Search the Community

I've read the various threads on Britmodeller regarding the lack of a Spitfire XII in 1/72 and the various options for making one but I'd like some simplification of where the various bits would come from to do my own kitbash. I understand that I need the C wing which I can get from the Airfix Vc. I understand that I need a Griffon engine and 5-blade prop which I can get from a Fujimi XIV Where I'm confused is with the rest of it. Could I also use the Vc fuselage as far back as the tail? Which mark of Spitfire would I need to source the tail (fin and rudder) from? I believe that the retractable tailwheel was not fitted to all airframes. Many thanks. Clive.

As the title alludes to the limited number built, my offering for this GB is the Airfix 1/48 Spitfire XII. It seems this mark is a favourite of many of you out there in BM World, so I hope I can do her some justice. Now I've not finished a kit since New Year's Eve, but that doesn't mean I have been away from the workbench. I have had trials and tribulations with a few kits that have had the unfortunate pleasure of crossing my path lately. I was working on a 1/48 Lightning F6 that I was hoping to build as a "wooooooooo shiny" NMF 74 Sqn Tengah version but I foolishly used Vallejo Metallics for the airframe and it looked like a bag of nails. I therefore bit the bullet and tried to strip it back to bare plastic which was a real trial by itself, that in the process melted the cockpit and undercarriage bay resin that I had painstakingly added. This led to the mojo taking a good shoeing!! I set the Frightning aside and thought, "how about a lovely simple build, what about a Trumpeter Vampire?" Well that was all a good idea until I fell upon @Jon Kunac-Tabinor's build which showed what a PoS that kit was and although I only followed 80-90% of Jon's refinements it could hardly be described as a nice easy build. This has been progressed to the stickering stage which as the mojo was still on the lowish side got set aside and the Frightning picked up again. New undercarriage and cockpit were fitted to the already complete but now fully stripped back airframe, and trust me this is not the order you want to be constructing this in!!! To add to the woes the paint stripper used (BioStrip 20) whilst it was effective in stripping everything back, made the kit plastic very brittle so flaps and trailing edges cracked and shattered and had to be rebuilt using gloop and PPP. OK, a weaker person may have buckled and hurled this pig of an abomination squarely at the nearest wall, but I'm stubborn (not always in the good way!) and wasn't prepared to lose out to an inanimate object!!! I think I have done a passable job of the repairs (bar one tiny crack in the port wing trailing edge), and this too is stalled at the stickering stage. This is a quick insight as to where they stand: So here I stand, pretty much fed up to the back teeth with kits that fight back so really really need a good palate cleanser, a sorbet to refresh between such overpowering courses, a kit that will build up well OOB (less seatbelts and stickers), so here I present my entry into this GB. Some sprue shots to keep us legal and decent....... Well not quite 100% legal and decent as I had also managed to pick up an unboxed version of this kit with no instructions or decals, Airfix Overtrees if you like, that may or may not get built alongside this kit. My thinking is that the early XII's that were based on Mk.V airframes subtly differ from the later Mk.VIII based ones so once I select some not in the box markings options (Squadrons! No.5 is winging it's way to me from La Belle France as I type to help me choose), I may be drawn into building one of each. This is the unboxed plastic, which seems to be of a slightly different consistency and colour to the one in the box. I've nipped the cockpit parts off the runners, knocked up a couple of sub-assemblies, primed the propeller and spinner which I'll photograph later as the battery on my DSLR has given up the ghost! I did managed to get a shot of the hollowing out of the exhaust stacks before it bought the farm. Comparison shot of the first side done vs the kit parts. Two holes drilled in each stack and then joined by a sharp 10A SM scalpel. A dab of Tet was dolloped in to clean up the rough edges. 5 minutes charging gave us enough juice to upload these pics to the PC/Flikr but I'll leave it on an overnight charge so I won't have to worry about it for the rest of the build. Anyways so far so good. No meltdowns (physical or mental) like the previous builds so far is a good sign I'm sure. Best wishes to all you out there in Lockdown; stay safe and stay well. Speak soon, Chris

This one was a gift from the Mighty (generous) @Procopius, a rare 1/72 Xtrakit Spitfire XII, and now is a good time to build it.

Making use of downtime in the Christmas break to clear a few hanger queens. The first is the Airfix 1/48 Spitfire XII finished out of the box as the aircraft flown by Squadron Leader Harries, No 91 (Nigeria) Squadron, RAF Hawking, May 1943. This has been sitting around 90 % complete for the best part of 18 months. Nothing fancy, just a seatbelts from painted Tamiya masking tape and I hollowed out the ends of the exhausts.Brush painted with Tamiya acrylics, some dirtying with watercolours and a final flat coat of Italeri Flat Clear Acryl. Apologies for the not so great photos - just too hot to take photos outside today (up around 37-38 C with a total fire ban in most of the surrounding area here in Perth). Thanks for looking.

Kit was delayed by snowfall. Now it's arrived: This will be a straight-from-the-box build. None of your fancy Dan extras here, thank you please. Only two squadrons ever operated the Mk.XII - 41 and 91 - and both are included in the markings provided. I shall be attempting to make a passable job of the 41 Squadron markings, partly because it was commanded by my big hero Tom Neil at the time, and also because I have the very smart half-pint mug featuring the box art with this model. Anyway, as you were... history to follow. And maybe some building.