Unmanned

Frog Spitfire XIVe & V-1

This was purchased as the Novo kit, but as we all know it's really the old Frog molding.  The theme is "Unmanned" -- Any subject representing an unmanned vehicle, drone, remotely piloted, missile -- you get the picture.  Since I wanted this to be a Spitfire topic I decided to build this venerable kit.

The Subjects

Spitfire F Mk XIVe
Rooted in the prototype Griffon engined mark, F Mk IV, and an interim type at that, it was the most produced variant of the Griffon series of Spitfires.  Essentially, while the F Mk IV was being developed, ultimately into the F Mk XX & 22/24 series, Supermarine mated the Griffon to the F Mk VIII airframe.  Unlike the F Mk XII, the F Mk XIV had a slightly (4 inches) longer nose to house the two-stage supercharger, 5 bladed prop to harness the added power, and a broad chord fin and rudder.

Additionally, like the two-stage Merlins, the F Mk XIV required larger radiator baths to house the intercooler as well as the oil cooler and radiators.  The retractible tail wheel was standard.

Initially built with the "c" wing of 2x 20mm cannon and 4x .303 guns, the F Mk XIVe had the strengthened wing supporting 2x 20mm cannon and 2x .50 guns.

The Frog F Mk XIVe represents serial RM619/AP*D; 130 Squadron RAF flying anti "Diver" missions against the V-1 buzz bombs in October, 1944.  My references indicate 130 Squadron may have flown an anti-Diver mission or two, but by October Divers were rare and 130 was mainly focused on ground-attack missions as part of 2 TAF.

V-1
The V-1 Buzz Bomb is essentially the world's first cruise missile.  While designed by Germany as a vengeance weapon against Great Britain, more specifically London, its use began in June 1944 and lasted until the launch sites and launch aircraft were overrun by Allied forces in October.  Over 9,500 V-1's were launched against London during this time.  Another 2,500 were launched against Antwerp between October 1944 and March 1945, when the last launch site was captured.

There are a few V-1's in museums and I've looked over them, from a distance of course.  These are very basic, but they worked.  The good news is the Allies were able to counter the threat through effective anti-aircraft, fighter interceptions and even mis-information.

The Models

Spitfire F Mk XIVe
What can I say?  Frog 1960's detail in Novo quality.  It "looks like" a Spitfire, but there are details that are not right.  And the Novo molding is not crisp and has lots of sink holes and flash.  The clear parts were neither clear, nor parts (they were just opaque blobs).

I did NOT correct this kit.  So what's wrong?

• Fuselage too narrow.  Only by about 1-1.5 millimeters, but it's obvious.
• No gull wing at trailing edge fuselage merger.  
• The wing fairing trails too far aft of the trailing edge of the wing; it has a noticeable "shelf".
• Rocker fairings are too small, and too square.
• Cockpit is just a ledge for a pilot's seat, and the bulkheads are solid.
• The wings appear too thin.
• The radiator baths are too shallow.
• Decals off register and printed too dark; they are both oversized and undersized for the model.

Additionally, the whole model "looks" too small, it may be 1/75 scale.  I compared it in plan form and yes, it's short in both span (~6 inches) and length (4 inches).  

Having ignored all that, I just built this OOB and enjoyed it.  I wanted to put it on the included stand as well, so I used the molded wheel/covers which hid the lack of detail in the wells.

Because the clear parts were not usable, I scrounged my Spitfire spares box and found an Academy canopy.  It was much too wide, and too tall, but with some careful sanding I was able to get it to fit.  It doesn't look unacceptable, given the other noticeable flaws with the kit.

Paint was Tamiya acrylics all the way, applied over a primer coat of ValSpar primer from my local hardware store.  XF-3 Yellow and XF-21 Sky were applied first, then masked.  I then sprayed XF-82 Ocean Gray [sic] overall.  Using maskol fluid I masked the Ocean Grey and sprayed XF-81 Dark Green.  Finally, I masked and sprayed XF-83 Medium Sea Gray [sic].  Overall it looks okay, however I feel the XF-82 is too blue for Ocean Grey, but I wanted to stick with the Tamiya combination for this build.

V-1
The V-1 looks great!  It looks exactly like those I've seen in museums and while I didn't measure it and don't have any plans, it looks like a V-1 and will probably be the only one I ever make.

Only 4 parts so it went together very quickly.  I used Testors Acryl RLM 71/RLM 65, which is what all the museum examples seem to be painted.  I have no idea if that's right or wrong as all the period photos I could find are dark over light.

Summary

I'll never make these kits again.  I have too many very nice F Mk XIV kits to want to attempt the Frog one and I have no real reason to make another V-1.  I may create a new stand for the V-1 so it will complement my V-2...and dispose of the Frog/Novo F Mk XIVe.

Thanks for reading...