The fit of the wing parts was perfect, and the dihedral looked good, but the wing tips were too thick. The Spitfire never should be parked flaps down, except for maintenance, so I glued the flap actuator doors closed. I glued the landing lights in the closed position and left out the flap actuator arms, which protrude through hatches in the upper wings. The guns, ammunition trays, control surfaces, and even the hydraulic undercarriage actuating arms were installed in the lower wing before the upper halves were glued in place. I elongated the holes at the rear and eventually super glued the struts at the proper angle.
#Spitfire wheels logo wallpaper trial
With trial fitting, I found that the oleo legs protruded from the wing at a 90-degree angle, rather than being "kicked" forward as they should have been. The wheel-well enclosures are separate and include square mounting holes for the oleo legs. The wing is composed of one main lower span and two upper halves. In cross section, the cockpit opening appears a bit too wide at the top. The cockpit and engine/firewall assemblies fit beautifully into the fuselage. I eventually made them stationary with super glue. I originally followed the instructions and made all the control surfaces movable, but they flopped around wherever gravity would take them. This same procedure applies to the other control surfaces. The hinges then must be super glued onto tabs inside the vertical stabilizer before the fuselage halves are glued together. The rudder must be assembled with the photoetched hinges on the metal shaft inside. The wheel and tire can be left off till after final assembly. The tail wheel is like a little kit in itself, and although the inner part will never be seen after the fuselage goes together, it does give the modeler a good understanding of the real one. The bracing under the cowl is not accurate, and none should appear over the engine. The completed engine is a nice starting point for adding more realistic plumbing and wiring. The exhaust stacks are well done but lack a back plate on the fishtails. G34 and G35 represent the under-engine oil tank, which would appear only on later Spitfires and should be left off of a Mk.V.
There is also a serpentine rubber part that adds detail to the firewall. I drilled out the holes to receive them rather than try to super glue them in place. Trumpeter includes flexible rubber wiring for the lower ignition harnesses.
#Spitfire wheels logo wallpaper plus
The engine is built from 32 parts plus five more for the engine bearers and firewall. The undercarriage selection quadrant is nice but curiously has the selection lever in the up position.
The rudder pedals are oversize, and the spade grip has the wrong gun-firing button for a cannon-armed Spitfire. The instrument panel is clear, with holes to view the printed instruments on the acetate sheet behind. Trumpeter provides a floor with cutouts for the rudder push rods, but Spitfires didn't have floors. The seat also sits far too low, and there is no armor plate behind it.
I left that part out and added a masking tape Sutton harness to help make the seat look better. A part representing wooden boards for the pilot to sit on is provided, but there's nothing like that in a real Spitfire. I began with the cockpit, which is the weakest area of the kit for scale fidelity. Be careful painting them, as the color call-outs in Trumpeter's instructions are misleading. Whew! There are many subassemblies in this kit, and I departed from the plans by building all of them in advance. There are also six rubber parts, 25 photoetched hinges, 13 metal rods, one printed acetate film, a decal sheet, a color painting and decaling guide, and a 16-page instruction book. Four black Delrin parts are provided for the operating oleo legs. The 20 clear parts are thin and include the engine side cowls for an optional way to display the Merlin engine. Cleanup of the edges shouldn't mar the surface, but the little sprue nubs have to be carefully removed to achieve good fit. Ejector-pin marks are well hidden, and the sprue gates are on the edges of the parts - that's good and bad news. The plastic parts are molded in light gray, medium-soft styrene. When I first opened the box, I was stunned at the number of parts - and the size of them! The recessed panel lines and rivet detail are well done with no flash or sink marks. So if you're going to make a big kit of a Spitfire, the Mk.Vb is a good choice. The Mk.V was the most-produced of all Spitfires, and the Vb the most numerous within the Mk.V series.