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Hello everyone. Just finished another build, its Academys 1/48 Spitfire XIV. I know this kit gets a lot of stick but for the money it is still a very good kit to put together. I have finished this one OOB, except for a spare Airfix spinner (the Academy one is awful), different radiator housings (can't remember which kit they came from) and Brengun exhausts (they are too small but still better than Academys.) The only problem i had with the kit was the decals. They were a pig to get on. No amount of Microsol would get them to bed down properly and even now (10 days) since finishing they are still coming away and peeling. I don't know if this aircraft had clipped wings but unfortunately I lost one of the normal wing tips and have had to make do. Its sprayed with Tamiya rattle cans and been given a wash and light weathering. All comments welcome. Mark.

Well I've been making the most of being stuck inside because of the rain... This is the obsolete Airfix Spitfire Mk.I (old tool ofc) and I had a bash at converting it. I admit, it is some what crude, however, it looks the part Modifications; Sanded all the raised panel lines and filled the panel trenches around the engine, The curved front canopy came from Airfix's XIX, the "un-blown" slidey bit and the rear bit (very technical) were thermoformed, The two blade prop was built from scratch, The rudder was altered, Undercarriage legs from the Heller XVI and the wheels had the spokes filled in, Scratch built tail skid, Cockpit interior had a control column and belts added, Pitot tubes came from bit of metal. Paint; Overall Hu90 after which I blended in various shades of greens and yellows to give the dirty zinc chromate look, Control surfaces painted with Hu11 for aluminium dope, The airscrew was painted with Citadel Snakebite Leather and given and oil wash, The cowl was painted with Citadel Chainmail Decals all came from spares other than the exhausts which were printed by myself (My thanks to Rick Brown for the jpeg). I think thats enough talking... Cheers, Ben.

