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I think this is my first time posting in this forum, I'm usually over in the AFV section. Recently though I have suffered with a lack of enthusiasm and have found a number of builds are just stalling, usually at the weathering stage, and so I felt it was time to try something different. I was struggling to come up with ideas when I stumbled upon an old photo of me holding the original Airfix 1/24th scale Spitfire Mk Ia. My dad had built it for me, presumably for a birthday present, and I remember being in awe of it. At that time I was building the type of kits that came in a plastic bag with a header card and could only dream of owning one of those kits that came in massive boxes and sat on the top shelves in the shop. I was aware of the new tool Airfix 1/24th Spitfire Mk.IX and it did look like an impressive kit, but it didn't fit in with my build plans and it's size means I that I haven't got the room to display it, however the more I looked into it the more I found myself getting excited at the prospect of building one myself. So here I am. I have seen a number of builds and reviews of the kit online and I'm pretty sure it must have been featured in this forum a few times, so I will try not to repeat the basic kit assembly but rather show how I have gone about adding any detail and correcting any issues that I find. In fact I wasn't going to do a WIP for this build but I don't really know that much about Spitfires so I'm hoping that the more knowledgeable members of this forum maybe able to help me out if I get stuck. The first stage of the assembly deals with the cockpit and specifically the pilots seat. I scoured the internet for reference photos of both and it soon became clear that in this scale there will be a number of details that I feel will need to be added or kit parts embellished. The kit seat itself is fine, all I added was a seam around the edge of the seatback cover from some stretched sprue. The seatbelts in the kit are plastic and too thick for my liking, they could be thinned but I decided to go with the Airscale Sutton harness. I also bought their cockpit upgrade set which apart from the instrument panel gives you some etched detail parts for the seat support frame and bulkhead. I felt that the armoured plate that sits behind the pilots seat was too thick so using the kit part as a template I made a new one from sheet brass. The seat was painted with a mid tan colour and I tried to represent the look of the composite material used in the original by stippling on some oil paint. I brushed some of the same oil onto the seat back cover to represent worn leather. In the photos it looks more like wood but in reality it looks fine. I have used MRP's WWII RAF - Interior Grey-Green ( MRP-111) for the metal parts. I am really impressed with the look of the Airscale seat belts but I will add a little weathering later on. The cockpit tub sides were assembled and painted as per kit instructions and I added the placards included in the Airscale upgrade set. I have used Mr Color Super Metallic 2 Super Duralumin for the silver areas and a very dark satin gray for the various fittings. I again used the Airscale set to detail the undercarriage control quadrant and the rudder peddles. I discovered too late that the decals on the tanks are incorrect for those particular tanks but felt that as they are barely seen I will live with it. A few of the frames needed to have the lightening holes drilled out and the instrument panel was assembled. Unfortunately I didn't take any decent photos. The cockpit tub was then assembled and then fitted to the port fuselage half. I left out the seat and port tub side for access. In the photo above you can see where I have replaced all of the kit plumbing with brass wire. I have also added some additional plumbing that was missing from the kit. It appears that at one time Airfix were going to add the link rod that goes between the control column and the elevators as there is an attachment point on the control column. For whatever reason they didn't so I made one from some brass tubing and also made a pivoting arm to attach it to. Cables were added to this and to the rudder pedals, I doubt much of this will be seen will be seen with the seat in place. The port cockpit tub side was added to the port fuselage side and a few more details added. I then added the seat and attached the wires to the back of the seat harness. I wasn't sure as to whether the harness should go over or under the roller before passing through the armoured plate but under seemed more logical. Finally after many hours work I closed up the fuselage. There was a little fettling to do around the front of the cockpit area to get it to close up nicely, this mostly involved trimming the bulkhead behind the instrument panel. There is still a small seem to fill but nothing too drastic. There are two moulded lines , arrowed in the photo, that I have seen left on a few builds of this kit. I can't see these in any reference photos so I assume they were just part of the moulding process and so have removed them. I'm actually a little further on than this but don't want to upload it all at once. Sorry about the quality of some of the photos, I have been using my phone for most of them as I hadn't intended to do a WIP. The next part of the build is the wings which I shall hopefully post shortly. Wayne

Stage 3. Resuming the story after the events in December 1944, MJ271 underwent repairs and on June 21st 1945 was delivered to 29 Maintenance Unit at High Ercall. By that time, negotiations were already underway with the Air Ministry to buy surplus aircraft in accordance with 'Plan Target One' - the reconstruction of the Dutch Air Force, or LSK (LuchtStrijdKrachten). Starting mid 1946, twentyone low-hour Mk.IXc Spitfires were tested from RAF airfields by Dutch pilots, and when accepted, transfered to the Netherlands for use with the Fighter Training School (JachtVliegerSchool) at Twente AB. Amongst which, in November 1946, MJ271. Initially the new arrivals were kept in the familiar RAF scheme, although with (mostly) Dutch markings and a plethora of spare parts exchanged between airframes: In August 1947 she would receive the registration code H-8, but major overhauls at Fokker (Schiphol) would see her wings clipped, redone in all-aluminium and with the code 3W-8. By the early 1950s however it was clear that the Mk.IX was no longer suitable for first line use and was succeeded by the Gloster Meteor Mk.4. MJ271 did not get sold to Belgium, pushed on the scrapheap, or as target on the shooting range (as was the fate of many former Dutch Spits) - rather she was used for a time as a decoy on Volkel AB, then ended up on a playground and a rooftop, looking worse for wear. tattered and forlorn, dressed up as TA-26 'Opa'. Images courtesy of Collection Netherlands Institute of Military History.

Hello everyone... I would like to present my second of four builds from the Spitfire group build. It is Eduards fine Mk.IXc late 1/72 kit and my very first Eduard Spitfire. I enjoyed it enough that I went and bought two more kits right away, both Mk.VIII’s. I am also planning on at least five more Eduard builds by the way as I like the kits so much. My Build represents a P.R.Pink “Dicing” Spitfire, used at the time just after June 6th thus the title. A link to the actual build in case you're curious or interested. A photo with the four squadron mates in formation. Please feel free to ask questions, post comments, and or add thoughts. Dennis

Hello everyone, My name is Ales and this is my very first contribution on this forum. The Britmodeller website is the reason I have started building models again, after 20 years break, and the work that can be found here has been a great inspiration to me, I dare to say The Spitfire model shown below is my ninth model since the comeback. It is from the Eduards limited edition 'Nasi se vraceji' (Boys are coming home) and represents version Mk.IXc, BS461, flown by many pilots from the 222.squadron based in Hornchurch mid 1943. From the book that was a part of the limited edition, the plane appeared to be a quite worn. I have used Airbrush IWATA Neo TRN1, Tamiya acrylic paints, ALCLAD Aqua gloss varnish, Vallejo sating varnish, Abteilung Oil paints and pigments. The photos were taken by an old Canon compact digital camera. Enjoy