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Hi all, I admit. I'm nuts about Spitfires. Especially the XIV. Unfortunately theres isn't a single 1/72 perfect/near perfect XIV out there Here I will try to create a definitive list of popular XIV kits and highlight their pros and cons. First off, Academy Pros Cheap and readily available Easy build Only £5 Good fit Fantastic panel lines and detail Overall good in construction Cons It's dreadful Wrong shape Really fat Too short Rubbis h decals Next AZ Models Pros Good shape Very nice fine panel lines Readily available Also a high back version available however I can't comment on that as I haven't made it Cons At £17 quid its pretty expensive The cheaper Legato version has dreadful decals No intake over the right engine cowl Fiddly, ill fitting and cloudy canopy Now my favourite Fujimi Pros Very good shape Good panel lines Good props High or low back versions Easy build Can get it for only £10 (possibly) Cons Hard to get hold of Can be expensive Dreadful high back insert (you'll have to buy the resin upgrade) Fiddly engine cowling Sparse cockpit One mold tries to make a few different versions so theres a bit of altering to be done for each version Stupid fixed tail wheel (u/c doors need to be cut off and opened up) The canopy for the high back is rather bulbous The high back version needs the rear cockpit upper deck removing (and the bulkhead removed) Frog Pros About £10 Easy build Cons Hard to get hold of Ancient kit Raised panel lines Poor shape Costly for what it is Ark Models (Frog re-pop - see above) Airfix (this takes a lot of time and patience) Pros Good kits Easily available Good cockpit detail (XIV) Cheap £7-8 You'll end up with an XIV and a PrX/XI They support Airfix! Cons Requires cross kitting and conversions (a joy for some though) No decals if you're building an XIV of X/XI Not ideal to do a double conversion Lack of detail in cockpit (IX) Lack of wheel well detail XIX fuselage shape is off Wing chord is 1mm too great IX wing would need aileron rescribe and clipped wings Deep panel lines and lack of detailed lines Sadly there is no mainstream kit that is accurate/easy to get hold of Please feel free to correct me and/or add other kits to the list, I will update this post with any new info. Ben

One week holiday was so productive. Build is done! one box less The model is very good in assembly, and even my crooked hands could not spoil it much More photos here..

Could someone be so kind to tell me how many sprues does each of the kits mentioned above have? I've read the threaf of the Airfix Mosquito with a sealed bag and missing pieces, and I wanted to check if I have all the sprues in the bags. Does Airfix include sprue diagrams on their new kits? The instructions on the Spitfire I and P-40B don't have them. Thanks in advance.

Not a new build but one from 2017 which I have repaired and cleaned after a sortie to Telford. This is my 1/48 model of Spitfire PR Mk.XIX RM633, flown by Sqn Leader Saffery, CO of 541 Squadron, RAF Benson on 15 June 1944 as related in his story told in Spitfire at War:2 by Alfred Price. RM633 was one of the initial 25 PR Mk.XIXs built with no cabin pressurisation. Saffery was tasked with photographing a target in the Ruhr. Saffery had decided to wear a new ‘pressure waistcoat’ which was designed to help the pilot to get sufficient oxygen into the lungs at height. The new waistcoat didn’t have the correct attachment for the dinghy pack so he tied the dinghy lead to the leg strap of the waistcoat. He commented to the ground crewman who helped him strap in “Anyway, it’s only a short sea crossing”. After take off and reaching 30,000ft, he was soon crossing the North Foreland (the Eastern end of Thanet, Kent to the uninitiated) when the aircraft developed a problem - oil pressure was lost and the constant speed propeller control mechanism failed. Calling Manston, he turned to return and began to glide. Unfortunately, although he could see the coast (Manston is right on the coast), he could not get there and bailed out about 8 miles off the coast. Unfortunately, although he managed to inflate his dinghy and the waistcoat, the dinghy pack, including sail, paddle, rations and signal flares/rockets were lost - probably due to the incorrect attachment of the lead. This was at approximately 06:30. Despite having seen numerous aircraft, clearly looking for him, plus ships and boats, nobody spotted the tiny dinghy all through the day and he had no effective way of signalling. As dusk fell, Saffery donned a small skull cap which was part of the pressure waistcoat pack. This had a small flashing light on the top and it was only then that he was finally spotted by an MTB on patrol. Saffery was lucky because the channel is still very cold at this time of year and he would likely have drifted out further into the channel and up into the North Sea and oblivion. The morals of the story are that, even if you are the gaffer, you should use the correct equipment, don’t take it for granted that a short sea crossing means it is safe - and don’t make smart bottom “famous last words” comments which will inevitably come back to haunt! Airfix kit with a few modifications - Removal of the compressor unit from the starboard nose area. Scribing a cockpit door (the first 25 PR MkXIXs had doors - later pressurised Mk.XIXs didn’t). Replacement of the poor U/C legs with spare Eduard units and replacement of the wheels with 4 spoke wheels which at least some of the first 25 PR MkXIXs had (the kit wheels were also poor) Replacement fishtail exhausts. Decals - well there were not too many required - I purloined a few stencils from here and there and used the national markings from Xtradecal sheet X48118. The visible serial was by rearranging the Xtradecal serial. The overall PRU Blue was Xtracrylics and the “Invasion” stripes were masked and sprayed with Tamiya XF-2 and X-18. The stripes covered most of the serial, based on the picture of a sister PR Mk.XIX in the book. Cheers Malcolm

