Airfix Supermarine Spitfire F Mk.XVIII (A05140) 1:48

[Mike]

Supermarine Spitfire F Mk.XVIII (A05140)

1:48 Airfix

 

 

The Spitfire is possibly the most iconic and well-known fighter of WWII from any combatant, so I'll not drone on about how great it was, as we already know - It and the Hurricane were the saviours of our bacon on a number of occasions, and are immortalised in aviation history as a result. The Mark XVIII was powered by the powerful Griffon 65 engine, with the resulting extension in forward fuselage, power bulges, not to mention pure grunt as it was pulled along by the massive five bladed prop.  It was based upon the almost identical XIV with a stronger wing structure, and gave a substantial performance increase over the ever popular Mk.IX, having the cut-down fuselage back and teardrop canopy, but more fuel storage onboard as standard for longer missions without tanks.  The extra weight of the engine required centre of gravity motivated changes, and the wash off the props necessitated a new larger tail empennage to maintain control authority within acceptable ranges.

 

It entered service too late in the war and consequently saw little action, but as it was capable of almost 450mph at 25,000ft and could climb like the proverbial homesick angel, giving anyone on the receiving end of its wrath a serious reason for concern, it lingered on after hostilities ceased.  The Griffon engine had a drinking problem and drained its tanks with a frightening efficiency even after the increase in storage, so drop-tanks were sometimes carried on longer missions, allowing it to range a lot further from home if it wasn’t performing duties close to home.  It didn’t truly see aggressive service until after WWII had ended, fighting in Malaya in 1947, and in the hands of the Indian Air Force, who bought 20 ex-RAF airframes that they kept in service for some time.  The later Mark.24 was the last of the land-based Spitfires, thus ending its service in the RAF but continuing with other countries that bought retired airframes that they flew for a while longer.

 

 

The Kit

This is a reboxing from Airfix of their Mk.XIV that it was almost identical from the exterior, but with an additional sprue of weapons and new decals for its war-focused service.  The kit arrives in a red-themed top-opening box with a Spit on the lid unleashing its un-guided rockets on some unfortunate, five sprues of grey styrene inside, plus one of clear, a decal sheet and the instruction booklet with spot colour throughout and full colour painting and decaling guide on the rear pages.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction begins with the cockpit interior, which consists of two inner skins that are decorated with the usual items we all know and probably recognise instantly.  The pilot's seat is made from an L-shaped sitting surface with separate side supports, which has an armour panel fitted behind it and the adjustment lever on the right side.  The frame behind the pilot has moulded-in lightening holes that you can either pick out with wash or drill out at your whim, then add the seat mounting frame and head-armour, finally fitting the seat to the frame on its four corners.  The rudder pedal assembly slides through a depiction of a section of the wing spar and has separate pedals that you should leave off if you are intending to fit the pilot, and the control column is planted in the middle of the sub-assembly.  The instrument panel is glued to the next frame forward and has a nice decal with just the dials printed, which should settle down well with a little decal solution.  The instrument panel is inserted into the port cockpit side along with the rudder pedal assembly, allowing the two cockpit tub halves to be joined and an angled front firewall bulkhead to be fitted, closing in the foot well.  Then the seat assembly and next frame to the rear are slotted into their grooves, and your optional pilot with his two separate arms can be plonked in if you’re using him.  Before inserting the cockpit tub you need to paint the interior of the fuselage above the waistline, and remove a small part of the sill if you are posing the canopy closed.  Then it is mated to the starboard fuselage half, together with an insert in front of the canopy, which is where the prominent fuel tank filler is found.  You can also cut out the access door on the left side of the fuselage, bearing in mind that you have a new door on the sprues so you can afford to be a bit brutal in removing the plastic.

 

The full-width lower wing is first prepared with the necessary sets of holes for rockets or bombs, and/or a 2mm hole if you are using the stand that is available separately from Airfix for Airfix kits.  It then has two circular bay walls fitted along with a section of the front spar, before the rear spar and front extensions are also attached to stiffen the wing.    You then you pop the upper wings on as you join them to the fuselage after making sure you’ve fitted the light in the belly first.  The elevator fins are slotted into the tail at 90^o to the moulded-in rudder fin, then the three flying surfaces are added with any sensible deflection that you might wish to portray, the elevator held in place with an insert that allows it to remain mobile if you are so-minded.  The ailerons are also separate and can be posed deflected if you wish.  Under the nose the two halves of the chin-insert are glued to each other and then fitted in, noting the finely moulded Amal fastenings there and on the side cowlings.  Under the wing the two square radiator baths with textured radiator panels and separate open or closed cooling flaps on the rear are glued into their recesses.  The fuselage has a couple of hatches in the sides, which are glued into place, test-fitting them to get a good flush join.  The shrouded cannon barrels are inserted into the wing leading edges, and the characteristic Griffon power-bulges added above the exhaust slots.