Hello Britmodellers, My Grandfather (in-law) was with 145 Sqd (PFT) in North Africa. This thread is too help with a little real life account of a young English Flt Engineer looking after Skalski & Krols Merlins as his first assignment. The entire ground crew were English and were a close nit bunch working hard to keep the Spitfires working. I have included Q&A (Blue text) from Polish members to bring dialogue up to date. Please feel free to answer the questions i have for Brit members...I know Brit members know their history and if this little input helps with any 145 Spitfire builds then great, its just a little more information for you.....enjoy! Mechanic - Dennis came to 145Sqd after he finished his MU training (Maintenance Unit) in Egypt. He went on his own and from this unit to work with 145Sqd all English ground crew. He volunteered for this as he was ready and wanted in on the "action". “The Polish certainly delivered plenty of action he said”. MU Training just before assigned to 145 sqd The ground crew arrived at their airfield a couple of days before the PFT. They quickly got to know the tenacity of the Poles and easy nature outside the cockpit! “as long as the aircraft were tip top they were happy”. “Always eager to fly and get at the enemy” Hi, Thanks for your email, most interesting! There is nothing on PFT (as Polish flight is commonly known, usually dubbed Skalski's Circus) ground crew, so this is very precious information. As you probably know, there are no PFT pilots alive, Martel was the last, and Skalski predeceased him. There are many questions to be asked. What Dennis had been doing, ie. What kind of fitter he was and did he work on a particular plane or on all of them? Does he remember any other ground crew? Does he have any photos? I have some of PFT, so I can send them in turn. Best wishes Does Dennis remember anything particular in regard of Skalski? Any story? Also, did he recognise 'his' pilots, or alternately, does he remember number of 'his' plane, he serviced? Does he remember any of his colleagues? I mean fellow mechanics? It would be nice to establish a list of them, as they are not mentioned by name in the Operations Record Book of 145 Sqn. Skalski - I have visited Dennis this morning and we talked about 145Sqd. Dennis mentioned that he was "Skalski, s" engine man so he would have got to know him better than the other pilots! This came as a big surprise to me as Skalski is one of the No1 Polish pilot aces. “A Quiet deep thinking man small in stature but very well respected by ground crew and fellow pilots”. Polish pilot killed - Dennis recalls a Polish fighter pilot getting killed as he "broke away" from the STD 6 formation and went after 2 109,s. Polish pilot killed - actually he was not. His name Mieczyslaw Wyszkowski, and he went after two 109s indeed. Bounced, wounded, he force landed his aircraft and was taken PoW. Returned to the UK after the war, and in the late 1940s returned to Poland. He passed away in 1970s, but not before he wrote few books about his experiences. Mieczyslaw Wyszkowski - I will ask Dennis if he remembers his name and if this was the pilot - it sounds as it was indeed him! He will be pleased to hear that he survived but was taken prisoner! Mieczyslaw Wyszkowski - I have just phoned Dennis regarding Wyskowski and it was indeed him because he knew he has a surname sounding like ending in "Skalski" and add "Wysko" and you get "Wyskowski" a very young pilot, intelligent and full of fighting spirit. He was very pleased to hear that he survived the attack, at the time they all thought he had died. Human ballast – Ground crew had to jump on many occasions from the rear tail wings inc Dennis on one occasion – “they were eager to up”! Cry with pride – Dennis recalls actually crying with pride when all the Merlin engines fired up one by one! Spitfire’s colours - Dennis remembers the Beige and dark brown with red spinners and of course the Polish logo. Hello Franek, Whilst Dennis was in N.Afrika with 81sqd his superiors asked for volunteers to be with 145sqd Polish, so he thought it would be interesting! He can’t remember the exact Spitfire, it war a "ZX" something (now known as Zx-1 then 5 & Knolls ZX-6), he has an excellent memory, he might remember soon. He remembers a Skalski though! I am concentrating on 145 now as i have just finished his Burma campaign "op Broadway". Dennis liked the Polish pilot as they were easy going and he would have liked staying with them through Italy and Europe. I will find out more, send me any photos to show Dennis and he may remember more! Regarding his planes, the first was Mk V Trop ZX-1 - I do not have any pictures. Then, there was Mk IX ZX-1, until lost by another pilot, force landed at Gabes. The colour photo shows the aircraft during repairs there. It did not return. Then Skalski flew ZX-5, and then ZX-6. Mechanics - does he remember any other men, their names? Perhaps he has any photos by any chance? Colours - if you have a closer look, you will find that ZX-1 (obvious - colour pic), ZX-5 and ZX-0 look very much desert scheme or beige and brown. ZX-6 looks distinctly different however, as is unmarked Mk IX of LC Wade. Most likely they were in dark green, brown and sky scheme, but there are some suggestions, they could have been in dark blue-grey, brown, sky scheme as used on some Malta Spitfires. Another option is that different batch of beige and brown was used, hence different look. I can imagine after so many years it is hard to remember, though. Other Spitfire - Dennis also looked after Skalski,s next in command Spitfire ZX..? in the sqd, maybe you also know who this is ? Skalski's deputy was Waclaw Krol I think. He was one of the few, and already an experienced ace. Actually, he was angry to not be the leader! He mostly flew ZX-4, and I think he mentioned he had a Scottish fitter. Mind you the team was not ordinary unit, but rather a sort of blacksheep squadron, formed of the men just too eager too fights. They were not much on the drill side. Krol - I will mention "Krol" and see if it was his Spitfire he also helped out with ! This photo looks like a 145sqd