First of all i've never been a Spitfire fan...to me it has always looked a bit of a "girly" plane, not at all like a warplane. Well not until it got the Griffen engine anyway. But it's an important type so i recently started the Special Hobby Mk.Vc "Malta Defenders" kit. And just like last year, when i decided to build a P-40 and ended up building 5 (just to be sure), i've now begun a Tamiya V.b and plan on an ICM Mk.VIII/IX as well. Then, on the weekend, i bought one of those excellent Eduard boxings of the Airfix F Mk.22/24. Whether i lose interest before i build them all...we'll see. I do have a limited attention span.

Surprisingly the SH kit stands up well to the Tamiya kit...even with some advantages. It has better decals, comes with etched harnesses an some other small details and best of all it's a Mk.Vc and not a "b", i really think Tamiya messed up doing it the other way around, though maybe they intended to do both and just never got there?
Downside of the SH kit is that it's limit run and does take more care with alignment and fitting. But it's still an easy build.

I immediately took a liking to the markings option "3oM". It's a rather rare looking aircraft...itwas delivered off USS Wasp to Malta in temperate camo but with the Vokes filter which is not often seen on temperate European schemes. But even rarer is the fact that the aircraft was fitted out with 4 cannons instead of the more common 2 cannon 4 machine gun option. In my opinion it makes the "girly" looking Spitfire a bit more agressive. The aircraft was flown by Rodesian pilot Stan Howard, but unfortunately not for long as he fatally crash landed and destroyed the aircraft only weeks after it's arrival.

Only one problem which i haven't decided what to do about yet: the sliding portion of the canopy is just sitting loosely in the pics. It doesn't fit over the rear decking into it's rails without some spreading. It's fits ok in the closed position but i've opened the side door. I haven't decided yet if i'll risk glueing it down in the open position (which could crack the very brittle SH clear part...something their clear parts have a tendency to do) or if i'll close the side door and close the canopy.

The kit comes with the parts to build pretty much any variant of V.c, having various canon blisters and non-trop nose parts, plus seafire parts as well. So if you plan to use aftermarket decals then simply buy the boxing that is cheapest. So DO NOT buy the Classic Airframe boxing! It's the same kit with American decals...but at twice the price! Just buy the SH kit and a set of aftermarket decals if you want an American machine, it works out cheaper. There's also the Eduard boxing of the same kit too...







Coming soon: the Tamiya V.b as a tropical clipped wing "Aboukir" aircraft... "Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel"

Andrew

Andrew, a really nice job on the Spit. Thanks for the information re: the details of the Malta campaign it was very interesting.

Bob

And here is the Tamiya Mk.Vb kit as a clipped wing Aboukir filtered aircraft. The canopy in the Tamiya kit is better than the SH kit and it assembles easier. But otherwise i think the Special Hobby kit is the superior Mk.V. Of course they are not the same version though.

All colours are Gunze and Tamiya like usual.








I hope to get around to the ICM Mk.IX soon, which i may actually build as a Mk.VIII. Either way it will be an American Spitfire

Andrew

Great looking Spitfires! I've always liked the Spit, however my problem with it was legs! It didn't have any range. The Thunderbolt and Lightning had range twice that of the Spitfire even without drop tanks.

If the RAF had developed a long range fighter maybe they could of stopped area bombing, something that I think was counter productive in the long run, then they could of started more precise bombing during daylight.

I realize that "precise" doesn't mean much when American bombers dropped many of their bombs a few miles off target but we did try.

It might of saved some RAF lives as well. Although they might of needed to upgrade the armament on their Lancasters and Halifaxes. Just a thought. I'm open to discussion.

Again, a great job on the Spits! Russell

Finally got back to the ICM Spitfire and finished it today. I didn't expect much from the ICM kit, having read that it's a bit fiddly and not really good quality. Well the decals were unusable (badly out of register), but the rest was far better than i expected. I like it better than the Hasegawa kits.

