Airfix 1/48th scale Spitfire MkI - work in progress

[John]

Right, I was pleasantly surprised by the postie delivering one of these this morning and as a result everything else is now on hold while I delve into the box. First impressions – very nice indeed!

The box itself is the first one I’ve seen that begins to stamp something of Hornby’s mark on the Airfix brand. Not only does it have the Hornby logo but it also features a sticker assuring us that it was “Packed in the UK” and a new style of Flying Hours token.

The instructions follow the well established house style and have a separate, nicely printed colour camouflage and markings guide.

The new fuselage parts are nicely tooled and are obviously based on the old MkVb parts, but they’re not exactly the same. There’s less interior detail moulded on the cockpit sides and the locating pins are in slightly different locations. Interestingly the fuselage has the cutting guides for the arrestor hook panel moulded in – I wonder if this means the new fuselage moulding will replace the older Vb moulding in the Seafire III/Spitfire Vc kit?

The new wings feature very fine engraved detail and separate flaps. I’ve never been convinced of the benefit of this in Spitfire kits but its there if that’s what’s important to you.

Minor parts are obviously influenced by the older kits, especially the interior which can trace its origins back to the Vb kit. There are both MkI/II and V oil coolers, so from the box I reckon you can build a I, II, Va or XIII.

Decals are well printed and in register. I’ve had my trusty magnifier on them and they seem to be a bit different from the usual Airfix practice in that they seem to me to be half-tone litho printed, rather than screen printed. When I first looked at the kit this morning I thought the codes and fuselage band for the 118 Sqdn MkII had been printed in the same colour but on careful examination the bank looks to be a light blue, so a good match for BS381:1930 Sky Blue.

There are 2 clear sprues in the kit, which I haven’t opened yet, but one contains a delightful teardrop canopy!

I’ll do some comparisons with the Tamiya MkI as the build progresses but first impressions are very good indeed.

John

[John]

OK, I’ve had a chance for a much better look and I’ve started preparing the parts, so a few observations are in order:

The cockpit : The suggested overall colour for the interior is 78 Cockpit Green. That’s good for the MkII but the early MkIs were painted a lighter green, maybe something like 90 Sky and a touch of yellow. The colour you are looking for is the famous Eau-de-Nil. Also pre-war Spitfires don’t need the armour plate (part 50 but BoB and later will. The seat itself has the correct style of padding coming only half way down the back should you not wish to install the rather nice 3-part pilot. The suggested colour for the seat is black, but again early ones should be light green. The throttle quadrant, air tanks and appropriate undercarriage lever are separate components.

Wings : The instructions suggest painting the interior of the wheel wells 78. I’d be happier using whatever your undersurface colour will be.

Wheels : As has been mentioned the undercarriage doors are much better – they’re flat! There are 4 and 5-spoke wheel styles included.

Other bits : There are 2 styles of exhaust, with and without fishtails. There are also 2 styles of aerial mast, straight and tapered. There’s only one, later, style of pitot however. There are 3 props included, which are the early 2-blader, a DeH Metal and Rotol wood 3-blader. There’s only one 3 blade spinner though.

John

[John]

A quick trip out to the garage recovered my Tamiya Spitfire MkI from deep storage and allowed a quick comparison of the two kits. I’m afraid my camera isn’t up to this sort of close work but the differences in the colours of the plastic should get the point across.

First of all, in fuselage length, with the halves lined up at the rear of the cockpit opening, the Airfix is longer in the nose by about the thickness of the plastic. The Tamiya cockpit opening is also slightly shorter than the Airfix, and it’s fuel filler is about half a diameter further back.

From the cockpit backwards they are about the same.

The undersurface wing-to-fuselage join has always been wider on the Tamiya kit than the Airfix MkVb, and that is again the case with the new Spitfire kit. Lined up at the leading edge the rear of the Airfix wing will fit inside the Tamiya fuselage.

In summary the Airfix Spitfire is slightly longer in the fuselage but slimmer in the beam than the Tamiya kit.

John

[Mentalguru]

Well the Tamiya kit always did look a bit strange- what are the cowling profiles like?

Isnt the Tamiya supposed to be a fair bit too short in the aft fuselage though

John- just a thought- I see you have aligned the cockpits- dare i suggest taking another photo with the wing roots aligned. If you did, would this put the noses at roughly similar lengths, and push the airfix rudder post back past the Tamiya one?

