Revell 1/32 Spitfire IXc Royal Egyptian Air Force, 1948

[Stew Dapple]

Here's my latest completion, the Revell Spitfire IXc in 1/32 scale, with Techmod transfers depicting an aircraft of the Royal Egyptian Air Force in the turbulent days of 1948:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The kit was built almost OOB apart from a few additions that were, respectively, (probably) necessary (Barracuda resin main wheels with the block tread pattern), indulgent (Quickboost resin exhausts) and experimental (Quinta Studios 3D decals for the cockpit). There isn't much to say about the kit and certainly very little in the way of negatives, it's almost certainly not as good as the Tamiya kit and it's certainly not as expensive. It goes together well and at the end it looks like what it's supposed to represent. There seems to have been quite a lot of variation in REAF Spitfires, with some (at least) having treaded tyres, some with round pipe exhaust outlets and some with 'fishtail' types and some with the cannon in the inner bay and some in the outer.

 

The kit was painted with Colourcoats of course, the interior in ACRN28 - RAF Interior Grey-Green, the underside in ACRN34 - WW2 Azure Blue and the topside camouflage in ACRN10 - Dark Earth over ACRN11 - Middle Stone. Various detail parts were painted in Vallejo acrylics and Tamiya clear paints. From what I have been able to find out, which wasn't a lot, these aircraft were supplied to the REAF in Day Fighter Camouflage and repainted locally in a non-standard pattern.

 

The markings were from the Techmod transfer set, and they worked okay but it was a bit of a struggle in places, particularly the wing roundels which have to fit over assorted bumps, and the rear fuselage band, which still bears signs of crumpling and folding. The upper wing ID stripes were noticeably short, I'm guessing they were designed for either the Tamiya or the PCM kit, I retouched the gaps with Vallejo black and off-white. You may have observed that the fuselage roundel on the starboard side is facing the wrong way, on the Spitfire 22's that were supplied to Egypt the moon and stars face toward the front of the aircraft on both sides, but on this particular aircraft (no. 664, I cannot vouch for the others supplied at the same time) the starboard side has the moon and stars to the left of the roundel's centre circle, as on the port side. The aircraft is identified on the Techmod sheet as being aircraft 'L' and it's possible that's what it was, or it may have been a touch-up on a repair, REAF Spitfire VB's had code letters in Latin letters rather than Arabic so there is a precedent in theory.

 

Anyway, it was a fairly quick build and I enjoyed it; the Quinta set might have been more worthwhile if I had left the canopy open, as it is you really can't see it, which is a shame as the instrument panel in particular was beautiful. You'll have to take my word for that  

 

I'll link what few references I did find below. Aircraft 664 was comparatively well-photographed, as it crash-landed in the Sinai Desert and was recovered by Israeli forces for repair, or as a source of spares for their own Spitfires. I couldn't find any information on what happened to it before or after the photo's were taken.

 

Cheers, 

 

Stew

 

https://www.destinationsjourney.com/historical-military-photographs/supermarine-spitfire-in-egyptian-service/

 

http://aviadejavu.ru/Images6/AE/AE07-2/22-1.jpg

 

http://aviadejavu.ru/Images6/AE/AE07-2/21-2.jpg

 

https://www.asisbiz.com/il2/Spitfire/EAF-SAF/pages/Spitfire-MkIX-REAF-664-being-towed-to-Israel-when-the-undercarriage-colapsed-01.html

[Procopius]

Excellent work, Stew! The kit looks like it arrived all as one piece, not a seam in sight.

[mick]

great work

[F-32]

Superb, the paint work is awesome 👏

[Winded Penguin]

10 hours ago, Stew Dapple said:

The markings were from the Techmod transfer set, and they worked okay but it was a bit of a struggle in places, particularly the wing roundels which have to fit over assorted bumps

 

Anyway, it was a fairly quick build and I enjoyed it; the Quinta set might have been more worthwhile if I had left the canopy open, as it is you really can't see it, which is a shame as the instrument panel in particular was beautiful. You'll have to take my word for that  

 

 

Very nice end result, lovely colour scheme too 👍

 

I've Just finished one of these kits and started another. 

 

Interesting to note you had the same issues with bumps on the lower wing interfering with the standard decals. 

Eventually I used stencils to solve that one.

Also agree the Quinta cockpit perk up is great 👍

 

I also found the gun site mount wasn't centred on the instrument panel on either kit. It was over to the right hand side.

I've no idea what I must have done to both my kits for that to happen.

 

I also found the front glass sits proud of the fuel tank cover unless you file off much of the cockpit area prior to assembly.

Which it looks like you took care of on your build, or perhaps didn't encounter that issue?

 

These really are great kits for a fraction of the cost of other kits in the same scale.

Obviously there are better kits to build, especially if the engine is to be on display. But as you've shown, it's not as if the AM isn't on hand to perk up specific areas of need.

[spitfire]

Well that is certainly a different look for a Spitfire, and very nice too.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[SAT69]

Wonderfully different and very nicely built!

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Excellent work on your Spitfire Stew. I have the same set of decals in 1/72 and can see what they look like on a model. 

[Stew Dapple]

9 hours ago, Winded Penguin said:

I also found the gun site mount wasn't centred on the instrument panel on either kit. It was over to the right hand side.

I've no idea what I must have done to both my kits for that to happen.

 

I also found the front glass sits proud of the fuel tank cover unless you file off much of the cockpit area prior to assembly.

Which it looks like you took care of on your build, or perhaps didn't encounter that issue?

 

Hi WP,

 

I actually did have that issue with the gunsight mount, I'd forgotten about that - mine was definitely biased to the right, but I managed to cut it off and reposition it without doing any noticeable damage. I didn't notice any probem with the front part of the canopy though; that may be because I did file the back part of the cowling before I even tried fitting the canopy as I noticed a slight horizontal step between the port and starboard sides after I had joined them... it looked like it might have at least caused a gap later, so I filed it flat. It could have been that which saved me from a fit issue with the canopy later  

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

[Winded Penguin]

7 hours ago, Stew Dapple said:

 

Hi WP,

 

I actually did have that issue with the gunsight mount, I'd forgotten about that - mine was definitely biased to the right, but I managed to cut it off and reposition it without doing any noticeable damage

For some reason, I'm really happy to know it wasn't just in my imagination or something I'd done wrong in assembly 🙂

[Luke1199]

What a gorgeous spitfire Stew, cracking job on it!

[Spitfire31]

Beautifully clean Spitfire! She looks like a lovingly restored museum piece.

 

Kind regards,

 

Joachim

[stevej60]

Superb work Stew.what a suprerb scheme very different.