Trumpeter 1/24 Supermarine Spitfire Vb
By Edward Lowdell
This is another example of Trumpeters large scale model range; the Spitfire Vb which is my favourite (and from what I gather most of the original pilots favourite too! The Mk V Spitfire was born out of a marriage between the Merlin 45 and the Mk I & II airframes. First delivered in February of '41 the first batch were modified Mk Is & IIs. The Mk V was virtually identical to the Mk I & II, the one distinguishing feature being the larger diameter oil cooler which had a circular intake instead of the D- style fitted to the earlier Mks. Initially the Mk V was fitted with the same 8 .303 Browning ('A' wing) as the earlier Mks but after the 94th aircraft built the wings were fitted with 2 Hispano 20mm Canon and 4 Browning machine guns. This configuration was known as the 'B' wing, later it would be fitted with the 'C' wing, a certain Squadron Leader at the time insisted that his aircraft retain it's 'A' wing configuration - Sqn Ldr. Bader to be precise! The Spitfire Mk V was said to be the sweetest handling of them all with the best balance of power and good flight characteristics.
The kit itself represents a bit of a mix of Mk V variants in that, for example, it has and early type of front windscreen, short spinner coupled with a De Havilland propeller and the later Mk V 'fishtail' exhaust stacks. I find this sort of thing a little irritating when the rest of the kit is so well produced, I live with it though. For the version I was building however, I had a spare set of Rotol blades and long spinner so I was able to overcome the problem. The Seat is also inaccurate; it wasn't a wooden bench affair as depicted in the model. I have fitted it for now, but since building the kit, a resin replacement is now available so it will be being pulled out at some stage.
Like the Trumpeter Mustang before it, the engine is a disappointment with far too few rocker cover studs to name but one fault. (a bit of fiddling with the file sorted this one) However, it isn't as bad as the Packard Merlin so I spent a bit of time adding a little detail here and there to get the overall effect. There is so much scope for super detailing in this scale, I chose to limit this at a few extra cables and coolant pipes etc.
I was visiting Duxford early in 2003 and saw the BBMF's Mk V AB910 being repainted in Flt Lt Ian R Gleed's tropical colours when he was flying AB502 with 601 sqn. It looked stunning and Airfix had these exact colours in their latest offering of the Mk Vb. So the Aifix decal set was used on the Trumpeter kit again (as with my P-51D)! The Paint used is Humbrol enamel (my favourite choice) splashed on with my faithful Aztec Airbrush. I didn't go too mad with weathering although these aircraft would have suffered greatly with the effects of sun and sand in the North African desert conditions. In hindsight it would have looked a bit worse than this after a few months in the desert. Oh yes, I nicked the Abourkir tropical filter from my Airfix kit as well; It was the wrong shape but with a little filing here and there, it looks roughly right!
Even with its inaccuracies this kit builds into a wonderful looking aircraft it is certainly the best of its scale - it looks just about right; simple as that!
© Edward Lowdell 2006
This article was published on Wednesday, July 20 2011; Last modified on Saturday, May 14 2016