1:32 Spitfire Mk.Ia part 1 - The Few, 1940 RAF Aces

Three Spitfires of 1940

The sheet offers markings for three British fighters from the first half of 1940, that is, from the time when the defense of the islands was being decided. The designation The Few comes from the speech in which Winston Churchill honored the crews of Fighter Command, and the whole sheet is devoted to them.

The first machine with the serial L1004 flew with No. 602 Squadron at the Drem base in East Lothian and is captured in May 1940; it was flown by F/Lt Alexander V. R. Johnstone. The second, K9955, belonged to the same unit and in March 1940 F/O Archibald Ashmore McKellar flew it. The third, K9953, served with No. 74 Squadron at Hornchurch airfield in Essex in June and July 1940, and in it sat F/Lt Adolph Gysbert Malan, a South African pilot whose name became one of the best known in the whole fighter force.

Finish and markings

These are waterslide decals, printed for the large 1:32 scale. It is assumed that the builder has a matching kit; the contents of the package are the sheet itself and a breakdown of the variants. The individual markings are cut from the sheet piece by piece rather than in whole fields, so that it is possible to work with the shape of a particular national insignia and with the number of a machine.

It is a good idea to polish the surface with a gloss varnish before applying them, otherwise air bubbles will settle under the film. Once dry and gone over with a matte layer, a decal blends with the surface. The early machines of 1940 differ from one another in the division of the lower surfaces and in the placement of the markings, so it pays to compare the position against the enclosed breakdown before the first decal is soaked.