Spitfire V – always good!

I sit down to write this article again during a hurricane. However, this time I will not make up a fictionalized story, because we have a live coverage on tape that you can hear from Lieutenant Richard L. Lampe. This pilot flew in 2FS, which was part of 52 FG from May / June 1943, when he was assigned to a combat unit. The first operation was the invasion of Sicily. In November 1943, his unit is transferred from Italy to Corsica, its northern headland, ten miles south of Bastia. Corsica is a large, mountainous island with peaks exceeding 2,700 meters above sea level. According to Lieutenant Lampe's account, his service was initially a patrol and ground target sweep on the Spitfire Vc QP * X side number JK180. An interesting story was the risk of the patrol service in the Tyrrhenian Sea. The Germans had an anti-aircraft battery on the island of Elba and on the Italian shore, always giving a warm welcome to all planes. The risk of being shot down carried a real threat of being taken captive, because the Germans, ready for this situation, had fast patrol boats, which, if the Walrus seaplane did not arrive in time and caught the survivor, could then wake up in a prisoner-of-war camp ... a curious story was the day patrol service over the ports of Sicily. The pilots never scored there, because the Germans flew only at night and bombed as they wanted ... In April / May 1944, the old Spitfires V were withdrawn and the 52 FG received the P-51 D planes ... But that's history for another model... He scored 5,5 confirmed kills, but on P-51 D...

Relation of lt. R. L. Lampe:

https://digitalcollections.museumofflight.org/items/show/38083

A few words about building the model. The Airfix Spitfire Vc kit is a new kit, with new forms that I tentatively call the New Airfix. I waited a long time for the model to be re-released again. Earlier, I had watched a few videos on YT and thought to myself that the model was worth my attention, even considering the shortcomings that were pointed out to it. However, until I find out for myself, the topic bothers me. The time has finally come to build. A very nicely folding cockpit, rich in details, practically not needing any aftermarket gadgets, apart from seat belts. The fuselage folded correctly, although the upper engine casing required sanding and light filling. I think this is a recurring topic of skinning injection molds that are not perfectly flat on the joint. We managed to deal with it just as well. Another element that needed some attention was the tropical filter. I used some liquid putty again and sanded. the wings were the moment of truth. Being richer in experience and reading it on the internet, I glued the lower half of the wings to the fuselage, and then the upper half of the wings to the rest of the elements. It turned out that the fit is very good! I think that with the next construction I will improve the effect. I was really happy here, because many popular models have a problem with adjusting the wings and the fun turns into a concert with putty. The tail stabilizers were so designed that their fit to the fuselage was very good. The least thought-out element was the smaller glycol cooler under the left wing. It consisted of two components and did not fit well together. The final test was the folding of the landing gear which performed excellently and finally the fitting of the cockpit glazing. The fairing fitted very well. She was painted very well, which was very satisfying for me. It is true that the set does not include a mirror for the front part of the windshield, but it is a small thing. I think that the Airfix set, despite the sometimes worse level of details (no rivets marked on the fuselage), offers more than the KP and AZ sets, and above all, a very good foldability of the elements, which with the KP and AZ sets, when it comes to the main landing gear and the cabin fairing - you cannot tell. For painting, after reflection, I used diluted Middle Stone and Sky Blue paint for the lower surfaces. To make the painting more attractive, I made the remains of camuflage in Dark Earth color under the main layer of Middle Stone paint. Weathering, as usual, I conducted Oil Wash Modelers World and - for the first time, with a metallic weathering pencil. In addition, I used a resin set of exhaust pipes and main landing gear wheels and a tail wheel. But I emphasize - this is my whim. I suspect that without these elements it would be OK too 😉 The decals came from the Extradecal Spitfire Vc set. They overlapped quite well, although the challenge was to place them on the large unevenness of the model's surface in the bulges of machine gun covers.

PS. I have a hurricane outside my window and today, exceptionally, photos not outside 🙂

Lieutenant Lis will return with the next Spitfire ... 🙂

19 additional images. Click to enlarge.