Despite starting half way through the year as my 2017 Yearbook was a bit later than planned, I sort of carried on where I left off on the Spitfire trail. I did have a little break from Supermarine's finest by spectacularly failing to complete a couple of GB builds so the SoD is up by a VC-10 and a 737-200 which I will complete one day - honest guv'nor! The 7 completions for the year all only managed to romp home over the line in the last month or two, and there is one more that is so close to finishing it's almost on the shelf. The first two finished were a couple of Revell/SH Seafire XV's that I built in tandem. Constructional sanity was marginal at times and the fit of the undercarriage left a lot to be desired. As I've got 5 or 6 more left in the stash, together with plenty of very similar Vc's, any hints and tips to make them go together that little bit less painlessly would always be welcome. Decals for SR572 came from the Freightdog Post War Seafires. She is modelled whilst serving with 1832 NAS RNVR at RNAS Culham in 1949. Next was PR479 of 803 Sqn RCAF, HMCS Warrior in November 1947. Decals came from the Model Alliance Seafires sheet and apart from a self-inflicted Horlicks with aligning the port L they went on easily. Having managed 2 on the go with no real hassles, and with 2018 fast becomming a very fast target to hit, I started 3 more Spits. The first was the newest Airfix Mk.I which using the reciprocal parts from the Vb used in last year's IIb build, created Bader's Va W3185 using Model Alliance's ETO Spitfire decals. The Dark Green, Dark Earth and Sky all came from the Tamiya Acrylics range and the Sky Blue was Mr Hobby Aqueous H314. Usual pinning the undercarriage palava but apart from being a bit enthusiastic trimming the fuel tank armour piece construction was pretty simple and straightforward. Next was a Tamiya Vb converted to the first Seafire Ib used for deck landing trials. The decals for BL676 "Bondowoso" came from the Dutch Profile Presentation Spitfires sheet and again behaved wonderfully. The Dark Green, Ocean/Mixed Grey, MSG and Sky were all Tamiya Acrylics and this build was notable (for me anyways!) as my first attempt at black basing. Now I think I added far too many squiggles of the main colour and then did not thin the top coat on any of the colours sufficiently so any modulation effect I was after got negated by my ham-fistedness, but I will give it another go in 2019. The A Frame arrestor hook (which now I look at the photos I have spotted has fallen off!) came from the SH/Revell Seafire XV's above and easily grafted into the Tamiya fuselage. Thanks to @72modeler and @gingerbob for their help in researching the exact IFF and Radio aerial fit and other stuff and for their encouragement for this build. The third of this batch was another conversion, this time from Tamiya's old Mk.I, using the Pavla resin and decals to produce a Spitfire PR Mk.IC R6903. Photographic evidence suggests that this Spit had only the one vertical camera rather than the 2 shown in the destructions so I went with just the one. The PRU Blue came from Xtracrylics and was a pain to apply, forever clogging the needle of my 0.2 H&S Ultra (even with W&N Flow Enhancer/Retarder), and took about 4 coats to give a reasonable coverage. Again any hints and tips for using this brand are very welcome. Whilst I had these three at the paint stage, the urge to build PR Spits took on a life of its own and I madly started a PRXI, using the Quickboost conversion on a Revell/Hasegawa Mk.IX. I wasn't too put out by the well known length issues of this kit, but may consider a different base kit for the next attempt as I bought 2 conversion kits! Next time I think I will use the redundant XIX Bowser wings from the final build below with perhaps an ICM fuselage as they appear to be quite close in fit, as this time I used the Revell wings and filled in the guns and extraneous panel lines. I also used a spare PR windscreen from anAirfix XIX and wish I'd faired it in better, having not removed enough of the original fighter windscreen from the fuselage. This time PRU Blue came from the Hataka PR set and the decals came from generic Xtradecal sheets and the serials and fin flashes from an ancient Almark PR Europe Markings set. I expected the worst from these old decals but they behaved surprisingly well after they were trimmed from the sheet to hide as much carrier film as possible. I again joined the