1/72 Spitfire Vb, previewed by Francisco Santoro

From Historyofwar.org: "The Mk V was produced in greater numbers than any other single mark of Spitfire. It was the main version of the fighter during 1941, replacing the Mk I and II in service in time to take part in the first British counterattacks over France. During the summer of 1941 it held an advantage over the Bf 109, but in September 1941 the Fw 190 made its operation debut, and the Mk V found itself outclassed... Production was initially divided between the Va with the eight machine gun “a” wing (94 built) and the Vb with the “b” wing of two 20mm cannon and four machine guns. Its main opponent over the summer of 1941 would be the Bf 109F. This was probably the best version of the Bf 109 fighter, and very similar to the Spitfire V."

THE MODEL

This is a 1:72 diecast model of the Spitfire Mk.VB. Since this was the initial release of a collection of 20 aircraft (fighters in 1:72 and bombers in 1:144), it came with a big cardboard backing, which held the model inside a transparent plastic box. Alongside the model came a stand to put the plane, a magazine containing general data about the Spitfire (and a mention to Douglas Bader´s achievements on the aircraft), and a helpful leaflet listing all the upcoming aircraft.

Soon after I got home, I opened the plastic box open with a sharp blade and inspected it closely. The model itself is very well made, with the wings and fuselage made up of metal, with plastic horizontal stabilizers, 20mm cannons and propeller. One detail that was missing (an important one), is the tail wheel, featured in the promotional images of the collection. The main landing gear is in the "up" position. For fun, I decided to look up "Spitfire Mk.VB YQoX" on Google, and the results were interesting: the model appears to be sold by a company called Amercom Die

cast, which shows the aircraft with the wheels down and with the tail wheel. Another fact: Hobby Boss offers this paint scheme on its 1:32 Spitfire Mk.VB. There, the painting instructions mention this aircraft was attached to 616th Squadron, and flown by Flight Lieutenant Les "Buck" Casson.

The model is painted in the standard early RAF camouflage scheme of dark earth/dark green/duck egg blue. The paint scheme is sharply done, but it came with a black smudge under the fuselage (I assume its a fingerprint leftover). The tactical letters are YQoX, with the numbers W3458.

A nice model to have on a shelf if you don´t have the patience (as me) to build a fully fledged scale model. You could easily sand down the original camouflage scheme and paint a new one if you don´t like the stock plane.

KIT #:	?
PRICE:	$11.00
DECALS:	None (prepainted)
REVIEWER:	Francisco Santoro
NOTES:	Diecast model, comes with a stand, no tail wheel.