Edited July 9, 2007 by Mentalguru

[John]

I don't know where the length difference lies but it does manifest itself most obviously from the cockpit forward. The breadth of the fuselage at the wing root trailing edge has always been the coupon buster for me on the Tamiya kit, it looks bloated to my eye.

As for the cowling, historically the Airfix Spitfire has always had its prop sitting a bit too high. I think the differences are in the fractions of a millimeter range and personally it's never bothered me - at least not as much as the pregnant Tamiya fuselage. That fact alone immediately elevates this new kit to my early Spitfire of choice.

John

Edited July 9, 2007 by John

[Mentalguru]

I don't know where the length difference lies but it does manifest itself most obviously from the cockpit forward. The breadth of the fuselage at the wing root trailing edge has always been the coupon buster for me on the Tamiya kit, it looks bloated to my eye.

As for the cowling, historically the Airfix Spitfire has always had its prop sitting a bit too high. I think the differences are in the fractions of a millimeter range and personally it's never bothered me - at least not as much as the pregnant Tamiya fuselage. That fact alone immediately elevates this new kit to my early Spitfire of choice.

John

see me edited post...

I agree about the porky tamiya fuselage, also the fact that I seem to recall the real Spit being at its widest about the pilot?

[John]

I'll give your suggestion a try. Either way the Tamiya Spit's always looked short and fat. I can't see me doing much more photography tonight but I'll give it a go in the morning.

John

[AnonymousA667]

As for the cowling, historically the Airfix Spitfire has always had its prop sitting a bit too high. I think the differences are in the fractions of a millimeter range and personally it's never bothered me - at least not as much as the pregnant Tamiya fuselage. That fact alone immediately elevates this new kit to my early Spitfire of choice.

Concur with your assessment of the nose profile, certainly this shows up in comparison with the drawings in the Modellers Datafile with the usual caveat that there are lies, damned lies and scale drawings. I think the problem lies in misinterpretation of the thrust line, but I am not going to be fussing about it.

peebeep

[desmojen]

I'd say the Tamiya cockpit is definately a fair bit shorter than the Airfix one based on the fact that when I did my K5054 with Neils conversion (conversion is meant for Tamiya Mk1 but I used the Airfix Vb kit) I had to add a substantial sprue filler plug in the front part, because the windscreen didn't cover it.

Other than that all the parts fit really well though, so there's not much in it.

Jen.

[John]

I have to admit that I bought 2 Tamiya MkIs when they came out about, what, 1994? I built one straight away and the other one's the one in the photos! I've never been impressed with it.

John

[Mentalguru]

I have to admit that I bought 2 Tamiya MkIs when they came out about, what, 1994? I built one straight away and the other one's the one in the photos! I've never been impressed with it.

John

Yeh- I lengthened the fuselage- altered the leading edge parabola and started hacking the cowling- then I gave up....

[John]

Ok, I've decided on a subject for this build - it will be Pat Gifford's XT-A L1070 as it appeared on 16th October 1939 when it became the first Spitfire to bring down an enemy in combat, a Ju88A-1 of KG30.

Henry Buxton's book "The Birth of the Few" has a photo of Gifford standing beside this aircraft, reputedly on 16/10/39. There are a few details that can be discerned for this:

1. No crowbar inside the access door, but a couple of information placards can be seen. The access door colour is very light against the camouflage.

2. The aircraft doesn't seem to feature the name "Stickeback" on the posrt side fuel tank cover, as is often illustrated.

3. It has black/white undersurfaces but the lower part of the nose seems to be a lighter colour also, suggesting that this is one of the early Spitfires which retained aluminium under the nose and rear fuselage but had the wings repainted black and white. I wonder about the tailplanes though?

4. Early unarmoured windscreen

5. Gifford himself appears to be wearng a Sidcot flying suit rather than a pre-war white cotton one, with Mae West and parachute. He is, of course, still wearing his shirt and tie!

John

[dylan the rabbit]

Very interesting thread John. Thanks. I can't wait to get my hands on one.

How will you decal your build? There's a set available for the bird you want to do?

Cheers,

Nick

[John]

It's a fairly straightforward job to do from the spares box. Type B roundels above the wing, Type A on the fuselage, codes from an XtraDecal sheet. No fin flash and either a very small serial or none at all. The only thing that was bothering me was the personal name on the aircraft, but having found the photo referred to above, that may not be a problem.

John

[Mentalguru]

It's a fairly straightforward job to do from the spares box. Type B roundels above the wing, Type A on the fuselage, codes from an XtraDecal sheet. No fin flash and either a very small serial or none at all. The only thing that was bothering me was the personal name on the aircraft, but having found the photo referred to above, that may not be a problem.

