ITALERI 1:72 SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE MK.VB
'In The Box Review'

 

Reviewer: Trevor Boxall  (rec.models.scale)

Bought this kit out of a backdoor sale at the local hobby shop going on the cheap.  The kit has been out for a couple of years and while my display cabinet has a whole heap of Spitfires, I yet to have added one of the most famous early marks, the Vb.  So the Italeri kit was taken home.

Inside the box there are about 59 parts in a light grey colour on two sprues with a clear sprue covering the three piece canopy set, optional canopy and gunsight.  Two types of canopies are provided for the kit, with external and internal windscreens.  Engraved panel lines, no flash, nice crisp Italeri mold.

The interior is a bit basic with no sidewall detail on the fuselage sides.  There is also a large floor piece (remember that the Spitfire didn't really have a floor!) on which a nicely rendered seat is attached with main instrument panel, sick and bulkhead.

Fuselage profile looks accurate and measures up well against some scale drawings I have in 1/72 scale so am very happy with this.  The breakdown is logical, split behind the engine with a standard nose, Vokes filter and Aboukir filter supplied as options.  The tail section is split into five pieces including a separate rudder.  There is no engine, the spinner and props attach through the shaft and stopper so it can be allowed to move once completed.  Both De Havilland and Rotol propellor/spinners are provided.  The prop blades, however, do not look the part very well.

A minor amount of detail is in the wheel wells but they are quite shallow.  Standard B type wings are provided including a clipped wing option and they capture the gull-wing shape well in my opinion.  Tailplanes also look right.  The wings are split into standard halves and include cannons already molded on.  The cannons are a bit of a let down, they are underscale and just bits of plastic jutting out.  The water cooler on the underside of the wing appears to be too wide.

Three versions are depicted on the decal sheet, two RAF and one USAAF, from No.249 Sqn (Trop, Malta, 1942); No.244 Sqn (Trop, North Africa, 1943) and 4th FG/335th FS (based at Debden, UK, 1942) respectively.  The decals are printed by Cartograf and are in very good colour register, although the British roundel was printed a touch off centre.

Test fitting major components reveals no concerns that I can see, although the parts surrounding the engine might be a bit poor fitting on the fuselage halves. Wings go together okay as well.  Hard to tell from the tail section because it is split into a number of pieces, but can't test everything, or the box would be full of loose parts!

In the box this looks like a pretty acceptable and accurate Spitfire Mk.Vb with good options and not a lot that appears to let the kit down.  Definitely a recommended buy.

Addendum by Trevor: I have now built the Italeri Spitfire Mk.IXc which had some poor fits and needed a lot of filler and sanding, so now I am sceptical about the perceived nice fitting this Mk Vb kit conveys.

 

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