Supermarine Spitfire Mk.III

[K5054NZ]

Supermarine Spitfire Mk.III



Supermarine's superb ground attack aircraft, one of the best-selling military designs ever flown, first took to the skies in 1934. Originally intended to be a fighter, the aircraft was soon re-engineered to be a ground attack ship.



Christened "Spitfire" by her designer, Reginald Mitchell, the aircraft possessed superb handling characteristics and proved to be a fantastic bombing platform. Armed with two nose-mounted and four wing-mounted .303 Browning machine-guns, the aircraft had an under-fuselage pylon as well as six underwing attachment points. After rigorous testing by the Royal Air Force, the first Spitfire Mark I was accepted for service on September 9, 1934.


[size=8]The tidy installation of the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, secret to the performance of the Spitfire[/size]

During the conflict between the United Kingdom and Fascist Germany in early 1936, the Spitfire proved itself as a solid attacker, stopping the invading German army in its tracks. After extensive testing at Farnborough a new, improved variant entered production: the cannon-equipped Mk.III.


[size=8]This profile view of the Spitfire shows the extreme nose-high attitude of the aircraft whilst on the ground[/size]

The Mk.III incorporated several changes beside the cannon installation, the most obvious of which was the removal of the streamlined pants around the undercarriage. This actually improved the top speed of the aircraft considerably.



The biggest customer of the Spitfire Mk.III was the Italian Regia Aeronautica, in whose colours this aircraft appears.

[K5054NZ]

As I believe you all know, this is my very first vac. All told, from cutting the styrene to putting the yellow on the propeller tips, took about 48 hours.



The prop and undercarriage are from unknown kits (many thanks to St Alvis for supplying these). The windshield/-screen is from Airfix's 1:72 Fiat G.50. The decals are from sheets generously sent to me by Tophe and Brian da Basher. The paints are Tamiya Acrylic, the cement Revell Contacta Pro. And the kit itself was acquired in a swap with Canadian eBay store owner John Dowsett.

[NARSES2]

I like that a lot Zac

[B777LR]

Me like that too,

It doesnt look like it ever was a spitfire!  

[Brian da Basher]

Excellent work there Zac-o-matic! You've done great work on the Italian desert camo! I absolutely LOVE it!  

I WANT ONE!!!

Brian da Basher

P.S. I knew those decals found a good home.  

[lancer]

Impressive Zac, very impressive.

[K5054NZ]

Thanks guys.

Do you remember in my preview thread I mentioned Alex Henshaw?

Well after reading his remarkable book on testing both the Spitfire and her younger brother* I decided on how to do this build.


This is my first vacform kit, and I'm amazed at how easy it really was. So, bring on the Electra!!!!! In fact, I feel another speedbuild coming up.  B)


[size=8]*"The Taming Of The Shrew", HENSHAW Alex, Crecy Publishing (reprint) 2001[/size]

[Andrew Gorman]

Zac:
That looks sharp!  I'm painting mine, and may be able to get it done in the next couple of days.
Andrew

[Nigel Bunker]

Nice model Zac.

Just one question - if it's Merlin powered, how are you going to cool the oil and the glycol? You might need some radiators.

[John Howling Mouse]

48 hours??

You mean, there's hope for me yet ?!?! (48 hours in Baz-Time works out to be about our September 1rst deadline for this GB)

Cool model, Zac.  Does Mistress Lana also approve?

[K5054NZ]

"Of course I like it! It's got gull wings, like a Corsair!" - Mistress Lana.

Nige.......yes, cooling, good question, the answer to which I never really thought about. Well, I was going to do some Stuka-D-style, but I just wanted it done. Maybe when I've got some time inbetween the various Falklands models I'll add some radiators or something. Any ideas?



Baz, try it as a speed build, like I did. Minimise the detail (there's no cockpit in mine, just an empty hole!), just think Nike okay? B) To quote Rob Schneider, "you can do eet!".






As in, "just do it", oh never mind.  

[Eddie M.]

Zac,
  I'm really impressed with this one. Great shape and the camo is prefect for this project. Some JMNs spent hours trying to come up with something that you did with a few strokes of the brush. B) Great work!
    Eddie