The ICM Mk.VII, VIII and IX kits all seem to contain the same plastic sprues. Only the decals, which are worthless anyway, being different. The detail is pretty good and comes with 3 common gun panels, 2 types of rudders/hori stabs, 4 types of wing tips, an engine that would be an excellent base for further detail, nice bombs and rockets, slipper tank, long and short carb intakes etc. Only lacks a retractable style tailwheel that was used on the Mk.VII and VIII...i will be trying to find something suitable next time i look through the spares box.

Everything fit perfectly with 2 exceptions. The wingtips needed fairing in with sanding as they were slightly thinner than the wings. The bottom engine/carburettor panel was a two part moulding and fit very poorly, needing a bit of filling (only place i used filler on the model). I trial fitted the early style short carburettor panel, which is a single piece panel, and it fitted very well- but my subject needed the poor fitting version of course.

Best thing about these ICM kit is price. It cost $19 Aust (about US$16). So any small defects are excused in my opinion! I was so happy with the value that i went straight out and bought another Mk.IX and the Mk.XVI (which has a different fuselage for the bubble canopy versions). Unfortunately inflation now meant i had to pay $24 for the kits now.

The decals were throwaway items, but considering the kits low cost anyway, i was more than happy to buy aftermarket decals. I found the excellent Eagle Strike sheet for the 31stFG American Spitfires. I decided to build the Mk.VIII "Lonesome Polecat" of 308th FS, 31st FG. This will cause Brits to choke, but i believe the Spitfire looks far better with stars! And there are still 3 more excellent decal options on the sheet.

All paints Gunze and Tamiya. Now back to the Mk.22 Airfix/Eduard kit.







Andrew

Wow, you have a factory somewhere? The last Spit I built (and probably the last aircraft as well) was about 10 years ago but yours sure inspire me to get another crack at them! Very nice looking builds! Looking forward to the next one!

cheers!
Stefan

Andrew, beautiful build on the Spitfire. It does look good in stars and bars doesn't it? Russell

I think there were a few Luftwaffe pilots, who might have a different view on how "girly" the Spitfire was, and remember that it was designed as a defensive fighter, with bomber escorts never being considered (as late as 1939, the view, in higher echelons, was "The bomber will always get through.")
I'm glad to see that you haven't succumbed to the "Rolling Stones" modern painting system, for panel lines ("Paint It Black" was a top R.S. hit, for those who wonder what the heck I'm talking about.) Spitfire panels overlapped, leaving little opportunity for dirt to collect anywhere. However, you've displaced the ailerons, but ignored the elevators, which would always droop, under their own weight, unless the pilot/groundcrew either wrapped the Sutton harness round the column, or fitted the controls locking device (drawing available for anyone who wants it.)
Wartime Spitfires never had black anti-slip walkways, especially on the V, since "erks" were banned from walking over the area of the radiator; there was a single piece, about a foot long, on the port t/e, which was painted over. For the same reason, their should not be a "Walkway Inboard" stencil-cum-line on the starboard wing.
Wartime crowbars were n/m, or (Army bronze, probably) green, never red.
This should not be considered as a massive criticism, since you can only follow the kit's instructions, unless you have access to a very large library, and your models are a credit to you.
Edgar

And finally the Airfix/Eduard F Mk.22 is finished. I think this will probably be the last Spitfire for the year, i'm starting to get over RAF camo schemes after four in a row.

This kit is the best Airfix kit i've encountered so far and for the Eduard additions are not really that big of a deal. The nice CMK cockpit is not something that stands out when the model is viewed in the display case. The best part of the Eduard boxing is definately the decals by Cartograf, it was hard to decide which of the 4 colour options to choose. If it wasn't for the fact that i just finished two other Spitfires in tropical schemes then i would have done the Syrian option. In fact i may look for a standard Airfix kit or two just to do some of the other schemes from the Eduard kit.

Usually i use Gunze colours, but it's easier for me to purchase Tamiya paints. So i bought the 3 colours that Tamiya just released alongside their 1/32 Mk.IX model. I think this time Tamiya have done a pretty decent job of the colours.






Andrew

..fantastic finish Andrew ! ..is it pre-shaded and 'washed' ..or post-shaded ?

Thanks Neil. Actually, it's all three...pre shaded, post shaded and water colour washed.

Andrew

Great Spit. collection
I want to do something similar with Spit's & P-40


Cheers Nick