✈️ Spitfire (United Kingdom): step-by-step build

The famous British fighter with the curvy wings, built from Technic beams and a spinning four-blade propeller.

Zoom! The Spitfire is the most famous British aeroplane of all, loved for its curvy, oval-shaped wings. This is a Technic-parts model inspired by it, not a real flying plane: green and tan beams make the camouflage, a blue beam sits where the roundel goes, and the propeller turns freely on its axle when you blow on it.

• Level 3 of 5 (medium)
• About 40 minutes
• 25 steps, 78 parts
• Powered by: Push
• Series: Aircraft from 21 Countries

What you will learn

• Pins: Grippy or Smooth: Pins join beams together — some hold tight, some let things swing.
• Triangles Are Strong: A triangle cannot be squished — a square can.
• Centre of Gravity: Keep the heavy stuff low and in the middle and your model won't tip.
• Axles: An axle is a cross-shaped rod — anything on it turns together.
• Axles & Wheels: A wheel on an axle turns dragging into rolling.

Parts you need

• 4 × Beam 9
• 16 × Blue long pin
• 1 × Beam 11
• 24 × Black pin (grippy)
• 4 × L-beam 3×5
• 4 × L-beam 2×4
• 1 × Boomerang beam 3×7
• 5 × Beam 5
• 6 × Beam 3
• 1 × Long pin-axle block
• 1 × Axle 4
• 2 × Bush
• 4 × Beam 7
• 1 × Axle 6
• 3 × Train wheel
• 1 × Axle 3

Steps

1. Lay the floor of the fuselage: take a green 9-hole beam, then push 2 blue long pins in and press a green 11-hole beam onto them.
2. Lay the floor of the fuselage: push 2 black pins in and press a green 3×5 L-beam (short leg up at the nose) onto them.
3. Lay the floor of the fuselage: push 1 black pin and 1 blue long pin in and press a green 3×5 L-beam (its short leg points down: the tail-wheel leg) onto them.
4. Add the wing roots and the tail roots: slide a tan 2×4 L-beam (short leg up) onto the blue pins that stick out, then push 2 blue long pins in and press a tan 2×4 L-beam (short leg up) onto them.
5. Add the wing roots and the tail roots: push 2 blue long pins in and press a green 3×5 L-beam (short leg down: a landing-gear leg) onto them.
6. Add the wing roots and the tail roots: push 2 blue long pins in and press a green 3×5 L-beam (short leg down: a landing-gear leg) onto them.
7. Add the wing roots and the tail roots: push 1 black pin and 1 blue long pin in and press a green 2×4 L-beam (short leg up) onto them.
8. Add the wing roots and the tail roots: push 1 black pin in and press a green 2×4 L-beam (short leg up) onto them.
9. Build the top of the fuselage and the cockpit: push 2 black pins in and press a green 9-hole beam onto them.
10. Build the top of the fuselage and the cockpit: push 2 black pins in and press a green boomerang beam (its bent end leans back: the tail fin) onto them.
11. Build the top of the fuselage and the cockpit: push 2 black pins in and press a clear 5-hole beam (the cockpit canopy) onto them.
12. Build the top of the fuselage and the cockpit: push 2 black pins in and press a clear 3-hole beam (the cockpit canopy) onto them.
13. Build the top of the fuselage and the cockpit: push 2 black pins in and press a red 3-hole beam leaning back along the fin onto them.
14. Fit the propeller: push 2 black pins into the upright leg and press the long pin-axle block onto them.
15. Fit the propeller: push an axle into the block, slide on the black propeller beams and lock them on with a bush (the propeller spins freely on the axle).
16. Build the right wing: slide a tan 9-hole beam onto the blue pins that stick out, then push 2 blue long pins in and press a green 7-hole beam onto them.
17. Build the right wing: slide a blue 7-hole beam (the roundel) onto the blue pins that stick out, then push 1 black pin and 1 blue long pin in and press a tan 5-hole beam onto them.
18. Build the right wing: push 1 black pin in and press a green 3-hole beam onto them.
19. Build the left wing: slide a tan 9-hole beam onto the blue pins that stick out, then push 2 blue long pins in and press a green 7-hole beam onto them.
20. Build the left wing: slide a blue 7-hole beam (the roundel) onto the blue pins that stick out, then push 1 black pin and 1 blue long pin in and press a tan 5-hole beam onto them.
21. Build the left wing: push 1 black pin in and press a green 3-hole beam onto them.
22. Finish the tailplane: push 1 black pin in and press a tan 3-hole beam onto them.
23. Finish the tailplane: push 2 black pins in and press a tan 3-hole beam onto them.
24. Put on the wheels: push a 6-long axle through both legs and put a wheel on each end.
25. Put on the wheels: push a 3-long axle through the leg, with a wheel on one side and a bush on the other.

Play time

Blow on the propeller to spin it, then fly the model around the room in your hand!

Real-world inspiration

Supermarine Spitfire, the British single-seat fighter of the Second World War (elliptical wing, green and grey camouflage, roundels).

Credited demonstrations and component sources

• Supermarine Spitfire — Wikipedia: Public reference for the real aircraft's shape and colours; this is a Technic-parts model inspired by it, not a flying or tested replica.