Quickboost

1/48 Spitfire Mk.XIV Propeller w/Tool For the Academy Spitfire Mk XIV

Stock Number: QB 48 253

Reviewed By  Charles Landrum, IPMS# 26328

MSRP: €6.00 (approx $8.50) Website: www.quickboost.net The Academy Spitfire Mk XIV kits are overall very nice kits in terms of fit and detail, but they are not perfect and have been properly criticized for a number of flaws including the shape of the propeller blades. Quickboost offers yet another solution for this kit at an affordable price, providing a replacement for the propeller - spinner and blades. This set includes three resin castings. The spinner is a one piece affair with 5 separate blades which insert into the holes. The blades are thin, of the proper chord, well shaped and made of durable resin. To ensure proper alignment, Quickboost provides an alignment tool cast in resin to set each blade. The fit of the spinner onto the tool is tight and the jig is properly engineered to put the blades at the right pitch. It is very impressive.

In did a comparison of the QB spinner and blades with that of the kit (in gray-green plastic). The blades are of the proper chord and better shaped than those of the kit. The QB spinner is the same length as the kit spinner and less blunt eliminating a seam and providing bolt recess detail.

Quickboost has done it again with a reasonably priced detail set that saves a lot of effort reshaping the kit blades. I would like to thank Quickboost for these review samples.