, I'd opt to do another aircraft in the same squadron. One would think at least one other ship in that unit would have the pattern you've gone with..

I wasn't in any way suggesting that you re-paint but it would be wrong of me not to mention the camo Remember I have gone to great lengths to produce camouflage masks for the Spitfire so it just jumped out at me. Steffen is right though that if you haven't applied the decals then you could. I do know though that if you go down that road this could well end up on the shelf of doom! Many won't see the wrong pattern, they will just see a well made Spitfire Mk IX model

Just to be clear; all 4 schemes were not adopted, only the "A" and "B" schemes were put into production.

The 2 schemes were only used for a relatively short time; think prior to and through and maybe just beyond the Battle of Britain period. I'm not sure of the official date on which this prictice was discontinued in favour of just the "A" scheme. To further complicate things the odd, even serial number idea wasn't alwys adhered to and you could find even serial numbered aircraft in the "B" scheme instead of the "A" and visa versa! I also don't know if this practice was applied to all RAF aircraft, but it certainly was to the Hurricane and the Spitfire.

Out of interest an all over mottled scheme was certainly thought about, Dark earth with a regular mottle of dark green! I'll try and find the reference

Anyway Joel none of this take anything away from a very nice build

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BTW, that's one very nice looking MKXVI Spitfire.

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Thanks Joel, this was actually the first model that I used my paint masks on

Hi Joel

Lovely build.

If I were re-doing the camouflage, I probably wouldn't strip the model. As your topside colours look beautifully thinly applied, I'd be more tempted to smooth any divisions between colours and re-spray over the top. Stripping the paint off would probably go through the primer and be a real nightmare. I have done that but, as Mal says, it really risks condemning a kit to the Shelf of Doom, because it's pretty messy and soul destroying - cleaning the resulting gunge out of panel lines and nooks and crannies is a thankless task in itself.

All the best

Rowan

I've taken another hard look at the instructions and they're next to useless for doing a correct paint camo scheme as the invasion strips covers so much of it. So I'll invest more time and find a proper set of drawings.

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I've taken another hard look at the instructions and they're next to useless for doing a correct paint camo scheme as the invasion strips covers so much of it. So I'll invest more time and find a proper set of drawings.

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Just curious how the error came about. Was the scheme in the instructions wrong? You were trying to replicate it without the invasion stripes. What happened?

Brian

I was working under the misconception that this was just an "A" scheme "B" scheme issue. Apparently along with the day fighter color scheme change there was also a pattern change as well at some point, is that the drift of this? Edgar, is there a good reference on this whole pattern thing someplace, otherwise I can see other sods such as myself on this side of the pond stumbling over this same wicket repeatedly.

Mal, thanks for the offer and posting the camo paint scheme. But the odds are pretty good that the Spit will never get to the painting stage any time soon.