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Spitfire Kitography in 1/72nd scale
 

by G. Parker

Few can deny the aesthetic appeal of the Spitfire. Certainly one of history's most beautiful aircraft and oft considered the best interceptor of the second World War. Despite this the Spitfire has yet to be kitted in a truly satisfactory form. There are several adequate kits available, one or two quite good ones (with reservations) and thanks to recent releases of Griffon engined variants by Minicraft and Fujimi most marques can be produced with a little effort.
Spitfire Antecedents
R.J. Mitchell's first high speed monoplane designs were the Schneider Trophy seaplane racers of the late twenties. While these aircraft are not considered direct ancestors of the Spitfire they do represent the first appearance of the Rolls- Royce "R" series of engines from which the superlative Merlin was developed.
The Supermarine S.4 was kitted as a vacuform by Airframe of Burnaby. Although not up to today's standard a very nice model will result with a reasonable effort and it is the only game in town. No decals included.
Supermarine S6B by Frog and Airfix. The Frog kit is far superior as the Airfix offering is closer to an S.6. Though Frog is long gone the moulds are still producing in Russia under the Novo label (on occasion). Although Russian production standards have improved dramatically in recent years, most of the Novo offerings are poor quality. Be prepared for useless decals, lots of flash and a foggy canopy. This is a shame really as it is quite a nice little kit and generally accurate. Panel line detail is raised.
Type 224 by Rareplanes. A vacuform of Mitchell's first fighter design, unofficially called Spitfire. This is a lovely little kit of an early fighter type designed around the failed Rolls- Royce Goshawk steam cooled engine. Designed to rigid M.O.D. specs, one gets the feeling that Mr. Mitchell was not completely enthused with this Spitfire.
Merlin Engined Spitfires
What made the Spitfire a world beater was the marriage of the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine and Mitchell's elliptically winged private venture design, the Type 300. Both concepts represented the leading edge of aviation technology, far in advance of official approval, not to mention the competition.
As stated earlier, the Merlin was a direct descendant of the "R" series racing engines. The "R" engine was redesigned as a military powerplant and de-tuned from a peak of 2,530 HP to a relatively mild 1,030 HP in the Merlin III as used during the Battle of Britain. The Merlin would eventually reach an all out 2,000 HP in the 60 series equipping Spitfire Mk. IX's. But, it would take the Rolls-Royce Griffon engine to give a Spitfire the horsepower that the S6B had at it's disposal.
Type 300 K5054, the Spitfire prototype represented the quantum leap in British aircraft design. The advantages of the elliptical wing were very well known, but the production of an efficiently thin wing strong enough for military purposes had been beyond the capability of other manufacturers. Mitchell's spar design made such a wing possible, although difficult to produce. The Rolls Royce Merlin was the first aero engine to deliver such outstanding power and reliability.
K5054 has been kitted twice, the more available one is from Pegasus. Typical of short run injection kits nonetheless it is quite adequate and may be built into a respectable little model. The gull wing has been improved in the re-release, though still a bit shallow. The cockpit needs detailing and the canopy is quite thick.
The other kit was produced by Tommy Atkins and cast in pewter! This is as much the "beautiful thing" as a model and a lot of time and effort is required to do it justice. The canopy is vacuformed and far superior to the Pegasus offering. Both kits come with decals and have engraved panel lines.
Aeroclub have produced a very nice little conversion set (part # AV057) for K5054 which can be combined with the Pegasus kit or an Airfix Mk I.
As an aside there is some dispute as to the colour of K5054. Reported as Seaplane Grey, nobody seems to know exactly what that means and K5054 is most often shown in pale blue. Tommy Atkins refers to Dr. Gordon Mitchell, (son of R.J.) who states that for K5054's first flight it was painted a sickly yellow green on all surfaces aft of the cowling (Atkins believes it to be akin to zinc chromate primer). The wooden prop was grey with a brass edge. The aircraft was extensively modified over time and repainted in French Grey (Seaplane Grey?).
Supermarine Spitfire Mk.I, the first production model is currently available from three manufacturers: Airfix, Hasegawa and Encore (ex Heller). The Airfix kit is a gem! This was the first model to capture the look and sit of a Spitfire and it's cheap! Okay, the panel lines are raised, the wheel wells are a void and the cockpit is practically empty. This is still the only kit I recommend of the three.
The Hasegawa offering is accurate in profile but the wings are not even close in plan view, being too thin, too short and lack the gull effect. On the plus side you do get the option of a two bladed prop and early style flat canopy. This kit has been re- released at around the ten dollar range which is quite steep considering its age.
Heller's Mk.I has been re-released by Encore and other than a few useful cockpit bits it is still better employed as a source of sprue.
