1/48 Supermarine Spitfire F. Mk XIVc

152 Sqn, RAF Tengah, 1946

Model, Text and Photos by: Fernando Rolandelli

History:

The Spitfire F. Mk XIV was the first serious attempt to mate the Griffon engine to the Spit fuselage. Earlier, there had been a short run called Mk XII which was merely a Griffon engine grafted into a Mk Vc fuselage and equipped only two squadrons. The definitive Griffon fighter should have been the F. Mk XVIII, but, as always happens to things Spitfire, an interim version was deemed necessary, which, in the end, fulfilled the role of air superiority fighter satisfactorily. Why the British still chose at first the “c” armament configuration at first is beyond me.

This particular machine, serial nº RM 908, was part of Contract Number B980385/39, placed in October 1943; built by Vickers Supermarine between April 1944 and May 1945.

The Kit (well… kits):

It is amazing that there is no injected, state-of-the-art kit of the traditional-winged Griffon-powered Spitfire in 1/48 scale, and by state-of-the-art I mean at least correct (the much-vaunted Airfix F.22/24 depicts the new-wing versions, and we’ll talk later about the Academy kits). All the modeler has is a motley collection of conversion sets, vac-formed kits and assorted metal pieces. There are lots of decals depicting interesting versions, but no mainstream kit manufacturer has taken the lead with a good kit.

The base of this project was the Aeroclub F.21 Conversion. It comprises one fuselage (obviously molded on the Airfix), complete propeller and assorted pieces in white metal, enough to build a F.21 with just the Seafire F.46 wings in the Airfix kit. But a quick glance at the appropriate references shows that, mated to a traditional wing, a F. Mk XIV can be built

The donor kit was the ill-fated Academy. I had bought it hoping that minor work should overcome its deficiencies, but it was not so. The kit is dreadful, and no replacement nose can alleviate the “pregnant cat” look of the at least 2 mm too deep fuselage. But wings and small parts are reasonably well detailed and accurate, so they would work. In hindsight, there is no reason for not using a cheaper alternative, like the ICM Mk IX.

To provide some interior detail, I bought the Eduard set nº 48446, for the Academy kit… it was not a good choice, being too complex and, designed for the completely misshapen Academy fuselage,  a lot of work is needed to adapt it to the Aeroclub interior; something made for the Airfix kit would possibly work better.

The decals came from an Eagle Strike set, which provide a good collection of late marquee Spitfires, including three Far East ones. Most should be checked against references, however.

Armed with all that plastic and assorted accessories, I started building a hopefully accurate Spitfire F. Mk XIVc. The first dry-fits encouraged me: the wing to fuselage union is so obvious in the Spitfire that even wholly different kits mate broadly.

Construction:

As always, it began with the cockpit… by dremelling all the extremely heavy detail, and at least half the walls’ thickness, in preparation for the Eduard PE set. Meanwhile, I took time to compare the Aeroclub fuselage to the Academy one; the results can be seen in the photos. Made for the Academy fuselage, the Eduard sidewalls are bigger and deeper than the Aeroclub’s. These needed to be trimmed to shape. The instrument panel was also shaped to the Academy kit. I rounded down the upper lip to make it fit. T he GS Mk 9 sight is a piece of art, though… or would be after much binding of the PE parts! I grinded down the metal bulkhead, and rebuilt them with the PE pieces. Every part going into the fuselage was Aeroclub or Eduard. I had to grind down the rudder from both the inside and the outside; losing the little fabric detail it had… I built them up with Tamiya tape; if seen from a distance it works. I also blanked off the slits for the exhausts from the inside, to glue them after painting. Sand the outside of the fuselage halves to get better defined panel lines, but be very careful… the plastic peels off! The halves do not match exactly, but it is nothing serious. Incredibly, for an “accuracy-based” company as Aeroclub, the radio hatch is on the wrong side, not only for the Mk XIV, which the kit is not intended to depict, but for the F.21 as well! It’s just a “fill and rescribe” thing.

