**** DONE: GB-39 1/72 Spitfire Mk.I – Battle for France to Battle of Britain

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parsifal

Colonel
13,354
2,133
Apr 6, 2008
Orange NSW
Username: Parsifal
First name: Michael
Category: Intermediate
Scale: 1/72
Manufacturer: Tamiya
Aftermarket addons: None at this stage

Box Art.png


Brief unit history
(from World War 2 - No. RAF 610 Squadron, May 1940)

Traces of World War 2
RAF - No. 610 Squadron
10/05/1940 - 30/06/1940

No 610 Squadron was formed at Hooton Park on 10 February 1936 as a day bomber unit of the Auxiliary Air Force. Initially equipped with Harts, it began flying training in May 1936 and in May 1938 re-equipped with Hinds.

On 1 January 1939, the squadron was redesignated a fighter unit but retained its Hinds in anticipation of the arrival of Defiants. On the outbreak of war it received Hurricanes, but by the end of September 1939 had exchanged these for Spitfires, becoming operational on 21 October. When the German offensive opened in May 1940, No 610 moved to Biggin Hill and helped to provide fighter cover for the Dunkirk evacuation beaches and shipping.

During the operations over the Dunkirk area between the 27th and 31st May 1940, were ten enemy aircraft confirmed as having been destroyed by the Squadron, for the loss of seven pilots.

The RAF-fighters on 27th May though present the entire day on one or other of the different patrol lines, were usually greatly outnumbered Eleven Spitfires of No. 74 Squadron, for instance, gave battle to thirty Do.17's and Me.109's; five Hurricanes of No. 145 Squadron attacked the rear section of a Do.17 formation only to find themselves set upon by twenty or thirty Me.110's; twenty Hurricanes and Spitfires of Nos. 56 and 610 Squadrons, trying to pick off a single He.111, at once ran into thirty or forty Me.110's. But though our fighters could not prevent the enemy reducing the town and port of Dunkirk to rubble, they certainly spoiled his aim against the targets that mattered most—the harbour moles and the ships. For the damage did not, in spite of first impressions, make evacuation from the port impossible; and though there were a dozen concerted assaults against our vessels, as well as many individual attacks, not more than two ships were sunk.

During the Battle of Britain No. 610 Squadron operated from Biggin Hill, Hawkinge, and, on one occasion, from Croydon. The Squadron put up a terrific show and 40 enemy aircraft were confirmed as having been destroyed by 610 Squadron during August. The loss to the Squadron was eleven pilots killed during the Battle.
 
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First up was to compare my 1/72 kit to Terry's recent 1/48th scale Tamiya Spitfire mk I (see GB 37). Terry did an excellent job pointing out the faults in that kit, and at the time we surmised that the same, or similar, issues would arise with my kit. Ive not yet completed all of terry's build, but so far, the corrections Terry found for the interior and underside of the wings appear to also apply at 1/72 scale.
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Unlike Terry I am contemplating completing this kit as an unbuttoned aircraft, similar to this review;

Supermarine Spitfire Mk1 'LO-B, 602Sqn, 1940 (Tamiya 1:72) | iModeler

I am not going to expose the engine however, just have the canopy and side hatch open however it will depend on how well the interior build works out.



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Ive figured I will need some store bought harness for this build

eduard 73036 1/72 Aircraft- Seatbelts RAF Early Steel (Painted) | eBay

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Not sure about the exhausts, or if they are even available.....
 
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I would say the Tamiya kit should include the proper exhaust pipes for the MK.I. Here is a shot of the Spitfire I found via the Internet. Actually I had to enlarge it a little bit... The caption says "Spitfire Mk I LO-B is parked in front of A Flight dispersal near the northern boundary of RAF Westhampnett in 1940". According to the pic the model above seems to be a little bit wrong with the markings, I would say. The fin flash had the white strip started at the top leading edge of the fin and seems to be wider than the blue and red ones.. The red strip doesn't seem to be extended for the entire rest of the fin. Secondly it seems there was the serial between the roundel and the tail. Also the colour of the code letters seems to be a llittle bit different. But this just can be the "fault" of the pic or my eyesight. Generally the camo pattern looks like the B variant while the model seems to be of the A one. Thoughts?

