Spitfire Part II : Mythical Beast Power

Historical Background

Supermarine's (or rather, Vickers-Armstrong's) Spitfire was the most celebrated British fighter of World War 2. The prototype first flew in 1936 and it eventually became the only British fighter in production throughout the war, As a type, the Spitfire was ranked as one of the finest combat aircraft, thanks to its involvement in the early, dark years of World War 2, especially during the Battle of Britain. The Spitfire was built in numerous variants, called Marks, eventually totalling more than 20. While the Marks identify the variants, they were not in chronological order (for example, the Mark IX appeared before Mark VIII). The early Marks were powered by versions of Rolls-Royce's excellent Merlin V-12 engine with power output ranging from 1,030 hp Merlin II in the early Mark I to the 1,720 hp Merlin 66 (and Packard-built Merlin 266) in the Spitfire IX/XVI.

As early as December 1939, Supermarine staff mooted the idea of using the Rolls-Royce Griffon 37-litre, V12 inline engine with a predicted speed of 423 mph at 18,500 ft. However constant problems with the Griffon delayed the installation of the engine until late 1941 with successful trials of the Spitfire Mk.IV. The Griffon IIB which powered the Mk.IV was a single-stage supercharged engine rated at 1,735 hp. Stronger main longerons were needed to cope with the increased weight of the Griffon. The new engine had a lower thrust line than the Merlin and the engine was set with a -0.5 degree of downthrust. The lower line of thrust and greater engine capacity changed the contour of the cowling with more prominent bulges over the cylinder heads, a teardrop-shaped fairing over the upper cowling to clear the magneto and a deeper curve to the spinner. The lower cowling lost its 'pigeon-chested' looks. The Mk.IV was then designated Mk.XX to avoid confusion  with a renamed PR version.

The Mk.XX was eventually redesignated Mk.XII. The MK.XII suffered from poor high altitude performance due to its single-stage supercharged engine. By 1943, Rolls-Royce had developed the 61 series of the Griffon with a two-stage supercharger. The Griffon 61 entered service as the slightly modified Griffon 65 and was installed in Spitfire Mk.XIV. To harness power from the Griffon, a new five-bladed Rotol propeller was used. The nose was made longer and because of this and increased slipstream from the propeller, a larger fin was installed. And because of the greater cooling requirement, the radiators were bigger, which required bigger housings. Improved VHF radio meant that the aerial mast can be dispensed with and was replaced with a whip aerial.

Griffon-engined Spitfires entered service in early 1943 when No.41 Squadron received their Mk.XII in February and No.91 Squadron in April. These two squadrons were the only users of the Mk XII. In June 1943, the two squadrons moved to RAF Westhampnett, forming the Westhampnett Wing.  The first kill by a Griffon Spitfire was scored on 17 April 1943, when a Ju 88 was shot down. At low altitudes, it was one of the fastest aircraft at the time. However, the advantage was not fully exploited as German Jabo pilots refused to be drawn into dogfights below 6,100m. When the Mk XII was able to engage enemy fighters, it was indeed a formidable combat aircraft. The low-altitude performance became useful again towards the end of its front line service in Summer 1944 when it was used to intercept low-flying V-1 flying bombs. The Mark XII was retired in September 1944. The Mk.XIV entered service in January 1944 with No.610 Squadron, being the first full production of the Griffon Spitfire. When the V-1 attacks began, the Mk.XIV was also used in the 'anti-Diver' patrols together with the Mk.XII, P-51 Mustang, Hawker Tempest and later, the Gloster Meteor jet fighter. The interception was dangerous as cannon rounds may (and did) detonate the warhead, resulting in the loss of the interceptor. Other methods were used to down these early cruise missiles, such as by aerodynamically tipping the V-1 using the wingtip of the intercepting aircraft

Following the invasion of Europe, the Mk.XIV was used as the main air superiority fighter by the 2nd Tactical Air Force in North-West Europe.The Mk.XIV can also be used as a fighter-bomber, for which four squadrons of Mk.XIVe were set up for this task. In the Far East theatre, the Mk.XIV was only delivered in June 1945 when No.11 Squadron became the first unit so equipped in the theatre. It was however too late to make any impact as there was hardly any Japanese aerial activity in-theatre by that time. The Mk. XIV was actually supposed to be an interim design, pending the availability of the definitive Mk. XVIII. However, in a repeat of the Mk. VIII/ Mk.IX story, 957 Mk.XIVs were built compared to 300 Mk.XVIIIs. The Mk. XIV came in two versions - Mk.XIVc with 'C' wing and 'fastback' fuselage and FR. XIVe with 'E' type wing (4 x 20mm Hispano cannons or 2 x 20mm cannons and 2 x 12.7mm Browning MGs) and 'bubbletop' canopy.

