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Hello all, My first Britmodeller WIP. It'll also be the first time I have photographed and talked about a build as I do it - so hopefully I'll learn a lot by doing so. You guys will be able to see what working full time and having to stay away 4 or so nights a week, along with having two young children, does to the pace of a build... I am building a Tamiya 1/72 Spitfire Vb, I know that the shape isn't perfect, but it'll be good enough for me, and I do like a Tamiya build. The reason for this - my great uncle died flying a Spitfire Vb over Sicily in early 1944. After training in Florida and the UK, he joined 87 Squadron in 1943, flying Hurricanes (occasionally I, but mostly IIc) He joined 87 while still in the UK, but shortly thereafter went to North Africa, where he saw quite a lot of action. In early 1944, while gradually re-equipping with Spitfires, the squadron moved to Sicily, although by then most of the fighting was over there. Sadly, my great uncle flew into terrain in poor weather, which feels like such a terrible waste. I will be replicating a Spitfire Vb that he had a dogfight in. I have the tail registration from his logbook, sadly that doesn't give me the large squadron code along the fuselage side, and I can't find any photographs of the airframe to confirm. I do know that the squadron code for 87 was LK, so I will use some artistic licence and use LK F - F for my eldest daughter. When I do the Arma Hobby Hurricane IIc trop, I will use LK A - with A for my youngest. They almost certainly won't match what was actually on the aircraft I'm modelling, but hey... I also will be using artistic licence, or a best guess at least, for the colour scheme. The squadron did start receiving the spitfires while still in North Africa. As my uncle died very shortly after arriving in Sicily, I will probably model the aircraft still in the brown desert camo and with the trop filter. While it's entirely possible they painted them quickly and got rid of the filters (albeit a slightly more involved job...) I figure this will add some interest, and compliment the Hurricane (definitely a trop and desert colours) when I get round to it. This may not be 100% correct, but I'm doing the build for very personal reasons and so will do as I fancy. The build will be mostly out of box, only exception being a Peewit canopy mask designed for a Kovozavody Prostejov kit, that may or may not fit. If not, I'll fashion my own. Additionally I will be using a combination of the kit decals, along with some Kits World decals to replicate the codes and registration. I shall probably commence tonight when the kids are in bed, but don't expect quick progress! Thank you for looking!

This started as a project to expand my collection of Spitfires but, at the time, I hadnt realised how long it was going to take me eight months in the end!! I am quite a slow builder but I also got a bit side-tracked making tanks in the Achtung Panzer GB. Anyway, over the weekend I managed to get quite a bit of time on these two and finally got them finished. Id purchased the Tamiya kit quite a while back and then, last year, Airfix released their version. I decided to build both Spitfires at the same time to try and make the most of both of them. To me, it meant if I needed to add or change something on one I could use the other for comparison or ideas. It also meant if both needed something adding or changing I could do them at the same time which, I think, makes it easier. Finally I thought that people may be interested to see what the two kits build up like side-by-side. They are not OOB and I thought it might be worth giving a brief overview of what I did extra to whats in the instructions for them: Airfix Vb Drilled out the holes (and added others) in the seat bulkhead frame and other areas in the cockpit using a variety of micro-drills. Added a variety of cables and wires in the cockpit. Cut out a slot for the seatbelt harness in the headrest armour. Added the missing slots in the sides and back of the seat. Replaced the kit instrument panel with the spare panel and decal left over from my Eduard Mk.IX build. Added Eduard photo-etch seatbelts. Drilled out the ends of the machine guns. Fabricated the oxygen hose from thin fuse wire wrapped around thicker fuse wire. Made the missing fasteners for the engine cowling parts using styrene rod with the central hole made using a sewing needle. Altered the joining method for the undercarriage legs by using wire. Added break-lines to the undercarriage legs using styrene rod. Fabricated the missing uplock lugs on the undercarriage legs using styrene drilled out with a micro-drill. Drilled and carved out the ends of the exhausts. Added the antenna wires using EZ Line. Tamiya Vb Drilled out the holes (and added others) in the seat bulkhead frame and other areas in the cockpit using a variety of micro-drills. Added a variety of cables and wires in the cockpit. Added the missing slots in the sides and back of the seat. Used the Eduard photo-etch set for this kit (FE256) to enhance the cockpit. Added the tube connecting the two bottles behind the seat using fuse wire. Used some sprue to make the missing oxygen bottle. Fabricated the oxygen hose from thin fuse wire wrapped around thicker fuse wire. Cut and scored along the elevators to enable them to droop. Drilled out the ends of the machine guns. Did some sanding along the trailing edge of the wings to try and improve their appearance (although probably not enough in real terms). Having broken the original rear cockpit canopy part I replaced it by altering and using one of the spares from the Airfix kit. Added the top brace to the seat, under the replacement canopy, using styrene strip. Added the break-lines to the undercarriage legs using styrene rod. Drilled and carved out the ends of the exhausts. Added the antenna wires using EZ Line. Full details of both builds can be found in the WIP section. Both kits are painted with Humbrol and Revell acrylics applied by hairy sticks. I would also like to thank everyone who stopped by and offered advice and support in my WIP thread, but I will especially mention Troy Smith and Tony Bell who suggested numerous ways to enhance both kits. I wasnt always able to do all the things suggested but hopefully other people will benefit from their words of wisdom in my thread. The Airfix kit has been done as BM597 (G-MKVB) restored in the colours of No. 317 Polish Fighter Squadron for the Historic Aircraft Collection Ltd., Imperial War Museum, Duxford in 2013. The Tamia Version has been done as EN821 from No. 243 Squadron, Fighter Command. So finally to the photos. I have tried to take the photos in pairs so they show a similar view of each aircraft. Hopefully this will enable anyone who is interested to compare the two. I found it really difficult to get the above two close-up photos so to show a bit more detail of the cockpits: Side-by-side: And finally, the reason for the project, the expanded collection of 1/48 Spitfires: Ive also got three 1/72 Spitfires and one in 1/144 completed. So that was fun. Now I can't wait for the Battle of Britain GB. Kind regards, Stix