1:32 SPITFIRE VB

The Mk V, the most widespread of them all

The Mk Vb came about by installing the Merlin 45 engine in the airframe of the previous version and became the most numerous variant of the whole line, with two 20 mm cannon and four machine guns in the wing. It fought over the Channel, over Malta and in North Africa, where the machines were given a bulky sand filter under the nose. The cockpit meanwhile did not change at all: the Mk V carries the same domed hood and the same layout of bars as the earlier version, so the frame is familiar ground for a modeler.

The door on the left side

A characteristic detail of the fuselage is the drop-down door through which the pilot entered the cockpit. It adjoins the glazing directly and its upper edge follows the lower rim of the hood. It is precisely here that masking by hand most often goes wrong, because the tape has to be run along a curved edge. Pre-cut pieces turn this into a matter of a few minutes and the boundary of the paint stays crisp along its whole length.

Inner face, outer face and the order

The set allows for both surfaces of the glass. It pays to start with the inside, because the canopy can then be held safely by its outer face and any fingerprint can still be wiped away. The outer layer follows, then the remaining areas are covered and only after that comes the spraying. The film takes acrylic as well as solvent-based paints and is removed as soon as the coat has flashed off, before the finish has had time to harden completely.

The detail that decides

Before spraying it pays to run a thin coat of clear varnish over the joints of the bars. It seals the microscopic gap between the film and the glass, and if anything does bleed somewhere, what is left behind is a clear trace and not a colored overrun.