Spitfire Vc, EP694/I, Royal Hellenic Air Force, 1946

The Subject

With the liberation of Greece in 1944 the RAF arrived with Nos 32 and 94 Squadrons both flying the Spitfire Mk V.  In 1946 these were turned over to the Hellenic Air Force and continued to operate in their Civil War, which lasted until 1949.  Most Spitfires Mk V were withdrawn from service after the Civil War and either replaced with Mk IX or XVI Spitfires, or the SB2C-5 Helldiver in the strike role.

The Model

A new tooling released in 2020, I was able to get this Airfix 1/72 Spitfire Vc later in the year and quickly finished this by February 2021.  I’ve got other Spitfire Vc models on the shelf, but these are all kit bashes from a standard Mk Vb or a short run Sword kit. 

The kit goes together quite easily, much better than their recent, but earlier Mk I and Mk IX kits, and has a significant amount of detail.  Yes, the plastic is soft and the recessed details seem a bit deep, but I don’t mind these minor issues.

Assembly was very fast with zero issues, and after seam clean up I painted the entire kit in Tamiya AS-12 Aluminum.  I then masked off the tail and cowling and painted these.  Details were ticked out and while I did not add any weathering, I have since been focusing on my weather skills so I may add a bit of wash.

Decals are from XtraDecal sheet 72-318 and as usual, went on with ease.

Summary

This is a fantastic kit.  Easy to assemble and of course there are so many markings available a large collection can be made just based on this kit.  I have quite a few sheets of decals for the Mk Vc, so I’m looking forward to making more.