Here’s some shots of a MK-I Sptifire that I built as a birthday gift for a British friend of mine. This particular Spit flew with 609 squadron from Middle Wallop. John Dundas scored some of his many victories in this mount, although lacking a mustache, the pilot in this model is not him. The pilot could be the American, Andy Mamedoff, who later went on to the first Eagle Squadron. Or possibly it could be Pilot Officer Gaunt, who would sadly lose his life in this machine on September 15, 1940, the nominal day in which the Brits celebrate their victory in the Battle of Britain.
The kit is 1/72 Tamiya. I opted not to use Tamiyas thick film kit decals, using some Aeromaster Battle of Britain decals that I had in the spares box. I painted it with ModelMaster enamels, Duck Egg blue underneath, and mixes of different colors for the upperside. I modified a gunner that came with Hasagawa’s 1/72 M-3 Grant tank (his arms and legs are as much superlue as plastic[:D]) to become the pilot. Since the pilot came out so well, I decided to opened up the canopy, which Tamiya helped with by supplying three canopies with the kit. I sanded out and polished the canopy pieces to give at least some semblence of scale thickness. Having so much fun with clear parts, I also shaped and polished a clear gunsight and top marker light. Intending to pose it in a slight bank, I cut out the ailerons so they could be positioned for banking. For a Tamiya kit, the overall fit was surprisingly poor, particularly on the wings undertneath. Still the overall result is pretty good, and I hope my friend likes it.
Other photos may be found at:
http://photobucket.com/albums/v624/ABARNE/Spitfire%20Mk-I%201-72/