When the FW-190 appeared in the skies over Europe, it quickly showed that it was more than a match for the Spitfire Mk. V. The Spitfire marks that were planned to succeed the Mk. V were not yet ready, and an interim solution was sought. Pairing the Mk. V airframe with the Rolls-Royce Merlin 60 proved to be the solution, the resulting marriage being the Spitfire M. IX.
There are quite a few kits of the Mk. IX in both 1/72 and 1/48 scale. However I’ve not seen a kit that models the early Mk. IX’s, distinguished by cowlings that had various bulges to accommodate the larger and longer engine. Later Mark IXs had a more streamlined cowling.
Hyperscale’s Brett Green has a very informative and interesting review of Czech Master Resin’s 1/72 Spitfire Mk. IX Rolls-Royce conversion. If you’re a Spitfire fan, you’ll definitely want to click on over to Hyperscale and take a look at this very fine looking kit.