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Wishing for New Too Airfix Spitfire Vb


Tempestwulf

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Anyone know if Airfix plan to release a new tool Vb in 1/72? I know they've included fishtail exhausts in their Mk.I/II/Va kit so it could be a precursor. Just don't like the other kits on the market, prefer to support Airfix/Hornby. Plus it's my all time favourite kit.

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1 hour ago, Wez said:

Personally, I'd rather they did a Vc, plenty of marking options and possibility of conversion to a Seafire II/III.

Agreed. We have had quite enough of Vb's. It's a good and accurate Vc we need. Preferably one that's easy to put together. I love my Eduard IX series, but there are so much assembly.

 

/Finn

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Finn, again this passion of Christ idea about modelling. . With the prices asked for today, it is only reasonable that we should spend a lot of time on the construction. Not like the five-parts kits we had when young. 

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On 2/7/2019 at 3:58 PM, Graham Boak said:

Why not just buy the AZ Mk VB?  It is at least as good as a new Airfix one would be.

I got the AZ Spitfire Mk Va kit a while ago and would say it is rather more difficult to build than the Airfix Spifire. Albeith with nice panel lines it has a little rough structure and it need a lot more cleaning and dryfitting during build...

 

Cheers / André

 

Picture at IPMS Stockholm...

https://www.ipmsstockholm.se/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9695&start=10

Edited by Andre B
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On 2/7/2019 at 9:45 AM, Giorgio N said:

Don't know if Airfix will ever do one, but I know that should Eduard ever do a 1/72 Mk.V family I'd be a very happy modeller !

('one' refers to a Vb.)

... and I'd be very happy if Eduard were to tool the Griffon series.

 

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On 2/7/2019 at 2:58 PM, Graham Boak said:

Why not just buy the AZ Mk VB?  It is at least as good as a new Airfix one would be.

 

4 hours ago, Andre B said:

I got the AZ Spitfire Mk Va kit a while ago and would say it is rather more difficult to build than the Airfix Spifire. Albeith with nice panel lines it has a little rough structure and it need a lot more cleaning and dryfitting during build...

 

Cheers / André

 

Picture at IPMS Stockholm...

https://www.ipmsstockholm.se/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9695&start=10

The AZ/ Admiral/ Kovozávody Prostějov family is a little confusing.

 

AZ did  a short-run VB which is a nice kit but, I beleive out of production. It's, I'm led to believe, dimensionally accurate.

 

Kovozávody Prostějov did a conventional kit of a VB with, while - I'm led to believ - not so accurate is as easy to build as an Airfix kit.

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On 2/7/2019 at 2:58 PM, Graham Boak said:

Why not just buy the AZ Mk VB?  It is at least as good as a new Airfix one would be.

Sadly the new AZ/KPs are about 8 scale inches short behind the cockpit. I'm looking at options to lengthen it.

 

Justin

Edited by Bedders
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This isn't so.  I've just been into the loft and compared the KP Spitfire Mk.Ib - which I presume to be the near-identical kit to the Mk.Vb, but I don't have that - with both the old and new Airfix Mk.Is.  The rear fuselages line up together in all three kits, placing the wings in the same place with respect to the tail.  Surprisingly, it looks as though the KP fuselage slots into the Airfix wings, although the two Airfix kits have a different breakdown of the lower fuselage aft of the wing  so actually making a hybrid kit isn't quite so simple.  The KP does appear short in the nose - perhaps 1mm compared to the older Airfix so slightly more compared with the newer.  The same is true with the wingspan, although this is partly due to the pointier tips of the new Airfix kit.  (I'm told that the precise shape of the tips did vary a little but have not seen any breakdown of which aircraft serials this is true for - if any.)   These differences are very small percentages and not what anyone would actually see once made up.  I do think that the cockpit opening may be a little more aft on the KP kit, but confirming just how much (or how to adjust it) would need a little further work .  Possibly a measurement back to the tail based on that could be misleading?  But whatever is wrong with the KP Spitfire, it isn't 8 scale inches (3mm) in the rear fuselage.

 

I don't know where or how you learned about this supposed flaw, but there are a number of modellers in Czechia that seemingly miss no opportunity to condemn AZ products, and don't rely upon mere facts.

 

It's worth pointing out that the newer Airfix kit does need work thinning down the width of the cockpit interiors or the wing is forced to a flatter dihedral, so it isn't exactly as snap-together as the older one.  (Yes, I know that there was a snap-together version of that...).  The surface detail of the KP is superior to the over-wide panel lines on the Airfix.  Swings and roundabouts on two good kits - I still say that if you want a good Mk.Vb you do not have to wait for an Airfix one.

 

PS Italeri have an excellent Spitfire rear fuselage - shame about other aspects of that kit.

Edited by Graham Boak
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I'll have another look, but my recollection is that it's a good deal shorter than the Eduard from the firewall backwards. The Airfix is also sligjtly short if memory serves me. 

 

 

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It's about 1 mm shorter than the Eduard rudder post to firewall, and much the same to the Airfix Mk.IX.  the difference appears to be in the length of the fuel tank.  I have checked the Airfix Mk.IX against Monforton but it has been assembled since then so it is more difficult to compare the two kits.

Edited by Graham Boak
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55 minutes ago, MarkH206 said:

I'm looking for a 1:72 Vb at the moment.

 

What do we think about the offerings from Tamiya or Revell?  There's also Smer.

 

thanks

Mark

 

Avoid the Smer kit, it's a rebox of the old Heller offering, seriously inaccurate and with detail that was good in the '70s but not adequate today. It is IMHO inferior to the Airfix kit in all aspects apart from the cockpit details

The Tamiya kit is not too accurate in shape but it's a Tamiya kit, nicely detailed and engineered with a very good fit. Mind, the inaccuracies of the Tamiya kit are evident to a Spitfire enthusiast but others may not notice them.

The Revell kit, assuming you mean the most recent offering, is the opposite: the basic shapes are not bad but several details let this kit down. Oil cooler, propeller, canopy, gun bulges could all do with replacing. On the plus side, this kit is generally much cheaper than the Tamiya kit.

 

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