Airfix Big spit

[nick]

I've been grappling with a 1970s Airfix Bentley for a very long time now, so needed some light relief. I fancied an OOTB build and thought I would try Airfix's new 1/24th Spitfire.

After all the Airfix bashing I've been dishing out with the Bentley, this kit is a triumph. It's the nicest Spitfire kit I've encountered and I've thoroughly enjoyed building this and added practically  nothing to it because the kit was so good, which is pretty much unheard of for me.

I haven't built this particularly well, but that's my fault, I just wanted a quick build to get my mojo back and it's certainly done that.

 

 

Hat's off to Airfix, this is the best kit of theirs I've built and easily as good as Tamiya, can't fault it in any way.

 

Nick

[TallBlondJohn]

Lovely - so good to see a model without over the top weathering. Must treat myself to one someday, if I ever have the room.

[Keeff]

A very nice Spitfire indeed! ... 👌 

 

Keith 😁 

[tomprobert]

Beautiful! A stunning job - I’ve made an initial start on mine and I hope it comes out as nicely as yours. And agreed - so far it’s falling together. 

[Carlo1963]

Absolutely superb.

[Dave Klaatu]

Beautiful build, love the paint!

[t15dja]

A beautiful build well done. 

A quick question if I may....I was told you can build it  either with the engine on display OR with the cowls all buttoned up, but with yours you can have either option....how did you manage that please? Or was I told wrong?

[nick]

2 minutes ago, t15dja said:

A beautiful build well done. 

A quick question if I may....I was told you can build it  either with the engine on display OR with the cowls all buttoned up, but with yours you can have either option....how did you manage that please? Or was I told wrong?

The cowls ‘kind of fit’ although don’t really sit properly. I’m going to button them up with non-permanent adhesive when I finish photographing the engine. PVA type canopy adhesive should do it. I used this during painting so I didn’t get any bleeds onto the engine and it worked well.

In fairness the Dzuz fasteners are really well modelled, so I reckon you could CA some pins on the inside of the cowls to pick up on the loops on the airframe if you wanted to do it properly. I built the Tamiya 1/32 spit when it came out and the cowls on that had small neodymium magnets I seem to remember to make them removable. 

[nick]

Interior shots

 

 

[Farmerboy]

Brilliant!

[Fred piket]

fantastic, what a beast!

[terryc]

Any clues on the paint used?

[nick]

All Tamiya paint - the new(ish) colours they released for their own 1/32 Spitfire XF81,82,83

 

If you want to be really picky, try this. I didn't bother. That Said, my 'sky' is slightly out compared to the decal colours on the lettering.

 

https://replikator.club/2021/02/09/tamiya-paint-database-uk-aircraft-colours-wwii/

[bigbadbadge]

That is lovely,  looks fantastic, great work, just need a 1/24 MG K3 or Jaguar SS100 to sit next to it in a diorama now😉

Cracking Spitfire.

Chris

[Noel Smith]

Certainly turned that one around fast Nick! Build and finish look really good.

Sometimes you just have to have a bit of a distraction from something deep like all the Bentley mods.

[georgeusa]

21 hours ago, nick said:

I haven't built this particularly well, but that's my fault, I just wanted a quick build to get my mojo back and it's certainly done that.

I would only hope my skill level at building matched your not particularly well level of building.  This is just a fantastic build which I hope to emulate whenever I get around to building my own Airfix 1/24 Spitfire.  Just great overall in build and finish.  Thanks for sharing.

[bertielissie]

Superb!! If only I could produce such a magnificent work of art.🤔

[nick]

Ive been a bit exercised trying to think how to photograph this because it's a big beast. Separately as I'm on Adobe's Beta program, I've been playing with firefly which is the new AI text to image generator. Hmm. What happens if you ask it for a WWII RAF Airfield, well something like this.

 

 

Add a big telly I had lying around anyway (I really don't know why I haven't thought of this before) and away you go.

 

 

You do need a ring flash (or similar) as the obviously the screen is generating it's own light.

 

So, did it work?...

 

 

[Nick Belbin]

Works for me - looks superb!

 

Nick

[Pantherhawk27263]

What a beautiful Spitfire, and a beautiful job of building it! Great work!!

[woody37]

Gorgeous build, love the sheen on the paintwork!