On the other side, everything on the wings was Academy or Eduard. The Aeroclub radiators seem better shaped, but I opted for the simpler fit of the Academy; they were detailed with Eduard parts. I also had the Aeroclub cannons (and some Hasegawa Mk VIII ones) but Academy’s were the best shaped. Cannon/machine gun underwing fairings are only “represented” by a round panel line (!), so I reproduced them with blobs of “Parsecs” epoxy. The panel line in the middle of the cannon cover is angled, not straight, in the Mk XIV; fill the old, scribe a new one. Also fill the exterior cannon ejection port. Do not forget about the landing lights; they are glued from the inside. Spite of the subtle angle the undercarriage has, the Eduard detail parts fit well. Wing and fuselage mated reasonably well, better than in some kits I have seen! I cut some of the “tail” in the lower wing to fuselage joint; had it been the other way round, it would have been more difficult. The carburetor intake is the Academy’s, with the Eduard blanking plate, the Aeroclub one is a lump of white metal… I will have to use it in any F.21 project, as well as most other metal pieces. Lots of preparation work awaits for the enterprising modeler then.

After much filling and sanding (but nothing out of the ordinary… well, almost), I fitted the vac-formed Aeroclub canopy. Contrary to most modelers, I love vac canopies, and would exchange the kit inject one (at least the moving part) by an aftermarket vac, especially in 1/72nd. But in this case, the undefined cockpit opening certainly made me sweat… However, Aeroclub is a professional of vac canopies, and the windscreen of the single provided (molded “closed”) fitted the cockpit opening without a glitch, after leveling the lip in the fuselage with a smudge of putty. Fairing it well was a laborious task, however; the characteristic “step” was lost in the process.

Pay attention to the propeller. I know, a limited-run, five blade propeller (big blades…), with separate blades is something to be afraid of. Consider that you cannot just attach the blades to the back plate and then the spinner… the angle of the blade’s roots do not allow it to be that simple. You’ll have to attach the spinner to the back plate first, and then the blades, so dry fit and file the mounting lugs before that.

Painting & Weathering:

Well, after all the arguing raging around German, Japanese, Soviet and American camouflage, RAF schemes seem the simplest of the lot, and so their colors!

Interiors were painted in Interior Gray-Green, from the Polly S range. Details were picked up in several colors, mostly Black for the boxes and Burnt Umber for the bakelite seat.

The exterior was painted in the usual Temperate Land Scheme of DG/OG/MSG. White SEAC bands on wings, but Sky band on fuselage and no bands at all on tail surfaces. Over the Light Grey primer, I did a Raw Umber/Black preshade, and then painted the MSG, masked with Tamiya tape, painted the OG and then the DG free hand. I used old Aeromaster enamels; their pigments in them were never very stable, and age affects them badly. Then I masked and painted the White bands in the wings and the Sky Type S one in the rear fuselage. They show a little of the colors under it, but just enough to make an “instant weathering” effect. The painted out European style Type Bs, Cs and C1s roundels were mimicked by stronger camouflage colors airbrushed freehand.

Some weathering with oils – I usually protect enamel-painted kits with some acrylic gloss varnish before using oils- and pastels and chipped paint followed, but very restrained: this is a post war aircraft, and they were better entertained than their less lucky fighting colleagues. Wheel wells were painted in the underside colour; this can be contested, but they are rather shallow and in this way they are less conspicuous; the tailwheel well was solid, opening it meant losing the mount for the wheel leg, so I resorted to painting it black.

 Decals:

I chose RM918 because it is a rather anonymous machine, not flown by any “personality”. Most aftermarket decals for F. Mk XIVs depict “aces’ aircrafts”, usually Sqn. or Wing commanders … but do not be fooled, to my knowledge, there are no “Spit XIV aces”… all of them got the bulk of their victories flying earlier marks. The Eagle Strike decals are first class in color, definition and proportions. To my good old Mk 1 Eyeball the serial number is a bit large. They went down properly on the glossed surfaces with the help of Micro Sol – Set. The instructions show the small SEAC roundels off-center regarding the European style ones; I think it was more common to center them.

 Conclusion:

Man, this was a putty-intensive project! However, it is pretty straightforward, with no hidden turnarounds or vices, so it is perfect for the modeler looking for some kit-bashing conversion. If you drop the idea of superdetailing the interior (and possibly, fit a closed canopy), it gets much simpler. The look of a Griffon Spit (of an accurate one!) is a wonderful mix of power and grace, and it is only a paradox that the British could field this extremely capable fighter when there was so little need of it.

References:

- “The Supermarine Spitfire Part 2: Griffon-Powered”, SAM Publications

- “Late Marque Spitfire Aces”, Osprey Publishing.

Models and Accessories: