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Inspired by everyone's kind words on my Hurricane thread, and by Eludia's Spitfire build, I have rescued another from the stash. Thanks to the visit of HM The King to RAF Drem on 21 March 1940, to present the DFC to Squadron Leader Andrew Farquhar, we have a pictorial record of several of the aircraft and personnel on station that day. 602 had been active in the later months of 1939 and early days of 1940, contributing to the early RAF successes against the Luftwaffe's attacks on the Forth and North Sea coast. Spitfire at Drem 1940 by jongwinnett, on Flickr K9955 is seen here being worked on by the Erks for the benefit of the press. I love the chair! Fundekals do a sheet for Sqn/L Farquhar's aircraft which includes markings for K9955 as well. So, after no complete aircraft for many years, can I do 2 in as many months? Let's see!

Here is my first take on the Airfix Spitfire Mk.1. WIP here: 1 by jongwinnett, on Flickr 2 by jongwinnett, on Flickr 3 by jongwinnett, on Flickr 4 by jongwinnett, on Flickr 5 by jongwinnett, on Flickr 6 by jongwinnett, on Flickr 7 by jongwinnett, on Flickr 8 by jongwinnett, on Flickr 9 by jongwinnett, on Flickr 10 by jongwinnett, on Flickr 11 by jongwinnett, on Flickr

Hiya, Another day, another build thread! This time I'm going to be doing the new-ish Airfix Seafire. Built mainly OOB but with the Eduard photoetch set of the interior. I've already finished the cockpit and zipped her up, but I'll do better build threads from now on as I have a better setup in the cave. Not the most exciting thread in the world so far, granted, but hopefully it'll get more exciting! It is the first time using photoetch properly, and it's great and annoying in equal measures so far... It does look good though, got to say, but you just can't see it atm!! A few special guests are going to drop in on this thread as well. An Airfix 1/72 Harrier GR.7 (old mould) and an Airfix 1/72 F-86 which are from when I first got back into the hobby a couple of years ago, and ran out of mojo to finish them... Also this 1/48 Otaki Spitfire MK VIII. And what a kit this is!! I got it second hand for a few quid, but the detail externally is generally really good, and the panel line detail is wonderfully restrained! I've finished painting her. This is all done free-hand with airbrush and Tamiya acrylics. Now, the chipping is a bit over the top, I admit. The airframe I'm doing was heavily weathered, apparently, and I am using the kit as an experiment kit to practice airbrushing and chipping on, which were made using Vallejo liquid mask and a sponge. Since I did that, I've not found a single spitfire picture with this level of paint damage... Oh well, I've been using my imagination!! This is the aircraft I'll be making, albeit heavily chipped! Thanks, Val

Does anybody know anything about the new tool 1/48 Spitfire Mk.1? What I need to know is wether it will have alternative Rotol spinner and appropriate prop blades for a Mk.IIa Basically I've been asked to build the Mk.IIa P7666 Observer Corps and have a choice of waiting for this new tool Airfix Mk.1 in 1/48. The Tamiya Mk.1 or the older Airfix Mk.I/Mk.Ia/Mk.IIa both of which I know nothing about. I know that I will have to alter the spinner and the props, anything else I should do? Is the Tamiya Mk.1 my best bet? Martin

I started this on Friday evening as a break from the Achtung Panzer GB. Built OOB with Eduard's etch detail set it goes together nicely and would make up into a lovely little model given more time than I have dedicated to this build. I still have one to do but I will take my time with that when I eventually start it. Anyway, this satisfied a need to build something with wings on after putting all those tank wheels together.

Evening folks - I have the Airfix 1:48 PRXIX and it has been staring at me for some time saying 'build me next'! Now a few years ago I went mad and bought a load of Vallejo Model Air paints but haven't used them much as I found they clogged my airbrush. However in amongst them I found the Model Air UK PRU Blue which is number 109 on their chart. It seems daft to buy some more if this is a good match but nothing about it has come up on Google searches so I thought I would ask you guys. Is a good match, close match or you must be joking?! Also any top tips on spraying this stuff without getting the clogging? thanks Chris

Hi folks, I've been trying to find a large, clear image showing the top of the rudder on a Spitfire where the aeriel wire attaches but to no avail. I have checked the walkarounds here on BM but they consist mainly of distance shots or rudders without the aeriel connection point. Does anyone have a link or an image that shows that area in detail please? I'm building the recent 1/32nd scale release from Revell and the connection appears overscale to my eyes but I don't have a clear enough image to check for sure. Any help is appreciated, cheers.