Horlicks Club by mangling the port H decal which I repaired using Xtradecal white striping. I had no end of grief with the Hataka paint. If I thinned it with Tamiya X-20A or water it ran and spidered everywhere and if I shot it neat it clogged the AB tip in seconds. I also started another PR Spit based on the Tamiya Mk.I as who could resist a Dicer when you have a pot of PRU Pink in your grubby mitts, but this is the 95% complete effort that I will post for 2019. FYI the PRU Pink was a pig (see what I did there!) to spray too. I believe Hataka now have their own thinners on the market so that is the next logical step. Now not being content with 4 (5 with the Dicer) on the go, I had bought a big box off of eBay that contained the parts for a PRXIX and a Mk22/24 and a miscelleny of other Spitty spares. Armed with my newly purchased Squadrons! No.7 the F.21, I started hacking the PR fuselage to lose it's pressurised and camera related bits and bobs and mated this to the 22's wing and undercart. All in all this was a reasonably simple kitbash, the pitfall being the filling of the gap where the PR kit has the vertical cameras and the 22 lower wing stops short! Although I got a good match from a side-on view, I could not get the fairing where the trailing edge of the wing meets the fuselage to behave and in the flesh from some angles it looks very wrong. If @John Aero (aka Superman!) is in a phonebox nearby and can help out with any conversion parts then I have plenty more 22/24's in the stash to have another go using the proper parts! Decals came from generic Xtradecal and Fantasy Printshop sheets to depict LA200 of 91 Sqn in April 1945 (chosen as this airframe didn't have any squadron crests) and paints were again from my favoured Tamiya Acrylics (with Mr Hobby Aqueous for the yellow ID stripes on the LE). So, all in all whilst I managed to complete 7 this year, I do feel I rushed most of them and could have done better, and although I have a mancave, space soon runs out when you have 6 on the go. The biggest plus for me this year was getting into Flory Washes. Apart from the first two Seafires all the others used either Grey, Grime or Dark Dirt and I am well chuffed with the result. 5 Stars for Mr Flory from the FC! Negatives ironed out:- I have learned not to use Blutac as a cockpit mask for open pits as it really gets into places I couldn't get it out of. The Dicer is not finished because the Blutac got under the rear canopy portion and in removing the canopy my thumbs for fingers broke the piece (and the spare left over from using the Pavla Vacform on the PR MkIC) so I will be contacting Tamiya's UK distributor pretty soon for replacement clear sprues (unless any of you good folk in BM World have spares that I could take off your hands in return for a wad of cash, a la the Waynes World "I'm feelin Saucy, do you accept cash" Stratocaster buying scene!). Also despite having a free supply of plastic foam from my work I will not be using that again either as it reacts poorly either to the "spirit" in the acrylic paint or the Klear coat and sticks to everything it should have masked (hence no upskirts of my beauties as it made a mess of all their wheel wells, nor cockpit shots as nobody wants to see a furry cockpit do they?!). I didn't get the hang of the black basing on Bondowoso to my own satisfaction, and have spent a fair bit of time watching internet tutorials to give me a fighting chance next time around. Well I do have 3/4's of a can of Halfords black primer left so it'd be rude not to eh?! Also despite having a semi-decent digital SLR, I am only shooting on Auto, and to my picky self my pictures seem dark and getting the right depth of field is beyond me in this shooting mode. Perhaps some internet tutorials for that are in order too! What's up next then? Santa and the Birthday Bunny (my birthday is 29 Dec and that sucks!) bought me the Airfix Blenhiem and the new Tamiya Mk.I (bought by myself and then given to my teenagers to wrap up so I could look surprised on the big day!) so the siren voices are calling for these bench-clearers to get under starters orders. I would like to do more WIPs so may make a bit more effort for you good folk in 2019 if I can tame my car-crash career (I bought a shop as a hobby to get out of the City rat race and it's become an iro 100 hour per week millstone!). Wishing your 2019's to be tickedy-boo, so until next time - it's been emotional, Chris

