A Tale of Two Spitties

It was the best of kits.  It was the worst of kits.  Not strictly true but how was I to resist?
The FROG kit above arrived earlier this year partly built and minus the V-1.  It then languished in one of several boxes of kits until I returned from the IPMS Model Show in November with the NOVO copy of the same kit.  For those who missed the 1970s, NOVO (in Russia or rather the USSR) began producing some FROG kits towards the end of that decade and made them available in the UK at ridiculously low prices.  Theye weren't problem free though - I still remember the decals for such a kit disintegrating as soon as they hit the water!

Anyway, back to the plot.  The 'new' NOVO kit had also been started and was missing the Spitfire's elevators (the hotizontal tail parts) but - joy of joys - the V-1 was present and correct!  Incidentally, if anyone out there has a pair of spare elevators I can offer them a good home.  Actually three would be nice - but that's a whole different story.

I therefore set to work cobbling together a decent Spitfire from parts of both kits.  The Mk XIV was a very different beastie from the earlier Merlin-engined versions, not least because of the Rolls-Royce Griffon engine.  This produced 2050 horsepower, as against the 1030hp of the Battle of Britain Mk I, giving it the speed to tackle among other things, the 1944 flying bomb menace.

Spit construction under way - note the rather racy five-bladed propellor.