Back in late 2004 I wanted to model a Mk Vc, but unfortunately nobody made one. Okay, to be fair, Airfix provided their Mk Vc(t) which was their Vb with that atrociously thick blob of a wing. I actually attempted that kit and the result was pretty poor, as expected.
Earlier that year I’d begun a number of Spitfires, and starting building my stash of Spitfires and Seafires. Only a couple of years before that I’d had only 1 Spitfire in my collection and it was on my shelf. An ’80’s build of the Airfix Vb. But there didn’t seem to be a decent Vc.
So after studying a CMR Seafire IIc kit I realized the c wing from it was identical to a Vc (that would be a real “duh” moment today!). Since I’d made the realization that the Revell Vb kit was inaccurate but detailed (cheap yes, no gull wing, though) I considered my first cross-kit by marrying the Seafire’s c wing to the Revell fuselage.
An expensive option, yes. But I was lucky enough to get a free wing out of the effort by publishing my build article for WestCoastHobbys and sharing the info with Petr at CMR. My hope was a resin conversion set from CMR but Petr assured me other things were in the works…I’m sure that meant Sword’s Vc, ultimately.
The Subject
Spitfire Mk Vc, VF-R, 5th Fighter Squadron, 52nd Fighter Group, USAAF, Italy, February 1944. Flown by Lt John Anderson who achieved 2 kills over Me-109’s on 15th February. The aircraft has a non-standard camouflage scheme of a dark green, brown and sand to a non-standard pattern.
It’s possible the colors are RAF Dark Green, Dark Earth and Middlestone, or alternatively USAAF ANA 613 Olive Drab, a brown, and ANA 616 Sand. Or a mix of USAAF and RAF paints or even captured Italian paints.
The underside is thought to be a light blue, possibly a lightened ANA 609 Azure Blue, or RAF Sky Blue or an Italian light blue.
The Model
Since I had a few Revell Vb kits laying around, and the kit is reasonably detailed I cut the lower fuselage until the CMR wing would fit. Like nearly all Spitfire kits in a single scale, the wings and fuselages are interchangeable and this made construction very easy.
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