HOBBY MASTER 1/48 SOVIET AIR FORCE SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE MkIX PT879 (HA8324)

Description

Up for sale is a brand new 1:48 scale SOVIET AIR FORCE SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE MkIX PT879 (HA8324) By Hobby Master.

The Mk. IX replaced the Mk. V in June 1942 and on September 12, 1942 a Mk. IX brought down a Ju-86R flying at 43,000 feet. Another major achievement of the Mk. IX took place on October 5, 1944 when 401 Squadron became the first allied aircraft to shoot down an Me-262 jet. Even with the arrival of the Griffon powered Mk. XIV the Mk. IX continued in service until the end of WWII. There were 5,665 Mk. IX Spitfires and its variants produced. 1,328 British Spitfire Mk. IXs were supplied to the Soviets during WWII. This one arrived in Murmansk in October 1944 and was assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 767th Regiment and 122nd Division of the Russian Air Force. On May 18, 1945 PT879 was involved in a training dogfight. The aircraft only had 18 hours and 29 minutes of flying time when another Spitfire cut off its tail. The pilot managed to bail out. The wreckage was later recovered and eventually restored by the Hangar 11 team in 2020. She is the very first Spitfire to return from Russia, having been consigned as part of the wartime ‘Lend Lease‘ process to the Russian Airforce. It was recovered off the Tundra as a complete aircraft by a capitalist -socialist farmer who must have realised that she would perhaps have value in time. Roll forward to 1998 a full half a century, she was located and brought out of Russia by ‘Mr Spitfire ‘ himself, Peter Monk, he tells a great story of how he visited Murmansk in 1998, spending three weeks negotiating with some rather ‘interesting ‘ characters but thankfully being successful in purchasing her. The aircraft then returning to the UK by a circuitous route in 1998 she was then acquired by Angie Soper, well known display pilot later that year. A complete although crashed aircraft, the fuselage, large sections of the wings, complete engine, parts of the hub and prop were reused in the restoration. It encompassed electrics, hydraulics, pneumatics and instrumentation, 90% of the systems in a Spitfire are in the fuselage.

This model aircraft is made from die-cast metal and plastic and includes extensive detailing. It is similar in quality to Corgi, Century Wings, Calibre Wings and Forces of Valor.

Includes display stand.

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