1:72 Spitfire Mk.V US masks for insignias

The USAAF star on the Spitfire Mk.V in 1:72

American markings on a British fighter look unusual and catch the eye on the shelf at once. The stencils let you lay them down in paint and avoid the thick layer of a decal on a small model of the Supermarine Spitfire Mk.V. A small scale favors this approach, because the carrier film would show on the slender fuselage.

Spitfires under the American flag

The US Army Air Forces took over British fighters in 1942 because it was short of its own machines suited to European skies. The units that grew out of the volunteer squadrons in Great Britain moved onto Spitfires, as did the groups that joined the fighting in the Mediterranean after the landings in North Africa. The machines kept their British camouflage and received American markings, which makes them a remarkable combination for any display case. Operating a British type with foreign markings is one of the interesting chapters of the war in the air and always prompts questions at shows.

The order of colors on the star

The star is sprayed in two steps: the white area is laid down first, and once it is dry it is masked off and the blue circle around it is added. The opposite order would mean covering a dark shade with a light one, and the white would not come through without several coats. Give the paint enough time between the steps. Build the blue circle up to full saturation gradually rather than in one pass, otherwise the edges come out uneven.

Which builds it suits

• for Spitfire models with American markings
• for subjects from the Mediterranean and the south of Europe
• for collections covering Allied aviation
• for models where the star is to be perfectly white