Kotare introduced the Spitfire Mk.Va kit in October 2024. It is now sold out but is available on the usual sites. As a follow up to their Mk.1a and “Brian Lane” versions, the Mk. Va is similarly designed and features an outstanding box art painting by Daryll Legg that is included as a frameable print. In fact, all the Kotare kits include the box art painting as a frameable print.

The kit contains 142 injection molded plastic parts, with 40 of them being all new tooled parts. There are options for a pilot’s seat with or without seatbelts molded on. The decals are by Cartograf and include markings for three different Spitfires: (1) Spitfire R7268 “The Swan” with the letters KL-M on the fuselage. This aircraft was flown by several different pilots in June-July 1941. (2) Spitfire W3185, as it appeared in August 1941, “Lord Lloyd I” with the code letters D and B on the fuselage for Squadron Commander Douglas Bader. (3) The Spitfire I chose to build, R7208 FY-G “Liverpool III,” flown by several pilots in the summer of 1941. There is a 28-page instruction booklet with lots of photos of Spitfires for reference.

As usual, construction begins in the cockpit, and this one starts at the instrument panel. There is a detailed drawing for placement of the decals on the panel. After painting it, I placed a drop of Future on each instrument so that, when dry, the individual instrument decals could be applied. After they dried, I added another drop of Future to simulate the glass covers. It’s a bit of a tedious process, but the result is worth the effort. The completed instrument panel is attached to the fuselage bottom panel, along with the rudder bar and control tubes, the heelboards, the gun heating ducts, and the rudder pedals. Next the control column and elevator control rod are assembled and attached, along with the radiator flap lever.

Next up is the pilot’s seat, and here you have the choice of one with seatbelts molded on, or one without. I chose without and added seatbelts from HGW. Fuselage frame 11 is then prepared by adding the head rest, armor plate, and voltage regulator on the back side. The seat is then attached to the completed assembly which is then placed in the fuselage bottom. Frame 12 is then added to the floorboard behind frame 11. Kotare recommends that you drill out the lightening holes in the frame sections for more realism. I only drilled out the most visible ones in frame 11.

The previously painted interior fuselage walls are added to each side of the bottom frame. There are several individual parts that must be added to each side, along with decals in several areas on each wall. Frame 13 is added to the fuselage interior assembly, along with a harness for the seatbelts. A few other items are to be added, but at this point not much of it shows on the completed model so you may not want to spend the time and energy to do it. Modeler’s choice.

Detailed instructions for painting the fuselage interior are included, so review this in detail before starting assembly of the interior. There are additional small parts to be added including a raised rivet wireless door, a cine camera footage indicator, a wireless remote controller, the wireless remote contactor (known as the “Pip Squeak”), and the height and airspeed computer.

Once the interior is complete it is added to the port fuselage half along with the propeller shaft. The starboard half is then attached to the port half along with the starboard engine cowling. The fuselage spine is attached to the top of the fuselage, but don’t forget to install the upward facing signal light in the spine before gluing it to the fuselage. I forgot to do this on the Mk.1a kit, and I had to make a do-it-yourself light out of clear cement. It was OK, but the clear plastic part is much better. Anyway, I remembered it this time.

The instructions call for you to cut small squarish holes in the fuel tank cover in which to install station keeping lamp windows. After studying it in detail, I decided I didn’t have the confidence or skill to attempt it, so I left the small windows off. Yes, I was a chicken.

The top and port cowlings are added. If you’re going to do a closed-door option now is the time to attach it. It will require some filling and sanding for a smooth look. I prefer the open door because it shows more of the interior. The stabilizer and elevators are added. Detailed photos are included.

The lower part of the wing is assembled by installing a spar across most of the wing bottom. To it are then attached wheel wells. The Browning gun barrels are installed in the front of the wing at various offset positions. The port and starboard upper wing sections are then added along with the wing fillets. The two ailerons are also installed. The radiator and oil cooler are attached to the bottom of the wings. If you’re careful, you can get away without any filling and sanding of these two parts.

Once the wing is finished, it is attached to the fuselage, sliding it rearward per the instructions for a good fit. The oil tank and bottom cowlings are attached to the underside of the very front of the fuselage. Again, detailed photos are provided along the way.

Attention next turns to the undercarriage. Each side is formed with a strut, door and wheels. The struts are designed to fit in the wheel wells at the correct angle, although it may require a little cutting to improve the fit. There’s a detailed drawing on how the struts should fit.

A few remaining details include the prop and spinner, the aerial mast, the rudder, and the undercarriage down indicators which are “up” when the undercarriage is down. I misplaced mine, but I made replacements with plastic rod. The exhaust manifolds were added, and I used the more detailed resin parts included with the kit. They look nice.

The canopy is added next. I used masks from ASK prior to painting; however, I broke the canopy hood before it could be installed, so my Spit is hoodless. There is no rigging from the antenna to the tailfin, but there is some from each stabilizer to the fuselage.

I mostly used Vallejo paints from their Battle of Britain series. The instrument panel is painted Black (“Night”), and the bottom frame is painted IDF Green to represent the gray-green called for on most of the interior. A few parts were painted a slightly lighter gray-green such as the control column and pilot seat. There was a lot of variation in shades as colors, interior and exterior, were supplied by numerous sub-contractors or even mixed in the field. Interior frame 11 was painted a green shade on the front half and Aluminum on the back. Frames 12 and 13 were painted in Aluminum. Fuselage walls were painted IDF Green. The various small parts installed on the walls were mostly painted Black.

Upper surfaces were painted in Dark Earth and Dark Green applied with a hard demarcation line in the “A” camouflage pattern. I used the A Pattern mask supplied by AMLM. Instead of the Vallejo Dark Green, I used the Tamiya “lighter” Dark Green, number XF 89. It’s personal preference on which Green or Dark Earth version you use as there are both dark and light versions of each. The underside was painted in Sky Type S (for Satin.) The Vallejo color is a pale greenish hue, although the color ranged from almost white to a light bluish shade known as Duck Egg Blue. The undercarriage struts and wheel hubs were also painted Sky. The light blue band around the fuselage and the spinner were each painted Duck Egg Blue considerably lightened with White. The propeller blades were painted Black, and exhaust manifolds were painted several colors to represent the effects of heat. I used Vallejo Gun Metal, Medium Gray, and even Yellow and Red to produce the look of heated metal. Interestingly, the actual exhaust manifolds were made from a metal alloy called Inconel, which does not rust, so don’t paint them as rusted metal.

I applied a few coats of Future to give the Spitfire a glossy surface for the decals, which all went on with no problem. Once dry, I sprayed a coat of Polly Scale Satin to tone down the gloss. After about three months of off and on building, my Spitfire Mk.Va was finished.

I really enjoyed the build and learned a lot in the process. Highly recommended.

Kotare kit instructions

Wikipedia “Supermarine Spitfire (early Merlin-powered variants)”