Czech Master Resin 1/72
Kit 175 Spitfire F Mk. IX, Rolls-Royce Conversion
Kit 178 Spitfire F/HF Mk. VII

Introduction

One would logically assume that the Mk.VII Spitfire preceded the Mk. IX but when has logic ever been a part of the bureaucracy and chaos of aviation, especially in wartime? In December 1941 Rolls-Royce installed a special Merlin intended for a high altitude Wellington in the much modified 2nd Spitfire Mk. III prototype for evaluation. The Merlin 61 had a two-stage, two-speed, engine-driven supercharger. This engine was about nine inches longer than a single stage Merlin and a bit heavier. This installation worked so well that the Supermarine Type 361, Mk. IX was leap-frogged ahead of the Mks. VII and VIII, which were then in development.

As a counter to the appearance of the Fw 190s over England in September 1941, production of the Mk. IX was jump-started by Rolls-Royce converting 48 already built Mk. Vs and Supermarine doing the same with another 52 whilst production priorities were being shuffled. All 100 of these converted airplanes were given serials prefixed AB, BR and BS. They all had the equal sized radiator fairings, designed for the Mk. VII, under each wing. Ironically, as it turned out, the stopgap Mk. IX became the most produced variant of the Spitfire and the VII and VIII were built in rather limited numbers. The official Mk. IX designations indicate the intended operational altitude: “LF” for low altitude ops with a Merlin 61, “F” for general ops with a Merlin 61 or 63 and “HF” for high altitude ops with a Merlin 70. The LF Mk. IX was the most numerous of the three sub types.

The Type 351 Spitfire HF Mk. VII was a high altitude fighter fitted with a Merlin 61, extended wing tips, shortened ailerons, broader cord pointed rudder and cockpit pressurization. The traditional flap-door for pilot entry was deleted to facilitate pressurization. It also, of course, had the two equal size radiator fairings to house an engine coolant radiator in each plus the intercooler for the supercharger in the right and the engine oil cooler in the left.

F Mk. VB, AB450, the first true prototype of the Mk. VII and VIII first flew in July 1942.

The Mk. VIII was, simply, an unpressurized Mk. VII.

The Kits

I’m reviewing these two Mks. together because they are related and because they both arrived on my desk in the same mail and there is only so much you can say about CMR’s stream of new releases of Spitfires. They just keep getting better and better. CMR sure do like Spitfires and do a great job with them.

The parts scans show there is the usual plethora of parts finely cast in cream-colored resin with landing gear struts in high-strength black resin. Instead of the usual two Vac canopies you get four in these kits - two of each style. Both kits provide optional blisters to cover the gun breeches.

The Mk. IX has two complete wings; one with standard tips and the other with extended tips.

The VII has only the extended tip wing. Check your references carefully on this point as some VIIs and VIIIs had standard tips. The only external store provided in both kits is the fuselage “slipper” tank. Lamentably there are no beer barrels for the Mk. IX.

Both kits, as now seems to be standard for CMR Spitfires, include Eduard partially pre-painted photo-etched parts and Eduard die-cut canopy painting masks.

The crisp, perfectly registered, decal sheets are beautifully printed by Tally Ho! and include comprehensive stencil data, which is a hallmark of the Tally Ho! brand.

The Mk.IX kit has markings for six planes:

1. BR143, SZ-S (Polish) “City of Warsaw”, Sqd., Northolt, early 1942.

2. BR138, AU-G, 421 Sqd., RCAF, mid 1943.

3. AB196, The first Mk. V converted to Mk. IX by Rolls-Royce at Hucknall.

4. AB505, no details given.

5. BS342, R, 238 Sqd., Port Said, 1943 (long wing; Med. Sea Gray/PRU Blue).

6. BS274, A & AEE at Boscombe Down test center. The s/n was mispainted at the factory as BF274 and never corrected.

Except as noted for BS342 all were Dark Green and Ocean Gray over Medium Sea Gray.

The Mk. VII kit has markings for nine planes:

1. EN474, No codes, given to USAAF for testing by NACA at Langley Field from August to November 1944. The fully restored plane is currently on display at the NASM

2. AB450, No codes, the first Mk. VII prototype as tested, in PRU Blue over Deep Sky, in Jan. and Feb. 1943 at Northolt and Boscombe Down.

3. BS 142, No codes, the factory-fresh 2nd production Mk. VII in Sept. 1942 prior to receiving codes for 124 Sqd.

4. MD106, YQ-W, 616 Sqd., Flt. Lt. Jack Cleland’s “Isabel II”, June 1944, with underside invasion stripes.

5. MD172, NX-L, 131 Sqd· MD182, YQ-E, 616 Sqd., Flg. Off. Don Nicholson, May –June 1944 with and without invasion stripes.

6. MD182, YQ-E, 616 Sqd., Flt. Lt. Jack Cleland, Sept. 1944 with invasion stripes.

7. MD120, NX-O, 131 Sqd., three options: one with, and two without, invasion stripes, March 1943-June 1944.

8. MD122, DU-Z, 312 Sqd., (Czechoslovakia) At Skaebrae, Orkney, July 1943.

9. MD139, ON-W, 124 Sqd., Flg. Off. Walter Hibbert, Broadwell Bay, June 1944.

Four of these are in Medium Sea Grey over PRU blue; the others are Dark Green and Ocean Grey over Medium Sea Grey.

The instruction packet with the Mk. VII includes four sheets with a potted history of EN474 and 40 detail photos. The Mk. IX includes no reference photos.

As to making a Mk. VIII from the VII kit, all a modeler has to do is carve the cockpit compressor intake and fairing from the right side of the VII’s nose.

Conclusion

The CMR fleet of Spitfires continues to grow and the quality of the kits continues to improve. Where will it all end? These are terrific kits. Hannants lists them for 25.99 and 26.99 pounds respectively.

Thanks to Czech Master Resin for providing these kits for review.

References

There are far too many Spitfire references to list but a serious researcher/ modeler needs only one….

• Spitfire – The History: Eric B. Morgan & Edward Shacklady, Key Books Ltd, UK, 1987/2000, ISBN 0-946219-48-6.