Tamiya 61035 - 1/48 Spitfire Mk.Vb Trop.  [61035]

About the Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vb Trop.

The Supermarine Spitfire is considered by many as the most beautifully designed single seat fighter to appear during WWII. The Spitfire experienced numerous major and minor modifications throughout its long production life. Early improvements led to the Mk.V variety of Spitfires which became the most widely produced variations of Mk's. The key improvements was the furnishing of three wing armament designs, together with use of the more powerful Merlin kind 45 engine. The absolute most numerous Mk.V had been the "b" winged variation which had a mixed armament of two 7.7mm machine firearms as well as on 20mm cannon in each wing.
The Spitfire that demonstrated such superb performance over its homeland, was additionally urgently required for operations overseas. Among the better known variations ended up being the North African prepared Spitfire designated "TROP", for Tropical. The largest issue in desert operations had been the consumption of abrasive sands into the motor, which quickly wore away moving parts. To conquer this difficulty a Vokes air filter had been affixed throughout the carburetor intake.

Even though filter was successful, its large mass paid off the aircraft's speed. The situation had been resolved by the local upkeep unit stationed at Aboukir, whom designated an inferior more streamlined unit that was equally effective. The clipped wing variations, which had better low altitude maneuverability, were commonly noticed in North Africa.