discussion COMPLETED Tamiya 1/32 Spitfire Mk XIV

[stona]

Here is my completed 1/32 scale Tamiya Spitfire XVI.

There’s really nothing to say about the kit. It’s a Tamiya ‘uber’ kit and is as good as you would expect. The only downside is the price. I acquired this one for £120, but they go for more than that. Having said that, you get what you pay for.

The main markings have been sprayed using a mask set from Maketar. I’ve used their masks many times, they always do exactly what they are supposed to and are always well made. Stencils etc. are a mixture of kit and spare decals.

TE203 rolled off the Castle Bromwich production line in early 1945 with a Packard Merlin 266 engine fitted. It was at No 19 Maintenance Unit on 28 April before being sent to No 411 Squadron on 7 May. On 28 May it was transferred to No 401 Squadron.

On 14 July 1947 the aircraft was moved to No 1 Photo Reconnaissance Fighter Unit.

On 17 February 1950 it was transferred to the Flying Refresher School at RAF Finningley in Yorkshire, a unit subsequently redesignated as No 101 Flying Refresher School. The model shows the aircraft as it would have looked at this time. Finningley is now the grandly named Robin Hood International Airport.

On 14 September 1954 the aircraft was declared Category 5. There were various sub-divisions of this category and I don’t know which, but they all mean that the aircraft was beyond economical repair.

Without further ado one of my virtual walkarounds, or fly arounds, in the suspiciously blue looking Yorkshire skies.













And one showing the stand, high enough for this model to 'fly' on a shelf over the present incumbents.

 

[yak face]

Beautiful job steve , we dont see enough silver spits . I think the silver really emphasises the clean lines and the contrast with the big tricolour roundels is lovely . Great work .
regards R . Hood , finningley

 

[BarryW]

Brilliant job Steve. Great photography. That is something I must really work on in retirement.

 

[adt70hk]

Beautiful job Steve.

Very well done indeed.

Andrew

 

[Ian M]

Very nice Steve.

 

[stona]

Thanks fellas.

I found a photograph of the original, not that it would have helped much

 

[Jim R]

Hi Steve
A beautiful model very nicely photographed and displayed. Nice to see a late production Spitfire modelled in flight.
Jim

 

[Guest]

Superb work Steve. Great finish & just lovely restricted effects applied. Masterclass.

Certainly TE203 (1940s model) is a little more distressed

Laurie

 

[Allen Dewire]

Fantastic build Steve and the alu finish is most excellently done!!!

Prost
Allen

 

[Tim Marlow]

Very nice Steve. The lines of the aircraft really come out well in that build.

 

[Steven000]

Beautiful model Steve, well done!

 

[Guest]

Hope you do not mind Steve . Very relevant & poignant Spitfire based.

And my favourite poem. Gillespie. Lived in USA English mother Indian father. Wanted to join RAF in WW11. Not allowed by USA. So joined Royal Canadian Airforce hence then RAF.

Killed aged 19 landing his Spitfire at Hendon when another landed on him

It is just a superb piece of poetry. Written in his mind while flying high. Written aged 19 wow. Also shows the loneliness of a pilot but the beauty of piloting his aircraft alone in the atmosphere.

Laurie

HIGH FLIGHT.

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;

Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,

I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air. . . .

Up, up the long, delirious burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or ever eagle flew —

And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,

Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

— John Gillespie Magee, Jr

 

[Tim Marlow]

Always loved that Laurie, but never realised he was so young. Thanks for posting it.

 

[Guest]

Always loved that Laurie, but never realised he was so young. Thanks for posting it.

Very wselcome Tim cracks me up every time I read it.

Laurie

 

[Tim Marlow]

Along with the First war generation his was an extremely literate age.

 

[papa 695]

Cracking work Steve

 

[The Migrant]

That's just beautiful. I like your representation of the spinning prop too- just a simple spinner which suggests rotating blades rather than trying to replicate it.

 

[Lee Drennen]

Very nice and very nicely displayed

 

[stona]

That's just beautiful. I like your representation of the spinning prop too- just a simple spinner which suggests rotating blades rather than trying to replicate it.

Thanks Mike.

I tried various things over the years to represent spinning propellers, from 'prop blurs' to acrylic discs and nothing came close. It was at an air show some years ago that as I was watching the various aircraft zooming by, I realised that I could not see the propellers...at all.

All I've ever done since is fill the spinners and smooth them off. It works for me

 

[minitnkr]

Great result Steve, and beautifully presented. Always loved the poem, but never knew the source, thanks for inspiring Laurie to post it.