1:72 2nd TAF Spitfires

Twenty-nine machines, five years of the type's development

The range of this sheet is its main strength. While an ordinary sheet offers a handful of options, here you get a cross-section of the whole assortment of a tactical formation in western Europe: from the older Mk.VB through the most widespread Mk.IX and the Mk.XVI, which served long after the war, to the late Mk.XIV version with the twelve-cylinder Griffon, which gave the machine a longer nose, a five-blade propeller and a noticeably deeper voice. Aircraft can thus be set side by side that differ from each other more than one would expect under a single type name.

Who flew them

• The personal aircraft of the most successful British fighter pilot of the Second World War, from May 1945
• The machines of the commanders of Wings number 125, 126, 127, 132, 135 and 145
• Subjects tied to a Norwegian, a Belgian, a French, a Canadian and an Australian pilot
• Reconnaissance aircraft of No. 16 Squadron flying low over the ground

Working in a small scale

With so many options it pays to settle on one subject before the backing is cut up. Take the small items by the carrier film with tweezers with flat jaws, never by the print itself. It also helps to lay a cutting mat with a light-colored surface beside you, because in this scale the letters of a code blend into a white backing so far that they are easily overlooked. Store the rest of the sheet flat between two stiff pieces of paper, because a fold in the backing will crack the print, and the crack shows only in the water, by which time nothing can be done about it.