 

The tail wheel was retractable in the Mk.XIV, so you have the choice of wheels up or down for all three rubbery bits.  In-flight a small portion of the main wheels can still be seen, so Airfix have provided a pair of slim wheels to attach to the doors so that a realistic look is obtained, and a single door piece for the tail is also included.  For the wheels down option, you have separate struts, scissor-links and doors, which slot into the bay and have a pair of diamond treaded tyres with separate hubs added, making sure that the slightly flattened section is facing the floor.  The tail wheel bay and doors are a single part, with the wheel inserted once it is applied to the fuselage.  A T-shaped pitot probe goes under the wing with small hooks under the trailing edge and a centreline trailing aerial at the rear, then the tubular exhaust stubs are glued into the nose, and later joined by a one-piece five-bladed prop, two-part spinner, and three prop-shaft parts that slot into the front and will permit the prop to spin if you don’t flood it with glue. 

 

The choice of weapons includes a pair of two-part bombs with separate cylindrical tails on an additional support, which fix under the wings on shallow pylons that each have two W-shaped anti-sway braces slotted into them.  A larger centre-line bomb can be fitted on a two-part frame, made up in a similar manner to the small bombs, but without the additional support at the rear.  The third alternative is a trio of rockets under each wing, the rockets being made up from the body, plus extra parts for the warhead and two of the four fins.  They have their mounting lugs moulded-in, and you could add small lengths of wire to the rear for their actuating wires if you’re feeling like it.

 

You then have a choice of open or closed canopies, using the windscreen and canopy assembly for open, and a different canopy sliding part for the closed option.  The open option also allows the door to be posed down, which as previously mentioned uses a new door part.   The clear gunsight and roll-over loop support are inserted beforehand, and the afore-mentioned cockpit door is fitted around the same time.

 

 

Markings

There are two marking options in the box, one in camo with some fetching nose stripes, the other in silver in the service of the Indian Air Force.  From the box you can build one of the following:

 

• 60 Sqn., RAF (Air Command Far East), RAF Kuala Lumpur, British Malaya, 1947
• Western Air Command HQ, Indian Air Force, Delhi, India, 1947

 

 

 

Decals are by Airfix’s usual partner Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas.

 

 

Conclusion

The Spitfire continued service long after the glory days were over, with that beast of a Griffon engine up front, and many upgrades that showed the promise of the initial design that was able to cope with the changes.  A very nice model can be made from the box.

 

Highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of

[Antoine]

Thanks Mike,

Are there any differences between the kit of the FR.XIV and this one?

[Welkin]

If this is supposed to be a Mk.XVIII shouldn't it have two vertical cameras as well as the obliques?

[Troy Smith]

On 13/05/2022 at 19:52, Antoine said:

Are there any differences between the kit of the FR.XIV and this one?

this sprue tree has been added.

 

35 minutes ago, Welkin said:

If this is supposed to be a Mk.XVIII shouldn't it have two vertical cameras as well as the obliques?

 

Good question.   I think this has been discussed before,  @gingerbob maybe able to help.  

ah,  https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234923992-spitfire-xviii-camera-configuration/

 

 

depends in an F.XVIII or an FR.XVIII

"It was 200 FR and 100 F for the XVIII."  

 

 

Note, as predicted, Airfix have just added a weapons sprue.

 

What they have not done is changed the wing. 

 

The XVIII had a stronger spar (not visible) but also finally eliminated the redundant outer gun bays, and made space for survival equipment in a new upper wing panel, which previously had been the lower wing as ammo box access.

see here

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235014550-spitfire-mkxviii-mk18-photos-of-wing-panelling-differences-confirmed/

 

Not really difficult to fill in the gun doors and rescribe one rectangular panel,  and I can't see Airfix/Hornby spring for an entire new wing sprue for a few panel lines when they won't do a new sprue with a highback fuselage and associated parts. 

 

Maybe a little trickier for the under fuselage cameras in the FR.XVIII.

 

HTH

 

[stever219]

On 5/13/2022 at 7:52 PM, Antoine said:

Thanks Mike,

Are there any differences between the kit of the FR.XIV and this one?

In short no, apart from the additional sprue for bombs and rockets and an almost entirely new decal sheet (the stencilling and some of the RAF national markings are the same).

 

One thing that I think @Mike may have omitted to mention is that Airfix provide a neat little two-part camera and its support that go on the back of the bulkhead at frame 12.  The lens tube is a one-piece clear moulding so that there's no seam across the lens face, unlike the cameras in the Spitfire PRM XIX kit.

 

@Troy Smith beat me to the punch.

Edited May 20, 2022 by stever219

[Welkin]

I bought two extra FR.XIVs and a PR XIX so that I could kit bash a high-back Mk.XIV and a FR.XVIII, so I can't see any need to get one of these.

The additional weapons sprues in this kit seem pointless to me.

[Chuck D]

As best I can tell, the only extant photos of TP222 were taken after a nasty collision with a Beaufighter.  https://www.asisbiz.com/il2/Spitfire/RAF-60Sqn/pages/Spitfire-XVIII-RAF-60Sqn-TP222-and-Beaufighter-RD863-prop-strike-accident-03.html  The rocket stubs are visible in the photos.  Does anyone know the basis for the two bomb configurations in the kit, if any?

[Graham Boak]

Two underwing bombs was a standard carriage on many late Spitfires.  

[Whitewolf]

Does this kit have the same size underwing radiators as the Airfix 1/48 PRXIX?