Speed Spitfire / PR.3, although no kit exists, Aeroclub have produced an excellent conversion set for the Airfix Mk.I (part V009, includes prop, canopy and radiator) No decals. The Speed Spitfire was built for an attempt on the world speed record and ended it's career as a PR mount.
Supermarine Spitfire Mk.II  is Airfix's Mk.I in a new box with no alteration other than decals. All the earlier remarks apply, one only needs to add a small bulge on the right side of the cowling to make a Mk.II . The Mk.II was the first Spit to go into action equipped with cannons, 30 of which saw action during the Battle of Britain. By swapping a"B" wing from an Airfix Mk.V you can produce a Mk.IIb (with suitable alterations to the oil cooler) and your V is not wasted as Douglas Bader flew a Mk.Va!
Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vb, several manufacturers have had a go but the only one who gets it right is Airfix! Much like the Mk.I the V is a fairly simple kit that can with a modicum of effort be built into a beautiful replica. The only error in the kit is in the aileron span and this is easily corrected by extending the hinge line to the tip.
Heller's Mk.V is now re-boxed by several East European companies and bear that in mind whenever you see a "new" Spitfire V on the shelf. The Heller kit does have a few useful cockpit goodies and a decent Volkes Tropical filter but unless you can get it cheap (Five bucks tops!) is best left alone. (See remarks re: Heller Mk.I).
PM's Mk.V is quite poor. I bought one for the Vokes filter and was shocked by how completely useless it was. It was most recently released with floats.
Frog did release Douglas Bader's Mk. Va, but should be considered as a collectable only.
Italeri has produced the most recent Mk. V (from their earlier Mk. IX) and for such a modern kit it is a surprisingly poor effort. In the first place, the fuselage and engine nacelles are virtually flat sided, completely lacking the graceful curves of the original. The radiator sides slope at a 30 degree angle, the oil cooler is poorly formed and the wheel wells have sloped edges like the radiator. Also what is meant to be tape over the gun ports (and at the base of the cannon barrel) is represented as thick, raised detail. On the plus side, they are relatively inexpensive ($7.99 Cdn) the panel lines are engraved, the exhausts are very well done and the cockpit has some nice details. I especially like the seat mounts (but the armour plate is missing). You also get two spinners, two sets of props (with extrusion marks that will be very difficult to fix considering how delicate they are), separate wingtips (clipped and full span), Vokes and Aboukir filters, two styles of canopy/windscreen and the 90 gallon overload tank. The decals are quite nice as well. I will probably canabalize the Italeri kits to dress up my Airfix Mk V's.
Supermarine Spitfire Mk.VII  the first of the production high altitude fighters has been ably kitted by Ventura of New Zealand. All the Ventura Spitfires are produced to common standards so the remarks I make about the VII hold true for all. These are very accurate models, but being short run injection suffer from "sprueitis". We are talking big sprue, really big sprue attached to your leading edge etc. Also, they are in desperate need of refining and have no more cockpit detail than an Airfix kit. Plus they are very expensive. Panel lines are engraved and you get two Vacuformed canopies and a small decal sheet. The Ventura kits are very much worth the effort as they are the most accurate late Merlin Spitfires available.
Hasegawa have also released a Mk VII with extended span wings. All the later Hasegawa kits come from a common master with extra sprues being changed as necessary. The main problem is fit. By trying to squeeze every possible variant out of their mold the parts breakdown is over-complicated and poorly realized. The fit of all the major components is quite poor with the worst area being the engine nacelle. The wing to fuselage mating is extremely poor and very delicate. This area will require a solid glue joint and any putty work will obscure most of the detail. As for accuracy the fuselage is too narrow aft of the canopy giving the model a "wasp wasted" look. The radiators are too shallow and typical of Hasegawa there is very little cockpit detail beyond a seat and instrument panel (decal) The wheel wells are oval! How they could be interpreted this way is beyond me - how would you get round wheels into an oval hole? When all is said and done the Hasegawa kit still manages to capture the look of the Spitfire when built.
By the way, the Mk.VI was the first of the high altitude Spitfires but was more of an interim type. If you must have one try cross kitting a Ventura or Hasegawa Mk. VII and an Airfix V. The Mk. VI canopy was bolted to produce a pressurised cabin so there is no retraction slide and it had a four bladed prop with multiple ejector stack exhausts. There are small detail changes as well, but it is a simple conversion.
Supermarine Spitfire Mk.VIII also by Ventura and Hasegawa. The Mk VIII represented the first major re-design of the Spitfire airframe and is considered to be the best of the breed. Extra tanks in the wings gave an increased range so most ended up in the Pacific Theatre. Years ago, Frog produced a Mk.VIII/IX now released under the Intech imprint. Frog's attempt was to make the first multi kit. Unfortunately pretty forgettable in spite of having "C" wings. 417 Squadron RCAF flew Mk. VIII's in North Africa and Italy and were the only RCAF fighter squadron in that theatre.
