1:72 Supermarine Spitfire Mk.I/Mk.II of Czechoslovak pilots in RAF squadrons

Early Spitfires in the hands of Czechoslovak fighter pilots

Nine options map the period when Czechoslovak airmen were not yet flying together in units of their own but were divided among British squadrons as the need arose. The sheet covers the Mk.IA, Mk.IIA and Mk.IIB versions and No. 19, No. 65, No. 111, No. 145, No. 222, No. 303 and No. 501 Squadrons, together with a training aircraft from No. 57 training unit.

Stories hidden behind the serial numbers

Frantisek Hradil served with No. 19 Squadron, one of the promising young pilots who did not return from an operation in September 1941. The same squadron is also represented by an aircraft with the long-range modification, that is with a drop tank under the left wing of the kind used on long sweeps over occupied France. Also of interest is a Czechoslovak fighter pilot posted to the Polish No. 303 Squadron and a pilot with No. 501 Squadron, a unit originally of the auxiliary air force.

Working with the sheet

• nine complete sets of insignia and letter codes
• the serial numbers of the aircraft including the training machine
• the size matches the available kits of the early versions
• printing with deep shades of red and blue

The procedure is the usual one: a smooth gloss coat under the marking, lukewarm water, tweezers with smooth jaws and gentle pressing into the final position with a brush. The package serves as an accessory to a kit; the aircraft itself is obtained separately.

What makes it interesting to collectors is exactly that dispersal among foreign units. Most sheets devoted to Czechoslovak airmen cover the later period, when the home squadrons with their own emblem on the fuselage were already running. This is the period before that, when a Czechoslovak pilot with a British unit was one among many and his aircraft carried purely British markings with no reference to home at all.