1:32 SPITFIRE VIII

A blue and white insignia over Darwin

Australian squadrons received the Mk.VIII in 1943 and deployed them against raids on the northern coast. There the aircraft carried serial numbers of their own in the A58 series and fought in conditions they had not been built for: high humidity, long flights over the sea and an opponent that could turn in a much smaller radius. Pilots therefore learned to attack in a dive and never to turn with a Japanese fighter.

In the Pacific the markings were standardized into a blue and white form without the red center, because a red disc merged at a distance with the Japanese national marking. White stripes appeared on the fin and some of the machines carried a name or a drawing on the fuselage that the crew thought up themselves. The same type meanwhile looked completely different in Europe, which for a collector with a display case is the best argument for building two.

Inside you will find film for both sides of the cockpit, a pair of insignia stencils and a pair of turned barrels of 20 mm caliber. The product is prepared for the Tamiya mold.

On a humid climate: if you are building a weathered machine, leave the film on the model during the weathering as well. It protects the glazing from pigment better than cleaning it later.

Metal barrels suit this version particularly well, because the cannon project far in front of the leading edge and a plastic molding in such a long and thin shape as a rule does not even survive being taken off the sprue.

Australian machines also tended to be fairly worn: sun-faded upper paint, chipped leading edges and traces of repairs. Anyone imitating this appearance will appreciate a sharp edge between paint and glass, because it is precisely there that a careful build shows.