Which spitfire to recommend?

[Stevepd]

A fellow modeller asked my advice yesterday on the airfix Spitfire 1/24 scale. I told him from comments on here, it's a good kit. However I told him for roughly the same cash not to rule out the 1/32 Tamiya and Kotare offerings. I'm unsure if hrs chasing a particular mark, or just wants a Spitfire.

 

Thoughts if you had that amount of cash, which would you go for.

[19squadron]

Tamiya Spitfire 1/32 every time, it is by far the best. Mk IXc or MkVIII, or MkXVI

[cbk57]

I would say it depends on what type of builder he is, ask him what he really wants.  For easy, you can:t beat the Kotare kit.  But if he wants the extra detail and prefers later Spitfires then you have the three choices from Tamiya.  Unless he has to have a 1/24 Spitfire and we know there are plenty on this board that the bigger the better, then Airfix is the answer.  But for me with Kotare and Tamiya out there I would not touch anything else and the marks in between the 1 and IX are going to be in bound from Kotare from the looks of it.  

 

I have now built both and I really like the Kotare kit for not having an engine, and very nice build design.  But if you have to have an engine, I consider the Tamiya Mk IX to be one of the best engineered kits in the history of scale modeling.

[CRAZY IVAN5]

Just don't get the Hobby Boss Mk  V. I'm not an expert on spits by any measure and even that one won't pass muster with me.

[cbk57]

32 minutes ago, CRAZY IVAN5 said:

Just don't get the Hobby Boss Mk  V. I'm not an expert on spits by any measure and even that one won't pass muster with me.

Personally I thought it unnecessary to itemize all of the bad or obsolete Spitifre kits that might be on the market.  As I consider every early Spitfire in 1/32 rendered obsolete by Kotare although their Mk V is not on the market yet, we know it’s coming.  Same for the Revell MkII as I see no point in purchasing one of those with the Kotare kit on the market.  

[MikeC]

35 minutes ago, CRAZY IVAN5 said:

Just don't get the Hobby Boss Mk  V.

 

Amen to that.

 

Also avoid Revell.  For the best experience Tamiya or Kotare (although I've yet to start either of mine, but the consensus seems to be that it's good), if a particular variant is wanted that narrows the choice to one or t'other.

[ChuckD]

Does the Tamiya offering have the workable toy features like gear and such?  That really turned me off to their Zero.

[BarryWilliams]

8 minutes ago, ChuckD said:

Does the Tamiya offering have the workable toy features like gear and such?  That really turned me off to their Zero.

No.  The engine panels are

removable, fitted with magnets. My

memory on this is unclear but I do believe that the u/c can be swapped out for display wheels up.   None of this detracts  from the model at

all, probably the best Spitfire in any scale.   
 

Regarding the Zero, I loved that kit too though, like you I was not a fan of the movable bits.  
 

All the 1/32 Tamiya WW2 warbirds are simply outstanding and you won’t regret building any of them and, by the way, they get better through each of the releases, the Zero being the first. 

[Furie]

What about Revell's Spit Mk IX?
I imagine it's light years behind the superb Tamiya kit, but is it a decent kit?

Edited February 5 by Furie

[cbk57]

3 hours ago, ChuckD said:

Does the Tamiya offering have the workable toy features like gear and such?  That really turned me off to their Zero.

I have built the Tamiya kit three times, and also the Zero.  Have you built the Zero?  The kits are distinctly different as the Zero represents one of Tamiyas earliest efforts into what I would call feature rich 1/32 planes.  Although you see some of it going back to their F-15 kits with opening bays. 

 

So to be clear the Zero had true functioning landing gear that you can raise or lower with a little wrench as i recall.  Also the tail wheel had a working function.  This does not exist in any of the newer Tamiya 1/32.  

 

They went with some interchangeable parts on the Spitfire and Mustang instead.  So the Cowlings can all be removed and are retained in place by two means.  First as noted above are the magnets, however it is more complicated the cowlings are rendered in 4 parts.  The lower panel has two pins that slide into grommets, I use a touch of lithium grease to make those go a bit better.  The side and top in part attach by magnets but then rely on the prop spinner to clinch it all together with some tabs.  So it really is a mix of magnets, tabs and grommets to bring it all together and interlock.  But done right it can all be open up.  It is amazing how well it goes together.

