Airfix announcement - 1/24 Spitfire

[Palm-tree]

22 hours ago, geedubelyer said:

 

 

Walkaround video of still images of a restored warbird with some nice close-ups of details. 

Not all of the equipment and colours are necessarily the same as WWII period aircraft. 

The red crow bar on the cockpit door for one.

[geedubelyer]

@Captain Boogaloo, nice find. Thanks for the link. On first inspection they all look good.

 

 

[Shoggz]

This is interesting 

 

https://uk.airfix.com/community/blog-and-news/workbench/instructing-big-airfix-spitfire?xnpe_tifc=OfoZxdU_xuxXh.E.OkYZxMpsafeWaeiWhFWZRf46bMP_tuPZade_akU8nkPlajBsa9EvVup_tu4vaMXDOIbZxFbj4Dblh.P_hfo7&utm_source=bloomreach&utm_campaign=Airfix - Workbench - week39 22/23&utm_medium=email

 

This is something that both Airfix and Eduard do and I think it’s great.

[geedubelyer]

Captain Boogaloo asked if I could compare the 50+ year old Mk1a with this new tool kit. 

I snipped the fuselage half off the sprue to see how they measure up. 

 

 

 

The answer is, remarkably well. 

 

 

The silhouette of the fuselage is virtually identical. Where they differ is in a few small areas.

The leading edge of the fin has a marginally different shape.

 

 

The area of the upper fuel tank and windshield treatment differ. As can be seen, the length is a millimetre or so longer on the new tool.

 

Additionally, the underside to wing join is handled differently 

 

But the profile at the engine firewall looks quite similar.

.

 

I am impressed by just how close these two are. To me it shows just how good the overall shape of the original Mk1a release was back in the day. 

 

Hth

 

Cheers.

 

 

Edited December 26, 2022 by geedubelyer

[Captain Boogaloo]

Whilst we have the Mk 1a out, I came across someone offering upgrade parts: Hobartville Hobbies of Australia do Cockpits for the Mk1a, Mk V, Mk VIII and Mk IX, four spoke treaded tyres, a four blade propeller, radio racks, Browning and cannon gunbays with covers and the early metal seat for the Mk1a. But the cherry on the cake are the enclosed wheelbays - possibly the most asked for upgrade for the older Spitfire superkit.

I've ordered an early Mk1a Cockpit, the radio rack and the enclosed wheelbays; I will report back when these parts arrive.

in the meantime here's a link:https://www.hobartvillehobbies.com.au/

 

Great photos again, Gedubelyer! I too have been comparing the two Spitfires; I noticed the upper wing 'kink' is in a slightly different position on the new kit and it seems rather...flat on the underside ( it's been a while since I was underneath a Spitfire, but I recall lots of curves ! You mentioned the early Mk1a had very shiny panels ( especially the leading edge D box panels) - I'm fairly sure this leading edge was puttied and sanded before painting ( think I read a Supermarine document describing the required process ), so maybe this area needs smoothing out on both wings of the new MkIX?

 

hope everyone had a great Christmas!

 

Blue Skies!

Captain Boogaloo

[Bradleygolding]

In fact their whole range looks really good.

Steve

[BloorwestSiR]

How does the 1a kit go together? My son just bought one yesterday as it was only $35 CAD. I know I'll be giving him a hand with it but just wanted to know if there's anything particular to watch out for. 

 

Carl

[Shoggz]

3 hours ago, BloorwestSiR said:

How does the 1a kit go together? My son just bought one yesterday as it was only $35 CAD. I know I'll be giving him a hand with it but just wanted to know if there's anything particular to watch out for. 

 

Carl

 

Well, I managed to build one, so it can’t be that bad!

Getting the wing dihedral was the biggest challenge. The wings had a distinct droop without enhancement.

[BloorwestSiR]

1 hour ago, Shoggz said:

 

Well, I managed to build one, so it can’t be that bad!

Getting the wing dihedral was the biggest challenge. The wings had a distinct droop without enhancement.

Thanks, that's good to hear. I figured there might be some fit challenges but it was cheaper than an Airfix 1/72 Spitfire and he has some basic skills already. Might have to help with the dihedral. 

[LSP_K2]

For those that may not be aware, HMH has what I assume will be an excellent book on the Mk IX Spitfire.

[Pete Roberts]

41 minutes ago, LSP_K2 said:

For those that may not be aware, HMH has what I assume will be an excellent book on the Mk IX Spitfire.

 

With caution Kevin - it is based on ‘preserved’ aircraft. That can be a can of worms….

[Pete Roberts]

17 hours ago, Captain Boogaloo said:

Whilst we have the Mk 1a out, I came across someone offering upgrade parts: Hobartville Hobbies of Australia do Cockpits for the Mk1a, Mk V, Mk VIII and Mk IX, four spoke treaded tyres, a four blade propeller, radio racks, Browning and cannon gunbays with covers and the early metal seat for the Mk1a. But the cherry on the cake are the enclosed wheelbays - possibly the most asked for upgrade for the older Spitfire superkit.

I've ordered an early Mk1a Cockpit, the radio rack and the enclosed wheelbays; I will report back when these parts arrive.

in the meantime here's a link:https://www.hobartvillehobbies.com.au/

 

Thanks for the heads up. A couple of cautions, from what I see, for those who want accuracy. The cockpit looks good but some details did change from Mark to Mark so ‘out of the box’ may not be suitable for what you are building. The wheel wells will help a lot, but the walls look to be vertical all the way around - not correct - and the area where the leg sat should be open with wing structure visible. The detail at the top of the well for the wheel also differed between early and later Marks. I think this detail is peculiar to the Mark I and II’s, off the top of my head.

Edited December 27, 2022 by Pete Roberts

[LSP_K2]

26 minutes ago, Pete Roberts said:

With caution Kevin - it is based on ‘preserved’ aircraft. That can be a can of worms….

 

True enough, but a lot better than nothing at all, and some great "eye candy".

[Pete Roberts]

9 hours ago, LSP_K2 said:

 

True enough, but a lot better than nothing at all, and some great "eye candy".

Sorry Kevin, I don’t agree. Restored aircraft can be misleading if you want absolute accuracy (the classic is the red crowbar on the cockpit door). The best reference IMHO is the Montforton Book. That will give you detail down to the gauge of metal used on the skinning (!! )

 

https://www.monfortonpress.com 

 

Edited December 28, 2022 by Pete Roberts

[NigeW]

Looking forward to building this but can't understand why we have got decals for 2 separate versions of EN398 but no RAF clipped wing aircraft.  Also, unless I have missed something, no-one has produced any aftermarket decals for a clipped wing version yet.  You Tube has got some good colour clips of 154 Sqn in Corsica that includes some clipped wing aircraft, albeit the squadron codes seem smaller than usual. 

 

Original colours are clearly not just an issue for modellers.  I found a gallery of wartime stills on You Tube that have been colourised and while it does not say when this was done the crowbar on a Spitfire was, you guessed it, red.