints (which I will never do again!!) More info after the "glamour shots" Why was this in my stash? Well, I got it at a dollar store (yes a dollar!! That spells kwality!) during my last year of high school. This was pre-internet, and in my small town there were very few models to be found. This was such an exotic Spitfire to me, and I had no idea if I'd ever see a kit of it again, so I forked over the dollar, even though I knew the quality would be bad. I dug it out in 2015 to try some new techniques. First, though I had to get rid of the preposterous raised panel lines and rivets: You may not be able to tell, but the panel lines on the wings are perpendicular to the seam, not perpendicular to the centerline of the aircraft. That means that when dry fit, and looking down from above, the panel lines formed a "v" pointing aft! The tail fin was entirely too small to be a Mk. 21 (or anything other than an early mark): I set out to fix the shape of the nose by sanding the squared off top: and then re-shaping it with epoxy putty: I made valve covers, which you'll see later. I really should've elongated the nose, but that was going to be a real stretch for my skills. Next, I re-shaped the tail using the epoxy putty. I found a great side profile on the internet, sized it to 1/48, then printed it. That's when I discovered that this kit is not 1/48! In the end, I figured the fuselage was 1/54. Here it is prior to priming: Then there were the decals. They were out of proportion and the roundels off-center: and then I took the protective paper off: I wonder how you use these decals? Well, that clears that up! At this point, I was kind of proud of my work (not of the model itself), and figured it would be worth buying some aftermarket decals. I really liked Ginger Lacey's plane, and was under the impression that he flew a brown and green Mk. XIV LF based on a lot of pictures of models and die cast toys. I am now fairly certain that is not the case after reading this thread: The markings are a little big because of the scale difference between model and decals. As terrible as this kit was, and as bad as the shape is, I still keep this around because it was the first time I achieved a fairly realistic finish on a model. It took over a year to finish because I learned so much that I actually re-painted it a few times to use what I learned. Since I like the SEAC scheme, I recently bought a Hasagawa Mk. VIII with the SEAC paint scheme. Since I like Ginger Lacey's a/c, I bought an Acadamy Mk. XIV and some aftermarket decals. Hopefully those will be appearing soon on the RFI! Thanks for looking -- Jokes, snide remarks or otherwise are clearly in order here!