Spitfire but as the photo says it was taken at Foggia - Italy (Dennis says) so it must be a 81sqd (FL - 8 ) as apposed to a (ZX - 8) of 145 sqd.....can you help ? ps...looks like a tropical filter is on the ground in front of the prop! Possible 145 spitfire (ZX-8) with 81sqd....any ideas? Geez, it knocked me down! Few points. It is Mark V, clearly, with three bladed prop. It has a digit. It is important, because PFT, being C Flight was cyphers rather than letters. When they were disbanded, their Mk IXs went to other squadrons, and a number of them adopted digits rather than letters to differentiate them from Mk Vs, like 43 or 601 Sqn. So a Mk V with a digit would have been unusual. Also, 81 Sqn already had Mk IXs, and used letters. Please, note, the style of code letters is completely different, and the style of '8' is consistent with PFT markings! If it is ZX-8 indeed, then it seems it is ES133. It did little flying. On 23 March: 10.10 - 11.10 Independent cover P/O Kowalski (returned early at 10.35); 13.35 - 13.40 Test F/Lt Horbaczewski; 16.25 - 17.10 Sweep W/O Popek. On 24 March: 10.15 - 11.10 Interception Gabes - Mareth P/O Kowalski; 16.35 - 18.05 Top Cover F/O Wyszkowski. And that was all, they converted to Mk IXs, and continued on them. The photo is of very good quality, and this suggests a pro photographer, rather than any serviceman. There was a visit of photo correspondents in March 1943, and they photographed a number of airmen in front of Wade's ZX-E, so perhaps it was at the time, mechanics got together on one of their planes? Amazing! May I ask for a high quality scan of the picture, please? And are there any more pics? Best wishes Browsed through ER and ES Spitfires, and found only one loss, which would fit. ES114 Vc CBAF M46 33MU 8-11-42 76MU 16-11-42 Guinean 30-11-42 Takoradi NWAfrica FAC2 9-1-43 Middle East 31-3-43 Damaged in air raid Salerno 18-9-43 SOC 1-12-43 Interestingly, ZX-4 was ES214, and the record for it is as follows. ES214 Vc CBAF M46 45MU 21-11-42 222MU 29-11-42 Empire Clive 18-12-42 Takoradi 23-1-43 Middle East 9-2-43 145S Engine cut ditched off Sicily 25-3-43 SOC 10-4-43 It was not uncommon, serials were confused, or dates wrongly entered in record cards. I will try to find my copy of 145 Sqn ORB, and check again, what it says. Certainly, it would be most interesting to try to decipher serial. In your photo, it seems it is just where the shadow of the man is. Very intrigued, to say the least! Franek any comments on this image of possible ex 145 sqd Spitfire ..? How about these questions: 1. When servicing Skalski's and Król's Spitfires did he actually deal directly with the pilots? If he did, what can he tell about them in terms of pilot-ground crew attitude and in terms of their engineering competence? Yes, when Dennis was assigned to Skalski & Krol aircraft Dennis spoke with and communicated "directly" with them, there was no intermediate - "it was direct". "When you are all in the field sharing everything you were all equal as far as the PFT were concerned. Dennis remembers Skalski quiet softly spoken but direct and as long as his Merlin was working ok he had no problems". Sometimes Dennis would wake up at 4am (if they had a number of sorties planned) to check over ZX-1 & 6 with a hot cup of tea from the field canteen "often shared with Skalski and the PFT as they were very keen to get airborne", "then start the engine run it at 1100rpm a little choke (not to much in the desert) or else the Merlin would produce a large backfire flame! Enough too soil your underwear" quote Dennis! Skalski never used the "get out of trouble" accelerator lever as the seal was never broken by Skalski at least while Dennis was with him - testament to his cool flying under duress! To recap the answer Dennis says that the complete English crew (many first assignment) gelled extremely well with PFT - "the comradary he felt was not not the same throughout WW11". 2. Were the aircraft actually assigned to individual pilots or was it more like any pilot flying any aircraft available? "In 145,s case the 12 allocated VTrop Spitfires were on the whole shared amongst the 16 pilots. The 16 pilots were split into 2 groups each 6 doing a rotation. In Skalski,s case ZX-1 & his deputy Krol ZX-6 these aircraft were assigned to them as "their" aircraft leaving the remaining 14 aircraft for rotation amongst the other pilots. Dennis looked after these 2 aircraft". 3. Does he recall victory markings painted on the Polish Spitfires? Did they denote victories of a particular pilot or kills scored in a particular aeroplane? Sorry, forgot to ask that question, will ask him next time! 4. Were the Spitfire IXs of the Polish unit fitted with camera guns? Dennis only remembers the VTrops while he was with them and "they had just guns"! 5. What was the colour scheme of the Mk IXs? Were they all desert camouflage (Middle Stone/Dark Earth over Azure Blue)? Does he recall the Spitfire of S/Ldr Lance Wade (EN186) known informally as the 'Blue Bird'? "Yes, Dark & Light brown , bluish belly"! 6. The 81 Sqn Spitfire Vs in the photos show aircraft ID as a digit rather than letter (FL-4 and FL-8) - was it usual to use digits, or does this actually mean these aircraft were inherited from the Polish flight (which used digits instead of letter as a distinguishing feature)? Asking Dennis about this and he confirmed to me that aircraft from 145 were distributed throughout the other squadrons. In the photo images case FL-4 & 8 were from 145. They must have at this moment in time captured them before being re-badged to proper known 81sqd codes! There may have also been another reason and that was the maintenance records carry on to 81 sqd as clear identification - I need to clarify this with Dennis. 1. Are any of the airfields known in N,Afrika where 145 sqd used ? 2. Is there any known English 145 sqd ground crew members left ? 3. Have you any general info on 145 sqd ? Dennis journey Malta-Burma 81sqd (see link) http:/www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234948039-81-squadron-spitfires-mkv-to-1x-burma-inc-broadway/ Dennis with me and young Ben this Summer......

