1:32 Spitfire Mk.Va (for Hobby 2000 kit)

The Mark V with machine-gun armament

The fifth line of the Spitfire came about in 1941 as a quick solution: a stronger Merlin 45 was built into the airframe of the previous version and the aircraft immediately became the most numerous type of RAF Fighter Command. The letter in the designation Va meanwhile means the machine-gun wing with eight barrels, that is the variant of which markedly fewer were built than of the more widespread cannon versions. Most photographs and most models show the latter type, so a Va once built is a welcome change on an exhibition table. The differences moreover do not concern the wing alone; the firing controls and the lettering on the levers inside look different as well.

Relief instead of a flat print

The dials have recessed glasses and raised rims around them, while the levers and the rotary knobs stick out from the base. The difference from an ordinary decal is apparent at once as soon as you look at the model from an angle. The material is at the same time thin enough not to raise the panel above the level the molding has firmly set.

What to watch out for

The commonest trouble tends not to be with the gluing but with a modeler offering the set up to an unfinished cabin and then having to move it about. The second thing is cleanliness: grease from the fingers holds on a printed surface and is hard to remove, which is why it pays to handle it exclusively with tweezers. The glass of the instruments can finally be brought to life with a drop of gloss varnish imitating the reflection on a real dial. At the end, check whether the part reaches anywhere into the path of the seat or the column; such a collision announces itself only when the fuselage is being closed, when it tends to be too late.