The Kit

Academy's 1/48 kits of the Spitfire XIV came out in 1996. In fact, as of November 2014, the Academy kits are the only 1/48 scale models of the Mk.XIV (I believe the Kitech kit is a knock-off of the Academy kit and do not count in my books). Both versions of the Mk. XIV were kitted. The joy of hearing the news soon turn into dismay when the models hit the shops. The kit suffers from many shortcomings, of which the most noticeable is the shape of the nose. While the nose of Griffon-powered Spitfires are longer than Merlin-powered variants, the profile still looks sleek unlike the Academy kit, which looks bloated. Other problems include:

- sidewalls of the oil cooler housing not perpendicular to the ground

- poor propeller blade profile

- 'fishtail' exhausts not included

- four-spoke wheels (Mk.XIVs use three-spoked wheels)

- ...and have I mentioned about Academy decals?

Otherwise, the kit looks very good with nicely engraved surface detail. Only one marking option is supplied: AP-D/RM619, No.130 Squadron RAF.

Construction

The cockpit parts and the side walls were first painted. Instead of using Tamiya's mixture to get the British Interior Green, I used Tamiya XF-71 IJN Interior Green. Well, the shade is almost similar, plus even the real pilots can't remember minute details of the aircraft they flew and were amused (even bemused) when modellers asked them about the intricate details! The instrument panel was painted X-18 Semi-Gloss Black and Gunze Silver was then dry-brushed to pop-up the details. Other details in the cockpit were painted XF-1 Flat Black where approriate. The Spitfire is another of the floorless cockpit design. To assemble it, the front and rear bulkheads were first cemented onto the right fuselage, together with the instrument panel. The control stick and cable assembly was then inserted between the bulkheads and was then followed by the seat assembly. The fuselage was then cemented together, but before that, the propeller 'shaft' was inserted in its place. The two-piece tail planes were then assembled and inserted into their places and to finish the fuselage at this time, the pilot access door and the bulges at the nose were cemented - there was no positive placement markers for the bulges however.

Next were the wing sub-assembly. Academy included rudimentary parts for the cannon bay i.e. just the cannons/machine guns. While not really necessary and adding thickness to the wing, the gun assembly was wrong for this kit as the parts are really for the 'E' wing configuration (1 x 20mm Hispano cannon and 1 x Browning 12.7mm HMG) - modelers who want to open their cannon bay can either replace them with aftermarket parts or cut the inner gun off. I didn't and the cannon bays were closed. The cannon barrels and the cannon port plugs were then cemented and was followed by the separate wing tips. The insides of the radiators and the air intake was then painted before I moved on to painting.  

Painting and Decaling

European-theatre RAF fighters were painted 'Temperate Day Scheme' of Dark Green, Ocean Grey and Medium Sea Grey from mid-1941 onwards. To paint these colours, I used Gunze Aqueous H335 for Medium Sea Grey, the Dark Green was a 5:1 mix of Tamiya XF-62 Olive Drab and XF-58 Olive Green respectively and the Ocean Grey was a 1:2:2 mix of  XF-18 Medium Blue, XF-21 Sky and XF-24 Dark Grey. The prop blades were painted XF-1 Flat Black with XF-3 Flat Yellow tips while the spinner was painted XF-21 Sky.

Next came the dreaded part of building an Academy kit OOB - the decals. They showed all of the typical Academy decal characteristics of being thick, not easily conform to raised (and recessed) details and totally unresponsive to decal softening solutions. As if that weren't enough, the aircraft code and serial number, together with the fuselage roundel were printed together and therefore depriving modellers the choice of painting the invasion stripes (unless an aftermarket set is used). I quite struggled to get them in place and totally gave up with the ones covering the cannon bulges. I ended up painting the portion Flat White and Flat Black. And, on other thing, Academy did not include any stencilling in the decal sheet, just one for the inside of the cockpit access door. The model was actually left for a long time on the shelf unfinished and the decals cracked in the meantime. I have to touch up using paints, not satisfactorily I might add.

Finishing

There wasn't much to do at this stage with this model - just installing the landing gear and its doors, the tail wheel and its doors and finally placing the canopy and the propeller. The sliding portion was however too thick and there is something odd-looking between the sliding portion and the fixed rear portion of the canopy. The rear-view mirror became a victim of the carpet monster and I yanked one from my Spitfire V to replace it. It wasn't terribly accurate (the kit mirror is a circle while the Spit V mirror is a rectangle), it will have to do. I decided not to wash the entire model, just on the flying control panels only.

