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Hi folks, May I share some thoughts and photos of my recently completed 1/24th scale Airfix Spitfire please? (I know, not another Spitfire I can hear you thinking.....) I'm a big fan of this kit. Airfix did a terrific job IMHO. They really captured the look and sit of a Spitfire with this model so credit to them for that. The subject of this model is MK356 flown by the RAF's Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. Tragically this aircraft was lost on may 25th 2024 killing her pilot, Squadron Leader Mark Long. This build is my small tribute to him and his legacy. Blue skies Sqdn Ldr Long. MK356 was fitted with the E-wing so I used an aftermarket set for the canon and wing bulges along with the roof of the gear bays. I also added a set of wheels by Armoury which are a delight although I did tweek them a smidge. I'll detail a few more mods as we go along but for anyone interested in a more in-depth account please have a look at the WIP thread here In the above image #1 shows a small dink in the spinner noted in reference photos. #2 shows mild pinching where the spinner cap is screwed down tight. #1 above is a length of aluminium along the leading edge of the gear bay. I don't know it's purpose exactly (strengthening possibly?) but it is apparent in reference images of not just this airframe but other warbirds too. #2 shows a flap in the carb intake. This can be seen closed in some photos of Spitfires and open in others. This mod was just to add a little visual interest. Many of the fasteners (#1) were removed and recessed as seen on the full sized aircraft. Two breathers were added to the starboard engine cowling #" The wing fillet fasteners were enhanced as these are quite an obvious feature of many Spitfires.(#3) I used 1ManArmy masks on the prop blades but I had to modify the text and hand paint the "Rotol" logo. #1 #2 shows a vestigial fuel filler that I believe is a unique feature of MK356. It's very obvious in photos of her. #3 is a scratch built antenna and #4 are scratch built aerials. The scratch built RBF cover for the pitot is also visible in this image. A further aerial here at #1 #1 and #2 are what appears to be strengthening to the movable tail surfaces. Some of the texturing that I did to the fabric surfaces is also visible here. #3 is a scratch built lamp from clear sprue. This close up of the gear shows some added details including the interior detail in the bays created using a skin of metal foil embossed with rivet detail. I used MRP paints for the scheme and they spray beautifully. However, they aren't correct for this version of MK356. The dark earth is too pale and the sand is not yellow enough sadly. I have to say a huge thank you to Max, @mozart for the custom masks that worked perfectly and to Steve @Stevepd for the stencils that I used where I didn't have suitable 1ManArmy masks. Your help was invaluable guys, many thanks. A special mention to Carl Proctor too. Carl was extremely patient with my badgering him for information and came up trumps with imagery that I was struggling to find of the parachute pack, straps and wheel chocks. Thanks Carl Lastly thanks to everyone who accompanied me on the build thread. I truly appreciate everyone's kind words, encouragement and support as well as all of the help, suggestions and advice. This whole community is a wealth of information and knowledge that is difficult to top. I hope you enjoyed the build as much as I did. Here's to the next one. Cheers, Guy

Hello folks, Does anyone know whether an aftermarket gunsight is available amongst the plethora of bits for the Airfix MkIX Spitfire please? I'm using the MkII version for my build but the later gyro version could do with sharpening up too. The kit parts are ok but could stand some finessing. I'm giving it a go but my attempts are honestly quite poor. It would be neat to be able to add a nicely detailed resin or 3D printed part since it's quite prominent in the cockpit. Eduard made one in 1/32nd scale but they don't have a 1/24th scale alternative. Any and all help is appreciated. Cheers, Guy

Well, it's been a while. I'd not realised that my last post was a ready for inspection of my 1:24 Airfix Hurricane Mk1 back in January of 2018: I already had this build of the Airfix 1:24 Spitfire Mk1a on the go back then and with the sad passing of Squadron Leader Geoffrey Wellum DFC in July of 2018 I decided to build it as K9998, the plane he flew with 92 squadron in the summer and autumn of 1940. Sadly, due to hard drive problems and being too idle to upload the images to the cloud, I lost the build pictures I'd taken, hence it's miraculous appearance in "Ready for Inspection" fully built and ready to go. As far as the build goes, a brief resume: I lined the wheel wells, added an Airscale Instrument panel and their excellent cockpit placards to liven things up and a Grey Matter control stick. A metal coat hanger and some scratch built brackets gave me the dihedral and removed the wing droop. Dry stencils from Hobbydecal are brilliant for the instructional markings around the plane, even if their supplied diagram is a bit out in places. The drop down door had the crowbar that didn't appear on the Mark 1 sanded away and a locking mechanism added with some wire and made up spring arrangement. The hinge assembly at the other end is wire again with silver foil wound around to represent the hinges. So that pretty much took us to the paint stage. Black primer undercoat followed by Vallejo aluminium paint and a layer of Vallejo chipping medium meant I could spray the camouflage and chip away to my hearts content. Afterwards a gloss layer fixed all in place and allowed me to go to town on the markings. I sprayed these on using making tape and Tamiya paints for two reasons. One, it allows for more realistic weathering and two, I couldn't buy the non standard markings off the shelf. The fuselage roundels for this Supermarine built "K" plane had the 7" centre red spot instead of the standard 5" so it was do it yourself or nothing! Underside panel centre lightening and upper side panel line darkening gave me the effect I wanted and oil fading effects and a nice panel wash completed the job. I always like to try to envisage a moment when I'm planning how I want the weathering to look a la Jon Bius so here was my thought for the day: So I imagined: "A wet, miserable autumn morning in October 1940. K9998 has just returned from a morning patrol and is thickly caked with the clay of the wet soil. Ground crew have already swarmed over the wings to talk to the pilot and are about to get the aircraft ready for its next patrol with a refuel and re arm." Anyway, here it is. I hope you like it:

It's for my son so please be kind with the colours and finish This is the recent QuickBuild release that goes together much like Lego blocks. Which means he's been having fun re-enacting the Battle of Britain in our living room. He's already asked for another so I might have to break down and their BF109 too. It has helped to learn the various parts to a plane although fuselage is still a bit hard for him to pronounce. Not bad for a 3 year old. Carl