Revell 1/32 Spitfire IX

By Luc Janssen

Introduction

With this model I wanted to represent a Spitfire (with some flying hours) in US service and based in North Africa in February 1943. Although the Revell kit does not have the Tamiya quality, it still is a good kit with only some small corrections to be made. A bigger problem is the windscreen, where the upper glass panel is not correct. I tried to hide this fault by adding a leather helmet, left behind over the rear-view mirror.

The cockpit was given more detail with a considerable number of knobs, wiring, hydraulic lines, handles, etc, and by installing US style safety belts. Cockpit stenciling was added as well to give the cockpit and instruments a more realistic look. On the landing gear struts the brakes lines and some bolts were added.

The base was painted on a glass plate with a heavy-duty primer. On this still wet primer, I sprinkled fine sand to simulate a North African dirt strip.