The crisis for the RAF came in 1942 with the appearance of the Focke-Wulfe 190, an aircraft that completely outclassed the Mk.V Spitfire. With the Mk. VIII still under development and interim type was needed to restore the RAF's hard won air superiority. By mating the 60 series Merlin with it's two stage, two speed super charger to a modified Mk. .V fuselage with the new "Universal" or "C" wing one of the most outstanding fighters of the war was produced. Spitfire IX is the marque of Spitfire most identified with the fighter squadrons of the RCAF.
To quote Group Captain "Laddie" Lucas : "...the Fw-190 pilots who'd had a field day with us in the V's, they saw these aircraft, these Spitfire IX's, they didn't know they were IX's at all,... they thought they were going to have another field day... Johnnie Johnson and all these fellows, these Canadians, in the IX's simply took the pants off them and they never knew what hit them."
Supermarine Spitfire Mk. IX by Hasegawa, Ventura and Italeri. See the previous comments with regard to these manufacturers. It took a long time for a decent Mk. IX to appear and all of these have their problems. Most accurate is the Ventura kit and it is available with the "C" wing. The worst is the Italeri kit sharing all the faults of the Mk.Vb. Airfix's ancient Mk.IX was first released over thirty years ago and cannot be said to have aged well.
Matchbox released a version that is multi-coloured, trenched panel lined, and overthick, gulless wings. Re-released with optional bubble top for a Mk. 16. Best avoided.
KP's offering is quite good in many ways. The outline is somewhat undernourished except around the nose where the rocker covers are a bit too bulbous. The fuselage is a short and the rudder is too narrow. The wings are too thin and the gull wing needs to be deeper. The radiators are a tad on the skimpy side. That being said, the cockpit is reasonably complete including a sort of set of rudder pedals! Plus you get an overload tank and a stab has been made at representing the 250 lb. bombs. A good effort but still falling a little short.
Esoteric produced a vastly over priced resin version of the KP kit with even more ill fitting options. No corrections are noticeable to the KP fuselage, however the cockpit is quite busy if somewhat unpaintable. The kit included some questionable brass bits and optional wing bulges for the "C" or "E" without notes on the different panel lines. The Esoteric was very expensive and should only be considered as a collectors item.
Supermarine Spitfire VIII/IX Trainers. There are two ways to do this: Use the M&E conversion kit if you can find one, or the Aeroclub conversion canopy set (part C003).
Supermarine Spitfire PR XI  once again a Ventura kit and again very well done with the noted exceptions in mind. The PR X is nearly identical to the XI but being based on the IX lacks the retracting tailwheel.
Supermarine Spitfire Mk.16, by Heller. In many ways this is the best kit of the Merlin Spits and loses marks only for raised panel lines and lousy decals. Generally quite accurate and includes adequate cockpit detail if you close the lid. The wings are a little too thick and the radiators too deep, other than that it is an easy build, fits perfectly and looks like a Spitfire. I really like this kit and can highly recommend it.
Griffon Engine Variants
With the increased horsepower of the Griffon engine the Spitfire was transformed from an elegant thoroughbred into a powerful brute. With the new engine the airframe would reach the limits of it's design and ultimately be given a new wing and tail. An outstanding series of aircraft with bags of power although much more difficult to control.
Supermarine Spitfire Mk.XII This is the first production variant to have the Griffon. Grafted onto a Mk.V fuselage in an attempt to counter FW-190 "Tip and Run" raiders, the Mk.XII was optimized for low level work, having clipped "C" wings and the broad, pointed rudder of the IX. The XII retained the isometric radiators of the V and later versions had a retracting tailwheel. Although not produced in large numbers the Mk.XII was a potent interceptor.
To produce a Mk.XII the modeller has three good options: find a Czechmasters resin kit or use the DB conversions nose (Now available from Airwaves) or the superb vacuform fuselage from Aeroclub. The Aeroclub conversion gives you a vacuformed fuselage, clear canopy and white metal spinner, undercarriage, carburettor and cannon stubs. Good value for money and needs only to be mated to the appropriate wings. Some years ago Merlin produced a short run injection "kit" of the Mk.XII, but it was pretty awful and demanded collectors prices! Recently, Model News of Czech Republic produced a short run injection kit of the Mk. XII. The model suffers from excessive flash and most of the small parts are quite poor. The propellor is absolutely unusable.
Supermarine Spitfire Mk.XIV The first kit to appear was the ancient Frog offering best remembered for the inclusion of a V1 flying bomb. This model appears from time to time under various imprints (currently Intech). Best left alone. Fujimi MK.14e "AFTER D-DAY" is reviewed in detail but the comments apply to all the Fujimi Mk.14's, 18's and 19's. The after D-Day release includes decals for RN119 of 402 RCAF squadron. RN119 was responsible for the destruction of a Ju. 88 on 19 April '45 in the hands of F/O C.B. McConnell. After service with 402, RN119 went to 412 and thence to the Belgian Air Force.The Mk.14 was flown by several RCAF squadrons including; 401, 411, 412, 414, 430 and 441.
