Hobby Master Archive

The Spitfire Mk.II was an improvement over the late production Mk.I’s because it had the new Merlin XII engine. The new engine provided an extra 120 hp and could be equipped with either the Rotol or de Havilland propellers. Out of the 920 Mk.II’s built 750 were Mk.IIa’s armed with eight .303 Browning machine guns. The Mk.II was phased out in 1941 by the Mk.V.

When WWII started some American volunteers enlisted with the RAF. They were named the No. 71 “Eagle Squadron”. Bill Dunn was a member and on August 27, 1941 was escorting Blenheims. During the mission Dunn shot down two Me-109’s but was hit several times. Dunn got the crippled aircraft back to base before passing out. When he awoke he found he had lost the front portion of one foot; 2 machine gun bullets in his leg while another creased the back of his head. This ended Dunn’s career with the “Eagle Squadron” and a score of 5 ½ victories. He returned to the US as a pilot trainer but on D-Day returned to England with the 406th FG and scored 3 more victories.

Specifications for the Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IIa Entered Service - August 1940 with 611 Squadron Performance Power Plant - 1 x Rolls-Royce Merlin XII, 1,175 hp (Mk.IIb - 1,300 hp) Maximum Speed - 370 mph (595 km/h) Maximum Range - 395 miles (636 km) Service Ceiling - 32,800 ft (9,997 m) Time 20,000 ft - 7 minutes Dimensions Length - 29.8 ft (9.1 m) Height - 11.48 ft (3.5 m) Wingspan - 36.75 ft (11.2 m)

Armament Mk.IIa - 8 x Browning .303 machine guns Mk.IIb - 4 x machine guns + 2 x 20mm cannons

1/48 scale pre-finished. Die-cast metal with a minimum of plastic. Professionally painted. All markings pad applied for superb results. Canopy slides open. Comes with a pilot that can be removed. Comes with display stand. Landing gear is fully retractable and can be displayed up or down. Propeller is metal. Extremely sought after by collectors.

Hobby Master 1/48 Air Power Series HA7803 Spitfire II N0. 71 Eagle Squadron William “Bill” Dunn