Spitfire Part III : Most Numerous Of Them All

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 late 1940, the RAF predicted the start of a new high-altitude bombing campaign by the Luftwaffe using pressurised Junkers Ju 86P bombers. As the high-altitude variant (the Mk VI) would take some time to be developed, an emergency measure was needed. Thus the Mark V was conceived. The Mk V was basically a Mk. I powered by a Merlin 45 engine incorporating a single-stage  supercharger. Power was rated at 1,440 hp at take-off. Improvements to the carburettor allowed the Mk V to make zero g maneuvers without any problems with the fuel flow which plagued the Mk. I.  Several Mk. Vs were converted Marks I and II airframes and they started joining line squadrons in early 1941. The Mk. VB with Merlin 45 and 'B' wing (one Hispano 20mm cannon replacing two inner .303 machineguns in each wing while retaining the outer two .303s) was the main production version. The round section exhaust stacks were replaced with the 'fishtail' type, allowing marginal increase in thrust. 

With the receding threat of invasion, the RAF decided to go on the offensive (or as Air Vice-Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory put it 'leaning forward into France'). The new policy entailed fighter sweeps (called 'Rhubarbs') and bomber escort missions ('Circuses') over France and other occupied territories. The Spitfires used for these missions found themselves having the same tactical disadvantages as the Bf 109 units faced during the Battle of Britain, namely their rather short range. The 'F' versions now equipping Jagdwaffe units on the Channel coast have performance closely matching the Mark V of the Spitfire. The introduction of the Fw 190 gave further shocks to the RAF, being 25-30 mph faster while having better acceleration and rate of climb and not to mention more powerful armament, making the Fw 190 the highest scoring Spitfire killers. This hastened the introduction of the 'interim' Mark IX but in the meantime, some Mark Vs received 'clipped' wingtips (being the first Spitfire variant to have this option). The clipped wingtips allowed a greater rate of roll and airspeed at low altitudes.

The Kit

Hot on the heels of their Spitfire Mk.I, Tamiya came up with VB variant in 1994. The parts are spread among two light grey and one clear sprues and feature nicely engraved details. The clear parts include both armoured and non-armoured windscreens and two styles of the sliding portion of the canopy. The one problem I see with the kit engineering is that the cannon barrels were moulded together with the upper wings, increasing the risk of breakage. The wingtips are separate allowing modellers to chose between the normal and the clipped wingtips. While cockpit details are reasonable, there are no seat belts included, not even in decal form. Also, while the separate cockpit door (to depict it in the open position) has better details than the one moulded with the fuselage. The decal sheet includes the wing leading edge ID strip together with the machinegun muzzle patches (separate patches for the third option as it does not have the ID strip). Three marking options were provided:
1. SN-M/EN821, No.243 Squadron
2. SZ-X/BL479, No.316 Squadron*
3. AGM, Fighter Command, Wing Commander A.G Malan

*No.316 was a Polish Squadron (with squadron ID 'SZ'). Most if not all aircraft in the unit featured the Polish checkerboard pattern on the nose while this particular aircraft did not. It was actually the personal mount of Group Captain M.W.S. Robinson, Station Commander of RAF Northolt where No.316 was stationed at the time.

Construction

Before assembling the cockpit interior, I first painted the parts and the cockpit sidewalls British Interior Green using XF-71 Cockpit Green. Yes, it's a Japanese colour but to my eyes it looks similar to British Cockpit Green. The details were painted X-18 Semi-Gloss Black with instrument dials in XF-2 Flat White. Although Tamiya has the modeller paint the seat in the same green (with the cushion in X-18), photos show that the seat is actually red brown in colour (it was made of bakelite) and the cushion looks like Buff. hey were therefore painted XF-64 and XF-57 respectively. The pilot's office was then assembled and the scars were cleaned up and retouched. Things on the cockpit sidewalls were cemented and the fuselage halves were mated. As Tamiya expected the included pilot figure be used by everyone, no seat belts, even in the shape of decals, were included. 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 were then cemented onto the fuselage.

Rather than continuing with canopy assembly and exhaust manifolds as per the instructions, I jumped to wing assembly first. The two separate upper wing halves were cemented to the one-piece lower half. Decision has to be made here as to whether to finish the model as a regular or a clipped-wing variant. 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. Oops! I almost forgot - the wing reinforcement ribs on each upper wings need to be removed (they were museum additions). The lower nose cowling was then cemented into place, finishing the initial build.

