Spitfire IX, 101 Sqn IAF
Posted: February 5th, 2018, 8:53 pm
Supermarine Spitfire LF.IX(E), 101 Talaset, Israeli Air Force
Welcome to the first build of a new project, 101 'First Fighter' Squadron of the IAF. Like the Normandie-Niemen project, I intend to cover all of the types this famous squadron used between 1948 and now. This is just a taster, with a kit I slapped together at the Blitzbau House this weekend, but I will be weighing in with more builds when the current project is finished in March/April.
The Spitfire IX was the joint first aircraft used by 101, and the examples the Israelis had an interesting history. They originally belonged to the Free Czech wing attached to the RAF and at the war's end were gifted to Czechoslovakia by a grateful British government. In 1948, after the Communist February coup, they became surplus to requirements and were sold clandestinely to the fledgling Israeli Air Force. After a frankly heroic effort by way of Yugoslavia they were flown to the new state where they went into action almost immediately, scoring victories against the RAF and Egyptian Air Forces, both of whom also used the Spitfire IX, hence the white and blue bands on the underside of the wings.
The kit was the veteran mk.IX(E) produced by KP in the early 80s, which I am told is a very accurate example (the only game in town for an 'E' wing IX, in fact - at least in plastic) and was a very easy build. While a little behind the times in terms of tech, it still went together very well, needing minimal filler mainly along the wing roots. I varied the shading of the upper surface camo to give the honestly rather scruffy appearance of the Israeli Spits. The shattering of the decals forced me to do a quick masking job on the tail and underwing recognition stripes and to rifle the decal spares box for some substitutes, which mainly came from a Hasegawa Kfir sheet (!).
I hope you like the new project - there's a lot more to come yet.
Welcome to the first build of a new project, 101 'First Fighter' Squadron of the IAF. Like the Normandie-Niemen project, I intend to cover all of the types this famous squadron used between 1948 and now. This is just a taster, with a kit I slapped together at the Blitzbau House this weekend, but I will be weighing in with more builds when the current project is finished in March/April.
The Spitfire IX was the joint first aircraft used by 101, and the examples the Israelis had an interesting history. They originally belonged to the Free Czech wing attached to the RAF and at the war's end were gifted to Czechoslovakia by a grateful British government. In 1948, after the Communist February coup, they became surplus to requirements and were sold clandestinely to the fledgling Israeli Air Force. After a frankly heroic effort by way of Yugoslavia they were flown to the new state where they went into action almost immediately, scoring victories against the RAF and Egyptian Air Forces, both of whom also used the Spitfire IX, hence the white and blue bands on the underside of the wings.
The kit was the veteran mk.IX(E) produced by KP in the early 80s, which I am told is a very accurate example (the only game in town for an 'E' wing IX, in fact - at least in plastic) and was a very easy build. While a little behind the times in terms of tech, it still went together very well, needing minimal filler mainly along the wing roots. I varied the shading of the upper surface camo to give the honestly rather scruffy appearance of the Israeli Spits. The shattering of the decals forced me to do a quick masking job on the tail and underwing recognition stripes and to rifle the decal spares box for some substitutes, which mainly came from a Hasegawa Kfir sheet (!).
I hope you like the new project - there's a lot more to come yet.