John

I have always wanted to do this - particularly cool thing to associate with my birthday eh! First Spittie kill!

[John]

I've been at Edinburgh Zoo all day with the extended brood and have just got back, sunburned and knackered! Normal service will be resumed shortly.

John

[John]

Just been browsing over at Hannants site, where the Spitfire is top of their Best Sellers list

If you aren't inspired by the Airfix choice of markings, there is also this sheet from Iliad Design

http://www.hannants.co.uk/search/?FULL=ILD48003&PIC_NO=1

I'm going to try to pick up some of the new Humbrol acrylics over the weekend for this model - seems appropriate somehow! I can't yet get it locally so a trip to Glasgow may be in order.

John

[Guest Drewe]

Now the make-or-break issue. . .what's thew wing cross section like and how thick/thin are the trailing edges?

Edited July 12, 2007 by Drewe

[zeke]

I'd say the Tamiya cockpit is definately a fair bit shorter than the Airfix one based on the fact that when I did my K5054 with Neils conversion (conversion is meant for Tamiya Mk1 but I used the Airfix Vb kit) I had to add a substantial sprue filler plug in the front part, because the windscreen didn't cover it.

Other than that all the parts fit really well though, so there's not much in it.

Jen.

I'm only just catching up with this thread...thank you John...but jen...that prototype Spit is just GORGEOUS!!!...

[John]

OK, finally got the thing out of its box and started building. I'll be doing it with the canopy closed so I'm not too bothered about detailing the interior, but I did mix the early internal colour, based on Edgar's post in the other thread.

It looks greyer on my monitor than it does in reality, being a bright apple green, similar to the pre-war LNER colour. My formula was Games Workshop Snot Green (really!) and Skull White mixed about 60/40. Snot Green is about the same colour as Humbrol 131 Mid Green or 3 Brunswick Green. I'm also planning on installing the pilot, so he's getting undercoated at the moment as well. The u/c interiors will be aluminium.

John

Edited July 15, 2007 by John

[John]

I'm only just catching up with this thread...thank you John...but jen...that prototype Spit is just GORGEOUS!!!...

Couldn't agree more!

John

[Hepster]

I was inspired enough by your observations so far to buy the new Spit from Antics at RIAT yesterday, and I am pleasantly surprised by the contents. I'd like to add some observations of my own as follows;

My box contained three transparency sprues - two of them can be used for optional fits on the kit, but the third sprue with the teardrop canopy and the later style front looks like it may be from the Spitfire F24/Seafire 47 kit and somehow got added to the batch by accident. As I have the Seafire 47 in my stash, the spare may be handy.

The front piece of the transparency for the pre-war option is over-simplified for a 48th scale kit - see page 55 of Alfred Price's 'The Spitfire Story' for a closeup of what the rectangular plate should look like. I don't know how you can fix this without a replacement.

Early pre-war Spits had gun muzzles that protruded slightly from the outer two gun positions - this is shown in the artwork, but isn't represented in the kit. I think from memory the Tamiya kit includes them, which is odd, as you don't see it on later Spit 1's. Anyhow, it's easily put right.

The recessed panel lines are nicely done for the most part, except around the wing root where they go a bit trenchlike.

The radio masts behind the cockpit are fine, but the bit that they are connected to at the top of the rudder is omitted.

The decals look triffic, in perfect register, and I like the choice of white or yellow '19' for the tail.

I hope these observations are helpful, as yours certainly were.

[AnonymousA667]

My box contained three transparency sprues - two of them can be used for optional fits on the kit, but the third sprue with the teardrop canopy and the later style front looks like it may be from the Spitfire F24/Seafire 47 kit and somehow got added to the batch by accident. As I have the Seafire 47 in my stash, the spare may be handy.

Trevor Snowden hinted that a tear drop option Mk IX/XVI was on the cards under the old regime. Maybe they are gearing up for that. If the transparencies are all moulded as one batch it would probably be more cost effective to bag them up and drop them in the box rather than separate the parts before packaging.

peebeep

[desmojen]

Couldn't agree more!

John

Thanks fella's

I too bought the Mk1 from RIAT. First impressions are quite good, the surface detail on the new fuselage and wings is nice, if not as crisp as some. Unfortunately the interior is the same old massive clunky stuff as it was before. Luckily I have plenty of ICM and Tamiya spares to help me out there.

Jen.

[dylan the rabbit]

Blimey..

I'm not back to the UK until September. Leave a couple for me eh?