Airfix Supermarine Spitfire TR.9 1:48 – build review

Full review with Dave Coward

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Background

This was a really unexpected release from Airfix in 2025 as the two seat Spitfire doesn’t have the aesthetic lines of the single seat but personally I was really pleased with their choice for two reasons:

• It filled a hole in the market for a mainstream two-seater especially in 1:48th
  From a purely personal view I wanted to add this Spitfire to my collection but more about that in a minute.
• The kit comes with two decal options, one for a Irish Air Corp machine and the second for a private aircraft in a rather unusual brown and green scheme in 1969.

Straight from the box it’s a very nice kit, and really only lacks seatbelts if you choose not to use the included figures.

Back to my reason for this build… back in 2020 I was incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to fly in a two-seater Spitfire and from that moment I had always wanted to add one to my collection preferably in the scheme of the one I had flown – and I did fly it briefly even if it was from the back seat!!

Aftermarket Extras

I had ordered this kit when it was first announced but the issue was the markings I wanted to finish it in, namely the aircraft I flew in. Fortunately, once again, Xtradecal announced a series of decals for the TR.9s and one of them was for the Boultbee aircraft I had flown, it was just a case of them waiting for it to be released.

The other thing I needed to think about was the interior. At the time of building this kit there were no aftermarket items specifically for it but I did need seatbelts. These modern spitfires don’t, in general, use the original Sutton harness belts but utilise modern belts. A quick search of Hannants provided me with something appropriate in the form of Zlin Z-126/226 belts, not 100% accurate but they would do.

The only other addition I did opt for was a set of weighted wheels which always look better and have more refined detail than the kit options.

I actually started this kit before the decals were released as I wanted to have it ready for the decals as soon as I got them. Hannants had previewed the decals so I had an idea of what they included and this combined with the photos I had from my flight gave an excellent start point for the finish.

Just to let you have a quick idea of what the finished model looks like here’s a look at it…

Read on…