Spitfire PR XIX, 541 Squadron, RAF, RM643/Z, 1944

This was part of a 2 kit build where I decided to take the two MPM PR XIX kits I had and build one as an early unpressurized type 389 and the other as the pressurized type 390.

The Subject

By 1944 high altitude PR missions flown by the Spitfire PR XI, even those fitted with the Merlin 70, where unable to fly high enough to escape interception. Therefore the Air Staff began demanding a PR Spitfire based on the Griffon engine which could achieve higher altitudes.

RM643 was part of the initial batch of 22 unpressurized PR XIX that were delivered as early as May 1944. The remaining 203 PR XIX had pressurized cockpits. This aircraft operated out of Benson until mid-1953.

The fuselage identification stripes time this aircraft to Summer 1945 after wing stripes had been removed.

The Model

This is the MPM limited run kit. It comes with photo etch for the landing gear bay and a very crude cockpit. If installed per the instructions, the floor would be about where the pilot’s waist should be…I cannibalized the cockpits from Academy XIV kits, give the shape of the Academy offerings are too far off to be worth it, and I can pick them up for less than the price of a resin cockpit set. Bonus for the price you also get a much better prop, wheels, landing gear and horizontal stabs. All of which I used on both of these MPM PR XIX kits.

While the basic shape is pretty spot on, most of the details are very crude. This is one of those kits that requires lots of dry-fitting and patience. It does return well on your efforts. I had to re-scribe key control surfaces as the mold must be showing some age because my kits both had some plastic in there. Not a difficult job and frankly a fairly easy thing to do.

Making an upressurized PR XIX is really simple: remove the compressor intake on the nose, and paint the rear (non moving) part of the canopy a bit higher up at the bottom. I used the decals from the Fujimi kit, which I plan to put Turkish decals on.

Summary

As a kit this is not an easy build, certainly not as easy as either the Fujimi or Arfix XIX kits. I did lots of sanding and polishing to get them right. I’ve built both the Fujimi and Airfix and they have much better details. However, this MPM offering is more accurate in shape and I received both for a great price (free) as the previous owner did not want to bother with them.

Thanks for looking…