 

Now as to landing gear, the front landing gear are interchangeable with landing gear in up position, I just ignore the opposition parts when building one.  I just build it gear down.  It does take a bit of work as some inserts are involved but it does all lock into place and works fine.  

 

The zero had major detail compromises in the landing gear areas, the Spitfire is really good in all regards and I do not consider these features on the Spitfire and mustang toy like because even though interchangeable they still cary the same precision we find in other kits that do not have these options.  As a rule if I am going to have an engine in a kit I want it done the Tamiya way as I don't like a permanently open engine cowling.  But after 6 builds between Spitfire and Mustang I am fairly certain I never want to build a Merlin engine again.

 

[Darren Howie]

Tamiya or Airfix, the 24th Spit is slightly more detailed than the Tamiya kit AND is easier to get together, particularly the cowl fuse area if building it nose closed.

Its a very very impressive Spitfire in 24th and as much as i love the Tamiya kit if im paying the same money its Airfix all the way.

For me im paying far less than the Airfix price for Tamiya Spits and even though i grabbed two Kotare kits its a distant third on value for money for me.

 

 

 

 

 

[John Stambaugh]

4 hours ago, Furie said:

What about Revell's Spit Mk IX?
I imagine it's light years behind the superb Tamiya kit, but is it a decent kit?

I have built both Revell Spitfire kits and I would rate them quite decent. Particularly at their modest price point.

[thierry laurent]

Well this is a question similar to "which car would you recommend?". In a nutshell it is alas impossible to reply to such a question without knowing what are the most important of your requirements: price, size, buildability, accuracy, level of internal detail and so on.

[Palm-tree]

18 hours ago, Stevepd said:

 I'm unsure if hrs chasing a particular mark, or just wants a Spitfire.

 

Thoughts if you had that amount of cash, which would you go for.

Find out which mark he wants then we can give you an  accurate opinion on the merits of each.

 

FWIW,  the Tamiya 1/32 spit is very good although I replaced the kit exhausts with REXX parts if you can still find them. Nice photoetch parts included for the cockpit, ie compass mount, parts for gunsights Mk3 and Gyro versions. Everything fits well including the very finely moulded  removable engine cowls.

It was voted kit of the year when released. The engine is missing a few details in the smaller scale-noticeably the coolant outlet pipes on top of the crankcase are absent and will have to be created if leaving the top cowl off.

 

The larger 1/24rth Airfix kit has the stressed skin undulations on the fuselage replicated subtly. Trailing edges of rudder and elevator need to be thinned, and again exhausts benefit from the Eduard 3D replacements and Aerocraft gear legs for greater robustness and longevity. Bolts moulded on the inside framework of the armoured windscreen-nice touch. Missing are the butterfly release and golf ball on the sliding canopy.

Both kits are worth it in their own way.

For the money I ended up buying both-it just depends on how large a model you want.

 

The instruction sheets can be studied online to see the breakdown of parts. See Scalemates.

Edited February 6 by Palm-tree
Kit specific info/ word change

[Kenneth]

16 hours ago, Furie said:

What about Revell's Spit Mk IX?
I imagine it's light years behind the superb Tamiya kit, but is it a decent kit?

I haven‘t built mine yet, but have had many close looks at the kit, and from memory (haven‘t got it at hand right now):

+ Readily available for less than a 1/4 of the Tamiya Mk IX

+ Very detailed, and shape and dimensions seem accurate

+ Clipped or pointed wingtips, large and small rudders included

- The seat is quite inaccurate, particularly the seat back cushion/padding
- The lower armour plate behind the seat is not included, and it looks as if it could be difficult to add as the seat mounting arrangement to the bulkhead is not reproduced correctly

- Raised Dzus fasteners on the engine cowling panels
- Some heavy raised rivets here and there
- Rudder ribs and rib stitching rater overdone

- No engine (which is not a concern for me)

I think it‘s a great buy for that price, and am looking forward to doing mine. I intend to convert it into a Mk. IXe, using a conversion kit designed for the Tamiya kit, which seems to fit very well to the Revell kit as well.