Conclusion

Despite the numerous shortcomings, as of November 2014, the Academy kits of the Spitfire XIV are the only ones available for this mark in 1/48 scale.  The kits' problems can be rectified through aftermarket parts but that was a rather expensive option. Another method is to subject the kit to plastic surgery, for urm, 'nose job' in order to correct the worst of the mistakes plus a number of others to correct the rest. I can live with the mistakes however (until somebody came out with an accurate, new-tool 1/48 Spitfire XIV!).

Spitfire Part I : Dogsbody's Spitfire

Historical Background

In 1931, Reginald J. Mitchell, the aeronautical engineer for Supermarine Aviation Works (Vickers) Ltd (later Vickers-Armstrong (Aircraft) Ltd) began working on a monoplane aircraft designed Type 300. The proposal was submitted to the British Air Ministry in July 1934 but was not accepted. Mitchell then revised the design, incorporating a faired, enclosed cockpit, oxygen-breathing apparatus, smaller, thinner wings and a new engine, Rolls-Royce PV-XII inline engine, soon to be known as the Merlin. In November 1934, detailed design work for the improved Type 300 was begun and in January 1935, the Air Ministry formalised the contract with Vickers-Armstrong and Specification F10/35 was issued around the aircraft. In April 1935, the original two 7.7mm Vickers machine guns in each wing was increased to four upon recommendation by Squadron Leader Ralph Sorley of the Operational Requirement section at the Air Ministry.

On 5 March 1936, the prototype, registered K5054 flew for the first time. The subsequent test flights found that the aircraft was good, but suffered from over-sensitive rudder and with a top speed of just 330mph. The latter was cured by using a better-shaped propeller, allowing K5054 to reach 348mph during its delivery flight to the Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment at Boscombe Down in mid-May 1936. Based on raw reports by test pilots, the Air Ministry placed an order for 310 aircraft on 3 June 1936. The aircraft was named 'Spitfire' by Vickers-Armstrong's chairman, Sir Robert McLean after the affectionate name he gave to his spirited elder daughter, Annie Penrose. The name was actually opposed by the Air Ministry and Mitchell himself, who favoured the name 'Shrew' but eventually Sir Robert's choice prevail. The first production Spitfire however only left the production line at Woolston, Southampton in mid-1938,as the Supermarine factory was working at full capacity producing Walrus amphibians and Stanraer flying-boats.

The Spitfire's fuselage was of streamlined, semi-monocoque design. The skins were secured by rivets: flush headed where uninterrupted airflow was required, and dome-headed elsewhere. But the most distinctive part of the Spitfire was its elliptical wings. The shape was chosen as it offered the best compromise between thinness (to avoid creating excessive drag) and the need to house a retractable undercarriage and armament and its ammunition. The wing tips were detachable, allowing it to be fitted with extended wingtips for the high-altitude fighter role (such as the Mark VI and VII) or fitted with fairings to create the 'clipped wing' versions for low-altitude work. Armament was eight .303 Browning machine guns, four in each wing. While they worked perfectly at low altitudes, they tended to freeze higher up, especially the outer two guns. The problem was not solved until 1938 when Supermarine added hot air ducts from the engine radiators to gun bays. Fabric patches were also doped on the gun ports to protect them from the cold, moisture and dirt until they were fired. Despite their numbers, the .303 machine guns were really too light to destroy enemy aircraft, especially larger bomber-type aircraft. Power for the Spitfire was provided by a Rolls-Royce Merlin V12 inline engine delivering 1,030 hp at 5,500 ft (Merlin II) or 1,310 hp at 9,000 ft (Merlin III). Subsequent variants of the Spitfire were fitted with more powerful versions of the Merlin and were then replaced with a Rolls-Royce Griffon for the later marks.

In the last summer before World War 2 erupted, a Spitfire I was fitted with a Merlin XII engine. It was a success and it was decided to use the engine in the Mark II version, to be built exclusively at Castle Bromwich. The Mark II is basically similar to the Mark I. The major difference was that it was powered by the 1,175hp Merlin XII which included a Coffman engine starter, instead of the electric system. This resulted in a small teardrop-shaped bulge on the forward starboard cowling. In early 1940 a decision was made that the Rotol wide-blade propeller characterised by a bigger, more rounded spinner would be exclusively fitted to the Mark II. The new engine/prop combination increased the rate of climb and made the Mark II 6-7mph faster than the Mark I at altitudes below 17,000 feet. The Mark II entered service in June 1940 and was fully pulled out of front line service in August 1942 . 921 Mark IIs were built.

