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Best Spitfire Mk. Vb in 1/72


Jackson Duvalier

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I'm currently modelling subjects used by U.S. forces, and that means I'm going to need some kits of specific British-built aircraft.  A fresh order of decals has prompted me to look more closely at the Spitfire Mark Vb.  I really only know the basics about Spits and even less regarding the available 1/72 representations.  Although due diligence demanded some basic research in this department before starting a new topic, digesting the available information can be likened to drinking from a fire hose.  Please forgive me restating this question directly as I'm sure the topic is old hat for the bona fide afficionado.  

 

From what I've been able to glean, the Tamiya kit goes together well but has some shape issues (though no reviewer in my quick survey seems to state precisely what these issues are) and the Italeri kit is good WRT to shape, but doesn't go together so well.  I like the newest generation of Airfix kits, but apparently their Mk. Vb is an older issue?  Do the latest small-run kits from eastern Europe stack up well?

 

I appreciate any light to be shed, and again, I apologise if this seems an oblivious inquiry.

Edited by Jackson Duvalier
"The The" was an alright band but it looks a bit foolish in this context.
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The Tamiya kit has the wrong wing shape and too fat a fuselage.  It fits together beautifully.  I'm not sure about the Mk.V  but the Mk.I has poor prop, spinner and exhausts.  I think the Mk.V is better there.

 

The Italeri has a lovely rear fuselage but pretty awful forward of the wing, plus other minor flaws.  Prop is awful.  Could look good with a new nose and a little work elsewhere, but otherwise forget.

 

The Aitfix is indeed an older kit, with some problems around the wing and aileron.  Get the aileron chord right and you can probably live with the kit.  You don't get the alternative tropical intake that you may be needing.  Rotol prop with pointed spinner - you may need the DH prop with blunter spinner.

 

The Heller/SMER is not only older but inferior.  Do not consider.

 

The Revell is a bit newer but has the classic flaw of older kits - it lacks the swallow-shape of the trailing edge where it meets the fuselage but is flat.  Do not consider.

 

The new small-run kits from Eastern Europe, in this particular case the AZ, look pretty good but I haven't made one yet.  I don't think that they do a tropical version, but can't be sure.

 

For a Mk.Vc, also used by the US, the Sword is the best kit but a bit short in span.  This does have the tropical parts.

 

However, if you are planning a number of kits why not try more than one option?

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It's exactly as I feared, Graham-- P-51B all over again.  Iconic subject and lots of kits to choose from, all of which have obvious and avoidable flaws.  Including the newish ones that really ought not, after we've been over it on the discussion boards so many times....

 

That being said I've got a AZ kit en route. :D   Which apparently lacks a gunsight. :think:

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Graham is correct regarding various Spitfire kits. I have built the AZ Spitfire II and ran into some fit problems getting the lower wing on the fuselage. It also lacks any positive alignment points for the cockpit in the fuselage so it is quite possible to get the cockpit assembly too high and then the canopy wont fit - I should mention that this issue is shared with other limited run Spitfires including Sword's (I am currently working on a Sword Seafire III). Care and doing several dry fits can avoid problems.

 

Regardless of the wing planform and pudgy fuselage, I have also built two Tamiya Spitfires, a Mk I and a Vb as a IIb. When finished and in the collection they looked like Spitfires to me. It depends upon your personal weighing of faults and their importance. Using your P-51B example, I absolutely refuse to buy or build any Hasegawa P-51B kits because of the wing problem, but can live with the Tamiya Spitfire. Go figure... 

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I think you'll get a lot of votes for the KP Spitfire Vb around here, it's still a 'short run' kit, but not a difficult build at all.

IMG_3496_zpsj7wzalc4

 

The AZ kit Vb kit is nice too, and (purely subjectively) I like its dimensions more than the newer KP kit. This is a Mk IIb, but the kit is the same as the Vb - just a few parts make it different.

IMG_1578_zpsoyt1uqid

Note: place the roundels over the walkway lines - oops.

 

The Sword kit is my favorite Vc.

IMG_3514_zpsyrxlycpq

 

Hope this helps.

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7 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Well personally I’d stick with Tamiya. Then again I'm not a rivet counting type. In the end it boils down to how exacting you are for accuracy. I figure if it quacks like a 🦆 then its a 🦆. I wish you luck in your quest. 

I'm with you on this one.  I believe the wing shape that Graham points out, can be tweaked with a little sanding and as for the rest, as Corsairfoxfouruncle says, it is quacks...  and looks like a... it works for me!

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I literally just finished the Tamiya Vb last night (pics in RFI when we get some daylight here, it's a small window in the Arctic!) and whilst it probably has a few issues, it's a good little kit and goes together generally hassle free. I've been meaning t pick up some of the AZ offerings and will do when I do my next Hannants order.

