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As something of a Coronavirus lockdown special effort, I recently did something I’ve been thinking about attempting for months: A Mk.XIV high-back conversion kit bash. I built this Mk.XIVe high-backed Spitfire in 1/48 scale using Eduard’s Mk.VIII kit as the base fuselage, Airfix’s new FR Mk.XIV bubble-top kit for the Griffon engine, tail and radiators, and Eduard’s Mk.XVI bubble top kit for an ‘e’ wing to complete Spitfire MN-F (tail number RB169) as flown by 350 Squadron, RAF from October 1944. Decals were from Xtradecal and the Mk.VIII and Mk.XIV kits. This was a really in depth effort and I’m really not confident with filler, putty and rescribing but was surprised and delighted by how nice she looks in the end result! I’ve wanted to do a Griffon Spitfire for ages but wanted a proper wartime bird that saw large scale service and don’t really like the bubble-canopy and cut down fuselage look of Airfix’s fighter-reconaissance Mk.XIV. There are some older Mk.XIV kits out there (e.g Academy) but they are extremely inaccurate shape-wise so I didn’t want to go for any of them. The Eduard Spitfires are the best out there in terms of shape and surface detail (at least in my opinion) in 1/48 scale – hence the approach chosen here to use as much Eduard plastic as possible and take what parts I needed from the Airfix FR Mk.XIV bubble canopy kit. For those wondering about the wastefulness implied – the Mk.XVI kit comes with two different ‘e’ wing sprues representing early and late modifications so I was able to take one for this project and will still be able to build the Mk.XVI in full later on.

Hi All, As some of you may know, I used to be a regular and prolific builder of Spitfires here on BM, particularly Mk XIV's, but in 1/72 scale. Well, you can imagine how I felt when I stopped building models as much (due to university and other hobbies) and then Sword announced a new tool Spitfire XIV in 1/72 and Airfix, a new tool XIV in 1/48 scale. At last! A decent Spitfire XIV in 1/48 scale! So I have begun the switch to modelling (mostly) in 1/48 scale now (for piston fighters at least) as I'm not building as many models, so those I do build might as well be a bit bigger... Aside from the 1/48 Lynx I built myself, which proudly sits on my desk in the Westlands design office, this is the first 1/48 kit I've built in about 10 years! As much as I like the overall silver of the BAFO scheme, I couldnt help but model the 414 RCAF example of Squadron Leader James Bernard Prendergast, if only for the nose art, spinner and silver canopy! I had also made his previous mount NH648 Lazy Lady "IV" in 1/72 scale, five years ago when I'd just started university! No WiP for this one, I've just been enjoying building models recently, without the added hassle of WiP's. The kit was simple and straightforward to build, aside from the tank cover, forward of the canopy, and the wing roots (which has a step in them) - anyway, I'm happy with the final result, weathered subtly. Spitfire FR.XIV ‘P’/NH902 flown by Squadron Leader James Prendergast, 414 Squadron RCAF, May 1945. Lazy Lady "V" Thanks for looking Cheers, Ben

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

Hi all, I've posted these models before, however, the good weather gave me an opportunity to take some much better photos. All 1/72, all Fujimi Spitfire XIV Thanks for looking, Ben

Hi all, I finished building this at uni a few weeks ago but (as I have been home a couple days) I have only just got the chance to take some photos of it. The weather isn't great outside so it led to some very tough lighting conditions for photography. A little bit about the kit, I did a little scratch-building in the cockpit see the WIP, I hand painted the nose art and kept weathering down a little as well as using less faded paint - heavy weathering and fading seen on my previous diorama. Anyway, here she is Spitfire FR.XIV ‘P’/NH648 flown by Squadron Leader James Prendergast, 414 Squadron RCAF, April 1945. Lazy Lady "IV" IMG_9319_zps639237d7 by Ben Standen, on Flickr IMG_9318_zpsb78a2b04 by Ben Standen, on Flickr IMG_9317_zpsfb9ca0e4 by Ben Standen, on Flickr IMG_9313_zpsb0bccf71 by Ben Standen, on Flickr IMG_9311_zpsdf36b0ce by Ben Standen, on Flickr IMG_9310_zps7b9076d4 by Ben Standen, on Flickr IMG_9252_zps0731a633 by Ben Standen, on Flickr IMG_9248_zps9e68964d by Ben Standen, on Flickr IMG_9243_zpse324a513 by Ben Standen, on Flickr IMG_9241_zps1f7dd071 by Ben Standen, on Flickr IMG_9240_zpsde56796b by Ben Standen, on Flickr Hope you like it! Comments welcome Cheers, Ben.

Hi all, Been a while since I built my last Spitfire XIV MV260 EB-P, I spent a lot of time and money on extras for that model as it was the main piece in a diorama last XIV I would build in a while due to exams and going to uni. After building it in February I imposed an abstinence on building any more Spitfires (XIV in particular), which didn't last all too long, as I built an XIX and a V. Anyway, after 9 months I finally cracked and got myself another Fujimi XIV to be done up in this guise; Recently, I have gained a soft spot for Austin's and Morris's from the late 30's/early 40's - Part of my grand vision of owning an Auster or (even better) a Tiger Moth and being able to roll to the airfield in a 30's/40's classic. Why am I telling you this, I hear you ask... Well, I was at the LMS and saw this, I couldn't resist! Please don't remind me of the price. More to follow! Ben

