Czech Master Resin No. 176
1/72 Supermarine Spitfire Tr. 9
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History
The Tr. 9 Spit has to be a very viable candidate for the title of the
World’s Ugliest Airplane. Beauty (?) aside it is a Spitfire and
CMR appear bent upon kitting every known mark of Spitfire so it was inevitable
that, by-and-by, they would do the ugliest of them all.
The need for a Spitfire trainer was apparent from the beginning of production
in the late thirties but the RAF’s need for fighters precluded serious
consideration of one until after WWII had ended. So it was that the first
of the ugliest flew in early 1947. The prototype, MT 818 was retained
by Vickers as G-AIDN and was actually based on the Mk.VIII airframe. Their
needs having passed with the end of the war, the RAF bought none but four
other nations bought a total of 20 Tr. 9s: Egypt – one, India –
ten, Ireland – six and the Netherlands - three.
Several of these twenty still fly; some converted to single-seaters
by Warbird enthusiasts and a few as two-holers.
The Kit
What can I say that I, and many others, have not already said about
CMR’s line of Spitfires? Not much other than to note that this kit
continues the line with the quality and completeness we’ve come
to expect from Czech Master Resin. The illustrations herewith reveal all.
Of the six sheets of instructional material provided, two are devoted
to a comprehensive history of the type and six to colors and markings.
The beautiful decal sheet provides markings for one Indian, eight Irish,
seven Dutch military and one Dutch civil color schemes. Lamentably, the
civil prototype is not included nor is the sole Egyptian machine. A die-cut
Eduard painting mask, which is not shown in my illustration, is also included.
Conclusion
Another sterling (is that a pun?) Spitfire from Czech Master Resin.
How many marks can there be left for these good folk from Prague to kit?
Buy one and build a beautiful model of the ugliest Spitfire of them all;
it will make the others in your collection look even better.
References
As always I recommend one reference above all others:
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Spitfire – The History: E. B. Morgan & E. Shacklady, Key
Books, UK, 5th ed. 2000, ISBN 0-946219-48-6.
Other references are just details.
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