In my haste I ordered an Aires Mk V cockpit for the Hasegawa Kit. The Kit I have is TamIya. I have now ordered the correct replacement. I have a Hasegawa IX and was wondering if there was much difference and I could use the "wrong" cockpit (i.e. MK V) in the Mk IX?

Hi, Made this my comeback from the Summer. Rushed a bit and did some stupid things.. Like not remembering to open up for the retractable tail-wheel (went for the non-retractable instead), sacrificing the "correct" mirror to the carpet-monster (though my mat is yards from the workplace!) etc.. Used Master-barrells for the Hispanos, which is a big improvement, I am sure you agree! And also used a Zoom-set from Eduard - though only the instrument panel and braces. Tamiya-spray on top, Humbrol spray on the underside (64) plus Humbrol- and Citadell-acrylics. Quite happy with it but need to improve on loads of stuff - like wathering for example to name a few. Sorry for the not so good pix.. Meeting his brother. - awaiting their new hangar.. Cheers! WIP-stuff:

Hi all here is my latest. First a little History, courtesy of the 3Dkits conversion instructions: "To increase the Spitfire's range, about 100 MkII's were adapted in 1941 to carry a non-detachable fuel tank under the port wing. These served with the RAF's 66, 188, and 152 squadrons. The tank gave a useful increase in range and allowed Spitfires to escort bombers on daylight raids over the continent, speed and maneuverability suffered however." This was thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish. I am really into my 1/72nd scale at the moment. Mainly, I think, because they seem to suit my somewhat limited attention span. I can build and finish a kit well before my attention is diverted onto the next build, which is something that seems to happen a lot when I build 1/48th. Anyway, onto this little gem. The kit builds great. No issues whatsoever. The cockpit especially deserves some praise. Its a great little rendition of the real thing. it is one of Airfix's earlier modern tooled kits, and hence is plagued by the grand canyon like panel lines. However, as you can see from my pictures, I feel that if you avoid highlighting the panel lines (eg No pre-shade, no panel line wash etc) then the look of the finished kit is not blighted by them. The 3D Kits conversion is composed of the two halves of the long range fuel tank, nicely moulded in plastic, and decals for two relevant aircraft. Once the two halves are joined the fit to the kit wing is perfect. The decals comprise codes and serials and any individual markings. All other markings (roundels etc) must be sourced from the kit. A nice simple conversion to the MkII LR. My model was painted using Gunze and Tamiya acrylics. All colours were faded out with lightened shades. I washed with a grey enamel filter followed by a thinner brown filter. The model was then treated with various colours from Tamiya weathering sets. Finally, oil stains were made using Mig Oil and grease stain mixture. I am really happy with the way this one came out. I am particularly happy with the oil leaks. I have read that a Merlin that didn't leak, didn't have any oil in it. So, I was happy to go to town with these streaks. Anyway, its about time for some pictures. Please be honest in your comments. I welcome criticism. Without it I wont know where to improve. So please, if you see anything or can suggest anything please say. Spitfire MkII LR "Counter Attack", 152 Squadron RAF. Paid for by NAFFI fundraising activities and presented to the RAF in Portreath, Cornwall. August 1941. Excuse the undried white glue replacement for the underside light. I was so keen to grab some photos I couldn't wait for it to dry. Criticism welcome guys, I want to improve so please be picky. Issues I am aware of are that there is a slight cracking at the rear canopy which must have happened when fitting (It was very tight, even now its not glued). I only spotted it when unmasking. Also I know that my fuselage band is about double the width it should be. Hope you like it. Stuart

Hi all, Found this Spitfire half built in a tin... Seeing as the old tool is so naff I thought I'd have some fun with it. Would anyone like to guess what I'm doing? What I've done so far is sand off all the rubbish panel lines and fill in the the huge panel lines as well as the exhaust. The Rudder is being reshaped too. Ben.

This makes for an interesting pic. Anybody know anything about this aircraft. It has some interesting features. Type C wing Cannon and 50 Cal. and what appear to be out board .303's Bob racks What I assume are rocket racks Now the little I know the main batch of spitfires were LF IXe bought form Czechoslovakia after the '48 war, Israel acquired a batch from Italy. Someone in another forum states that the IAF had a number of IXc. I can't find any proof of this other the the first 2 spits which where pieced together from bits and pieces (D130 and another) As always looking forward to learning from the boffs out there.

Enjoy from my grandfather who ended up at broadway 175 miles in the Burmeese jungle keeping Spits working. Much motor info and images when you click below link. Click link http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234948039-81-squadron-spitfires-mkv-to-1x-burma-inc-broadway/

Hi all, Im making Spitfire XIV MV268 JE-J as it is now. I'm using the Fujimi XIV kit, however, I need a mark 18 rudder for the kit and I cant seem to find one. Does anyone know of an aftermarket one? Regards, Ben.

