Our good friend John Parker from WarbirdsOnline in Australia recently provided an update from Vintage Fighter Restorations (VFR) in Scone, New South Wales regarding progress on the restoration of Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX MH603. We have covered several of Parker’s previous reports, which you can check out for the aircraft’s history and earlier restoration updates. We will let John’s words pick up the latest news as follows…
Supermarine Spitfire F Mk.IX MH603 at Pay’s Air Service and Vintage Fighter Restorations (VFR) in Scone, New South Wales, Australia is undergoing a refresh of her paintwork. Following on from our report regarding MH603’s first engine runs in our news article of June 2021, we can now report on her progress towards her first flight in over 7 decades. The Spitfire is edging ever closer, with virtually all of the detail systems testing now completed. Most of what remains is the cosmetically related, and involves a refresh of her paint scheme.
Recently MH603 moved from the restoration hangar at Vintage Fighter Restorations (VFR) to the nearby paint shop at Pay’s Air Service for a comprehensive refresh of her surface coatings. The level of accuracy required for such a task is not to be hurried, and the restoration team has completed a mountain of research to ensure that the completed aircraft not only looks good, but is period correct. As this will be the actual scheme that the fighter carried in January 1944, it must be historically precise as well. In addition, as all of the Spitfire’s cowlings and access panels have now had their final fitting and adjustments, they are being completely repainted in keeping with the rest of the airframe.
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MH603 heading from the restoration hangar to the paint shop. (image by Bennii Walters)
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MH603 masking up. (image by Bennii Walters)
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MH603 with masking up for refinishing well underway. (image by Bennii Walters)
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MH603 ready for her paint refresh. (image by Bennii Walters)
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MH603 fully masked up for the application of large areas of it’s camouflage paint. (image by Bennii Walters)
Whilst the Spitfire had already been painted when it was structurally completed, the detail of the finish was not fully applied, including various stencils etc. Moreover the restoration itself caused some inevitable wear and tear on the the paint finish, so it was always envisaged that this comprehensive paint scheme update would take place just prior to the fighter’s first flight.
Spitfire MH603 Chin Cowlings
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MH603’s chin cowling being prepared to receive new paint. (image by Bennii Walters)
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MH603’s chin cowling (in the foreground) following the application of the final coat of paint. (image by Bennii Walters)
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Another view of MH603’s chin cowling drying in the paint booth following the application of the final coat of interior paint. (image by Bennii Walters)
Bennii Walters is the fellow responsible for carrying out the refinishing in the paint shop at Pay’s Air Service although, over the years, work on the internal paint for the wings and exterior surfaces has also received attention from Rod Curmi and Mal Pittman. The finish so far is a real credit to the workmanship of this team.
Spitfire MH603 Engine Cowlings
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MH603’s full set of engine cowlings after receiving their coat of primer paint. (image by Bennii Walters)
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The interior side of MH603’s top engine cowling following the application of primer paint. (image by Bennii Walters)
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The interior side of MH603’s top engine cowling during the repaint, showing the final coating as it dries. (image by Bennii Walters)
Bennii is currently retouching all of the external camouflage on the aircraft in the original No.331 (Norwegian) Squadron scheme the aircraft wore in WWII, coded as ‘FN B’. Every effort is being made to complete this scheme as accurately as possible with correct placement and color matching of the serials, rondels, and stencil markings.
Spitfire MH603 Side Cowlings
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MH603’s top and side cowlings shown here during the preparation process for repainting. (image by Bennii Walters)
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The interior of MH603’s right hand side cowling after receiving its coat of primer. (image by Bennii Walters)
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The same cowling section following the application of its final coat of paint. (image by Bennii Walters)
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The opposite side engine cowling for MH603 following its final coat of paint. (image by Bennii Walters)
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MH603’s left side engine cowling awaiting the application of its camouflage paint layer. (image via Bennii Walters)
The above selection of images, taken during the refinishing process, will be updated once the aircraft leaves the paint shop in the near future. At that point, Supermarine Spitfire F Mk. IX MH603 will be ready for her first flight since 1955, and we will be there to cover it!
We extend our thanks to Ross Pay and the team at Pay’s Air Service and Vintage Fighter Restorations for their help and assistance with this report. We wish to also thank Bennii Walters of Pay’s Air Service for supplying the images of Spitfire MH603, because of our limited ability to travel to Scone NSW due to the COVID-19 lockdown
We will continue following these remarkable efforts and bring additional news as soon as we can. Many thanks indeed to our friend John Parker at WarbirdsOnline for this article.
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Richard Mallory Allnutt's aviation passion ignited at the 1974 Farnborough Airshow. Raised in 1970s Britain, he was immersed in WWII aviation lore. Moving to Washington DC, he frequented the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum, meeting aviation legends.
After grad school, Richard worked for Lockheed-Martin but stayed devoted to aviation, volunteering at museums and honing his photography skills. In 2013, he became the founding editor of Warbirds News, now Vintage Aviation News. With around 800 articles written, he focuses on supporting grassroots aviation groups.
Richard values the connections made in the aviation community and is proud to help grow Vintage Aviation News.
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