The Aircraft

The Spitfire is the British fighter from World War II. Sure, there were Hurricanes, Tempests, Typhoons, Mustangs, Mosquitoes, and Meteors, but there were more Spitfires than any of them. More to the point, there have been injection molded kits in 1/144 of the Spirfire I and 5, but this is the first Mark IX. Kami de Korokoro has a resin Mark IX.

The Kit

You get two of every part, but there are two types of wing – one full-span, one with clipped wing. There are six marking options, three for clipped, three for full wings. These are shown on the back of the box and with 4-view drawings in the instructions.

Construction

Like most 1/144 fighter kits, this one is pretty simple. Two fuselage halves, a one-piece wing, horizontal stabilizers left and right, and the canopy, and it was ready to paint. Notice that there’s no cockpit interior. That’s an add-on that I didn’t have. It’s Eduard stock number 144006, available for $7.99.

I was quite impressed with how well everything fit. No gaps, no misalignment, no putty needed.

Also included is the canopy mask and wheel mask. There are two, one for each model in the box. Eduard does fine masks, and this one is very good. Unfortunately there’s nothing in the instructions on how the mask goes on the canopy. To help out with figuring out what went where, I used a black weathering wash on the cut sheet so I could see what parts were there.

Painting

Once I had the canopy masked, I figured out the colors from the listing. I decided to do the clipped-wing version in French markings. The colors called for don’t match the colors in the drawings. The drawings look like the Fleet Air Arm late war colors of Extra Dark Sea Gray and Slate Gray, but the color chart calls out RAF Dark Green (FS 34079) and Ocean Gray (FS 36152). And that’s what I used.

I painted the entire top Ocean Gray, then made a mask from Tamiya Tape, applied the mask. and painted the rest of the top Dark Green. Then I applied straight tape and painted the underside gray.

After removing the masks, I applied a coat of Future to give the decals a good base.

Decals

The decals are quite nice, with good register. I had a little trouble with one of the tail stripes, and I later discovered it had folded. My problem, not theirs. I fixed it with some paint and a fine-point brush.

Finishing

After the decals set up, I put on another coat of Future, followed by an acryl clear flat. I then put on the landing gear and propeller. The prop spinner is two parts, and everything fits. I now see from my pictures I’m going to have to fix the prop, as something happened and it’s not straight. Sigh.

Evaluation

Highly recommended. This is the best Spitfire available in this scale. If your AMS level is above a 6, you’ll want the cockpit interior. Additionally, this kit has great fit and markings for six interesting aircraft.

Thanks very much to Eduard for the review kit and IPMS-USA for the review space.