The Fujimi mouldings are beautiful, and the delicately scribed panel lines may be the best I have seen. This is the first kit that truly captures the profile of the Griffon engine cowling. The undercarriage assembly is a gem. The oleo legs and scissor links are beautifully executed. I was initially disappointed with the wheel-wells but in truth they work quite nicely, the doors are commendably thin, the tires are too fat. The radiators are accurate in side view but may be a shade narrow and straight sided when viewed from above. The propeller tips are the correct shape and two types of exhaust stubs are included (RN119 uses the earlier flared exhausts). A 30 gal. drop tank is included.
Cockpit detail is a completely lacking. The little that has been included is okay, but this kit is no more complete than the Airfix Mk. Vb. and limited to an instrument panel that lacks compass and rudder pedals, a joystick, (open up the centre very carefully) and a seat with no rear frame. No internal structure is provided whatsoever. The back of the fuselage has been sealed which is totally incorrect for a 14 coupe. Clear parts are fine such as they are: a one piece canopy which is better replaced with a Falcon or Squadron item, a gunsight that is accurate in shape for a Mk.IId Gyro, but the mounting pin is too long, and a rearview mirror is also included. Because they are trying to make one mould suit all versions, the fuselage is designed to accommodate the bubble top as well. Therefore, a separate spine is included whose seam passes through the camera doors for the PR and FR versions.
The fit is far from ideal. The front of the turtle deck has to be opened out. Remove the camera supports (you must remove them from at least one side to get the spine to fit). The long thin bulge on the left side of the cowling is only appropriate for PR versions with pressurised canopies, so carve it off. The full span wingtips are a separate part as well. The fit is lousy and they are too thin. The wings are commendably narrow at the fillets and thick at the leading edge. Tailwheel doors are scribed onto the aircraft rather than separate pieces so they must be removed to represent an aircraft on the ground. This is a very difficult mistake to repair.
Scribing and panel detail is reasonably accurate considering how many variants they are trying to cover with one kit. The wings however, are especially trying as they are a cross between "C" and "E" patterns. Armament is "C" wing, being 2 X Hispano 20mm cannon and 4 X .303 calibre Brownings. Several panel lines are missing or altered to suit an "E" wing and this will require painstaking attention to correct. The fuselage includes every door, window and panel line for the entire range. Completely missing is the bulge for the beam approach aerial.
The Minicraft Mk. 14 kit represents much better value for money. There are a few outline errors in the wings and tail but these are easily fixed. More difficult will be correcting the sidewall angle of the radiators which are skewed. There is a very nice level of detail throughout and a relatively complete cockpit suite is provided. Accurate panel lines for an "E" wing and the rocker covers are separate pieces. The kit also comes with bulged tires, two canopies and rockets.
All of the previously listed kits can benefit by using the Minicraft Mk.XIV as a source for spares. MPM and Ventura also produce Mk. 14 Spitfires, the MPM Griffon Spitfires are quite poor, most of the details being "soft". The Ventura kit is as usual quite accurate but the nose contours suffer from the short run injection process.
Supermarine Seafire Mk.15 Kitted in two versions by Ventura (Sting and A-Frame Arrestor hooks). Typical Ventura releases and both kits feature Canadian markings on an excellent decal sheet!
Supermarine Seafire Mk.17 an Aeroclub body job similar to the Mk.XII
Supermarine Spitfire Mk.18 MPM was first, Ventura's is better and Fujimi's is identical to their other versions. (All three are expensive though MPM and Ventura have the excuse of being short run limited edition kits) With the release of the Minicraft XIV as noted above, all these kits may be turned into fine models.
Supermarine Spitfire PR.19 See the above comments. Fujimi gives you cameras. The major problem with the Fujimi kit is that you get the fighter wing and are expected to fill in the panel lines to conform to the PR variant.
Supermarine Spitfire Mk.22  The ancient Hawk kit re-appears from time to time and I must confess to a certain affection for this one. The outline is generally accurate for an early version with the late style wings. That is, if you don't mind the rivets, lack of wheels, gull wing and most details.
The Pegasus offering is of a much more recent vintage and is somewhat of an improvement over the Hawk version. It too lacks the gull wing and most other details, fortunately it also lacks rivets. This kit represents the ultimate version of the Spitfire and one was known to be in Canada for cold weather trials.
Airkit produced an excellent late version 22 in resin. Very nice but difficult to find.
Condor of the Czech Republic produce the best of the currently available Mk.22's. The best detail sets available are by Cooper Details and Aires, both are superb and the Aires set includes brass etched seat belts etc.
 
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