Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IXc

During the height (depth?) of my Bendamustine/Rituxan chemotherapy in 2014, a very fine gentleman from Australia sent me the fantastic 1:32 scale kit from Tamiya of the Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IXc. The generosity of this man was at once unbelievable and at the same time a beautiful gesture to someone going through a very difficult and trying time. I will forever be grateful to him, but I feel quite guilty for not yet starting it. Time to fix that!

But what scheme to do? There were more than a few Mk.IX Spitfires I dare say. Well, after some lengthy discussions with @Edward M (Procopius) at some Irish pub in downtown Chicago, over some delightful Scotch if I recall, the initial plan is to model EN398 - but not when Wing Commander Johnnie Johnson was flying her. Everyone does that one. Rather, since I like nose art and watched too many Saturday morning cartoons when I was a lad, I was intrigued by the Popeye markings on EN398 when the pilot was Ian Keltie in March 1943. Consequently I acquired that sticker sheet from EagleCals.

Whilst looking over the sprues, it became apparent to me that this was an opportunity to create as fine of a replica of the Spitfire that I could produce. Accordingly, I've been collecting aftermarket accessories over the last couple of years. A separate stroke of good fortune occurred when I started shopping around - somehow I was lucky enough to be the 10,000 customer (or something like that) at the Barracuda website and won a gift certificate. I promptly cashed it in on several of their goodies. What I have now may not be everything that is used or needed. We'll see how it goes as the build progresses.

This will be a long project. To do justice to this magnificent aircraft in 1:32 scale, it cannot be rushed. I hope to treat each sub-assembly as a separate model in and of itself, and I will take several intermissions to keep the mojo strong.

PS. I'm back in remission now and have just about finished my treatment. My last chemo this time around will be in July of 2017. The fight was two and a half years this time, but we beat it back again. That'll teach those bloody little buggers.