LIMITED-EDITION RUN: ONLY 15 MADE WORLDWIDE!

* Includes TG-GB001 figure!

The British Supermarine Spitfire was facing several challenges by mid-1942. The debut of the formidable Focke-Wulf Fw 190 in late 1941 had caused problems for RAF fighter squadrons flying the latest Spitfire Mk Vb. By this time Rolls-Royce engineers were already working on a new version of the Merlin incorporating two-stage superchargers; the combination of the improved Merlins and the Spitfire Mk VC airframe in a "stop-gap" design allowed the RAF to combat the Fw 190 on equal terms. In a second stream of development Supermarine was working on an improved, reinforced Spitfire airframe which incorporated several new features and was designed specifically for the Merlin 60 and 70 series engines. This new airframe later formed the basis for the Rolls-Royce Griffon powered Spitfires.

This article presents a history of the Spitfire powered by two-stage engine variants and also describes some of the "drawing board" projects and experimental Spitfires. The Griffon powered variants are described in a separate article.

About this Model:

Our first Spitfire is the MK9 variant and one of the most highly regarded versions of this beautiful looking aircraft from WW2. Spitfires with pin up nose art are quite hard to come by, but after some searching we found one flown by American pilot  Lt Colonel Gustav Lundquist. 'Hello Tolly' was one of the first Spitfires to fly the Atlantic via Iceland in 1944. It was fitted with Mustang underwing fuel tanks for the flight and had all unnecessary weight removed for this epic journey. Whilst flying the Atlantic route 'Hello Tolly' made a forced landing in Greenland and it was here that the famous nose art was added by a mechanic with too much time on his hands!

Info: MK9 Spitfire 'Hello Tolly' Flown By Lt Colonel Gustav Lundquist Display Model - Comes with TG-GB001