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

Czechoslovak airmen and their early Spitfires

After the fall of France, squadrons made up of Czechoslovak pilots were formed in Britain, and their re-equipment with Spitfires meant entering the hardest fighting over the Channel. The sheet concentrates on this first phase: it offers aircraft in the Mk.IA version, the Mk.IIA including the version with increased fuel capacity, and the Mk.IIB with cannon armament, that is the forms the units used in 1941 and 1942.

Three squadrons, eight aircraft

The selection includes aircraft of No. 310, No. 312 and No. 313 Squadrons, and among their pilots names such as Tomas Vybiral, Frantisek Fajtl and Stanislav Fejfar. On several aircraft the markings have been left without a named pilot, which matches the case where a photograph is documented but the particular airman is not. For the builder that is an advantage: such an aircraft can be built without the risk that someone will point out a discrepancy in who flew it.

Working with the sheet

The code letters are drawn in two parts because of the way they cross the national insignia, so transfer them in the order given in the reference and let the film dry between them. The deep blue and red in the roundels hold their shape even after a decal softener.

Which kit to choose

Readily available models of the early versions with a two-blade or three-blade propeller are suitable; watch the type of exhausts and the shape of the cowling, which differ on the first production batches. The kit is obtained separately.

Color scheme

The upper surfaces of the early aircraft carried dark green and brown-gray, the underside was light and the transitions between the areas were hard, not sprayed soft. Anyone building an aircraft from the autumn of 1941 should not forget the light band around the fuselage and the colored band on the leading edge of the wing.