Here's my Hasegawa 1:72 Supermarine Spitfire HF.VII which I built back in 2002. Sadly, Hasegawa only supplied decals for this machine, MD124, RAF, without any unit markings, the other option being an HF.VIII in desert scheme. It was built mostly OOB and I decided to add the slipper tank but painted grey as I had seen in an illustration of another Mk.VII just to give some interest. The main scheme was airbrushed. Thanks for looking Miguel

Hi fellow modellers! This is the last model I completed. It´s Sword´s Spitfire Vc in 1/72. I have mixed feelings about this kit because it looks good but I ecountered several fit issues, mainly in the cockpit parts. Despite this it can be built into a nice model. I used Authentic Decals to represent a "presentation" aircraft, a plane donated to the RAF by a company from my country Uruguay. This very plane is restored and flying today in the same markings! I tried to follow the few historic photos I found because there are some differences with the restored one, like the wings. I hope you like it and all comments and critics are welcomed! Best regards. Ignacio

My first entry here in the Ready for inspection area......... This started life as a 1/48 ICM Spitfire MKIX although as there were alternative parts in the box I decided to build a MK VIII and use HGW decals for the South African Air Force version. Paint is Tamiya acrylics and the base is made from a kitchen drawer front with the addition of a SAAF cap badge. This was the last of 6 Spitfires built one after the other so looking for something completely different now!

Here are a couple more spitfires finished over the last few months. Aircraft and figures are all ICM except for the Tamiya MK V and are built OOB with some aftermarket decals in places .

Spitfire F/FR Mk.XIV Bubbletop 1:144 Mark I Models When the prototype Spitfire took to the air for the first time on 5 March 1936, few involved could have foreseen where the development of the type would lead. By the end of the Second World War, the type had earned itself a place in the history books as well as the nation's psyche. Powered by the two-stage supercharged Griffon 65, the performance of the Mk.XIV was a quantum leap over its forebears, enabling the Spitfire to meet its German foe on equal terms. The FR Mk.XIV was a photo reconnaissance version, modified by Forward Repair Units to carry a single camera in the rear fuselage. Mark I Models have produced quite a range of 1:144 scale kits, including many British WWII and Cold War types. This kit is part of a range of Griffon-engined Spitfire kits released by the Czech manufacturer. The kit is limited run in nature, but the plastic parts are nicely moulded, with crisp detail throughout. There is a small amount of flash present and the sprue attachment points are on the chunky side relative to the scale. As with other kits of single-engined aircraft in the range, you get two Spitfires in the box. As you might expect, construction is fairly straightforward. The cockpit is basic but serviceable, with a separately moulded seat for the pilot, an instrument panel and rear bulkhead as well as a tiny control column. Detail for the instrument panel is provided courtesy of a very small decal. Once the cockpit is complete, the fuselage halves can be joined. The wings are a solid part, although you have the option to remove the wing tips and use the clipped versions supplied. The elevators are also solid, while the rudder is a separate part. The landing gear is nicely detailed and the main gear bays include a small amount of structural detail. The canopy is pretty good, despite its tiny proportions. The camera window is catered for by a decal. Mark I have included decals for four different schemes: Spitfire F Mk.XIV NH745 EB-V, No.41 Squadron, Royal Air Force, Eindhoven, March 1945; Spitfire FR Mk.XIV MV263 GCK, No.125 Squadron, Royal Air Force, Twente, April 1945; Spitfire FR Mk.XIV NH895 NI-K, No.451 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, Wunsdorf, 1945; and Spitfire FR Mk.XIV SG-46 UR-G, No.2 Squadron, Belgian Air Force, Florennes, 1948 Conclusion Surprisingly tiny, even in this scale, Mark I's Griffon-powered Spitfire is nonetheless an appealing little kit. The standard of manufacture looks to be pretty good and it doesn't look as though it will be particularly challenging to build. Recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Long ago, probably 1978, I purchased the new Matchbox 1/32 Spitfire mark 22/24 I made a start, but quickly shelved the kit. put off by the way everything seemed to fit where they touch, sort of, the trench like panel lines and the feeling that the cowl/spinner were not right. this is what the kit looks like, taped together. In 2010 I came across a review of the Revell re-boxing of this kit. https://modelingmadness.com/review/korean/cleaver/gb/tmcspit24.htm It confirmed what I'd feared and added to it. The radiators and wheels are wrong, as is the complete nose, canopy and cannons.... I made a start. The interior is largely a fantasy, with indeterminate "things that don't really fit anywhere. Trying to line up the bits that are needed and work out what goes where is a nightmare: the instrument panel is a clear part that is also the fireproof bulkhead. The propellor has no obvious positive location for the blades.... Worse, the blades seem to be shaped for a RR Merlin rotation: the Griffin rotates the other way! There is flash on all edges and the plastic is hard and difficult to sand. So, What to do? Greymatter Figures offer a correction set..designed to improve some areas of the 1/32 Matchbox and Revell kits. The kit includes: IFF aerial, radiators, props, spinner and backplate, 3 spoke wheels, tail wheel and door, carb intake, nose, cannon barrels and vacformed sliding hood. It costs £37.80. That seems quite a lot, but the rest of the kit is quire good Also there are no other 1/32 scale F22 Spitfire kits. So, I've ordered the correction kit and will carry on the story when the parts arrive....!!