Hi all, I've posted these models before, however, the good weather gave me an opportunity to take some much better photos. All 1/72, all Fujimi Spitfire XIV Thanks for looking, Ben

Hi all, I normally do 1/72 builds but I would like to do a spitfire for my kids ceiling. They both love spitfire's it's their (and my) favorite AC. My daughter also really likes the little but poor malta spit I did and my wife does not want a "big black angel of death" (I think she may be referring to my lancaster) up there (so no phantom of the rhur). Anyway, I would like to do a malta AC as they all approve of the spit and the scheme. I was hoping to do a mk5 b/c but bit lost on the best kit as I have never built in this scale so don't want to end up getting something I can't tame. I have some ideas on the scheme as I am, as I know a lot of you all are, a massive fan of the malta and north Africa campaigns and all the amazingly brave chaps that won it. However please feel free to recommend any that you are fond of.... I know the whole malta spit is a bit of a cliché but I just find them captivating and if it means I get a plane up on the ceiling instead of hidden on my shelf then all the better Cheers as ever Rob

Hello folks, After the last build I've leapt up in scale to the new Revell Spitfire. I've had the kit a wee while but lacked the motivation to start it after reading of a few issues with it here and there. However, bouyed by some recent top builds of almost OOTB models my joy has been re-kindled. I've long wanted a large scale early Spit in the cabinet and waited for Tamiya to release one of their uber kits, sadly to no avail. Instead, Revell came to the rescue with a brand new tooling. It's a fairly well known fact that opinion is divided on this model. Somehave said that the rivet and surface detail treatment is too heavy handed. Others, the exact opposite. I think we all have to take our own view of the subject and decide whether to proceed or not. Personally, I expect to be doing some work on the details so it bothers me not at this point. On to the build and it's a slow start. The instructions begin with the cockpit and as we've probably seen elsewhere, the detail is pretty good ootb. I expect to have to add some detail in there for my own personal satisfaction but, being the lazy b****r that I am, I'd like to keep it to a sensible level. To that end, I've opted to add a pilot. Unfortunately, Revell have chosen not to provide one. No matter, there are some super resin aftermarket pieces available. However, just to complicate things, I'd like to model this airframe as a kind of restored warbird type thing in which case, that whole Irvine flying jacket and Mae West combo is rarely sported. Instead, these warbird jockeys are often to be seen purely in a flying overall. Since I have never spotted a pilot model in that garb there was only one choice,....scratch build the blighter. In my hazy memory I seemed to remember that I had some armour kits that a chum had donated years ago. Sure enough, I found some German tank of some description or other with some unbuilt crewmen still on their sprues. Yes, they are 1/35th scale and might look a little, umm,...little but I thought it was worth a go. To get the clothign to look more like a pilot I sanded off the dude's tunic and used green stuff to add rolled up cuffs and stuff. I'll add a watch to one of his wrists and finish his flying gloves off with more foil once the green stuff has set overnight. If any of you pilot types spot anything that should be altered or could be improved please pipe up and I'll get on it. Originally I'd planned to use the head off a Hasegawa Spit pilot but it's quite crude. Luckily, and thanks to the smashing generosity of one of our members I may be able to revise the head issue. More on that in due course of course. While I had some green stuff on the go I splodged a bit on the backrest of the seat to represent the padding that Revell omitted. It's not brilliant but much of it will be obscured by the parachute pack, belts and harnesses. Once the pilot's putty is cured I'll dry fit him into the seat and see what can be seen around him. That will allow me to decide just how far to take the internal detailling. More soon. Cheers.

Hi all, I recently returned to the hobby after a break of 25(ish) years. I've been building and painting figures for about a year but this is my first completed plane. And what better way to start (or restart) than with an Airfix Spitfire. My aim was to have fun and try out a few techniques, not necessarily to build an accurate replica, and I certainly achieved what I set out to do. The build was very enjoyable and the only hiccups were down to my ineptitude and ham-fistedness rather than failings of the kit. I got the kit as a gift so I only had to shell out for a set of pre-cut canopy masks and the base. Total expenditure was about a tenner which shows you don't have to spend a fortune to have fun and produce a presentable model (well, it looks presentable to me anyway, you might have a different view of course). The model is painted with Vallejo paints (Model Colour and Model Air). Weathering was done with soft pastels, HB propelling pencil and Derwent metallic pencils (80 Silver and 81 Pewter), the look I was after was of a battle weary BoB machine. Groundwork is made from polymer clay (not the best choice tbh, next time I'll probably try polyfilla over foam board), covered with Mig Mud and sprayed with various shades of brown before a light drybrushing. The grass is green tea, stuck down with AK Interactive Sand and Gravel Fixer (a great product btw) and then dry-brushed with a few green shades. Anyhoo, here are some pics. Comments are most welcome, I'm still a novice and could do with the advice: Cheers, Billy

