1:72 British National Insignias - Supermarine Spitfire

Roundels tailored to one fighter

The Supermarine Spitfire wore several forms of the British national insignia during the war. The roundel went from the prewar multicolored type A through the simplified two-color type B on the upper surfaces during the Battle of Britain to the late types C and C1 with a narrower white ring. The rudder stripes changed too, as did the diameters of the roundels on the fuselage and on the wing, so a builder who wants a machine correct from 1939 to 1945 will not manage with a single size.

That is exactly why this sheet is tied to one particular type. The diameters of the roundels and the widths of the stripes match what really did appear on the wing, the sides of the fuselage and the rudder of the Spitfire, and they are not generic insignia poured onto paper with no regard for the real aircraft.

A procedure that has proved itself

• Polish the surface to a gloss; on a flat varnish the edge of the carrier film will show as a light frame around the roundel.
• Cut the motif out close to the printing and let it release of its own accord in lukewarm water, never pull it off the paper by force.
• Even the curvature of the leading edge and the transition onto the rudder out with a softener, not with pressure from a brush.
• Seal the settled insignia with varnish, so that the rim of the film disappears under a uniform surface texture.

In the package there is printed film; plastic parts do not belong with it. Which particular machine you build from it is a choice to make according to the kit you are buying the sheet for.

Anyone who builds Spitfires in numbers will appreciate that the insignia on this sheet keep to one type. You do not have to go through a generic sheet looking for the diameter that happens to match the span of your wing. What is more, the leftover motifs can be set aside and used later, provided you keep them in the dark and dry, where the carrier film does not yellow and the adhesive layer does not go brittle. Old film gives itself away by tearing in the water before you manage to move it into place.