Hi all, Well I've spent my summer holiday (I'm in 6th form so I have a summer holiday ) recovering from an operation so I can't do anything particularly active other than walking. As you can imagine, being a teen, I get bored being sat at home (yes, yes, I know I should be making models!). Anyway... this is the result of my mind wandering into what-ifery... I hope someone finds these at least vaguely interesting First up is a Spitfire Mk I with bubble canopy As well as a Tigermoth fitted with a 345hp Armstrong Siddley Cheetah radial engine. These two are in a previous topic of mine. They are based roughly around Alex Henshaw's idea of moving rear the cockpit on the PR Spits... I'll probably do a couple more tomorrow... Ben.

Howdy all, The post man just delivered this from those good old boys in the Czech Republic. A while back Eduard launched a limited edition dual combo for their new Spitfire, to commemorate the anniversary of the Czechoslovak fighter squadrons returning home from the United Kingdom on August 13, 1945. The kit was also offered on its own or with this nifty reproduction of a RAF kit bag which I did not need, but defiantly wanted. The bag is of very good quality and will be well used for hauling stuff. The box is fairly large and has some great artwork showing two clipped winged spitfires I am not going to review the kit as its your standard Eduard Spitfire Mk.IXc, and there are better reviews out there that I could possibly do. I thought however I would show you what's different about the kit. The kit, being a dual combo comes with two kits, duh. Two sets of masks, two sets of stencils and two sets of Eduard's Brassin parts. There are the one set of 4 spoke tread and two sets 5 spoke smooth wheels, along with two 90 gal sipper tanks. You get some nice photo-etch for the cockpit and then you get these! Decals for no less than 39 options! So many they need their own booklet that's 3 times thicker than the instructions. Here are just 4 of the options available. Between this and the royal class i have enough to do a squadron :-) The kit also come with a commemorative postcard, and envelope with a stamp that the Check post office designed for the anniversary. There a a couple of reasons I got this, one the gobs of decals to keep me happy with Spitfire choices till the cows come home. Two the neat kit bag, but most of all, a portion of the sales will go to the Czech veterans association, so it my way of saying thank you for those that helped to defended a country that was not their own. Overall a nice set, yes maybe more than you could have gotten it separately, but then thats the point of a Limited Edition, its limited. Can't wait to get started, but which of the 39, or the 12 from the royal class do i go with...... I think i need some overtrees. Thanks for looking.

Hello mates, long time not seen. Todays my birthday and I also got a little gift for you: my latest finished kit.W Well it's not my latest but it is on the standart I paint now while the other is not. It's Airfix's wonderful Spitfire Mk22 in 1:72. A very well engineered kit that is simply great I can only recomend it. It's build traight out of box and representing the aircraft that took part in the Cooper Airrace in 1946. I used Revell and Vallejo paint and a Triplex I for the paint job. I added a size comparison with some other RAF Aircraft. By the way: the Spitfire Mk.V from Airfix was my first airbrush painted kit. And now, fire at will for critics.

Hi all, I thought I'd share my collection with you all. Firstly, I have a confession, many of my models were built by a great chap who I think may be on these boards (Graham), either way I would not take praise for someone else's hard work. To make it easier I shall put the pics of MY builds first, then Graham's. Incase you're wondering, the reason I commissioned so many was that I just didn't have the patience at the time and I knew there were people out there who would do a much better job than I. I'm going to start my own again, just a shame they won't be as good as the commissioned ones. So, without further ado and in no particular order, my builds: And now for the ones Graham built for me: And some Seafires: A Hurricane: And finally a Mustang III: Enjoy. Marc

Hi all, I completed this Spitfire a week or two ago but have only just completed this diorama. This diorama is almost a what-if, I have no idea what actually happened JEJ-Jr when Johnnie Johnson left the Canadian wing, however my best guess is that they kept hold of it and used it for beer runs. Officially designated Mod. XXX, HM R&C stepped in and prevented any further exports of beer as taxes were not paid on the exports. Despite this, squadrons still did weekly runs to collect beer with little (if any) opposition from Commanding Officers. Ben.

