Supermarine Spitfire FR Mk.IXc

After spending most of 2022 drooling over it, I decided to get this kit as a Christmas present to myself. It is really an amazing, superdetailed kit and I had a great time building it.

As I have mentioned before, I am not a big fan of the standard green-grey RAF camouflage. So, after spending some time looking for alternative schemes for this kit, I found a set from Xtradecal, for a pink(!) reconnaissance spitfire. I decided that this would be the one to build, instantly!

Compared to the standard Spitfire Mk.IXc, the FR (fighter / reconnaissance) version has a camera behind the cockpit, in the compartment that normally houses the radio. Unlike the other Reconnaissance versions of the spitfire, this one retained its wings armament. This was very good as the Airfix kit includes all the cannons and machine-guns and I wanted to display it with the access panels open.

In order to make this an FR version, I had to open the round camera window on the radio access panel hatch. I decided to go one step further. I cut the hatch open (it was rather easy, as the outline of the hatch was already marked internally) and I built a new access panel, that included the round window. In fact, I made the entire window using a transparent piece of plastic and I added the internal frame (that I designed and 3D-printed myself) with a round hole behind it.

I also designed 3D-printed the F.24 camera and its supporting frames, as well as its control panel inside the cockpit.

In accordance to the references I found online, I moved the radio a bit to the front (not that it can be seen in the end).

I also added some cables. I mostly used 0.2mm solder wire, wrapped around 0.5mm solder wire.

Finally, I scratch built the control wires that run the length of the fuselage towards the tail but this also cannot be seen in the finished model.

The invasion stripes were done using White Mr. Finishing Surfacer 1500 and Tamiya NATO Black. Then I applied the main colour: PRU Pink from MRP. Afterwards, I did dome highlights using a mix of PRU Pink and White. I used the same mix – applied very thinly and from a distance to tone down the stencils at the end.

Finally, I used various tones of Clay Washes to do the weathering.

All in all, building this was a great experience. I really enjoyed it. I only with I had the space (and money) to build more 1/24 kits!