Brengun continues to bring out interesting accessories that fill in gaps overlooked by mainstream manufacturers. This set is a 50 gallon external tank and the rack for mounting it on a Spitfire. The set consists of a two piece resin tank and small photo etch fret of the mounting rack.

Construction starts with removal of the two resin parts of the tank from their casting blocks. Take some time in lining up your cuts so that they are perpendicular to the tank as the two parts butt join just behind the aft tank strap. If you are off in your cut, you will need to spend some time with a file to square up the ends so that they meet correctly and the tank does not end looking like it has a kink in it. Next I attached the tiny etched filler cap to the front of the tank – this is a very tiny part, so be careful trimming it and getting it in the right place.

After the tank parts are joined, the next step is assembly of the mounting hardware. The instructions have you mount the vertical attachment bracket and then the horizontal top piece before you attach the mounting straps (part #4 on the fret and as shown on the instructions). You are then supposed to either slide part 4 on to the tank around the mounting points for the vertical brace; however, you can’t do this unless you first cut part #4 in half as the brace is right where the straps need to go. I deviated from the assembly order and attached the two straps (part #4) first, then I attached the vertical brace, supergluing it in place between the two raised ridges on each strap, making sure the brace was vertical. I then attached the horizontal part of the mount to the vertical brace and added the front mount with superglue.

Once the front brace was attached and the superglue dried, I used a set of needle-nose pliers to bend the front mount as shown in the instructions. The instructions tell you to make side sway braces for the front mount from wire, but I used stretched sprue instead as it is much easier to adjust the length of styrene as opposed to wire. I also made the rear support from sprue for the same reason.

There are no decals with this set or any painting or mounting instructions other than a small side view drawing of a tank mounted on a Spitfire. The instructions do not tell you what Mark Spitfire the tank was used on, but other reviewers suggest it could be used on early Marks such as the Mk. I and the Mk.V and even up to the Mk. IX and the MK. XVI, so check your references. I need to do some digging to find a picture of the tank actually mounted on a Spitfire so that I can determine what color to paint it.

This is a nice set that will add something different to your Spitfire. Highly recommended.

Thank you to Brengun for the review sample and to IPMS-USA for letting me review it.