{"product_id":"special-hobby-plastic-model-kit-supermarine-spitfire-f-mk-21-contraprop-1-72","title":"Special Hobby Plastic Model Kit Supermarine Spitfire F Mk.21 Contraprop — 1:72","description":"\u003cp\u003eManufacturer and kit background\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSpecial Hobby is a Czech scale-model manufacturer specialising in aircraft and other subjects that are often overlooked by the largest mainstream manufacturers. The company's range includes detailed aircraft kits in several scales, frequently offering unusual prototypes, lesser-known variants and historically significant aircraft.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe SH72318 boxing was catalogued in April 2015 and is specifically devoted to the Spitfire F Mk.21 “Contraprop.” The exact barcode, manufacturer and 1:72 scale are independently confirmed by multiple retailers.\n\u003cbr\u003eKit contents\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe kit contains:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Four sprues of highly detailed plastic parts\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Clear parts for the canopy and other transparent components\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Decal sheet with RAF markings and extensive stencilling\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Resin components, including aerodynamic fairings for the cannon positions\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Alternative exhaust arrangements\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Both three-spoke and four-spoke wheels\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Components for the distinctive contra-rotating propeller\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Assembly instructions\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSpecial Hobby also provides alternative details allowing the modeller to represent wartime and post-war configurations. The exhaust options include wartime fishtail exhausts and rounded post-war exhausts.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe kit's packaged weight is approximately 230 g, with retailer measurements around 30 × 20 × 5 cm.\n\u003cbr\u003eHistory of the full-size aircraft\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Spitfire Mk.21 was one of the most extensively redesigned versions of the famous Supermarine fighter. Development began during 1942, when it became clear that the increasingly powerful Griffon engines being fitted to later Spitfires were placing considerable demands on the original airframe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Mk.21 introduced a completely redesigned wing. The new wing had greater structural strength and increased area, together with larger ailerons. Its standard armament consisted of four 20 mm cannon, while changes to the undercarriage accommodated the larger propeller required by the powerful engine. The scale of the redesign was sufficiently substantial that the alternative name “Victor” was considered during development.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Mk.21 was powered by the Rolls-Royce Griffon 61, a liquid-cooled V-12 engine considerably more powerful than the Merlin engines used by earlier Spitfires. The engine drove a large propeller, and later aircraft employed a contra-rotating propeller system.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA contra-rotating propeller uses two sets of blades rotating in opposite directions. This arrangement allowed the engine's considerable power to be converted into thrust while reducing some of the torque and propeller-related handling effects associated with a single large propeller.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe first production Mk.21 aircraft reached No. 91 Squadron in early 1945. However, the type arrived so late in the Second World War that it saw very limited, if any, meaningful combat service before the European war ended. The rapid development of jet fighters also meant that the Mk.21 represented one of the final stages of piston-engined Spitfire development rather than the beginning of a new generation of combat aircraft.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAfter the war, Mk.21s continued flying with both the RAF and Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF). The aircraft consequently had a considerably longer peacetime career than its limited wartime service might suggest.\n\u003cbr\u003eThe aircraft represented by this boxing\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Special Hobby boxing is particularly interesting because it focuses on aircraft fitted with the contra-rotating propeller installation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe decal sheet provides markings for two aircraft, including a No. 41 Squadron machine that was originally delivered in standard camouflage and later repainted aluminium. The surviving camouflage around the upper-wing roundels is represented as part of the unusual finish.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAnother option represents an aircraft used as the personal machine of senior RAF officers. One of the aircraft was flown by Air Vice-Marshal Thomas Cathcart Traill, who had been a First World War fighter pilot and commanded No. 12 Group. The kit includes the aerodynamic fairings associated with this particular aircraft.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis gives the kit considerable interest beyond simply being another Spitfire: it represents a distinctive late-war\/post-war variant with a visibly different nose and propeller arrangement.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Special Hobby","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57504169361788,"sku":"SH72318","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0432\/8584\/0033\/files\/A8ECFA15-2816-44E3-AC39-971C78B02810.jpg?v=1790404461","url":"https:\/\/sussex-model-centre.co.uk\/products\/special-hobby-plastic-model-kit-supermarine-spitfire-f-mk-21-contraprop-1-72","provider":"Sussex Model Centre","version":"1.0","type":"link"}