Hi all, Over the summer I did a lot of reading as I was recovering from an operation, one of the books I read was Tom Neil's - The Silver Spitfire. It tells the story of Neil working with the US and how he came to own the Silver Spitfire as well as how it became silver. Without giving any more away, this diorama is of an incident that occurred upon arrival in France. A bit about the diorama before pics. I was originally going to do a usual diorama with the pilot stood outside looking at the mess he made. However, I liked the look of the slate that is the base so much I thought it'd look just as nice without the grass. I tried my hand at scratch building the flaps, open canopy and cockpit detail. The flaps are made out of plastic and thin bits of wire. Overall I'm pleased as I got this model for only the price of the P&P because I used Airfix Flying Hours. Furthermore I started building this at 10 last night and finished at miday today. So I only spent a few hours on it. Anyway, enough of my rambling... Comments and criticism welcome as always Ben.

Hi there, Finally completed my Spitfire collection, 'nuf said. Pr.XIX Lf.IXe Mk.IXc Mk.Vb Mk.Ia Lf.XVIe Lf.XIVe Lf.XIVe Lf.XIVe Lf.XVIe As is probably quite clear, my favourite mark is the XIVe. The front row are all bubble tops. Ben.

Hi Spent a very pleasant afternoon in the sun with a good friend, fine ale, stunning military vehicles and some wonderful flying (unfortunately "Sally B" cancelled due to "bad weather up-country", whatever that means!) I hope you enjoy the pictures - you might have guessed that the Huey was my favourite, after seeing it on static at so many shows.

I am pleased to announce Thunderbird Models range of decals are now available from the Freightdog website. These are beautifully screen printed by Fantasy Printshop, based on artwork originally available from Whiskey Jack Decals (as ALPS sheets). First one in covers Queen Charlotte Airlines Stranraers (including CF-BXO which is now on display at RAF Hendon), second release due soon is for Canadian air racing Spitfire Mk.XIVe CF-GMZ. Thanks Colin http://www.freightdogmodels.co.uk

Hi all, Well this item will finally complete my bubble top collection. After recently completing the Airfix Lanc, this build should be easy and relaxing... (i hope) Ill do it mostly OOB. More to follow... Ben.

Hi all, Built and painted this in a matter of a few hours so its totally OOB except decals. Nothing fancy, not much time and effort put unto this kit as I've only built it to at last complete my Spitfire collection. Im pleased with the result. The kit isnt fantastic but it completes my collection at last. Ill upload a pic of my entire collection tomorrow. Ben.

Supermarine Spitfire MkIX and MkXIV Quickboost 1:48 Here we have another set of add-on parts from Quickboost who seem to be on a bit of a mission lately. Two of these sets are for the Eduard Spitfire MkIX and the third is for the Academy Spitfire MkXIV. Each part is a direct replacement for the kit parts giving a finer level of detail to the finished model. Each is packed in the standard poly sleeves and are relatively well protected by projections from the casting blocks. Spitfire MkIX Bulkheads (QB 48 528), or armoured plates are extremely thin and look quite fragile. They are simply detailed with just a few bolt heads and mounting holes. The plate that sits behind the pilots head also has the slot through which the seat harness fits. Spitfire MkIX Cockpit Door (QB 48 538) is also quite thin, but has some very finely done strengthening stringers and a nicely moulded latching mechanism. The set also comes with a separate crowbar to fit as necessary. Spitfire MkXIV Exhausts (QB 48 5541), contains two very nicely moulded round exhaust stacks. Each stack is suitably hollow with very thin sidewalls giving a really good scale look. The stacks are moulded onto a common rail which fits directly into the kits aperture. Conclusion Three very simple and easily fitted parts that should help give a better scale look to the completed model. Recommended. Review samples courtesy of distributed in the UK by Hannants Ltd.

I would like to present my last finished model - this is Spitfire Lf.XVIe, ICM, 1:48. This machine, with codename SZ-K, was flown by W/Cdr Tadeusz Sawicz, the commander of the Polish 131. Fighter Wing in summer 1945. Model was built generally OOB, with addition of Quickboost exhausts, RB cannon barrels and Montex masks. I painted the miniature using Tamiya and Mr. Hobby acrylics. Enjoy the photos!

Nothing special, just an in between build whilst waiting for paint to dry on the Skyraider. But a finished build is a finished build.. Subtly weathered with paynes grey oil, flory models dark dirt and black wash and some shades of mig pigment for the exhaust streaking..

Hi there, This is the 3rd bubble top XIVe I've made and almost certainly my last for a while! I lost a lot of detail around the wing root due to sanding and the grey camo is a fair bit darker than my other XIV's. Very happy with the overall result though! Ben.