Original release Airfix Spitfire Mk 1 (1/24)

[spellbinder99]

Back in the seventies I built the 1/24 scale Spitfire in the typical teenage kid fashion, lots of tube glue, slopped on Humbrol enamels and shedding parts as soon as it took pride of place on top of the family TV set.... The difference here is that amongst my shed full of new box kits and accumulated wreckage of old kits was the remains of the very same model!

 

All the big bits are there, indeed many of the small ones as well and quite a few of the items needing replacement are actually surplus in the later Vb boxing I have, like the cracked in half canopy and the prop missing a blade. Basically there is more than enough to bring this part of my modelling history back from the dead, indeed it was my FIRST Large Scale Plane.

 

Am I wasting my time doing so? Surely just easier to start from scratch with a new boxing of the same kit?

That was what I thought untill I decided to at least clean up some parts and see whether it is viable and then it was like the church scene in "The Blues Brothers", I saw the Light!

 

The Airfix 1/24 Mk 1 is a Seriously Good Kit.

 

Yes it has needs, like a detailed wheel well but my gosh the surface detailing is so good. Nestled amongst the forest of rivets are some really nice engraved panel lines and the wet sanding to remove the thick brush painted Dark Gren and Earth brown took the rivets right off to leave some delicately indented rivets behind as well on the white plastic fuselage.

 

Madness overtook me and I sanded the old glue off the fuselage halves and glued them together, figuring I could rebuild the cockpit from below and because the damage to the engine bearers and cowl frames made me disinterested in modelling the engine exposed anyway. Gluing the core of the engine in as a support for the prop and exhausts after I glued the engine side panels on ( actually cleaning them up of 35 year old flash so they actually fit, who would have thunk it!), and then the top cowl and I could do some serious seam cleaning....

 

Note I said cleaning, not filling. Despite the decades of abuse these parts had endured ( tube gluing, breaking apart, storage in boxes in up to the mid forties degree C, emery board edge sanding and regluing) the fuselage halves went together with a drizzle of Tamiya Extra Thin like they had just popped out of the mold. Amazing.

After I rubbed down the joints there looks to be only the need for very minimal filling, if any.

 

But the shape, the accuracy? I am not sitting with a set of plans but the assembled fuselage looks so good from every angle. The fit of the cowls is convincing, including that quirky British overhang of the top cowl that gives the early Spitfires their Character.

I find model shapes a very tactile thing. As you sand something like a fuselage you get to the point it "feels" right and the Airfix Spitfire "feels" right no matter how you look.

 

The men who designed and mastered this kit were craftsmen who have created something by hand that computer design and manufacture to this day often struggles to match. No small wonder that this model was seen as a super-kit when first released.

 

Should I go on and restore this model? I feel it would be sad not to. I think I can do it and do it justice, it may have taken 40 years to get to this point but I reckon it would be worth it. By contrast, the newer Vb boxing I have seems a little old and tired, the details softer and the sink marks deeper but still worth the build.

 

Sorry for the rambling on, but I think many of you will "get" what I am saying.

 

Cheers

 

Tony

[Derek B]

Tony, in a word, 'yes', you should resurrect it! (This is exactly why I prefer the Airfix Spitfire over the Trumpeter offering) .

 

Derek

[bigern007]

ABSOLUTELY!! Restoring/resurrecting is cheap,and much more fun.

 

Any parts you need are probably available from our guysat LSP.

 

I have the sliding part of the canopy if you need it............cheers,,,,Ernie

[LSP_Kevin]

Am I wasting my time doing so? Surely just easier to start from scratch with a new boxing of the same kit?

 

Definitely not a waste of time mate! I did something similar with an old Zero build of mine, though it wasn't in the same dilapidated state that your Spitfire sounds like it might be in. But it's one of my most satisfying builds ever, and the contrast between old and new builds of the same kit is quite rewarding. If you proceed with this project, make sure you get some 'before' shots!

 

Kev

[Allok]

Am I wasting my time doing so?

Hell no!

 

Should I go on and restore this model?

Hell yeah!

 

I feel it would be sad not to. I think I can do it and do it justice, it may have taken 40 years to get to this point but I reckon it would be worth it.

