KMP's New 88.5 Spitfire
 

Hello Spitfire fans, I just got KMP's pictures for the new Signature Series Spitfire hopefully being delivered in February. It is the Mark 9. One of the features that I haven't seen to date is the one piece fuselage and wing root. Notice the smooth fillets to the plug in wings. She is a Spitfire dream and these are the preliminary photos of the bird itself. Enjoy.

RE: KMP's New 88.5 Spitfire
 

Right off hand that looks pretty nice. But is that color scheme accurate? Green and silver camoflage?[sm=50_50.gif]

RE: KMP's New 88.5 Spitfire
 

The sape is gorgeous the paint scheme is highly inaccurate.

RE: KMP's New 88.5 Spitfire
 

And Cheesy

RE: KMP's New 88.5 Spitfire
 

Sweet looking except for the paint; is the plane available un-painted?

Thanks.

Sincerely, Richard

RE: KMP's New 88.5 Spitfire
 

If this is a preproduction pic I would send them some paint chips... Get the colors right or you will kill your sales....

RE: KMP's New 88.5 Spitfire
 

Totally agree. great shape, paint looks like a bad $85 arf. Get it right now, before you go into production. This is an easy fix

Id prefer a primer version, for what that's worth

RE: KMP's New 88.5 Spitfire
 

What on earth is KMP thinkingofreleasing preliminary photos showing their soon to be releasedSpitfire with such a pathetic paint scheme? Bright green and silver, barf!! I for one was looking forward to the release of the new KMP Spitfire, but after viewing thesephotos the ESM Spitfire wins hands down.
If KMP wanted to impress potential buyers theyshouldhavereleased photos of their Spitfire in a paint scheme more suitable to the iconic WWII Spitfire, Olive Drab/Sea Gray, Olive Drab/PolarGray etc.

Roger

RE: KMP's New 88.5 Spitfire
 

Maybe Olive Drab/Sea Gray, Olive Drab/Polar Gray etc. translate to puke green and silver in Chinese???

Regards, Richard

RE: KMP's New 88.5 Spitfire
 

I'm no expert by any means in Spitfire lore, but IF the Mark IX came with invasion stripes, wasn't it done
at the field with a a couple cans of paint & brush, or even just white chaulk w/o the black stripes?
complete with runs, blemishes, and general messiness?

RE: KMP's New 88.5 Spitfire
 

Let's hope they get the gear correct. ie. mounted inboard folding out towards the tips. Paint can be fixed...totally silly looking and functioning gear can't. :eek:

RE: KMP's New 88.5 Spitfire
 

No airplane came with invasion stripes, they were all applied in the field. Yes, the Mk.IX participated in the invasion and the quality of the application of the stripes depended upon many factors. Cases can be made for hurriedly applied and tatty looking stripes as well as those that were a bit more tidy.

From the pics above I'm not impressed with either the scale fidelity of the finish nor the outline but I'll reserve final judgement until I've seen the ultimate product.

RE: KMP's New 88.5 Spitfire
 

For some reason this picture looks very Cheesy! Almost like an Easy Tiger Models airplane.... doesnt look
like a typical KMP or ESM at all. Just my 2 Cents

RE: KMP's New 88.5 Spitfire
 

Dont like it [:'(]

Hopfully it will look different in the field in the final paint scheme.

RE: KMP's New 88.5 Spitfire
 

Well, fellas, I asked Andrew the same question... I thought the paint looked a tad cheesy too. He told me it was an accurate representation. Please send him your opinions. This is only the initial release and he is going to the manufacturer in January to finalize the production. Another thing is the paint can be changed easily. Write him all of you...KMP IS NOT KNOWN for delivering sub quality. These planes are our new Sig Series so let him know what you think. [email protected]

RE: KMP's New 88.5 Spitfire
 

The gear is set up to easily fly the model.

RE: KMP's New 88.5 Spitfire
 

Looks great but the canopy framing is a bit off. For a big ARF it would be nice to have some scale hinging. Agree colors... [X(]

RE: KMP's New 88.5 Spitfire
 

HI All:

I will collect and post the pictures that were used as reference material for this paint job and the colors. Believe it or not the colors are accurate.. yes it does look a little like a flashy shiny "show-room" finish but these are initial prototype pictures to makesure the line seperations and color molds are correct. Keep in mind this color scheme was used by the RAF and the Czechoslovakian Airforce. The final version will have some changes to it for sure. For now we thought we would post what we have as a sneal peak only!!
More pics coming soon and with final revisions after I go come back from China next month. :D

RE: KMP's New 88.5 Spitfire
 

Hello Andrew,

I am a big fan of KMP and the high quality line of products you have released in the past. Especially the original KMP Spitfire and its paint scheme. So I must say that just because your current choice of paint schemes is accurate doesn't mean you have to use it. The paint scheme on most all your warbirds is one of the original reason customers flocked to your products. They were not only accurate but they were accurate representations of good schemes.

I would highly suggest you drop this color scheme all together and go for a more traditional scheme similar to your original spitfire. Even if this is the first attempt at these colors, there is literally no way to make these colors look any better.

Just my opinion.

RE: KMP's New 88.5 Spitfire
 

The model's paint job is supposed to represent MJ840, a Spitfire IX operated by 312 Squadron which was comprised of Czech pilots who had joined the RAF. The airplane would have carried standard RAF day fighter camouflauge consisting of Dark Green and Ocean Grey over Sea Grey.

And for P-40K-5, it appears as though the invasion stripes on MJ840 were indeed quite haphazard in their application!

http://www.fortunecity.com/greenfiel...go/72/312p.jpg

RE: KMP's New 88.5 Spitfire
 

as opposed to how the USAAF wanted the RAF to apply the Invasion Stripes....
quite the contrast I would say!

http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/a...onOrder_x5.jpg

RE: KMP's New 88.5 Spitfire
 

Andrew; Any news on a Signature Series 'Zero'.

RE: KMP's New 88.5 Spitfire
 

How did they eliminate the gap between the wing and the fuselage?

RE: KMP's New 88.5 Spitfire
 

Plug in wings Mike. The break is at the inboard edge of the first white stripe.

Also, for Andrew or anyone else who may care, the letter code for 312 squadron is DU while the remaining letter (L in this case) is the individual aircraft letter. As such the "DU" should always appear together as shown in the wartime photo. The codes on the side should read DU-L rather than D-UL.

RE: KMP's New 88.5 Spitfire
 

That does not sound promising for scale enthusiests. Care to elaborate?