1:32 SPITFIRE I

The Mk I and its domed hood

The first production Spitfires took off before the war with a flat sliding canopy under which taller pilots scraped their heads on the frame. From 1939 production therefore switched to the domed, so-called blown hood, which added the height needed and at the same time improved the view to the sides. It was in this form that the Mk I went into the Battle of Britain, and it is this arrangement of frames that the cut of the stencils matches: windscreen, domed moving section and fixed rear cover.

Where the time goes

The frames of the Spitfire are not straight. They converge into curves whose width changes along their length, and measuring them out from tape by hand usually ends in an asymmetrical result that is impossible to overlook in 1:32. Pre-cut film solves that problem, because every piece has the shape of the given bar including its taper. Stencils are enclosed for both faces of the molding, so there is no bare transparent edge under the glass.

Insignia and markings

Two national insignia stencils let the roundels be sprayed straight into the paint, which suits machines from the summer of 1940: their matte surfaces tended to be weathered and an applied film would look too smooth on them. Anyone who prefers the faster route will reach for the decal sheet enclosed. The two variants can also be combined, for instance a sprayed roundel on the fuselage and applied squadron codes.

Before you reach for the paint

Clear moldings tend to be greasy after coming out of the mold and carry traces of release agent. A short bath in lukewarm water with detergent and thorough drying raise the tack of the film enough that the paint bleeds nowhere.