In 2013 I managed to finish a fire truck and an astronaut. This year seems to have been the year of the Spitfire with a few 1/72 tanks and a Mk.1B Typhoon thrown in! The year started with the idea of working on my model making skills in order to do justice to the Eduard Mk.IX Spitfire that I planned to make at some point during the year. My practicing began with some 1/72 Spitfires from Airfix and Italeri. Airfix 1/72 Mk.Ia Spitfire (new tool) There are more photos of this Mk.Ia available in the RFI section which can be found here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234955941-172-airfix-mkia-spitfire-new-tool-photo-heavy/ Airfix 1/72 Mk.IIa Spitfire (new tool) Italeri 1/72 Mk.IX Spitfire There are more photos of both of these two Spitfires above in the RFI section here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234959818-two-172-spitfires-airfix-mkiia-and-italeri-mkix/ The latter two Spitfires were built as part of the 'Less Than a Tenner' GB where I also made the Revell 1/144 Mk.Ia Spitfire: This is my current avatar picture. I then thought I ought to practice on a 1/48 Spitfire but a much cheaper one! - Revell's Mk.XVI: There are more photos of the Revell Mk.XVI here in the RFI section: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234969553-another-148-revell-icm-mkxvi-spitfire-diorama-b-w-photos-added/ When I actually got around to building the 1/48 Eduard Mk.IXc Spitfire (late), as part of the D-Day GB, it ended up looking like this: More photos of the Mk.IX Spitfire can be found in the RFI section here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234967960-eduard-spitfire-lfmkixc-ml135-yod-no401-squadron-as-flown-by-jerry-billing-on-7th-june-1944-b-w-photos-added/ Also as part of the D-Day GB I made a couple of German tanks and a Mk.IB Typhoon. Airfix 1/72 Mk.IB Typhoon (new tool): The RFI for the Typhoon can be found here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234968242-airfix-172-mkib-typhoon-new-tool-version-mn526tp-v-france-july-1944-b-w-photos-added-including-one-from-the-sarge/ 1/72 Dragon Panther Ausf G: 1/72 Dragon Tiger 1 Ausf E: The RFI for the two tanks can be found here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234968244-two-german-big-cats-in-172-dragons-panther-ausf-g-and-tiger-i-ausf-e-both-with-zimmerit-b-w-photos-added/ Once complete I put the three above into a bit of a diorama: The RFI for the diorama can be found here where there are a lot more photos!: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234968243-somewhere-in-france-july-1944-typhoon-panther-and-tiger-in-172-b-w-photos-added/ My final completion for the year is Airfix's old (and I mean old!) 1/76 Tiger 1. I bought it thinking it would be lot better than it turned out to be in the box but I ended up upgrading it a bit and I was rather pleased with the completed model. There's a few spares included from my D-Day tank builds and some scratch built parts as well: I haven't done an RFI post for this Tiger yet as I intend to make a base for it soon but the WIP can be found here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234971585-airfix-176-tiger-i-yeah-that-old-one-upgraded-a-bit-update-291214/ My current project is to build two 1/48 Mk.Vb Spitfires so they should be my first completions in 2015. I'd also like to thank everyone who stopped by my build threads this past year and supported my builds either with advice, encouragement or, on a couple of occasions, spare parts! None of my builds would have turned out like they did without this Britmodeller community - so THANK YOU! Kind regards, Stix

This is my first one for the new year. Tamiya's Beautiful Spitfire IX. I have built 3 of these including this one , and each one has been a dream in terms of fit and quality. This one is straight from the box witrh no extras. It was a Present from the Wife for Christmas. I started it Christmas evening and finished it last night. The only thing missing is the markings for the prop. Our 7 month old Cocker decided to eat those bless her , little terror! Camo was airbrushed using the blu tac method. I kept the weathering to a minimum. I preferre the look of a clean Spitfire. Apologies for the photos. Im not the worlds best photographer and they really do not do the model justice. Here it is in our display cabinet And with its panels off

Hi folks built for the KUTA GB after a stalled start here,s my take on Revell,s new tool Spitfire.The faults with some of the kit,s details are well documented but like most I can live with them.A lovely detailed kit no issues with the building and some superb surface details which will be enough for us average modellers and a cracking price! apologies for the photo,s as I just can,t get a good light this time of year so used the auto "thingy" which has over cooked the colour,build thread below. http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234970844-revell-132-spitfire-new-toolfinished/