First post in here so go easy This is my last build, totally out the box. Now I do like my ww2 aircraft to be well weathered, some will like it some won't. Hope you all like anyways, there is a few build posts on my Instagram @tomgotobed

Evening folks, Built this 1:32 scale Revell Spitfire as a commission build for a mate who wanted a mk 1 or mk II Spitfire for his WW2 memorabilia collection. He wanted it to resemble "XTD" which is the fibreglass gate gaurd now on display at Edinburgh Airport. The replica its has " Blue Peter " written on the side and has a four blade prop and a bright red nose cone. The kit itself went together with no real issues and was build OOB with the only addition being harness straps made from tape placed into the cockpit. I just used the cockpit decals provided with the kit. As usual, I weathered the kit using the preshading method and masking tape to seperate the camouflage colours. For the first time I tried using the " maskol" method of replicating the paint as having been worn through on heavy traffic areas, around the cockpit and a couple of the acess panels. An easy method of spraying silver then applying the maskol and rubbing off after the top coat has been applied. Very easy and effective... Used Hannants "Xtracrylix" thinners on this build, so much better than my usual Tamiya thinners and would highly recommend. Unable to source the "XTD" decals or correct serial numbers " L1067" etc, but it looks like a Spitfire and the new owner is very pleased, as for payment ... a couple of nice bottles of red wine Always wanted to build a spitfire again and this way I don't have the headache of where to display it ... just the headache from consuming the wine !! A few pictures of the finished result .. Thanks for looking and all comments welcome. Best wishes

Here are some photos of my recently completed Spitfire Mk II.a. of 315 Squadron, August 1941. Its based on the Airfix Mk.I. 1:48 kit, with a small scratch built Coffman starter. - Interior was Eduard pre-painted PE - I found the steel seatbelts much easier to work with than the brass as they seemed to be less springy. - Paints were a mixture of Vallejo and Tamiya, with Mig lucky gloss varnish and then Vallejo matt varnish. - Decals from the Polish Spitfires ModelMaker.pl sheet - Weathered with various MiG pigments and washes. - Radio and IFF antennae were Uschi van der Rosten fine rigging line. To fix the well known fragile undercarriage joint I scratch built a m/f joint using short lengths of brass (0.6mm dia) and associated locating holes which seemed to work quite well.

