Manufacturer: Hasegawa, distributed by Marco Polo Import, 532 S. Coralridge Place, City of Industry, CA 91746, 626-333-2328 www.marcopoloimport.com
Kit: No.JT79
Scale: 1/48
Price: $25.98
Comments: injection-molded, 112 parts (4 vinyl), decals
Pros: Excellent detail, good fit
Cons: No seat harness, dimensions just a tad short of accurate

The Spitfire Mk.IX was basically a more powerful Mk.V and it ended the domination of the German Fw 190A over British fighters. Many called it the best Spitfire of all, and 5,600 Mk.IXs were produced. It was also used as a fighter-bomber with underwing bomb racks fitted.

Hasegawa has just released a potent competitor among the available 1/48th scale Spitfire IX models. It consists of crisply molded, flash-free polystyrene parts. The clear three-piece canopy can be positioned open or closed. Optional parts include narrow and broad rudders, standard and clipped wing tips, and underwing bombs.

There are several unused parts, clearly indicating more versions to come. These include a retractable-style tailwheel, fluted exhausts, and different cannon fairings.

Decals in this kit provide markings for a No. 316 Squadron (Polish pilots) craft with conventional rudder, wing tips and underwing bombs, and a No. 443 Squadron Spitfire with clipped wings and the broad rudder. An instrument panel decal is provided, as well as extensive small stencil decals.

The interior and exterior detail is well done – the interior is much better than Hasegawa’s 1/48 scale Spitfire Mk.V kit. However, if you want the cockpit side door open you must cut it out and position it, since no separate door is supplied.

The exploded-view instructions clearly indicate part locations and colors. The fit is excellent and the parts design is outstanding; for example, the inner and outer wheel hub surfaces are molded separately from the tires, making painting a snap.

The landing gear struts plug into square sockets in the wings, instantly establishing the correct alignment. The horizontal tailplanes slide together inside the fuselage, ensuring the correct attitude.

The well-detailed cockpit assembly fits nicely into the fuselage halves. Since no decal seat belts were provided, I used photoetched metal ones from the spares box. The panels containing the cannon bulges fit beautifully into each upper wing panel, and the wings fit perfectly to the fuselage.

I painted the three-color camouflage scheme with Polly Scale paints using frisket to mask the hard-edged “temperate” camouflage. I chose the Polish squadron markings, and the decals went on fine with a little setting solution. Hasegawa provides decals for the yellow wing leading edges, and they are a bit tricky to apply.

I like the way the prop and spinner attach; a vinyl grommet inside the spinner grips the shaft protruding from the fuselage. Hasegawa correctly shows that no antenna wire is attached to the mast on the Mk.IX (see Robert Swaddling’s “Modeler’s Guide to the Spitfire,” in the Feb. 2001 FSM).

The finished model measures about four scale inches short in span and five-and-a-half scale inches short in length – since the shapes are correct, the shortfall isn’t noticeable. Hasegawa captured the broad flat area over the top of the nose, and the “gull wing” effect where the wing trailing edges meet the bottom of the fuselage.

I spent about 32 hours on the model with considerable time spent masking and applying decals. I would recommend this kit to all aircraft modelers.