Spitfire MkI 602 sqdn_b1.jpg
 
Im not sure. There are two decalling schemes I can apply, one for a 92 sqn member, and one for 601 sqn. The 601 sqn is my favoured scheme at this point.

The tail flashes for the 92 sqn variant are full height, extending to top part of the tail leading edge. The blue strip is cut short of the leading edge. For the 601 sqn variant, the tail flashes are just small rectangles that don't touch the leading edges at all.

For the Tamiya decals, the 92sqn tail flash has a slightly wider white band, whilst for the 601 sqn variant, at least to the naked eye, the white portion of the tail flash is about the same as the red and the blue.

Evn in the box, the Tamiya decals look fantastic. The pic I posted used Xtradecals instead, which I don't understand the reason why..

Inspecting the kit supplied exhausts, I think you are right, they are pretty good......no need to change what aint broke ...
 
MIchael, my post #8 is regarding the Supermarine Spitfire Mk1 'LO-B, 602Sqn, 1940 but not the one of the 601 Squadron. if you want to replicate the kite of the 601 squadron please we need her shot in order to check on the Tamiya decal set.
 
Looking good.

Here is enlarged shot of the QJ-B kite of the 92 squadron.. However the shot was taken in Manston, December 1940 or February 1941. In the summer 1940 the squadron Spitfires didn't wear the quick ID Sky band at the tails rather.

Spitfire 92 sqdn_2.jpg


The second Spitfire seems to belong to the 610 squadron then to 601 one. It might be a mistake in the caption in the kit instruction. Here a couple of shots of her. However two different sources say two different serials for the plane. One staes it was R6595 while the another says it was L1043.

Spitfire MkI July 1940_c.jpg

Spitfire MkI July 1940_a.jpg

Spitfire MkI July 1940_b.jpg
 
Ive spent a few days considering what, if any aftermarket bits and pieces I should acquire for this build. I confess I'm rather daunted by the prospect of trying to paint that IP and do it justice. ive found what appears to be a fairly good aftermarket IP from Yahu models in Poland. There is a model shop here in Australia (BNA models) that the manufacturer includes in his list of preferred stockists. All up cost if I source this part in Australia is $6 (AU). Its an adhesive part meaning you stick it over the existing IP. I expect the raised detaileds of the existing kit are sanded down first houwever.

The aftermarket part looks like this:

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For harness, I did consider the Eduard offering, but the disadvantage there is that coming from Europe it typically can take about 3 weeks to be shipped. and shipping costs to Australia are about $15 (AU)

In the meantime ive sourced a safety harness from High Plans, which is available from a model shop in Singapore. Shipping costs from America even for items below 2g are typically about $30 (USD) since the USPS changed its policy on foreign destination parcels. in Europe you have to deal with long delays for items ordered late. the Asian suppliers generally ship for free , are far more reliable and quicker.

Now that I have managed to insult just about everyone here (sorry everyone), I wanted an opinion on this aftermarket option. Its a Sutton harness in 1/72 scale, claimed as being what to use in the Tamiya Spitfire Mk I. Its from High Planes and available from a Singapore based outlet, HPM hobies for $6.49 (AU), no shipping charged to Australia. Seems like,a reasonable price to me...

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I've used a 1/48th scale instrument panels from 'Yahu' on Mosquito models, and they're very nicely detailed. Yes, the raised detail has to be sanded off the kit part first.
Although the packaging states 'Just stick', my examples did not have a self adhesive backing (as far as i could see, anyway), so i just used a spot of CA, after first positioning and holding the part in place with clear varnish.
To be accurate for the period, the crow bar needs to be removed from the cockpit entrance flap - these weren't fitted until after 1940.
 

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