The Spitfire entered service with the RAF on 4 August 1938 when the first Mk.I was delivered to No.19 Squadron based at Duxford. The first batch of Spitfires were delivered at the rate of one per week to the two Duxford-based squadrons: No.19 and No.66. The next unit to be equipped was No.41 Squadron at Catterick and this was followed by squadrons based at Hornchurch. At the outbreak of World War 2, 306 Spitfires were in service with the RAF. The Spitfire first saw 'action' on 6 September 1939 in a friendly fire incident known as the 'Battle of Barking Creek', where two Hurricanes of No.56 Squadron was shot down by Spitfires of No.74 Squadron over River Medway, Kent. The first true combat action Spitfires was on 16 October 1939 when aircraft from No.602 and 603 Squadrons intercepted nine Junkers Ju 88 bombers of I./KG 30 over Rosyth, Scotland. The six Spits managed to shot two of the attackers and damaging another. Spitfires also flew cover for Operation Dynamo, the Allied evacuation from Dunkirk. 

Undoubtedly, the Spitfire's finest hour was during the Battle of Britain (officially from 10 July 1940 to 31 October 1940), where it faced its major test. It was also during the battle that the Spitfire's capabilities and drawbacks were learned. Its counterpart in the Fighter Command, the Hawker Hurricane, had a thicker wing, allowing the Brownings to be grouped closely together, concentrating its firepower. The Spitfire had a more dispersed gun arrangement, diluting the firepower. Therefore, whenever possible, Hurricanes were used to attack bombers while Spitfires dealt with the fighter escorts. The armament for both fighters however were too weak for effective killing of enemy planes. Many Luftwaffe planes managed to get back to their bases with numerous .303 bullet holes but none were critical as the bomber especially were protected by armour over critical areas and were equipped with self-sealing fuel tanks. The one advantage the RAF had was that pilots who survived their shooting down and crashes with no or just minor injuries can quickly return to action. At the end of the battle, despite its reputation, the Spitfire actually shot less aircraft the Hurricanes. This was not due to problems with the aircraft, but mainly because of the larger numbers of Hurricanes taking part. In 1941, Spitfires took part in fighter sweep (codenamed Rhubarb) and bomber escort missions ('Circus') over occupied Europe. Spitfires of various Marks continue to fly and fight until the end of hostilities in 1945.

The Kit

The Tamiya 1/48 kit of Spitfire Mk.I was released in 1993, heralding their return to the world of 1/48 aircraft kits. The kit came in 50 parts, spread among two medium grey and one clear sprues. The low parts count bode well as they mean Tamiya's simple, quick build ahead; in fact, this kit was the first of the so-called 'shake and bake' kits. While many manufacturers sacrifice detail for buildability, this was not the case with the Spitfire (apart from the usual hard-to-capture-in-plastic shapes). There isn't any display option in the kit, save for the opened or closed canopy and entry door. There are two marking options: The first is DW-O from No.610 Squadron in the standard Dark Earth/Dark Green upper camouflage and Sky bottom. The second QJ-B of No.92 Squadron with the same upper colours but with the left-hand bottom half in Flat Black and also a Sky band on the rear fuselage. Tamiya also included a 1/48 scale drawing of the aircraft to be used as a template for colouring. The decals are well printed, and have white backing for the roundels to avoid colour bleed-through.

The Revell Spitfire Mk.II was an earlier product, dating from 1978 and  was re-tooled in 1994. Despite that, the outer details are pretty good for a 1970s kit. The panel lines are all of the raised type with just the canopy rail and control surface hinges being engraved. The interior was simple as befits a 1970s kit. The radio aerial was moulded together with one half of the fuselage, posing a risk during assembly. Decals provided markings for two aircraft: P7966/D-B which was the mount of ace Wing Commander Douglas Bader in November 1940 and P8088/NK-K of No.118 Squadron, flown by Pilot Officer ASC Lumsden in 1941. The particular kit used here was re-released in 2004.

Construction

Before assembling the cockpit interior, I first painted the parts and the cockpit sidewalls British Interior Green using the recommended Tamiya mixture of 1 part XF-5 Flat Green, 3 parts XF-21 Sky and one part XF-65 Field Grey. The details were painted X-18 Semi-Gloss Black with the raised detail of the instrument faces dry-brushed silver. The pilot's office was then assembled and the scars were cleaned up and retouched. Things to be attached to the cockpit sidewalls were cemented and the fuselage halves were mated. There is a slight gap on the forward fuselage but I believe that was just due to my carelessness. The cockpit assembly and a bulkhead was then inserted from below. Although the tailwheel are to be inserted at this time according to the instructions, I chose not to. The tailplanes however were cemented onto the fuselage.

Rather than continuing with canopy assembly as per the instructions, I jumped to wing assembly first. The two separate upper wing halves were cemented to the one-piece lower half. Fit was again excellent. The engine radiator, oil cooler and carburettor intake were then cemented. There is a bit of a fit problem however with the carburettor intake inlet and the main body. The wing assembly was then mated to the fuselage. This was followed by the lower nose cowling, finishing the initial build.

