1/48 Airfix Spitfire Vc RAAF

by Mark Ryemill

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Here is my Spitfire Vc in RAAF markings built from the Airfix Seafire IIIc / Spitfire Vc kit. I bought the kit because I wanted a Seafire IIIc for my FAA collection, buying it about a month before Special Hobby announced their own IIIc / Vc offering !  

The kit contains the parts from the Airfix Vb kit a 1970’s vintage offering with raised panel lines, and a new sprue with the C type wing and rear under fuselage insert. The new parts feature recessed panel lines but are quite thick and chunky. Reviews of the kit are mixed, some claim the accuracy of the shape is superior to the more recent tamigawa kits, others warn of poor fit and engineering.  

Undeterred I eagerly started by cutting out the rear under fuselage for the seafire insert, and this is where everything went wrong. Following the instructions I cut along the appropriate panel lines and then offered up the insert, to my horror I seemed to have cut out a section that was twice as big as needed ! After checking with the instructions I had cut in the correct place, I test fitted the insert again – same result it vanished without a trace in a hole that was way too large.  

After much gnashing of teeth (and several large Brandy’s later) I had a plan, back in went the bits of fuselage I had cut out, I was going to make a Vc instead. The box cover shows a Vc in an attractive RAAF scheme of foliage green, this was the one for me. A brief visit to the Hannants website yielded the Aeromaster Aussie spitfire decal sheet plus some Ultracast resin goodies to get me started.

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I started by re-scribing the raised fuselage panel lines using first a needle to score a guide line then an Olfa ‘P’ cutter to create the new recessed ones. The cockpit detail is not too bad the only additions I made were some Eduard RAF harnesses, but to be honest, the canopy is fairly thick so the detail cannot really be seen anyway.  

I then grappled with the generally poor fit of the kit using plenty of filler and much sanding to gain an acceptable result. The wing to fuselage joint is pretty vague partly due to the separate flaps offered by the kit and perhaps due to my lack of skill. I’m still not convinced I have achieved the correct dihedral which is why I haven’t taken any head on shots !

The Aeromaster sheet calls up a camouflaged scheme for this aircraft but the Hyperscale article deduces a foliage green scheme. I sided with the hypothesis presented in the article and went with foliage green and New Guinea theatre identification markings in white, using Humbrol enamels and Xtracrylix acrylics.

The end result is better than I expected, and was certainly a good test build in preparation for the Airfix Tornado & Sea Harriers in my stash – both of which need re-scribing !

Mark Ryemill

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Photos and text © by Mark Ryemill