1:24 Spitfire MkVB

The Mark Vb and its three-part canopy

The Vb was the most numerous form of the Spitfire there ever was. From the spring of 1941 more than six thousand were built from it, and the letter B in the designation points to the wing with two twenty-millimeter Hispano cannons complemented by four machine guns of 7.7 mm. Under the cowling a Rolls-Royce Merlin 45 worked, and the machine became the backbone of the British fighter force at the time when the fighting moved over occupied France.

The glazing falls into three separate units: a fixed windscreen with a flat pane in the middle, a sliding canopy and a fixed rear section with narrow side windows. In one twenty-fourth every strip of the frame is several millimeters wide, so the slightest waviness in the edge of the paint shows at first glance and cannot be painted over.

How the set works

The sheet carries masks cut exactly to the shape of this canopy and they are used in two steps. The outer parts cover the clear areas during the spraying of the camouflage, the inner parts allow the frames to be painted from the inside as well, so that once the cockpit is closed the glazing looks finished from both sides. The four masks of national insignia then serve for spraying the roundels; paint applied through a stencil holds a sharp edge, makes no step on the surface and carries no risk of the carrier film silvering as it does with a decal.

Before sticking them on it pays simply to rinse the clear part in lukewarm water and let it dry, because grease from the fingers holds the adhesive layer considerably worse and the edge will lift during spraying. Apply the paint in thin coats and take the mask off before the paint has fully hardened. Plastic parts and paints do not come with the masks; it is an accessory for a kit in one twenty-fourth that has already been obtained.