Painting and Decaling

Early mark Spitfires were painted the day fighter scheme of Dark Green/Dark Earth upper camouflage colours and Sky undersides. The bottom colour was painted using Tamiya XF-21 Sky while the upper colours were painted according to the Tamiya instructions: the Dark Green was a mixture of five parts XF-62 Olive Drab and one part XF-58 Olive Green while the Dark Earth was a 50/50 mixture of XF-52 Flat Earth and XF-64 Red Brown. I decided to finish my Spitfire in the markings of No. 92 Squadron so the bottom of left wing was painted XF-1 Flat Black. The markings were then applied in the usual manner.

Finishing

The rest of the parts can now be cemented onto the model. I started by assembling the landing gear and then cementing them onto the model and was followed by the tailwheel to allow the model to stand on its own. This was followed by the exhausts, aerial, pitot and ID lights on the top and the bottom of the fuselage. The gunsight was cemented into place before the canopy was added. I however lost the rear-view mirror to the carpet monster, which greedily devoured it. Finally, the propeller assembly was fitted but since Tamiya did not include the ubiquitous polycaps, the assembly was rather loose. The model however met an untimely end when at the hands of a visiting relative.... Several months ago, I bought a Revell Spitfire II with the intention to build it as it is. However, having recalled that basically, the most recognisable external difference between the Mk.I and the Mk.II was that the latter had a fairing on the starboard nose covering the Coffman starter and had the blunter Rotol spinner and wider prop blades, I decided to use the relevant parts and decals from the Revell kit to turn the Tamiya Mk.I into a Mk.II.

I started by stripping the decals and paints off using Kiwi Window Cleaner and denatured alcohol. The model was then washed with soap to remove the residue. To turn the Mark I into a Mark II, I first sliced off the fairing for the Coffman starter off the Revell kit and transplanted it onto the Tamiya kit. This inevitably resulted in some deformation of the fairing and I used Tamiya epoxy putty to re-form the shape (more or less). The original Tamiya kit exhausts were removed (easily, as I only apply just a bit of cement during the original construction). The Revell kit exhausts are slightly too wide for the opening so they were sanded down. Dry-fitting also showed a gap between the exhausts and the front of the recess, so putty was used to cover the gap. The Mk.II also had extra armour behind the pilot seat. This time I can't pull out the original seat and had to scratchbuild the armour using sheet styrene and cemented it onto the seat back. Also at this time, I found out that Tamiya got certain things wrong with their Spitfire kit, most notably the projecting barrels for the outer two machine guns. So, the barrels were cut and I drilled new ports for them.

To repaint the model, I used Tamiya XF-21 Sky, XF-81 Dark Green 2 (RAF) and Gunze Aqueous H72 Dark Earth. For markings, I'm quite at a dilemma. The No.118 Squadron option is more 'busy' while the other is the mount of one of the more notable pilots of the RAF. In the end, I chose Wing Commander Douglas Bader's aircraft. The reason? He was one of only a few of front-line pilots with a permanent disability. He joined the RAF in 1928 and was commissioned as a pilot officer into No.23 Squadron in 1930. On 14 December 1931, he attempted a low-level aerobatics in a No.23 Squadron Bristol Bulldog IIA at Woodley Aerodrome. The aircraft crashed and he was rushed to the hospital where both his legs were amputated at knee level. Following the crash and after receiving a pair of artificial legs, he fought hard to regain his former abilities. Although he was declared fit to fly, he was invalided out of the RAF in May 1933. With increasing tension in Europe in the late 1930s, he repeatedly requested that the Air Ministry gave him a posting and eventually on 27 November 1939 he flew solo again and in January 1940 he was posted to No.19 Squadron.

Bader got his first victory (with No.222 Squadron) on 1 June 1940 when he shot down a Bf 109 over Dunkirk, Following the Battle of France, Bader was selected to command No.242 Squadron, flying Hawker Hurricanes during the Battle of Britain and on 12 December 1940 he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his services during the battle. On 18 March 1941, he was promoted to acting Wing Commander and stationed at Tangmere with Nos.145, 610 and 615 Squadrons under his command. One of the wing commander's perks was permission to have his initials marked on his aircraft as personal identification. Thus 'D-B' was painted on the side of Bader's Spitfire (Mk.II and later Mk.Va), giving rise to his radio call-sign 'Dogsbody'. On 9 August 1941, while carrying out a 'Rhubarb' fighter sweep patrol over the French coast, he either collided with an enemy Bf 109, shot down by the Germans or became a victim of friendly fire. In any case, he baled out and was taken prisoner. During the escape, his right prosthetic leg was trapped inside the aircraft and was severed when he pulled the ripcord of his parachute. On 19 August 1941, a replacement leg was flown to St. Omer airfield, after Adolf Galland, with Hermann Goering's approval, offered a safe passage for the RAF aircraft to deliver it (the mission was part of a Circus operation, and the aircraft involved then proceeded on its bombing mission). He attempted a number of escapes from POW camps until incarcerated at the 'escape-proof' Oflag IV-C at Colditz Castle. He remained there until Colditz Castle was liberated on 15 April 1945.

