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Airfix's new 1/72 Spitfire Vc Trop


IanC

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1 hour ago, Paul J said:

Vert nicely done.   I have just got the kit and on first inspection of the parts I am a bit disappointed with the prop spinners and the cockpit bulkhead frame looks to be undersized when comparing with other brand kits! In fact the whole cockpit looks too small inside. Also the tail wheel leg looks a bit fat while the detail on the main wheels are quite feint. I still think the original Airfix Mark V had a much better propeller had a much better spinner.  If and when I make a start on this kit I will dig out a spare Airfix prop from the older kit and use that. Not sure what I will do about the cockpit.

 

Thanks. Yes I agree about the spinners. The DH one certainly appears too bulbous. I was going to sand it down a bit, but left it alone in the end. Wheel detail isn't great either, but my aircraft should have covered hubs anyway!

 

Interesting about the cockpit. To be honest, it looks fine to my inexpert eye. 

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8 hours ago, Graham Boak said:

Surely the narrow cockpit is an inevitable result of the cockpit tub producing a double wall,.....

More than likely. Its what I thought too.  Its almost  1/90th ish scale.  But it may work fine in 1/48th but its not too good for 1/72.  For what its worth I'd rather they didn't too too much in such a small cockpit sacrificing a scale appearance for thick plastic walls. iT reminds me of the Revell 1/72 DC-4 Thye did the same by including extra parts with interior structure thus doubling the thickness of the fusealge wall. So when and if one had the cargo doors open the visible thickness of the fuselage wall would scale up to around 2 feet!!

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Hard to believe that is 1/72., it looks so fine and detailed. Agree with you about not putting a shark mouth on a Spitfire, it definately looks better without.

 

Cheers

 

John

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Hi Ian. Hope you are well. Fantastic result with your Spitfire. I have one of these in the stash so I'm going to bookmark this for future reference. Thanks to your excellent build it's moved up in the build order! Thank you for posting. :thumbsup:

Kind regards,

Stix

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15 hours ago, Paul J said:

More than likely. Its what I thought too.  Its almost  1/90th ish scale.  But it may work fine in 1/48th but its not too good for 1/72.  For what its worth I'd rather they didn't too too much in such a small cockpit sacrificing a scale appearance for thick plastic walls. iT reminds me of the Revell 1/72 DC-4 Thye did the same by including extra parts with interior structure thus doubling the thickness of the fusealge wall. So when and if one had the cargo doors open the visible thickness of the fuselage wall would scale up to around 2 feet!!

Hi Paul,

 

Very true statement. It looks like Airfix is copying the technique Eduard used for their Mk VIII/IX kits. it may add detail and perhaps ease assembly but you're right about the issue of scale appearance, especially if you open the door on a Spitfire. By the way, it may be a fashion going forward, I noticed my Clear Prop Ki 51 Sonia has the same cockpit layout though there is no opening door on that plane so the issue is not so obvious, especially if the canopy is closed.

 

Regards

 

Michael

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I may have got the wrong end of the stick, but I seem to remember seeing a comment on BM that Airfix were going to release a Quick build version of this kit with the same moulds but a simplified cockpit assembly. Of course, it's now nowhere to be found. If true, that would be worth a look, as the tub doesn't really bring anything to the party.

 

John.

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6 hours ago, johnd said:

I may have got the wrong end of the stick, but I seem to remember seeing a comment on BM that Airfix were going to release a Quick build version of this kit with the same moulds but a simplified cockpit assembly. Of course, it's now nowhere to be found. If true, that would be worth a look, as the tub doesn't really bring anything to the party.

 

John.

 WInter 2021 https://uk.airfix.com/products/small-starter-set-new-supermarine-spitfire-mkvc-a55001

 

There's a build here, I haven't compared the sprues as it is difficult to see them clearly. but obviously there must be differences.

 

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It is difficult to compare the runners from the video, but it looks to me as though the stand is included in one frame, so it must be different.  I'm also not sure whether a full undercarriage is provided.  In other ways it looks to be of much the same quality as the standard kit, so it is a shame that it is only available with the starter set at the same price as the more (and unnecessarily?) complex one.  But that's a superficial comment that can't be confirmed without the kits in hand to make comparisons.

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On 28/01/2021 at 09:09, Graham Boak said:

Surely the narrow cockpit is an inevitable result of the cockpit tub producing a double wall,.....

More than likely. Its what I thought too.  Its almost  1/90th ish scale.  However, I really like the fine surface detail lines and how the cropped wing can be done with simply alternative parts.  Neat way of doing this.

 

Re the Airfix video, note the typo with the word '...complete...'

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Excellent build! I also like your Italeri Spitfire, where you have applied an equally perfect finish. They actually look quite well standing side by side. 👍

 

I for my part like shark mouths of course. But this particular Yankee Spitfire actually had something that looks more than a Clown face rather than a shark which is indeed a bit weird. So I quite understand the reason for omitting it.

 

By contrast, the Aussie Spitfires of 457 Squadron look in my view quite cool with their shark mouths.

 

 

Edited by 112 Squadron
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