Continuing the wartime development of the famous Super marine Spitfire, the mk. Xiv saw the classic shape of Mitchell’s celebrated fighter paired with the awesome power of the new rolls Royce Griffon engine. The aircraft was superb and one of the RAF’s most capable fighters of WWII, proving particularly successful when employed against the V-1 flying bomb attacks which Germany launched against Southern Britain, from the summer of 1944. The adoption of the Rolls-Royce Griffon engine provided the Spitfire with a significant increase in performance, but not without presenting Super marine designers and pilots converting to the aircraft with a few challenges. Installation of the new engine in the existing Spitfire airframe required a redesign of both the front and rear sections of the aircraft and the use of a distinctive five bladed rotol propeller. Pilots used to flying Merlin engine versions of the aircraft would find the Griffon turned in the propeller in the opposite direction and whilst the earlier aircraft tended to veer to the left on take-off, the Griffon powered machines would veer in the opposite direction – if the pilot forgot and applied their usual corrective inputs, their first Flight could be a particularly short and uncomfortable one. As the only British fighter Type to remain in production throughout WWII, the Spitfire was constantly developed to ensure it remained at the forefront of fighter performance, with the Griffon powered aircraft being around 80 mph faster than the original Mk. I machines. With the purr of the early Merlin engines replaced by the throaty growl of the mighty Griffon, these later developments appear to be much more capable versions of the fighter than the classic early Spitfires, even though they are basically a development of them. The Griffin powered Spitfire Mk. Xiv possessed greater performance than that of the thoroughbred Mk. Ix and therefore was superior to both the Luftwaffe Focke Wulf Fw 190 and the latest versions of the Messerschmitt Bf 109. Taking part in air operations in support of and in the months following the D-Day landings, the mk. Xiv was used extensively by the 2nd tactical air Force, equipping all 20 of the Spitfire squadrons that operated from the continent in the months between D-Day and ve-day. Employed predominantly in an armed reconnaissance role, these fearsome fighters would search for targets behind German lines, attempting to disrupt both their retreat and their ability to send reinforcements to the current front line. Their speed also made them an ideal aircraft to help counter The growing Doodlebug threat endured by Southern Britain in the months following operation Overlord and the D-Day landings.
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Being a slightly larger scale, 1: 48 allows Modelers to add those intricate details that is absent from smaller scales.
Skill level: 2. Dimensions of completed kit: length 206mm x width 209mm. Number of parts: 118.
Primary scheme: Super marine Spitfire favorite Mk XIV flown by Squadron leader James Bernard Prendergast, no 414 Squadron, royal Canadian air Force, B156 Luneburg, Germany may/June 1945. Scheme 2: Super marine Spitfire Mk XIV no 11 (AC) Squadron, RAF, second tactical air Force (2TAF), RAF buckeburg, Germany 1950-1951.
Painting required: yes, paints need to be purchased separately.
Humbrol paints needed are listed on the outside of the box.
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