I picked up the Eagle Strike 48228 U.S. Spitfires Part 2 (Africa and Italy) some time ago (meaning years), and I was struck by the second subject on the sheet. It is a Spitfire Mk. Vb flown by Bob Curtiss and has a very unusual camouflage scheme consisting of two shades of green over azure blue. The decal sheet even mentions that the plane may have been RAF Dark Earth and RAF Dark Green instead of the two shades of green. The book Spitfires And Yellow Tail Mustangs: The U.S. 52nd Fighter Group in WWII contains artwork and a photo of this plane, in the two shades of green. Even if the camouflage is fictious, I found it striking, so I decided to go with it.

I don't recall running into any issues when building this kit, with one exception that happened at the end. I used Model Master Enamel RAF Interior Green for the cockpit. As I was building the Raiden at the same time, I compared this cockpit with the Raiden's cockpit, which was painted Tamiya XF-71 Cockpit Green. Although the XF-71 is intended to represent Mitsubishi cockpits, not British ones, it is pretty close, and Brett Green of Hyperscale has used it for RAF planes. The XF-71 is a bit more yellow, whereas the RAF Interior Green is a bit more gray, but they are close.

The underside was painted with a 50/50 mix of Model Master Enamel Azure Blue and Flat White. I made this mix up some time ago, and have used it several times. I found the Azure Blue straight from the bottle a bit too dark. For the upper side, I first sprayed Model Master Enamel Green FS34258. After looking at it, I thought it was a too light and too yellowish. I repainted using the same RAF Interior Green that I used for the cocpit. It looked much better. Also, if the plane really was two shades of green, it makes sense that cockpit green would have been used, since presumably there would have been some on hand. I used Model Master RAF Dark Green for the dark green.

The tires were hand painted with Vallejo Game Cascade Heavy Charoal. This was the first time I used this paint. It was easy to brush, as Vallejo paints are known for, but it was very glossy. Also, it looked just like flat black to me.

For a decal precoat, I first tried Model Master Metalizer Sealer. I have read on the web of folks using this, and being pleased with it, but to be honest it does not seem to have any effect on the finish. I ended up spraying with Krylon 51301 Gloss Acrylic Crystal Clear from a spray bomb, which was very glossy. As mentioned above, the decals are from Eagle Strike 48228. They went on without any trouble.

For a post-decal flat coat, I used a mixture of Future and Tamiya X-21 Flat Base. This didn't work too well at first. I had what I thought was a bottle of the Flat Base, and I mixed it with Future in what I thought was the correct ratio, but it was still glossy. Turns out that what I thought was Flat Base was a Future/Flat Base mixture I had made some years ago. I was in effect using only a very small amount of Flat Base. Once I adusted the ratio, it sprayed on well.

After the flat coat, I attached the clear parts. This is where things went haywire. I attached the identification lamp - the tiny bulb that is just aft of the antenna mast - by putting a piece of Tamiya masking tape on the top of it and using that to place the lamp in the hole in the fuselage. After the glue dried, I lifted the tape and found that the lamp was crooked. Then I put on the canopy. I had dry-fitted the canopy before masking it (as I have learned to do), and thought it fit properly. However, the rear portion would not sit all the way down. As with every previous build of this kit, the seat was too high and prevented the clear part from resting on the fuselage. I had already sanded the seat, but I had to sand it some more. The rest of the canopy did not fit too well either. I will freely admit that when I hear people describe this kit as 'shake and bake', I grit my teeth a bit - but maybe it's just me.

Page last updated June 15, 2023.