geedubelyer

Magnificent job Mike. Thanks for bringing us along for the ride. What an achingly beautiful car.

Can anyone remember in which order Tamiya released their 1/32nd scale Spitfire range? I'm fairly sure the Mk IX was first. They have a Mk VIII in their range too. Is it possible Airfix are adopting a similar strategy to Tamiya? As an aside, another couple of things to mention from the symposium, the question of a 1/24th scale F-4 Phantom FGR2 was raised. It wasn't ruled out but there are a couple of factors to consider not least of which is price. The Toom is a big aircraft which would mean a high price, something Airfix have reservations about. There are also production considerations when creating large pieces of plastic. Warping was a concern plus QC issues with Airfix's current manufacturer. However, is it a coincidence that the aircraft they used to illustrate much of the design process was the Hawker Hunter? Dimensionally, how does a Hunter compare to say, the Mosquito? So remember, you heard it here first. Cheers.

Excellent stuff. Thanks for the heads-up Nic C.D.

Those figures are amazing and really add life to your diorama. Brilliant job Mike (and Norbert)

Just an observation re: price. I've just been browsing Airfix's new offerings for 2022 and the 1/72nd scale Victor is being reissued......£72:49 If the Spitfire remains at the proposed £94:99 that doesn't seem bad by comparison does it?

Awesome

Yw GMK. Yes, both rudders are included in the kit according to the Airfix bods. I thought I'd got a photo showing both but I couldn't find it, sorry. Hth

Not the best photos unfortunately, sorry. My phone and low light aren't a great combo. However I hope they give an idea of how this one looks. Built ootb it will be a very impressive model. With some care and attention plus some Airscale etc add-ons it could look spectacular. 1/24th gives even more scope for super detailing if that's your thing. In the flesh the surface detail is beautifully rendered on these test shots. It's subtle in a Tamiya-esque way and quite restrained given what other manufacturers have put out in this scale. I hope it can make it to the finished item. Alot of thought has gone into the design to help make construction easier . The kit has a beefy wing spar to help with the dihedral too so no more droopy wings. Two styles of vertical tails are included in the kit plus clipped wings in clear plastic to provide the wing tip lights. I get that alot of folk are confused by this choice. Yes, the Tamiya offering is still likely to be the best fitting Spitfire kit available but hopefully this Airfix offering is a close second. When one considers just how much some of the big models cost these days, £95 isn't really that much. Of course it's much more than smaller scale models but not completely out of whack. Interestingly, Airfix have redesigned their Superkit box for this model. It's a taller but much more compact box. It'll be fascinating to hear how folk react to that too. All in all I was extremely impressed. Now I have to start saving my pennies for the middle of the year when it is supposed to land. Cheers.

Great start. Looking forward to seeing the fade

Yes. That price seems to compare quite favourably with the Tamiya offering does it not?

Mk IX Spitfire anyone?

I like the way it looks. More soon https://i.postimg.cc/vZmLptXC/IMG-20220109-123330809.jpg This is a first test shot. It looks very good in the flesh. Airfix are likely to include two styles of vertical tail and clipped wingtips. The Merlin looks nicely detailled ootb as does the cockpit. Surface textures appear restrained so not so much "oil-canning" as some recent releases perhaps?

It's cool to see the blue going down Richie and I'm heartened to hear you planning to tone down the pre-shade some as all of the pics I've ever seen of Air Superiority blue aircraft have been pretty fresh and clean looking. Good job.

Fabulous. That hub and wheel would make a model in itself. Eager to see more.

That's a thing of beauty. Great job