Tamiya 1/32 Spitfire MK IXe TuAF
By Tolga Ulgur
This is 1/32 Tamiya Spitfire Mk.IXe finished with the markings of Turkish Air Force. After the end of the war Turkish Air Force planned on making the Spitfire its standard interceptor fighter. In 1946 Vickers in England was contracted to overhaul and equip with bomb-carriers a large number of Mk.IXs and they were flown to Turkey between January and September 1947. They were replaced by P-47 “Thunderbolts” in 1954. This Spitfire Mk.XIe no 6329 was from 8th Air regiment. Though RAF records shows that 204 aircraft were involved whereas TuAF files shows that 170 aircraft were taken into inventory (6201-6369).
Cockpit components painted to RAF interior green by using Tamiya XF-71 IJN cockpit green lightened with some drops of white. Instrument panel modified by Eduard PE product and I decided to replace pilot seat with BarracudaCast resin seat.
The base kit Mk.IXc converted to Mk.IXe by using Alleycat Spitfire Mk IX 'E' Wing Conversion Set.
The camouflage is well known RAF scheme. Upper surfaces painted to Ocean Grey / Dark green and lower surfaces to Medium sea grey by using Tamiya and Gunze acrylics.
Cockpit Access door and wheels replaced by BarracudaCast goodies. Eduard masks used for clear parts painting.
Square National insignia on the wings are painted by masking. The flag on the tail is from Turqoise decal set.
Thanks to Kursad Albayraktaroğlu for home made decal of code numbers on the fuselage (YV-29 & 329).
© Tolga Ulgur 2015
This article was published on Friday, August 14 2015; Last modified on Sunday, January 08 2017