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Apart from the canopy, which does not look right, the Tamiya kit is my favourite. I've got the Falcon vac formed canopy set and intend to fit one of these to my next Tamiya.

 

Still Graham's got a point: Why not try out another and see if that will be your next favourite.

Edited by FinnAndersen
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The finished Tamiya model doesn't really cut the mustard, it isn't a rivet counting issue, the whole thing just looks wrong. To quote Graham, above, "do not consider". Even the Hobby Boss ones have better shape. The KP is easily the best choice in my view.

 

John.

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I built the KP Mk II, which is the same kit as the their Vb and I found the fit of most of the major parts a bit fiddly but nothing too bad and the model looks fine when complete. You'll find a few boxings of the same kit, labelled as a Ib (although I suspect the ailerons will be wrong for a Mk Ib), Mk IIb and various Mk Vb's, including a tropical option. I would either go for the KP kit or if a nice easy build is what you want (and you can live with the errors) get the Tamiya kit, don't waste your time with the others.

 

thanks

Mike

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All the input has been very helpful-- thanks to all who offered suggestions.

 

I love the quality and ease of assembly of Tamiya kits, but if it's wrong it's wrong and I don't wish to live with that if it can be avoided.

 

The AZ/KP family of kits may lack a bit in the locating pin department, but nothing like a vac or a High Planes kit. I think I can hack it.

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A few bits and pieces.

 

I did miss the HobbyBoss but then I do like wheel doors on my Spitires   It just never looked promising, and as you can tell I'm not short of Spitfires.  Just to add data, I didn't mention Nitto or Lindberg either..not that anyone has seen either of these for decades.  Thankfully.  

 

Cookenbacker: please explain by what you mean about a difference in the dimensions of the KP and AZ kits?  Especially as they come from the same family of companies.

 

You can reshape the Tamiya wing but it does eat into the flap area, especially outboard.  I have done this, twice.  But I'm inclined to agree with Johnd, it just doesn't look right.  However loud it quacks - but there are worse.

 

Mikemx: I presume that your reference is to metal not fabric ailerons.  I'm of the opinion that properly doped fabric is every bit as straight as metal, as opposed to the exaggerated sunken effect seen on some kits.  However perhaps a few strips of thin microstrip will accentuate the rib positions, if you think it necessary.

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I entirely agree with Graham about the absence of sag. Sag on Spitfire ailerons, as on just about all fabric covered control surfaces, is just not prototypical. In real life you can discern the rib tapes but that's all. In 1/72 I would consider even microstrip probably overdoing it, and if doing anything at all, would use thin strips of unwanted thickish decals, or possibly one of the self-adhesive foil products.

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5 hours ago, Graham Boak said:

Cookenbacker: please explain by what you mean about a difference in the dimensions of the KP and AZ kits?  Especially as they come from the same family of companies.

 

I just re-read the rather ridiculous post that follows and realized that it does not make for very interesting reading, so here is a summary:

 

The AZ and KP kits use different molds, and I find the KP wing to be a bit narrow in chord. If you look carefully at the pics I posted above, you can see that the KP wing looks a little skinny compared to the others.

 

Read on only if you need something to help you fall asleep.

 

There are three 'families' of AZ/KP Spitfire kits that I've dealt with:

 

1. AZ short run Mk I/II/V/VI family (along with short run Mk VII/VIII, and XIV/XVIII)

2. AZ 'HQ' metal molds Mk IX/XVI - also re-boxed by KP with some new parts

3. KP newest kits, Mk I/II/V

 

All three have different dimensions from each other, and I think that the best (in most ways) is the original AZ short run family. The primary difference that draws my eye is wing dimensions. The short run AZ's seem closest to actual dimensions. The 'HQ' IX is both narrow in chord, and short in span (see @Greenshirt's wonderful analysis of various 1/72 Mk IX's versus Monforton). Not a deal breaker to me, but it can be discerned just sitting on the shelf (especially if it's next to an Airfix Mk IX build, and also note that the KP boxings of the AZ 'HQ' IX contain new 'longer' wing tip parts that help make up some of the difference). The KP kits are somewhere in between, better than the 'HQ' but not as good as the old short run kits.

 

Here is the KP Mk Vb wing lined up with the Airfix Mk I/II/Va wing along the leading edge.

.

A tad narrow, but not a deal breaker by any means. Note that the Airfix Mk I/II/V wing is not as wide in chord as the Airfix Mk IX (which is 1 mm too wide in chord - again not noticeable unless it's next to an AZ Mk IX kit that is a tad narrow in chord).