I have read about Revell decals, none of them good. The stories were substantiated when I saw that the aircraft code decals are pixelated and the stencils are quite oversized, especially when compared with the (now gone) Tamiya decals. The final 'attribute', not conforming to panel lines was dispelled when I found that they settle nicely into the panel lines (although not as good as many aftermarket ones). Apart from the issues mentioned above, there was another problem: I believe Revell got their instructions wrong regarding the walkway decals. The instructions have the chord-wise port wing walkway further inward toward the fuselage than the actual location. This in turn affected the span-wise walkway with the 'walkway inboard' stenciling partly obscured by the roundel. The starboard span-wise walkway decal was well, span-wide, (but with the stenciling in the right place) plus there was no chord-wise walkway decals. I cut off part of the span-wise decals and used decals from my spares box to create the chord-wise walkway. Needless to say, there is no 'Walkway Inboard' stenciling for it. At least it looked better! Revell also included decals to pose as the tapes used by ground crew to seal the machine gun ports, but they were too small to cover the Tamiya gun ports. So, I ended up using painted strips of Tamiya tapes. They looked slightly overscale however because of the paint I used to colour the tapes. I then subjected the model to a sludge wash, and finally, a spray of Flat Clear finishes the build.

Conclusion

An absolutely 'easy' kit to build (the Tamiya kit that is). Almost everything falls in place together with no fuss. Although there are areas having fit problems, I guess that was all because of me. As for the Revell kit, I am now left with a Coffman starter bulge-less cowling and the original Tamiya propeller assembly....maybe I'll finish it as a Mark I, pending availability of decals.....(am I crazy or what?). Oh one other thing, I found that apparently Revell missed a number of markings pertaining to P7666 - Bader's personal insignia on the left nose and 'Manxman' on the right fuselage.

Armoured Samurai

Historical Background

In 1935, the Imperial Japanese Army began a programme to develop a replacement for the Type 89 I-Go medium tank. Experience showed that the I-Go was too slow to keep up with motorised infantry, especially in the wide expanses of the Manchurian steppes. A new specification was issued with Mitsubishi offering a scaled-up version of the Type 95 Ha-Go light tank with four crew members, a two-man turret, thicker armour and increased power to maintain performance. Mitsubishi delivered the first prototype in April 1937 with the second prototype in June of the same year. Despite the original requirement specifying a 47mm gun, the prototype was armed with a 57mm gun as the I-Go. At the same time, Osaka Army Arsenal proposed their Chi-Ni tank, which was preferred by the IJA because of its lower cost. However, with the outbreak of The Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, all budgetary restrictions were off and the more expensive Mitsubishi tank was accepted for production. The tank was given type number 97 as an abbreviation for Showa Year 2597 (1937 in Gregorian calendar). The name 'Chi' came from Chi-Sensa (medium tank) while 'Ha' refer to 'Model 3' in Japanese Army nomenclature. Hence the name Type 97 Chi-Ha could be translated as 1937 Medium Tank Model 3.

The Chi-Ha was of riveted construction. The engine is mounted to the rear with the crew compartment up front. The driver sat to the right with the bow machine gunner to his left. The commander, who also acted as the gunner sat to the rear of the turret with the loader/radio operator to assist him. Armour protection was average for a 1930s tank design, being 50mm thick on the gun mantlet and 28mm for the hull front. Main armament was a 57mm Type 97 gun. The Type 97 is designed as an infantry support weapon with a relatively low muzzle velocity and was thus not suitable for anti-armour work, although it was sufficient to destroy the few Chinese light tanks and tankettes it encountered. The gun had no elevation gear but it had secondary trunnions, allowing it to traverse 10 degrees independently of the turret. Secondary armament were two 7.7mm Type 97 machineguns; one mounted on the left side of the hull and the other on the rear face of the turret. Suspension was of the same bell-crank system of the Ha-Go but with an extra bogie. The Chi-Ha was powered by a V-12 Mitsubishi SA12200VD air-cooled diesel producing 170hp.