Hi, everyone! I have an idea to build a small 1940/BoB collection of all three RAF fighters in 1/72nd. I'm 100% sure I'll be using Airfix suggestions for fabric-wing Hurricane and Defiant. Easy choices. (hopefully Defiant will not be messed up) I originally wanted to use Airfix kit for Spitfire mk.I as well. But looking onto several Airfix kits in RFI section - Airfix's panel lines on Spitfire are worrying me Too heavy, too trenchy... But there is also an Mk.I/II from AZ which also looks very good to me Both seem to provide fairly well detailed cockpits, undercarriage bays, etc. Both look accurate. Both provide good stencilling.... So I would be grateful for any opinions on Airfix vs AZ selection of Spitfire mk.I. Anything that is not seen from inbox reviews, e.g. hidden shape issues if any, assembly fit, etc is particularly welcome Dennis

Hi folks,with the TSR2 well on the road to completion I thought another entry would be Revell,s new tool Spitfire.I rushed to get this kit back in the summer and made a Start then lost interest as I was in the middle of my 1/24 Hurricane,here,s the kit parts and the basic cockpit built,so to give myself a break from my ongoing USS Fletcher build every now and then I hope to get this one finished as despite the well documented issues it is a superb kit.

This is my last work for this (modelling?) year. Well-known kit from Airfix, very nice itself. It's hard to spoil but I've almost managed to do it! I've added only seatbelts, rear head armor plate, gunsight and antenna wire. Happy New Year, guys and girls!

Morning all, Just wrapped up the Spitfire, the first of my Battle of Britain builds. Had a lot of fun knocking this one together For those interested, the WIP thread can be found here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234972713-172-airfix-baby-spit/ Without masks for my Do17 and a gun pack for my Blenheim, I might move onto something different until I've all I need to start the next BoB build Thanks for looking, comments welcomed Cheers Shaun

With Christmas just around the corner, it's time to relax a little, and what's true in real life is true in model building: I've spent most of the year on a rather tough build (which I hope to complete during the holidays as well), so it's time for something easy. I've been looking forward to building Airfix' new(ish) Mk.I for a while, especially after getting hold of the I/IIa boxing. Since I also have the Tamiya in my stash, I thought they would make a nice double build. I will build the kits mostly out of the box, with some minor alterations. The Airfix kit will be built as the early Mk.I that's included in the box, I just love the white/black wing paint job on it and the wooden prop. Since I'm not using the IIa specific parts, I will use these to convert the Tamiya to a IIa by adding the Coffman starter, the Rotol prop and the fishtail exhausts. I will be building this plane: This was the personal plane of Prince Bernhard of The Netherlands, husband to Queen Wilhelmina. When Holland was occupied by the Germans in May 1940, the royal family fled to Britain, where both Wilhelmina and Bernhard worked tirelessly to support the war effort against the Axis. Bernhard took a great interest in military matters and involved himself with soldiers and pilots that had fled to Britain as well, and he played a large part in creating the 322 (Dutch) squadron. He also had a reputation for being a playboy and he enjoyed driving sports cars and flying aeroplanes. This particular Spitfire Mk.IIa was his personal plane, and he must have flown it a number of times, though this little landing mishap seems to be someone else's fault. FlevoDecals have kindly issued a Dutch Spitfires set that includes this plane. The photo was apparently taken in spring 1942 so the plane will already have the ocean grey camo I think. It also seems to have fishtail exhausts. Box contents, in dark grey Tamiya, light grey Airfix. On first inspection, the differences are quite obvious. Airfix panel lines are not comparable to Tamiya's, being slighly too large for my taste, not as bad as on earlier kits but certainly not as good as their more recent efforts. Tamiya's on the other hand are so petite they may disappear under too much paint. We will see what looks best after completing the build! A word on accuracy: I am not a rivet counter but I have heard the Airfix is pretty much spot on. When comparing, I find the Tamiya kit is slightly narrower at the cockpit and tail and about 1,5 to 2mm shorter in the area behind the cockpit. For me it's not big deal but your mileage may vary. After market - after taking the picture I decided to skip the Eduard zoom set for the Tamiya kit in order to compare the kits more fairly. I have chosen to use the QB seat, which is lovely, on the Airfix kit. Initial construction of course starts with the cockpit. Pretty similar, with Airfix detail just slightly cruder than Tamiya and the former settling for a decal for the instrument panel where the big T supplies a moulded panel. The decal may actually be better visible after closing the fuselage. I drilled out the lightening holes in the rear oval bit, but used a diameter which was slightly too large, so the headrest area on the Airfix kit broke... Seats from left to right: QuickBoost, Airfix (not used), Tamiya. Tamiya's seems slightly too wide - maybe I should have used the QB item on that kit instead... Fooled around a bit with Photoshop as the pic was a bit too dark. I used gunze interior green with some black mixed in to create RAF interior green, followed by a dark wash and a drybrush with interior green, picking out the instruments with black and red. Both kits are very good in this respect. After a good few hours the fuselages go together. No issues at all on the Tamiya kit, which by the way also allows you to put the halves together and then install the cockpit from below. On the Airfix kit, I removed the upper locating pins to get a better fit, but I still need some filler in the area just in front on the cockpit. Apart from that, fit is pretty good. To be continued!

