High Flyer?

[Pen-Pusher]

The Supermarine Spitfire was and remains probably the most aesthetically pleasing aircraft to the air enthusiast and modeller alike - and I am no exception in its appreciation. In only one variant do I find the aforementioned statement questionable and that is the Mk.VI (HF/MK.VI) with those lengthy extensions to the wings. Now 'clipped wings' I have no problem with - but the VI is something new so I'm going to tackle my demons and build one... but which one?
To my knowledge there are two 1/72 kits available; the SMER (Heller) kit (Photo #1) and one from Italeri (Photo #2). Any others you may know of, I would be interested to hear?
Both kits are cleanly moulded with only slightly different breakdowns of wing parts on the sprue. The SMER kit, originally the Heller MK.V has an obvious additional sprue to enable you build the VI. This contains a new Prop-hub and four blades to replace the kit's standard prop. There are also two replacement ailerons but with only 0.5mm difference at the extreme outer edge I guess most people will simply reach for the wet 'n' dry? The Tamiya is a dedicated Mark VI to start with. Anyway, I'll get started to this soonest but now have to look at alternative colour schemes to those suggested?

[Pen-Pusher]

I decided on the Italeri kit mainly because it offers no alternative mark in the kit. Considering its years, the quality of the build is very good - certainly (so far) up to that of the more recent Airfix Spitfires of the same scale. Cockpit breakdown is fine and as these a/c had sealed canopies I can maybe 'skimp' a bit on adding extra detail? The extensions to the wings give the whole thing a bit of a Manta Ray appearance too, The fuselage is fragile and moulded in no less that seven parts and I'm told there was an early intention by the company to issue this kit with a Merlin engine...? And so we progress...

[Pen-Pusher]

The Mark VI engine was a Rolls-Royce Merlin 47 driving a new, four-bladed Rotol propeller of 10 ft 9 in (3.27 m) diameter; the new propeller provided increased power at high altitudes. Italeri provide this with individual prop blades so you can select your own pitch. Despite its size, this goes together very well...

I mentioned the multi-part fuselage earlier and you can see the main sections (so far) fit almost seamlessly...

[Bigkev]

Hi Pen Pusher,
What scheme will this model be finished in?
A high altitude Grey and PRU blue maybe.
Cheers,
Bigkev

[Pen-Pusher]

No, I considered those but have opted for an 'Operation Starkey' one as the scheme was only carried for a short period...

[Pen-Pusher]

Cockpit fitted and a first slap of paint. Does anyone know why the Mk.VI had a different shade of green for the interior? As far as can be gleaned from others, the HF/Mk.VI had a 'grass green' (my terminology) and certainly lighter interior.

[Pen-Pusher]

So with a good fit all round it had to happen, the wing/fuselage join on both sides is a b***h! I've protected some detail from copious applications of Dew-Sprue-Goo and we'll have to wait to see the results?

[Pen-Pusher]

With the troublesome wing/fuselage join resolved I started on the invasion stripes for Operation Starkey... only to find these are reversed being B/W/B/W/B as opposed to W/B/W/B/W - some diligent masking required.

[Bigkev]

All sent to try us Pen-Pusher,
Modelling is a constant learning curve, isn't it?
Keep at it,
Bigkev

[Pen-Pusher]

When it comes to masking.... 'curve' isn't the word I want to hear!!!

[Pen-Pusher]

I was beginning to think it looked okay 'till I saw this photo. Masking tape and me don't mix so I'm afraid (as it was mostly during the war) it's all freehand...

[Pen-Pusher]

These stripes are proving to be a bit of a B tonight.... I think I need a stiff one!

[Bigkev]

Persevere Sir............
The end result will be worth it.
Cheers,
Bigkev

[Pen-Pusher]

First decals..

[Pen-Pusher]

One thing I'm pleased to discover that it IS perfectly possible to paint more than reasonably straight lines freehand using (in my case) Vallejo paints. One thing I'd pass on to anyone wary of doing this refers to whether you're a right handed painter or a left handed one? If you are right handed you can only judge the paint flow on the left hand side, or near-side of the brush and vice versa. This means if (as seen below) you're attempting to do invasion stripes, each bar requires you to turn the model round to enable you to only paint that nearside line. The second tip I give, is make sure the model is resting on your working surface - thus avoiding the 'shake'. I've often toiled with stripes and masking but now I think I'm more at ease doing it and the results... well, that's for you to judge?