1:24 SPITFIRE Mk IIb

The Spitfire from the shadow factory

Mark II b was produced at the new works at Castle Bromwich, which was to extend British fighter production beyond the original halls. It received a Merlin of the twelfth series with a cartridge starter instead of an electrical one, which you can tell by a small bulge on the cowling, and it carried the so-called b wing with a pair of cannons and four machine guns. It is a transitional form between the first machines and the later, most widespread mark, and for that reason it appears among collectors less often than it deserves.

The surface under a mask decides everything

Film can do only as much as the base allows. On matte paint the edge of a mask never touches over its whole area, the microscopic roughness creates channels and paint wicks inward through them. That is why a gloss layer goes under masking, whether a gloss primer or a thin gloss clear coat, on which the film literally settles down. The other half of the preparation is degreasing: touch the clear part as little as possible and run a swab with alcohol over it before sticking. Only on a surface prepared like this is there any point in talking about the sharpness of an edge.

In the package you will find

Films covering the glazing from the face and the reverse, four masks for the national insignia and a sheet of decals. The gloss layer under the masking only needs to be applied to the areas the work concerns; there is no need to gloss the whole model. After unmasking the surface is unified with a final varnish anyway, so gloss at this moment is a working state, not the final appearance.

• Four insignia masks and decals in one package
• It holds best on a glossy, degreased base
• It matches Mark II b with the cannon wing
• The large 1:24 scale