The Supermarine Spitfire is arguably one of the most beautiful aircraft ever produced. The origin of this machine dates all the way back to the Schneider trophy aircraft from the 1920’s, as Mitchell and his design team examined their earlier designs to refine them into a modern fighter plane. In 1936 the prototype took its first flight and went on to fly until 1961 in the Irish air corps to become the legendary plane it is today. The Swedish Air force was also one of the many users of the Spitfire, using it from 1948 until 1955 as a reconnaissance plane with no armament, to fly missions over the Soviet Union and neighboring countries. The S.31 as the Swedes called it, was actually a Pr.XIX version which is the last reconnaissance version the RAF used. These were bought from the RAF as they considered them to be obsolete by the end of Second World War. The Swedes ultimately replaced it with the Saab J29 Tunnan as was ultimately out-chased by Soviet Jet designs, although these were never able to reach the altitude the S.31 operated at in time. 

This was my first Airfix kit and it was rather a good experience. I often heard and read about various horror-like stories that these kits wouldn’t fit, had no detail, etc etc. This is often the case with their older kits, however, this kit dates back to 2013 and builds really well. The fit is phenomenal and I had no real issues at all aside from a small gap at the meeting point of the wing and fuselage. This presents no real issue and is easily fixable with a small amount of putty, even for a beginner. One point I would like to make is that the clear parts have to be dealt with with extreme caution. I managed to snap a part in two, even when dealing with these parts at the utmost care. Airfix was able to send me a replacement part and after a few weeks of waiting I was on my way and I finished my Spitfire. It was also the first time I used the pre-shading technique and I’m rather pleased with the final result.

The base was constructed out of wood, which was I designed and lasercutted in shape. I also designed some wooden boards and a small stepladder. I wanted to create the illusion as if somebody was working on the aircraft by removing the spinner and putting the stepladder in front of the nose of the aircraft. I added a small cart with some material inside, which I have completely scratch build (aside from the wheels). Finally I sprinkled some grass to have a true representation of a working yard in the field.