The Chi-Ha entered production in 1938 and was immediately used in China with considerable success as the Chinese National Revolutionary Army had only three tank battalions of Vickers Light Tank, Panzerkampfwagen I and CV33 tankettes. Its first true test however came in July 1939 during the Battle Of Khalkin Gol against the Soviet Union where it was outgunned by the BT-5 and BT-7 fast tanks with their high-velocity 45mm gun. Reports following the battle prompted the need for a more powerful gun. A new 47mm high-velocity gun was developed and completed in 1941 as the Type 1 47mm tank gun. The turret of the Chi-Ha was modified to accept the new gun, resulting in Type 97 Kai or Shinhoto (new turret) Chi-Ha. The Shinhoto Chi-Ha replaced the original model on the production line in early 1942 and was built until 1943.

The Type 97 was used again during the invasion of South-East Asia. The Japanese 3rd Tank Group's 1st, 6th and 14th Tank Regiments took part in the invasion of Malaya and Singapore where the presence of tanks where they were least expected became one of the key to the Japanese success. The jungles of Malaya proved to be a non-obstacle to tanks. The 2nd and the 14th Regiment then participated in the Burma Campaign. In The Philippines, the Type 97 Kai was used against the M2A1 and M3 light tanks with devastating results. On the Pacific islands, despite the terrain, the Type 97 also took part, albeit in smaller numbers, and in desperate situations. During the Battle Of Saipan, 36 Type 97s of the 9th Tank Regiment together with Type 95s of the 136th Infantry Regiment counterattacked against the US 6th Marine Regiment. This largest and last Japanese armour attack in the Pacific was broken up by machine gun, mortar, artillery, bazooka and naval gunfire. Thereafter the tanks were used mostly in hull defilade positions as their armour were too weak against the M4 Sherman. Not only that, they were also being outnumbered by Allied tanks. The Kwangtung Army in Manchuria also faced the same problem when the Red Army launched the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation in August 1945. Many Type 97s were retained in the Home Islands in the anticipation of an American invasion.

A total of 1,162 57 mm-guned Chi-Has with another 930 47 mm were built from 1938 to 1943. They were manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Hitachi Industries plus a small number built by the Army's Sagami Arsenal. The Chi-Ha's chassis was also used for a number of vehicles such as the Shi-Ki command tanks, Ho-Ni series of tank destroyers, the Ho-Ro self-propelled howitzer, the Ho-Hi infantry support tank and a number of experimental vehicles. The Chi-Ha also became the basis for the Type 1 Chi-He (47mm gun) and Type 3 Chi-Nu (75mm) medium tanks.

The Kit

Kit number 35075 is another venerable stuff from Tamiya, dating from 1975. Despite its 1970s origin, it remains one of Tamiya's better 1/35 kits. The kit contains 166 parts including 2 lengths of vinyl tracks and parts for two figures. Apparently the dimensions of the kit is accurate and in general the details are OK although many finer details were simplified or omitted entirely. Of course, the trade-off for this is a quick and easy build. The drawback with the kit was the lack of sponsons (which also plagued their 1/35 Sherman kits until today) and the lack of detail for the lower hull. The most obvious disadvantage are the lack of PE screens over the exhaust mufflers - the screens are moulded together with the mufflers. The tracks are OK although it basically cannot be made saggy as most pictures showed them to be. The two figures are of the typical Tamiya quality especially for their older kits: rather stiff poses and having soft detail. Decals provide markings for six vehicles: 1st Tank Regiment for Malaya operations (with extra markings for two other companies of the 1st); 3rd Company, 1st Tank Regiment when preparing for the expected invasion of the Home Islands; 8th Tank Regiment; 5th Company, 17th Tank Regiment; 2nd Company, 34th Tank Regiment and a Type 97 from the Chiba Army Tank School.

Construction

I started by assembling the wheels and suspension of the tank. They consist of two bogies (similar to the one found on Type 95 Ha-Go) and a pair of singles. with all the wheels in pairs. The road wheels and the idler and sprocket wheels have the usual poly caps trapped between the halves to allow movement. The wheels for the bogies were secured in a different manner, that is by mating the wheels (Parts A8 and B8) together without cement and securing the wheels by cementing Parts A12 to A8. The coil springs and the fairing for the bell-crank suspension were glued onto the lower hull and this was followed by cementing the front and rear hull plates. The towing pintles on the plates were cemented but the tow cable and the registration plate were left off. Also to ease painting, the wheels were also left off.

Moving on to the upper hull, I first cemented the engine deck grill, engine hatch, tool box and the exhaust shield. The hull machine gunner's hatch and the driver's vision block cover can be posed in the open position but I elected to pose them in the closed position as I didn't intend to place the crew figure there. Furthermore, there wasn't any detail on the inside of the hatch. The pioneer tools were also left off to facilitate painting. As I didn't intend to replace the kit exhausts, they were assembled and cemented onto the hull. Other sundry parts such as tie-downs, grab handles and the headlight were also cemented. Finally for this stage, an insert below the engine grill and the hull machine gun were cemented. The latter was unlike its turret counterpart which was engineered to be moveable after assembly.

