1:32 Spitfire MkVB Trop

The Spitfire with a chin filter

The tropical modification added a bulky Vokes filter under the nose, catching sand before it could reach the carburetor intake. It looked ungainly and cost several tens of kilometers per hour of top speed, but without it engines in the desert and over Malta would have lasted barely a few dozen hours. These were the aircraft that reached the Malta airfields straight from carrier decks from the spring of 1942.

Masking and markings

The box contains two masks for the canopy, divided into the outer and the inner surface, and two stencils for the national insignia. The glazing of the Spitfire is fairly simple, but the small triangular panes behind the pilot's head and the side vision panel in the door are awkward to outline by hand.

Painting advice

The desert scheme rests on two sand shades with a hard division, which is done best with a paper template held above the surface. The canopy frame is sprayed only once the camouflage is finished. Once the film is lifted it is worth running a lightly thinned clear coat along the edges so the slight step disappears.

Engine and armament

The VB version received the Merlin 45 engine and the so-called B wing with two 20 mm cannon and four machine guns. The protruding cannon fairings on the leading edge are clearly visible and form a prominent feature of the view from above. When painting, the boundary between the upper shades often runs right across them, so it is handy to have narrow strips of masking film at hand.

Classification

The item serves as a painting aid for large-scale aircraft models.