Here's another common error from the Airfix History page. "The famous ‘BTK’ Spitfire was launched in 1953, the first in a long line of Airfix Spitfire kits. The ‘BTK’ was replaced by the Spitfire IX in 1959, it would remain in the range until 2005." The 1953 date again comes from Ward. There is plenty of evidence to show that this date is incorrect and that BTK was issued in 1955. The BTK is a scaled down copy of Aurora's 1/48 British Spitfire kit, which was first released in 1954, so it would have been impossible for BTK to have been issued in 1953! The Tool Drawing Log gives strong evidence that BTK was issued in 1955. Here is the log entry. Tool No. of Comp Made Drg. Drg.No. Shts Description Drg.No. By Date -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- T1124 36 Imp. Spitfire Kit (2 off) A/F. 14/9/55 T1125 12 Imp. Spitfire Stand (4 off) A/F. 20/9/55 The Imp. stands for Impressions, or the number of parts produced by the mould. The BTK kit has a total of 18 blue (for the first kits) or silver (for later kits) parts and three clear parts (one for the canopy and two for the stand). Thus, 2 off 18 = 36 Imp. and 4 off 3 = 12 Imp. That is, the BTK mould could make two kits at a time and the clear mould could make parts for four kits. The stand is also a copy of the Aurora stand. I have two BTK kits, with the sprues being slightly different to each other, which supports that this was a dual mould. The stands were also used for later Airfix aircraft kits, which must have produced many spare Spitfire canopies! Later, the stand was changed to the oval type. Other evidence for 1955 is that the BTK pattern number of 1316 is preceded by the 1911 Rolls Royce with a pattern number of 1315, also issued in 1955. The next kit was the Gloster Gladiator Mk.I with pattern number 1335, which was issued in 1956. The first published reference for BTK that I could find is from the Trade Notes of the April 1956 issue of Aeromodeller on page 205, which I reproduce below: “The rapid introduction of plastic kits, mainly for model cars and galleons, has caused a minor trade boom in some parts. First indication of home production of plastic aircraft line came with a visit to the local Woolworths. There we noted an excellent representation of the Spitfire, bagged in a polythene packet, and moulded in blue plastic. The price is very low 2/–. These kits, manufactured by Airfix, are now distributed through the model trade and we are told that the Spit will soon be followed by a Gloster Gladiator, which should be a most popular subject.” For more information on the BTK kit, please read my article at the link below. http://www.sworld.com.au/steven/models/spitfire/ Below is a photo of the my silver BTK, which is missing the two part stand. Below is a side by side comparison of my silver BTK and Frosties grey BTK. You can see that the sprues for the bombs are of different lengths. Here's a scan of the Airfix instructions. The drawing for the Aurora instructions is identical!