 

There is a lot more that could be gone into, but everyone should be snoozing comfortably by now, and I'm open to comments/corrections on any of this of course.

 

I do have plans to build a Mk Vc from the new Eduard Mk IX with the nose from a spare Sword Mk V fuselage that came in the Seafire III kit - I think that would lead to a very satisfying result.

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I've made quite a few of the AZ and KP Spitfire Vs and, whilst attempting to avoid repetition, here are my opinions.

 

Firstly, do not get Kovozavody Prostejov confused with KP Models. The former are part of the AZ Models stable (although to add oil to troubled waters, were a separate company in the past), the later are something else entirely. To avoid confusion, when I write KP I mean AZ/ KP. (I hope that's made things completely clear.)

 
I note that you're familiar with vacforms and High Planes kits; you'll be fine with AZ, KP and Sword.
 

The AZ is also available in a 'Joypack', three kits with no decals, which is good value but you also get quite a lot of flash, some short-shot parts and the spinner for the Rotol propeller (the long, pointy one) is unusable because the resin molds are wearing-out.

 

Luckily, the KP, which in my opinion is better detailed than the AZ, comes with quite a few spare parts (propellers, wheels, exhausts, aerial masts and rear-view mirrors) which fit the AZ. I'm not aware of any accuracy issues with the wing chord but that's not to say there aren't any. 

 

The Sword Vc is a nice kit but a little harder to find than either the AZ or the KP. As Cookie states, there's virtually a complete MkVc in their recent Seafire III boxing (it's the one with a Bf-109 being shot down). KP are releasing a Vc later this year.

 

 

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On 11/01/2018 at 16:48, Graham Boak said:

I did miss the HobbyBoss but then I do like wheel doors on my Spitires 

:lol: yes, I remember the double take when first opening the box and removing the plastic tray in vain. They are easily sourced, though, just adapt the wheels-up parts from an Airfix kit. Then it's just a propeller unit and a canopy to go...

 

John.

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A parcel from MJW arrived in the post today.  Contents included a shiny new Kovazavody Prostejov Spitfire Mk. Vb. Trop!  Looks to be a nice kit, well-molded.  Now to figure out whether to use the kit decals or on of the three USAAF machines on the Fundekals Spitfire sheet. :huh:  Also need to figure out a way to cobble up something resembling British Interior Green seeing as how I have none in inventory. 

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For what it’s worth, Revell is releasing a new 1/72 Mk VB this year, which no doubt will be based on their recent Mk II kit. I don’t own the latter, so can’t speculate on where the new Mk V will fit into the spectrum of available kits.

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1 hour ago, MDriskill said:

Revell is releasing a new 1/72 Mk VB this year, which no doubt will be based on their recent Mk II kit. I don’t own the latter, so can’t speculate on where the new Mk V will fit into the spectrum of available kits.

Don't think I'll get too worked up if it's based on the Mk.II. The basic shape is ok, so it's usable but there are spurious lumps and bumps on the wings. The peripheral parts let it down badly: the canopy, wheels and propeller unit all need replacing. There's a thread on BM which is worth a read, if you're interested, especially later on when The Wooksta! gets hold of a copy.

 

John.

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13 hours ago, Jackson Duvalier said:

A parcel from MJW arrived in the post today.  Contents included a shiny new Kovazavody Prostejov Spitfire Mk. Vb. Trop!  Looks to be a nice kit, well-molded.  Now to figure out whether to use the kit decals or on of the three USAAF machines on the Fundekals Spitfire sheet. :huh:  Also need to figure out a way to cobble up something resembling British Interior Green seeing as how I have none in inventory. 

I got the same kit from the same source!  I plan to do the USAAF version, but I'll probably have to raid the stars decals from elsewhere as even with the errata set included with the kit they don't seem to match the instructions!

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2 hours ago, malpaso said:

I got the same kit from the same source!  I plan to do the USAAF version, but I'll probably have to raid the stars decals from elsewhere as even with the errata set included with the kit they don't seem to match the instructions!

Dodgy decals (poor registration, poor color density, colors visibly off) seem to be a recurrent theme with the AZ/KP line. Enough so that I've started buying the more budget-friendly joy packs (no decals) and Club Line kits (one decal option) when available. No sense paying extra for four markings options when I'm gonna have to replace 'em anyways.

 

7 hours ago, johnd said:

Try mixing Sky with RAF Dark Green.

 

Edgar said that he'd been told that that's what the erks did when they ran out of the real thing.

 

John.

I'll remember that!  I generally prefer Tamiya paints and was looking at possible a mix of their XF-71 Cockpit Green and XF-12 JN Grey if nothing better falls from the sky.  

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