Ventura 1/72 Spitfire XI

VENTURA 1:72 SPITFIRE MK.XI

Reviewer: John Mancini (rec.models.scale)

Although the Spitfire needs no introduction, there were numerous versions of this famous fighter and a little discussion regarding the Mk XI version may be appropriate. The Mk XI was the most produced dedicated photo-reconnaissance version that was based on the Rolls Royce Merlin engine. This version is very similar to the Mk IX fighter and, in fact, the first batch were converted Mk IX airframes. Externally, the two types are alike with essentially the same fuselage, excepting the deeper chin area required to cover an enlarged oil reservoir. Like the Mk IX, the early Mk XI's had rounded rudders and fixed tail wheels, although most had the broader chord, pointed rudder and retractable tail wheels. The kit depicts this latter version in both RAF and USAAF markings. The wing did not include any armament, and differed internally by the inclusion of fuel tanks in the leading edge. The canopy also differed from the Mk IX with the front windscreen unframed and rounded. Two cameras were mounted in the fuselage, aft of the cockpit, and an oblique camera was often carried in the port side fuselage.

Ventura's kit of the Spitfire Mk XI is a limited-run injection molded plastic model that includes a vacu-formed canopy (two copies), a white metal control column, and some fine metal mesh for the radiators. Typical of limited-run kits, the parts are molded in hard gray plastic with rather crude sprues, thick gates, and some flash, particulary around the smaller parts. The surface of the major parts are finely detailed with well scribed panel lines of generally uniform depth. The parts break down consists of two fuselage halves, a three-part wing (two upper and one lower), solid horizontal stabilizers, two sets of wheels (spoked and covered), radiators, spinner and separate prop blades, a basic tail wheel, and a pair of exhaust stacks. The cockpit is lacking in detail, consisting only of a nondescript floor, basic seat, crude instrument panel, and metal control column mentioned previously. No sidewall detail, rudder pedals, or other details are provided. Indeed, the instructions suggest adding an aftermarket detail set to the model! The instructions are printed on a folded 11x17 sheet and include only basic instructions and suggestions and a four-view painting guide for the two marking versions provided - an RAF ship and a US plane. Both markings are overall PRU blue with black and white invasion stripes. The decals are well printed by Ventura and appear thin and on register, although the blue used for the US markings is lighter than usually seen and the red for the British markings is a little too bright.

Overall, this kit fit together pretty well, considering its limited-run nature. Clean up, filing, filling, and dry-fitting of most parts was necessary as is usually the case with kits of this type. Assembly begins with the cockpit which, if built with only the kit parts, will not take long! I opted to install one of Cooper Detail's excellent Spitfire interiors which, after significant thinning of the sidewalls, fit very well into the Ventura fuselage parts. With some minor cleaning up of edges and molding gates, the fuselage parts fit together very well with no filler and panel lines that matched up. The vertical stabilizer and rudder are molded whole with one side of the fuselage, eliminating a seam here. Fitting of the wings did not prove to be as easy! Dry fitting revealed that although the upper wing parts fit well to the fuselage, the lower wing was not even close! In order to get the best possible fit with minimal filler, I decided to glue the wing uppers to the fuselage first. To my pleasant surprise, with just a little filing the wing tops fit very well and at the correct dihedral angle. Fitting of the lower wing required filing and sanding of the mating surfaces to achieve an acceptable fit. Even then, some filling around the gull-wing section and at the tips was necessary. The carb intake scoop is molded as both part of the fuselage and part of the lower wing piece. Some gap filling and filing was necessary here to achieve a smooth finish. I also drilled out the intake section, since it was solid and noticeably so! The wheel wells are devoid of detail and will require some ribbing with strip plastic. I chose not to add any detail, since they likely wouldn't be seen anyway. The underwing radiators are well molded, but thick in scale and required filing to improve their appearance. There is not internal detail, however, so the radiators themselves must be scratchbuilt from plastic sheet. Metal mesh is provided to simulate the radiator faces, and looks good when assembled. The horizontal stabilizers mount flush to the fuselage without the aid of slots and tabs. This required careful fitting and sanding to get everything to line up correct in all directions. Although they appeared to be generally correct in shape, I elected to replace the kit prop and spinner with a Hawkeye Designs version which is much crisper and easier to assemble. The kit prop blades are thickly molded and include a large molding gate so some filing and sanding will be necessary to produce a scale appearance to the prop. The main landing gear are molded integrally with the gear doors and display somewhat crude detail. I opted to replace the struts with Aeroclub parts, and fabricated new doors from sheet plastic by using the Hasegawa Mk IX parts as templates - easy enough! The tailwheel is also thickly molded with muted detail, but since I had no other replacement, it was used as-is. No tailwheel doors are provided so I cut and formed some from brass sheet. Other small parts also missing include an antenna mast and pitot. These will have to be scratchbuilt which should not be difficult in this scale. Two correct (frameless windscreen) vacuformed canopies are provided. While not quite a clear or crisply molded as other vac canopies, they are acceptable and fit well with a little trimming.

Painting the model was easy since it is overall PRU blue. First is painted the wings and fuselage white for the invasion ID stripes, then masked these areas and painted the PRU blue using Xtracolor - an excellent color that looks to me like a perfect match. Once fully dry, I removed the mask for the white areas, and masked again for the black stripes. The Ventura decals separated easily from the backing paper and were easy to handle, but tended to stick tightly when placed on the model. The decals did not react to MicroSet, and several applications of MicroSol were necessary to finally get them to conform to the scribed lines. To my surprise, the white letters were quite opaque and looked good on the blue PRU paint.

Final assembly included the Hawkeye resin spinner and prop, landing gear, and miscellaneous details. Since no hub for the prop is molded, I had to drill both the spinner and fuselage for installation of brass tubing to mount the prop. Mounting holes also had to be drilled for the landing gear as nothing is supplied in these areas. Final parts included a styrene pitot and antenna mast.

The finished model looks very much like a Mk XI, and I was very pleased with the end result. This kit certainly requires more building effort and a good selection of spare parts for the missing or poorly molded details, but still produces on of the best looking mid-mark Spitfires available. Hasegawa Mk VIII and IX kits, however, will probably challenge the popularity of Ventura's offering as both are about the same price.

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