1/48 Academy Spitfire 14c

by Stuart Quinn-Harvie

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This is my first contribution to the fine medium that is ARC. I hope I don't make a complete fool of myself..

So, here is my Spitfire 14. I love Spits, and am on a mission to model at least one of every mark, and one in the colours and markings of every airforce that operated them. I won't go into the aeroplane's history, but I will suggest that if you have any interest in Spitfires, that you get hold of "Spitfire - the History" by Eric B Morgan and Edward Shacklady. The definitive tome on this most beautiful fighter.

I made this model straight out of the box, even though I knew full well that it had problems..principally the nose shape is wrong, and the prop blades are too thick. All of these things are important to me, but so was getting the model finished this year. ( I am a VERY slow builder)

The Kit is pretty good actually as far as moulding quality and engineering, The gull wing fillet section being very well portrayed, and it has a pretty good cockpit interior. The only things I added were seatbelts from lead foil.

The model was brush painted using humbrol enamels, and weathered with a very thin wash of matt black with lots of thinners. Before this, though, I had to contend with...the Decals.

These are, to put it politely, rubbish. Thick, glossy, and with no adhesive properties whatsoever. I ended up using spurious codes from my spares box just to avoid slinging the whole thing in the bin. I wish I had posessed the patience to wait for an after market set. Still, here she is, and I like her. I hope you do too.  

Stuart

Photos and text © by Stuart Quinn-Harvie