Painting and Decalling

The camouflage pattern for all three marking schemes are the same so that simplify things. The Medium Sea Grey, Ocean Grey and Dark Green colours were done using Tamiya XF-83, XF-82 and XF-81 respectively. Only then I have to make up my mind as to which markings to do. With the clipped-wing option out of the picture (as I used the original rounded wing tips), that left me with either the anonymous No.243 Squadron machine or the one belonging to ace 'Sailor' Malan. It was rather obvious that I would choose Malan's plane. Adolph Gysbert 'Sailor' Malan was a South African who joined the RAF in 1935 and was confirmed as a pilot in 1937. he was posted to No.74 Squadron at RAF Hornchurch.At the outbreak of war, Malan was involved in the so-called Battle of Barking Creek, a 'blue-on-blue' incident on 6 September 1939. As leader of 'A' Flight which attacked the unfortunate Hurricanes of No.56 Squadron, Malan denied responsibility and instead blamed pilys under his command. The court eventually dismissed the case and acquitted all pilots involved.  

During Operation Dynamo, No.74 was one of the squadrons giving cover to the evacuation and on 28 June 1940, Malan was awarded a DFC, having achieved the ace status. On 5 July he rose to the rank of Flight Lieutenant and on 8 August, he was promoted to acting Squadron Leader and took charge of No.74 Squadron. It was around this time that Malan and other senior pilots decided to abandon the RAF's 'vic' formation and adopted the looser finger-four formation. On 13 August, he was awarded a Bar to his DFC. Malan commanded No.74 with strict discipline and also reluctant to hand out decorations. Apart from being a force to change the RAF's tactical fighter formation, Malan also developed a set of simple rules for fighter and was disseminated throughout Fighter Command.On 24 December he received a DSO and in July 1941 received a Bar to the Order. On 10 March 1941, he was appointed as the leader of the Biggin Hill Wing - one of the first persons so appointed. He was rested from active fighter duties in August of the same year by which he has amassed 27 solo kills, 7 shared kills, 2 unconfirmed, 3 probables and 16 damaged, becoming the highest scoring RAF pilot at that time. He was transferred to reserve on 6 January 1942.

After tours to the United States and the Central Gunnery School, Malan was promoted to temporary Wing Commander on 1 September 1942. He was later appointed as the station commander for Biggin Hill and receiving promotion to war substantive Wing Commander on 1 July 1943. Malan however was keen to fly on combat operations, often ignoring the standing order for station commanders not to risk getting shot down. In October 1943, he became the CO for 19 Fighter Wing of the RAF Second Tactical Air Force. Later he became the commander of No.145 (Free French) Squadron and led a section of the squadron during the afternoon of 6 June 1944 over the Normandy beaches. Malan resigned his commission in the RAF on 5 April 1946 while retaining the rank of Group Captain. He returned to South Africa and joined the anti-apartheid movement. Malan passed away on 17 September 1963 of Parkinson's Disease.

Although no specific time was mentioned, I believed the markings in the Tamiya kit is for during his tenure as Biggin Hill Wing commander (or maybe later, when he was the Biggin Hill base commander as this option lack the wing leading edge ID strip and the armoured windscreen as base commanders were not expected to fly combat missions). The decals are fairly thick, causing visible bumps where the wing roundels overlap the walkway decals. I think that the fin flashes were too wide and need trimming to fit properly (which I did). I also believe that the instructions for the starboard wing walkway is wrong as it doesn't show the chordwise strip (the decal is on the sheet by the way) while the lengthwise strip goes all the way to the wing root (it was cut to the appropriate length before application). All decals then received an AK Interactive Decal Softener treatment. Ak Interactive Paneliner was the applied to the panel lines.

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. Speaking of the canopy, Malan's plane used the 'regular' rather than the armoured windscreen (probably for the reasons I mentioned above). As luck would have it, my old friend Murphy came back for a visit during this build - I managed to smear the windscreen with cement! While it can be sanded back, I left it as it was as a lesson to myself. Finally, the propeller assembly was fitted. A final coating of Flat Clear finishes the build.

Conclusion

Another 'easy' Tamiya Spitfire kit to build, just like their Mark I. Almost everything falls in place together with no fuss. Some modellers point out the inaccuracies of this kit (and also the Mark I) such as the fuselage being 'fat' around the cockpit and also a bit short. The wing is too wide at the middle and some issues with the wing curves. To my eyes the model still looks like a Spitfire V. Short of shooting a shrinking ray at an actual Spitfire, these mistakes which virtually all kits have, would still be around  and most of us would still be happy (save a small percentage who suffered from acute and incurable level of AMS).