Ronny Bar Profiles: Spitfire, The Merlin Variants
by Ronny Bar
“Then, another day, after Peter Jackson’s legendary Wingnut Wings Models closed shop, this company’s ex-general manager, my good friend Richard Alexander, contacted me about Kotare Models. This is a New Zealand-based kits manufacturing company that he and other ex-Wingnuts guys created to produce WWII fighter models, and he asked me if I would be willing to join . . . Obviously I said a huge ‘Yes!’ and that then I would finally get a chance to work on the Spit, to which he answered: “Maybe . . . Probably you will.’ Well, to my surprise and delight, the first kit they released was an amazing 1/32 scale model of the Spitfire Mk I.”
There’s a lot in that quote that will only make sense to anyone deeply familiar with all those names and companies and implied backstories. And that is also true for the whole book, and the several others by Bar (b. 1951) because with the exception of captions they contain no text other than introductory remarks. Which is a polite way of saying that you’re on your own to know what makes one Mark or variant different from another. If, however, you are a modeler, this book contains some 350 exquisitely rendered pieces of eye candy by one of the big names in this type of work. If you do already own some of his earlier books you will have formed the opinion that they represent excellent value for the price—alas, the times they are a-changing, especially if you pay in US$: this newest book is almost double the price, $70 instead of $40 (but £40 v £30).
This view shows the instantly recognizable attractive shape of the Spit—but what happened to the lovely elliptical wing? You’ll need to hit your other Spitfire books for that.
Speaking of modelers and kit models, that Kotare kit mentioned in the quote is surely the definitive large-scale kit of a Spitfire, possibly the best in any scale (item K32001 and easily found for around $100). That the kit’s multi-page manual explains more about the company’s history and its connection to the misadventures of fabled New Zealand film director Peter Jackson in the realm of vintage aircraft trading/collecting and restoration than any of Bar’s books do is almost annoying. At any rate, Bar illustrates those manuals for Kotare, and each contains several of his profiles.
All these aircraft are Mark Vs. The left page shows a Vc from March 1943 above a Vb from April 1943, and so does the right page but the aircraft look different, don’t they? In fact the one on top is different from the one below. Ah, if only there was an explanation! Well, there is a clue: the caption says “Trop.” Wasn’t that helpful?
Some 22,000 Spitfires were built, over a number of years and in many variants and used in many theaters of operation. Lots to show in other words. The profiles in this book are divided by Mark and within that appear in chronological order, beginning with the 1936 prototype and ending with Photo Reconnaissance variants and Seafires. (A possibly superfluous reminder: the Marks themselves do not follow each other in strictly chronological order.) The subtitle is your clue that Griffon-powered Spits are not covered; they may get a separate book in the future.
Top left and bottom right both show an LF Mk XVIe, of the same squadron; the one on the left in Belgium, March 1945 and on the right in Germany, May 1945. Meaning? The front has moved eastward in those two months.
The book is in landscape format, thus ideally suited to this type of illustration. Some aircraft are depicted by more than one illustration, all are in color: left/right/top/bottom or any variation thereof and in one of two scales respectively. All are shown with their landing gear down (that prototype incidentally is the only one without a tail wheel) and in each case with the specific markings or camouflage and configuration (cf. external stores) at that exact moment in time. Absent any sort of narrative, or, for that matter, any sort of index or lists, it is up to you to puzzle out what you’re looking at. Example:
The captions lists Mark, number, pilot/squadron, and airfield. Top left and right page are the same aircraft; as a matter of interest, its pilot, “Sailor” Malan, appears several times in the book—here he is a Flight Leader, 20 pages/3 months later he is a Squadron Leader, and on a different Mark. But you will only notice that if you pay attention.
Obvious bits like different wing and rudder even propeller/hub shapes are easy enough to spot unaided but, say, aerials, munitions or hatches/service ports, or specific modifications are really quite a different matter. Bar, a former rock musician, was himself a modeler and would know first-hand what is so often missing or ambiguous in illustrations that strive to be anatomically correct. On the upside, a book like this forces you to take your time and look at everything.
The book includes some of the many Allied squadrons attached to the RAF that operated Spits.
Copyright 2024, Sabu Advani (Speedreaders.info)
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