Evening all, With the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain next year, I've devised a cunning plan to build as many RAF and Luftwaffe types from the conflict as I can. A couple of decals sheets arrived today, and I've already made a decent start on the first kit, Airfix's lovely little Spitfire I. The interior is pretty much there now, nothing too special going on, just the addition of some Eduard seat belts to tart it up a little. There's a variety of Spitfire to choose from, though I'm a bit of a sucker for black and white undersides, so may well go for that option. Decision time is still a little way off, though she should come together pretty quickly. More soon, thanks for looking, Shaun

Hi chaps, Got this one completed before going in on nights, it's the Airfix 1/48 Spitfire F.24 that we know and love. Done in 80 Sqdn markings when with the HKAAF. OOB except for codes and serials made form the spares box, hope you like her. On to the F.22 next or a Spiteful, not sure which yet. Happy New Year to all!

After some effort I have completed a set of vinyl masks "B" pattern. I can do "A" by a simple invert. I have done the markings for ZP-A so have 1940 Roundels. I am looking for testers to comment, use a set of masks and send me pics with feedback and comments. I'll pay for the postage of the masks. Please PM if you are about to start a Spit build and are serious about being a tester. I am looking for people who can critique and give suggestions, as modellers how to improve, change, etc. No immediate plans to market said masks but who knows.... I wanted something better than decals and the freedom to customise my paint schemes. I have tried to stay true to actual Spitfire camo issued during the start of the war. I have done my best also co compare as many B&W photos as possible. I have yet to do some instructions but its not that complicated. I hope this is in the right place and is not offensive to the group.

Only one photo, "published elsewhere" as they say, prior. There's not a lot of natural light here in Chicago right now. SO: 5 Squadron Lightning F.6 painted in 74 Squadron colours, 74 Squadron Phantom FGR.2, 74 Squadron Lightning F.3, Red Arrows Gnat T.2, 4. Escadrille GCII/7 D.520, 77 Squadron (RAAF) F-51D Mustang, 2 Squadron (SAAF) F-51D Mustang, 19 Squadron Mustang IV, 1 Squadron Nieuport 17, 74 Squadron SE5a/J I T "Taffy" Jones, 4 Wing (RNAS) Nieuport 10, II/JG26 Fw190A-4 (shot down by Spitfire MH434), 318 (Polish) Squadron Spitfire LF.IXe, 91 (Nigeria) Squadron Spitfire F.21, 222 (Natal) Squadron Spitfire IXb, 222 (Natal) Squadron Spitfire IXb (yes, same squadron, same codes, even, but different aircraft), 2 Squadron (SAAF) F-86F Sabre, 800 NAS Seafire FR.47, 609 (West Riding) Squadron Typhoon Ib/Paul Ritchey, 145 Squadron Spitfire VIII/Neville Duke, 77 Squadron (RAAF) Meteor F.8/George Hale, 77 Squadron Meteor F.8/ Bruce Gogerly, 39 Squadron Meteor NF.13, 92 Squadron Meteor F.4, 1 Squadron Hunter FGA.9, II(AC) Squadron Swift FR.5, 20® Squadron Harrier GR.7, IV (AC) [???] Harrier GR.7. WHEW!

Hi All Time to join the GBs rather than watch from the sidelines, I have so many that I could have entered in this years KUTA but thought I would start with this one. I'm also joining the Me110 & Bomber Command GBs, if I finish the 3 it will be a blooming miracle ! Cheers Pat

These are the last builds in a larger project - build thread here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234966761-a-ridiculous-and-probably-ill-fated-viper-pentuple-spitfire-because-its-britmodeller/ A PAF F-16D Blk 52+ Jastrzab assigned to 3 EL, and a 303 (Polish) Sqn Spitfire IIA. I've come to believe, after the fact, that the Spitfire is in the wrong markings. I think P8522 was a Mk IIB not a Mk IIA. Too late now! Happy New Year!