Spitfire Mk.Vc "Overseas Jockeys" (48195) 1:48 Special Hobby The Spitfire Mk.Vc had a re-stressed and strengthened fuselage and a new windscreen. The C wing was known as the universal wing which housed a revised main undercarriage. The distinctive feature on the top of the wings were the bulges for the cannon armament. Under the starboard wing a deeper radiator was fitted, and under the port wing a larger oil cooler was fitted. Additional armour was also added to the cockpit and ammunition storage areas. Due to the development of the Mk. IX the Vc did not serve on the home front for too long and sent for service overseas. 2476 were built mainly at Castle Bromwich with others split between Westland's and Supermarine. Of these 300 in their Tropical guise The Kit This is a re-boxing with new decals from Special Hobby, the kit was originally released in 2008 and has been re-released many times since. The kit arrives on three main sprues, 5 smaller sprues, a clear sprue, a small PE fret and a small bag of resin parts. construction starts in the cockpit. The floor is built up with the rudder pedals, the forward bulkhead is added as is the instrument panel. Instruments are provided as decals. The pilots set is then made up and added to the rear bulkhead. Seatbelts are provided as PE. Head armour goes at the top of the seat. The inner fuselage sides are added into the fuselage, followed by the cockpit section and the instrument panel section. The fuselage is then closed up. We now move onto the wings. These are conventional with a one part lower and two part (left/right) upper. Different cannon bulges are added to the top side depending on which decal option is being modelled. The wheel wells are put in and then the wings can be joined. The wings can then be added to the fuselage, separate ailerons and wing tips are then added. At the front the lower engine cowling is added (again a different one depending on the decal option), and at the rear the rudder and tail planes. Now we flip to the underside. The radiator and oil cooler are added along with the tail wheel and an insert in the rear fuselage (used to cover the tail hook opening for Seafire models). The main gear can now be built up and added and for one of the decal options a ventral fuel tank. At the front resin exhausts are added (again two types are provided), one of two type of prop is added and the clear parts are added . Lastly the radio mast, pilot entry door and cannon barrels are added. Markings There are printed by AB174 / RF-Q 303 Polish Sqn RAF, RAF Kirton-In-Lindsey, Aug 1942. BS295 / CR-C No.1 Fighter Wing RAAF, Strauss, Australia 1943. Serial Not Known. 5FS, 52 FG, USAAFE, Corsica Autumn 1943. AR524 / White 5 GC 1/7 French Air Force, Tunisia Early 1944. MH592 / G 1st FS National Liberation Army of Yugoslavia. Conclusion It is great to see this re-released with deal options you dont always see. Recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Spitfire Mk.IX Four Spoke wheel sets for Tamiya Eduard 1:32 The Tamiya 1:32 Spitfire Mk.IX is a beautiful kit throughout, but there are always ways of improving even a Tamiya uber kit, or at least that’s how Eduard think. These two sets provide the modeller the option for fitting different styles of tyres to their model. Both sets include a full set of wheels, including the tail wheel, which is a one for one replacement. The main wheels are split into three parts, the wheel and tyre, plus the inner and outer hubs, the inners having well produced brake detail. They also both feature the four spoke pattern wheels, the differences are the tyres themselves. Set 632 129 features smooth tyres, while set 632-130 features a treaded pattern tyre. All the parts are very nicely moulded and are easily removed from the moulding blocks due to the thin webs holding them to said block. A quick clean up after removal and you’re ready to glue the hubs in place, paint and glue to the kit undercarriage legs and your work is done. For ease of painting the sets also come with a sheet of masks to help give that clean paint job. 632 129 632-130 Conclusion As with any modelling it is best to check your references and build your Spitfire accordingly. With these sets you now have the option of building your model with the correct tyres if the ones in the kit aren’t suitable. The masks are a very handy addition too, just to make life that little bit easier. Review sample courtesy of

Good day. I present my finished model from the company Airfix A05126 Supermarine Spitfire Mk.I 1/48. Prototype aircraft of the outstanding aces of the Battle of Britain P/O Eric Lock Spitfire N3162/EB-G, 05.09.1940 Airbrush: Harder & Steenbeck Evolution 0.2 Paint: Gunze Sangyo H12 Flat Black / Primary - Screw / Blackout Effect Gunze Sangyo H58 Interior Green / U.S. Army & Navy Aircraft WWII - Lightening Effect Gunze Sangyo H72 Dark Earth Semi-Gloss / Great Britain Aircraft WW II - Camouflage Gunze Sangyo H73 Dark Geer Semi-Gloss / Great Britain Aircraft WW II - Camouflage Gunze Sangyo H74 SKY Semi-Gloss / Great Britain Aircraft WW II - Camouflage Gunze Sangyo H 327 Red FS11136 Gloss - Signs Gunze Sangyo H 328 Blue FS15050 Gloss - Signs Gunze Sangyo H 329 Yellow FS13538 Gloss - Signs of Designation Tamiya XF-2 Flat White - Lightening Effect Tamiya XF-54 Dark Sea Gray - Color alphabetic code Tamiya XF-57 Buff - Brightening Effect Tamiya XF-64 Dark Brown - Blackout Effect Tamiya XF-71 Cocpit Green (IJN) - Cab Color Tamiya XF-76 Gray Green (INJ) - Blackout Effect Photoetched: Eduard 49006 Seatbelts RAF WWII Masks: Pmask Po48001 Supermarine Spitfire RAF 1/48. Very high quality manufactured kit, has both early types of characters and late ones. The letter code was made to order by a colleague UpRise, for which I express many thanks to him. I recommend as a very high-quality manufacturer of masks and decals. Top camouflage applied by hand without masks. I hope you will like it. \

