1/72 Hasegawa Spitfire MkXII |
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Article by Drewe Manton |
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1/72 Hasegawa Spitfire MkVIII converted to a MkXII with Paragon resin set
Entering servce
in 1943, the Spitfire MkXII, the first Griffon engined Spitfire to enter series
production, was a bit of a limited run aircraft. Only serving with two
squadrons, 41 and 92, something less than 100 were made in total. Easily
identified by it's short nose and 4 blade prop, coupled with the small bulge
over the nose, they were based initially on Spitfire MkV's, and later on
MkVIII's, an easy identifier being the tailwheel. . MkV based had a fixed
tailwheel and later, MkVIII based had a retractable tailwheel. It was
unusual for a Griffon Spit in having the early radiator/oil coller arrangement
under the wings, and all aircraft had the early style full span ailerons and the
earlier mass balance style of tailplane. All aircraft had clipped wings.
Tho'
numerically something of a side-event in the annals of Spitfire production, the
type is nevertheless deserving of a place in any Spitfire line up, for it gave
sterling servoce for the few months it was actually at the front line, chasing
the "tip&run" FW-190 raiders. It was soon superceeded by the
much superior MkXIV, the first purpose designed Griffon Spit, and a true
thoroughbred in every sense of the word.
This 1/72nd scale model was made utilising a Hasegawa
Spitfire MkVIII and the Paragon resin conversion set, and is a conversion that
can be heartily reccomended for the newcomer to resin and/or conversions. Neil
Burkhill's new nose and prop assembly, along with the oil cooler for the
underwing, are superb examples of the caster's art, and match the host kit
remarkably well.
. . a quick and easy conversion! My example did have a
large air bubble in the Stbd side of the nose, but this was away from any detail
and easily cured with superglue and accelerator. The conversion does
provide props, but I was clumsy enough to lose one, and so my props are the
overly thick and not quite right examples from an Academy Spit XIV!
Tailplanes on my example are from an Italeri MkIX, tho' converting the kit ones
to suit wouldn't be a major task. . I just had them to hand and so decided to
use them.
Click on
images below to see larger images
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The
model is finished with Humbrol enamels, the camoflage being freehand airbrushed.
Decals are a mixture, with the roundels being from Aeromaster, codes from
Modeldecal and stencils from Italeri. The serial number was produced on an ALPS
printer by a friend of mine. Final finish is washed and weathered with oils and
sealed with Polly Scale flat acrylic (the best matt varnish around IMHO!)