Sorry for the rambling on, but I think many of you will "get" what I am saying.

 

Cheers

 

Tony

We do!

You're in good company here. Full steam ahead, I say. (but then, I would say that)

[spellbinder99]

Thanks guys, cheers. I have some semi-before shots after I cleaned up and glued the fuselage and cowlings but before all the paint has been sanded off.

 

 

The decals that still remained had aged to a yellow tinge, but most were flaking right off.

 

It is really quite satsfying to sand off the old Humbrol and it highlights the impressive surface detail quite well. Some lovely fine rivets and panel lines remain afterwards.

 

 

This level of detail is a wonder considering it was all done by hand. Amazing what actually looking at references can do to the authenticity of a model, isn't it?

 

 

Things I have learned so far.

 

Humbrol Earth Brown is harder to sand off than Dark Green.

 

Yes Dorothy, given time Airfix rubber tyres WILL melt styrene wheels!

 

Old white plastic just looks classy when it is in the shape of a Spitfire, it really does....

 

I am going to have to spend some time cleaning up and regluing some parts and making an inventory of what is missing, but so far there is nothing stopping a rebuild, so fulll steam ahead!

 

Cheers

 

Tony

[spellbinder99]

You have to laugh when you are looking for something else and find this gem in a stack of old instruction sheets!

 

 

Certainly dates the issue of which release of the kit it is but also helps identifying missing parts.

 

Cheers

 

Tony

[gunpowder]

Looking good Tony. Do yourself a favour and get some ACETONE FREE nail varnish remover. Asda have it if you are in the UK. It must be Acetone free though. Try it on a small area first. I have used it on at least 3 models and its better than sanding the paint off.

[spellbinder99]

Good tip gunpowder which I will try on some parts, but indulge me and follow my reasoning.

 

The original detailing is good, but the rivets are all raised while the panel lines are recessed. When I wet-sanded the paint off it left some really scale-looking depressions where the rivets are so I really want to sand the major parts overall to get that look.

 

After that is done I want to strip the paint out of the detail with something like you suggested so that the new paint will have a very subtle and fine detail under it. I am aware that the raised rivets may be prototypical in parts, but I like the end result.......

 

Cheers

 

Tony

[Allok]

So far there is nothing stopping a rebuild, so full steam ahead!

Rock on Tony and good luck.

[Hacker]

You have to laugh when you are looking for something else and find this gem in a stack of old instruction sheets!

 

 

Certainly dates the issue of which release of the kit it is but also helps identifying missing parts.

 

Cheers

 

Tony

 

 

l noticed the marking on the profile sheet. l did some years back for my buddy's hobby shop a scale reference guide using models of spitfires from 1/32 down to 1/144 (No 1/24 because of cost and size) and used the same markings as the Airfix painting guide you have there

[branchline]

Dam you I say! Hi There Tony, I've been pondering over the last 14 months or so whether I should use my unbuilt Airfix Mk 1 Spit kit or one I built in (March) 1974 for a Mk lX conversion using the Heritage Aviation Co Ltd convervion kit. The 'built' kit has endured 14 shifts since being made as well as having been lovingly 'played' with by three sons. Like your Spit it is mostly intact but mine has 3 layers of paint on it, the windscreen is missing, one of the MLG struts is broken and the tyres are all perished (Rotary kindly replaced the main wheels and tyres for me but I still lack a tail wheel - and I do have a spare prop if you are interested).

Just before Christmas I managed to buy an assembled 1/24 Spitfire kit in quite reasonable condition with the thought I'd use this as the basis for the conversion, but your thread has pricked my conscience once again and I now feel I should build the Mk lX using my original kit as the base - much more work but it does keep that linage going as it was my first LSP kit too!

 

Yours is looking good, keep on going it is the right thing to do and I'll be following the thread with interest, Brent

[rotary]

Done it a few times myself Tony----pity the fuse. mushroom rivets vanish in the process BUT at least time to get rid of all those strakes on wing root fairings and wing tips.

 

As I mentioned elsewhere, Contact Resine used to do (and may still) super resin Spit wheels---and if you can beg, steal or borrow Hurri exhausts they are just the ticket (the one's in the kit of course are NOT mk.1 type.

