MAQUETTE À MONTER - Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vb Airfix | N° A05125 | 1:48

Characteristics

Description

The Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vb was the most widely produced version of the Mk.V series of Spitfires. Entering service in the autumn of 1940, this aircraft provided a number of improvements over earlier Spitfire marks and initially it was the first Spitfire variant to be fitted with the 'B' wing, comprising two 20mm cannon and four .303 Browning machine guns. This gave the Mk.Vb much increased fire power and one that was badly needed as combat had shown that the 8 x .303s of the earlier Spitfires had proved to lack killing punch around Spitfires. Also introduced were bomb racks, giving a slightly improved exhaust thrust and therefore performance, overall increased armour and the Browning machine guns. This gave the Mk.Vb a strong multi-role configuration. It was one of the first to feature the new faired canopy roof in place of the flat-topped 'hood' canopy which had been commonplace over the Channel from July 1940 and after the Battle of Britain was won by the Mk.I and the Mk.II, the dominant version of the Spitfire, with the introduction of the Mk.V in both Battle of Britain and the Mk.V, this fighter established over the Channel front in mid-1941. The Mk.Vb was also employed on a varied role including bomber escort and more often a Spitfire in the secondary roles. The Mk.Vb was also equipped with the 40mm and the 20mm Hispano cannon in its original form and a lower fighter in which the Spitfire did not prove to be ideally suited. However, the Mk.Vb was still to be the mainstay of the RAF, even a silver-winged gun never over much battle air superiority until the advent of the Focke Wulf Fw.190.

More to read about the KIT here, thanks to scalemates, a Belgian Scale modeling database