Hi all here is my recently finished 1:32 Supermarine Spitfire PRXI. The Tamiya Spitfire MKIX kit (60319) converted using Alley Cats PRXI conversion (AC32023C). Aircraft finished as MB948 “Oh johnie” based at mount farm Oxfordshire 1944/45 I added extra detail in the cockpit ie wiring and plumbing. Tamiya paints used XF-1 XF-16 XF-18 XF-71 XF-85 X-2 X-23 X-25 X-27 among others with Florys dark dirt wash and Humbrols weathering powders. Pledge floor care Windsor and Newton Matt varnish to finish Thanks for looking and Enjoy

The 1964 film 'The Train' starring Burt Lancaster was about attempts to delay a train full of art treasures that was to go to Germany just as the Allies approached Paris. Filmed in black and white and directed by John Frankenheimer, this film is something of a forgotten treasure and well worth the effort to track down a copy. At one point out hero has to deliver a repaired steam engine in broad daylight. This attracts a Spitfire which carries out a beautifully filmed strafing attack. The point of this entry is, I wonder which aircraft they used. What was flyable back then? This was of course before anything suitable was revived for The Battle of Britain. Clipped wingtips and cannon are obvious. It also wore full D Day stripes. BTW I love the sounds during the attack. A Merlin always does it for me! Thanks for looking Pete Here's a link to the attack https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3yR0aNriPM And here's a link that explains the background to the film https://www.cliomuse.com/the-train.html

The MK I is nearly complete, so I decided to move on to the MK Vb. This is another model I had built many years ago and never painted. I'm using Stynylrez for the first time.

Hallo again This is my Spitfire Mark XVIe from Tamiya in 1/32. Wonderful kit!. All painting and insignia are as explained in: Stencils are Wet transfer from HGW. Happy modelling

Hallo again Here is my Spitfire Mk. XIc in 1/32 from Tamiya. This kit is wonderful to build. Like all Tamiya kits. The painting and markings are done without decals, as you may read on the forum. I build the aircraft flown by George (Buzz) Frederick Beurling. He was one of the really great RAF fighter pilots. His flying is history. He was not an easy person. He took part on the establishing the Israeli Air Force. After an accident after take-off in Rome, he was killed. His remains are buried today in Haifa, Israel. I did not find his grave, but my friend found it few days after my departure and sent me the shots. He is one of my idols in just flying! Happy modelling

Ok ive been running in circles so im going to ask the forum. What kind of Spitfire did George Buerling fly when flying in Malta ? Ive seen Vb’s and Vc’s accredited to him ? Did he fly both types ? Or is this just a case of confusion from non experts with mis-identifying the V sub-types ? Yes i know a huge can of . But im trying to build a Vb from Malta and it comes with the decals for beurling ?

Airfix's facebook page says they are announcing a new tool tomorrow in their workbench feature. It also feaures a cryptic clue!

Deep breath, swallow your pride and just post the pictures!!! So........ Hi everyone! I've been hiding in the shadows admiring the amazing skills on show on this forum and have finally decided to share my partial WiP Mk1 Spitfire. She started life as a Tamiya Mk1 Supermarine Spitfire, purchased from Duxford in support of The Blenheim Society: Whilst I have carried out some minor additions to the pit, and have painted and weathered it, I forgot to take pictures!! So she miraculously jumped to this..... the wings fitted nicely without much fuss. This will be the first Spitfire I have built with an open cockpit so a steep learning curve for me!