Finally the turret was assembled. I started off by gluing Part C31 to the turret roof and it acted as a stopper for the machine gun assembly. Then the turret shell was mated with the turret bottom plate. The machine gun was inserted into its slot unglued  and the mantlet was carefully glued to the turret face. The main gun was then assembled; the barrel was a one-piece affair with separate muzzle. The barrel was then cemented to the featureless breech with the mantlet in between. The breech was not cemented to allow for movement (up and down only, with no lateral ones unlike the real gun) and the assembly was secured by the mantlet and two cylindrical shapes moulded inside the turret, acting as stoppers. The rather simple commander's cupola was assembled and cemented and again I posed it in closed position. This was followed by the machine gun mount on the turret roof and Part C24 which I'm not sure of its identity. Tamiya mentioned that the 'thing' is retractable on the real tank and suggested that the part can be shortened to show it retracted but didn't show by how much the said part should be cut off. The semi-circular aerial round the top of the turret was left off until after painting.

Painting and Decaling

All six of the marking options share the same camouflage pattern. While probably unlikely, and in the case for tanks depicted later in the war, probably inaccurate, it actually helped by allowing one to change their mind about the selected marking options after the model has been painted. Having said that, Tamiya merely gave generic names for the paints instead of their customary reference to their own brand. Tamiya kits of the same vintage usually had two instruction sheets - one in English, the other in Japanese. From my observation, it seemed like the Japanese sheet had a more detailed description of the paint mixes. But since it was written in Japanese and somehow Tamiya did not include their paint codes, I have to make my best guess for the paints: they are Khaki (I guess XF-49), Dark Red Brown (XF-64, but I eventually decided to use XF-10) and Dark Green (XF-13 IJA Green). The lightest colour (Khaki) was painted first with the Flat Brown last. The yellow line was painted using Tamiya XF-3. Being yellow, it needed a couple of layers to avoid a see-through effect. The tracks were painted XF-64 Red Brown. While instructions showed a patch of Dark Green on the barrel, I painted it overall khaki, to reflect what I read in modelling magazines.

For the decals, the choice is really a no-brainer for me - I chose the markings for the 1st Tank Regiment, which was part of the 5th Division landing at Singora in Thailand.  Specifically I chose the markings for the 3rd Company,  part of the Saeki Detachment which was in the van of the attack and successfully breaching the Jitra line. There were the ready-made numbers '31' but extra numbers were included so one can model a few other Type 97s in the company (or, for that matter, other companies of the 1st Tank Regiment). I chose number 32.

Finishing

The remaining parts can now be permanently fixed to the model. The pioneer tools were painted first. Tamiya did not specify what are their colours, with just Red Brown specified for the pry bar. I used Fine Molds' instructions and painted the pry bar and the business end of the shovel and pick-axe H81 Khaki and the handles XF-64 Red Brown. The jack was also painted khaki but with a slightly different shade. The headlight was cemented and to simulate the reflecting surface of the headlight, I inserted a piece of Bare Metal kitchen foil inside the cavity. Somehow Tamiya did not include the lens cover for the light and lacking stuff like Humbrol's Clearfix, I'll pretend that the glass has broken! The embossed star on the glacis plate was painted gold, mixed with a bit of silver. The aerial on the turret was painted copper with the insulators painted red brown. The 'thingie' on the turret roof was painted clear red, clear orange and clear green according to Fine Molds' instructions (and that makes it some kind of light, I guess).

For weathering, the model was subjected to a black/red brown wash first. MiG Productions' Africa Earth was then applied almost liberally on the lower hull, wheels and tracks and fixed with Mig's Pigment Fixer solution. The lower hull was then washed with AK Interactive's Earth Effects Wash. The tow cable, having been painted Metallic Grey, was finished with AK Interactive Track Wash. The turret aerial was painted Mr. Color Copper with the insulators XF-64 Red Brown. The tracks were then placed onto the model and the turret was then inserted into place, finishing the build.

Conclusion

While displaying most of the hallmarks of a 1970s kit, the Tamiya Chi-Ha was well-engineered and shows what Tamiya can do even in the 1970s. The parts fit well  and have reasonable enough detail to satisfy most modellers. I can say that there were only two glaring weakness of the kit - the exhausts and the tracks. The latter being the old-school heat-to-link style and also , being a vinyl belt type, did not readily lent itself to the saggy tracks often found on Japanese tanks. I can still vouch for this kit, despite the superior Fine Molds kit. It is still cheaper than the other kit, and the details are adequate for most of us.