Hi all, NEW PICS HERE http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234959613-spitfire-xiv-diorama-spitfire-xivs-172-fujimi-new-pics/ I've been an avid Spitfire builder for a couple years, and with revision for exams looming, then off to uni in six months, I thought I'd go all out on a diorama! Both Spitfires are Fujimi's XIVe with vacform hoods. EB-P has the Armycast engine and cockpit set as well as turned brass cannons. EB-H has a fair bit of scratch to the cockpit and cannons. The vehicles are from Airfix's fantastic RAF Vehicle Set and the figures are a mixture of white metal (Dart Castings) and hard plastic (Revell and Preiser). Anyway, enough talk from me. 003_zpsd9c33474 by Ben Standen, on Flickr 004_zps38ae65dc by Ben Standen, on Flickr 005_zps6812118d by Ben Standen, on Flickr 006_zps0e807ba1 by Ben Standen, on Flickr 011_zpseb4af407 by Ben Standen, on Flickr 012_zpsfba2fc73 by Ben Standen, on Flickr 013_zpsc39103fe by Ben Standen, on Flickr Spitfire XIVe, 41 Sqn, B.118 Celle, April-May 1945 by Ben Standen, on Flickr Spitfire XIVe, 41 Sqn, B118 Celle, April-May 1945 by Ben Standen, on Flickr This is my little tribute to my favourite Spitfire, the bubble top XIV. It's also a tribute to 2TAF, who's work in 1945 goes largely unnoticed, from April onwards 41 Sqn alone shot down 33 aircraft for no losses as well as conducting low level armed recce's. I chose the title 'Mopping Up' as it is what 2TAF were doing as they advanced across the continent, furthermore this is the last major Spitfire project I'll be doing! I won't be buying any more Spitfire kits for a while (he says). Although I do now have a spare Airfix C wing that can be easily made into and E wing high back XIV... Just finished a cross kitted Airfix XI and I have very almost finished Airfix's new tool Mk I. After that I'm going to attack the stash, and start a DH Moth collection So long and thanks for all the fish! Ben.

Hi all, Been wanting to do this a while... Got hold of the Fujimi XIX to convert to a low back XIV with resin kits and all. Thanks to Steven for the low back spine " rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://s1282.photobucket.com/user/Ben2BS/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20140127_214806_zpstifsgjfs.jpg.html][/url] This isn't going to be easy as its the first time I've ever built a model with so much resin. The engine will be the hard part... The upgrades I have are; Armycast Engine and cockpit set, Squadron clear canopy and the Master E Wing armament. Ben

Hi there, I've posted all of these previously, however, here are a few of them all together. Thanks for looking Ben

Just got this finished following a slight disaster involving enamel varnish... Spitfire XIV NH915 Flt Lt D Rake May 1945 1/72 Fujimi Spitfire XIV NH915 by Ben Standen, on Flickr IMG_6359_zpsd0b7b1ef by Ben Standen, on Flickr IMG_6358_zpsb870be11 by Ben Standen, on Flickr IMG_6357_zps7d536d16 by Ben Standen, on Flickr Quite an easy build IMO. I added the cockpit from Airfix's F22, scratched some cockpit detailing and seat belts and used Falcons vac form canopy. Comments and criticism welcome Ben.

Hi all, First things first. I am dreadful at doing a full WIP, this is the second time in a week that I've posted the tail end to a build (sorry) Very keen to show off my new Spitfire. Built to stand alone as well as be in a diorama of Kastrup airbase (Copenhagen) with the captured FW190 I just made! Belts are painted Tamiya tape with PE harness locking things glued on the end So far the vac form canopy has been cut open and painted in HU78 as a base layer and interior framing. Not yet glued on. Here are the adversaries that make unlikely acquaintances The Spit will be weathered with ink then pastel before getting a matt varnish. After that, the lid will be painted and glued on, then all I have to worry about is making a diorama, however I have a 1/72 hangar in the post... Ben.

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 half term means a week off school, means a a week modelling. Anyway, I brought AZ Legato Spitfire XIV and Freightdogs XIV (same kit), but I thought I could do the same for half the price. So here's the basic concept... Airfix's 1/72 XIX; remove high back, replace with low back, fill d wing panel lines, scribe e wing panel lines, add e wing armament. I've ordered bubble canopies aswell so that'll complete it. Anyway, here's some pics. First line indicating where the low back spine should be, Lower line is where the cut will be, Wax spine made by taking a negative mold of my existing XIV before filling it with wax, Wax spine glued on and filler applied, It's not pretty, Updates should come every evening... Ben.

Hi all, Recently got myself Ospreys book about Griffon Spitfire aces, fantastic read with great colour plates. But what I found interesting is it mentions Spitfires lost on operation (20, 7 of which were accidents) and, furthermore, attributes only 3 or 4 of these to enemy aircraft. This is concordant with the information provided here http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/index.html. It also says that the XIV shot down about 150 aircraft. So the kill ratio of the XIV (against enemy aircraft) was at least 35 to 1! A lot of places give the kill ratio as 7 to 1, which takes into account the aircraft destroyed by flak, friendly fire and mechanical failure/accident. It's possible, some of these figures are inaccurate, however, two sources (the book and spitfire.ukf) both agree on the number of Spitfires lost to enemy aircraft as being 3 or 4. And various internet sources, as well the book, cite the number of XIV air to air kills as 146-150. Just some interesting info for any Spitfans. Regards, Ben.

Hi all, Well I FINALLY finished my second XIVe after I managed to get hold of some matt varnish. Anyway, without further ado... For some reason EB-V is a few millimetres taller that JEJ at the nose, the U/C must have been too long. The colours changed slightly due to my silly humbrol paints, but other than that I'm happy Ben.

Hi all, Ah at last, half term (in other words a week building). So hot off the work bench is my Spitfire XIVe. Difficult kit. Lots and lots and lots of sanding, filling, filing, re-scribing, cutting, etc... Not to mention the canopy was horrifically translucent. All Humbrol acrylic paints; 163/164 for the upper surfaces, 165 for lower. (I know Spitfire's aren't shiny like this, the matt enamel hasn't yet dried) Ben.