Another Anniversary

Mk I, K9797, 19 Squadron, Duxford 1938

This is my second attempt at an introductory Spitfire.  My previous attempt was a squadron-mate from just a few months later in the year, but essentially the same kit.  The relatively new tooling of the Airfix Spitfire Mk I/IIa.

The Subject

19 Squadron was the first Spitfire squadron, forming on the plane in Autumn 1938.  When first established on the Spitfire, the squadron did not carry squadron codes (later WZ was assigned) but instead painted their squadron number on the tail in flight colors.

This subject was built for two reasons: 1) I wanted this scheme on my shelf; and 2) it's the 75th anniversary of the Spitfire's debut in operational service this year.  The latter supports our club theme of "Anniversary" and this kit fit nicely.

The Kit

This is becoming my go-to kit for early Spitfires.  There's not much more I can say about it, it's just a great little kit.  The major differences in this build was the addition of the pilot and use of the "wheels up" option.  To make the pilot fit, unfortunately I had to shorten his legs.

Paints are acrylics throughout, Humbrol 29 for the Dark Earth and Vallejo 70.893 for the Dark Green.  The underside is Tamiya X-11 Chrome Silver (for a variation in the underside Aluminum).  

The decals are from Model Alliance and were included with the On Target Profiles 4 booklet.  

I put it on the Airfix dogfight double stand, to display with my other "anniversary" model, the BAE Hawk T.1A in commemorative markings in 2008.  But that's another subject to blog…

Thanks for looking...