 

The decals are the weak point even now (more so) as the last one I bought had oversize type 'B' roundels and were very dark and thick---in a word, unusable.

 

Model on Tony...

 

Dave.

[GrahamF]

Back in the seventies I built the 1/24 scale Spitfire in the typical teenage kid fashion, lots of tube glue, slopped on Humbrol enamels and shedding parts as soon as it took pride of place on top of the family TV set.... The difference here is that amongst my shed full of new box kits and accumulated wreckage of old kits was the remains of the very same model!

 

All the big bits are there, indeed many of the small ones as well and quite a few of the items needing replacement are actually surplus in the later Vb boxing I have, like the cracked in half canopy and the prop missing a blade. Basically there is more than enough to bring this part of my modelling history back from the dead, indeed it was my FIRST Large Scale Plane.

 

Am I wasting my time doing so? Surely just easier to start from scratch with a new boxing of the same kit?

That was what I thought untill I decided to at least clean up some parts and see whether it is viable and then it was like the church scene in "The Blues Brothers", I saw the Light!

 

The Airfix 1/24 Mk 1 is a Seriously Good Kit.

 

Yes it has needs, like a detailed wheel well but my gosh the surface detailing is so good. Nestled amongst the forest of rivets are some really nice engraved panel lines and the wet sanding to remove the thick brush painted Dark Gren and Earth brown took the rivets right off to leave some delicately indented rivets behind as well on the white plastic fuselage.

 

Madness overtook me and I sanded the old glue off the fuselage halves and glued them together, figuring I could rebuild the cockpit from below and because the damage to the engine bearers and cowl frames made me disinterested in modelling the engine exposed anyway. Gluing the core of the engine in as a support for the prop and exhausts after I glued the engine side panels on ( actually cleaning them up of 35 year old flash so they actually fit, who would have thunk it!), and then the top cowl and I could do some serious seam cleaning....

 

Note I said cleaning, not filling. Despite the decades of abuse these parts had endured ( tube gluing, breaking apart, storage in boxes in up to the mid forties degree C, emery board edge sanding and regluing) the fuselage halves went together with a drizzle of Tamiya Extra Thin like they had just popped out of the mold. Amazing.

After I rubbed down the joints there looks to be only the need for very minimal filling, if any.

 

But the shape, the accuracy? I am not sitting with a set of plans but the assembled fuselage looks so good from every angle. The fit of the cowls is convincing, including that quirky British overhang of the top cowl that gives the early Spitfires their Character.

I find model shapes a very tactile thing. As you sand something like a fuselage you get to the point it "feels" right and the Airfix Spitfire "feels" right no matter how you look.

 

The men who designed and mastered this kit were craftsmen who have created something by hand that computer design and manufacture to this day often struggles to match. No small wonder that this model was seen as a super-kit when first released.

 

Should I go on and restore this model? I feel it would be sad not to. I think I can do it and do it justice, it may have taken 40 years to get to this point but I reckon it would be worth it. By contrast, the newer Vb boxing I have seems a little old and tired, the details softer and the sink marks deeper but still worth the build.

 

Sorry for the rambling on, but I think many of you will "get" what I am saying.

 

Cheers

 

Tony

 

I agree Tony it is a good kit and quite accurate, I had a go at ressurecting the same kit a long time ago but what I did is submerge the parts in brake fluid and they came out completely clean of paint and unharmed.

You need to leave it in overnight for it to work but I would recommend doing a test on something small just in case?

 

Graham

[ladder4boy]

man... reading this has brought back some serious childhood modeling memories. I really wish i had just ONE of the models i build as a kid. Most of mine met their fate at the end of a BB gun. Think it would be a blast to completely strip down and re-build a model from my youth. You can think about all the fun you had building it while you're scraping and sanding.. plus, when you're done you'll have something from your childhood that will showcase the skills that you've acquired over a lifetime of modeling. After you're done you'll have somewhat of a legacy to your hobby. Please keep posting updates so we can follow along. I think this re-build will be a source of fond memories for lots of us here! Good luck with it!