I heard the limit was 12...

Run away ! He's got big teeth ! That is funny Paul ... love it.

So the new number is 12 ? If I had time to complete a total of twelve, not eleven or thirteen, but twelve, and five still doesn't count, ...12 by October,

I just might entertain the idea. 🙂

James,
Yes I also enjoyed watching several British / Irish comedians back then too. I remember watching Monty Python, Benny Hill, and Dave Allen. All were fantastically funny in their own way.

I have not had any time to spend at the work bench. However I did pull down the last remaining 1/48 scale Spitfires from the stash pile.

I was wrong. I only have two Hasegawa Spitfire kits out of the lot.

The other two were an Airfix new tool Mk XII, and a Revell of Germany Seafire Mk XV, which is basically a re box of the Special Hobby kit minus the metal photo etched parts.

I just had to open the boxes and take another look at the plastic bits.

I have read where some people have ranted on about the shape and length of the fuselage on the Hasegawa kits. Some stated that the fuselage was 4-8 scale inches too long (or too short as I'm going on memory here).

That has to be a whopping difference of at least 1/8 of an inch ? Wow. I'm sure it would be noticeable if you had two similar Spitfires parked side by side, but other than that I think that I could live with this.

They also said that the fuselage was a little "portly" and didn't capture the lines of the Spitfires very well. Such is life.

I don't have a "scale" drawing (which can be suspect on occasion) to compare the Hasegawa stuff too. I'm also not a Spitfire specialist either.

I can say the plastic trees for the Hasegawa kits look pretty good to me. So if time permits, I just might have to knock the dust off these kits and build them too just to find out for myself.

Then I can even post up some side by side comparison pictures for all to see.

That is if there's an interest for this. (And time permits)...

The plus side would be that all of my Spitfires in this scale would be built. I would have a few left in 1/32 but that is for another time.
As always,
Comments are encouraged.

Thanks for looking.

Louis, you pull this off and we will have @dirtylittlefokker Knight you! Sir Gardner of Mopar?

Louis Gardner: The Hasegawa kit is in fact based on "scale drawings" - a set by a well-respected Japanese draftsman, that are now seen as the single worst drawings of a Spitfire by anyone anywhere. Aeroclub created a good fuselage, that used everything else in the kit (also a Mk. VIII fuselage). Having both the Hasegawa kit and the Eduard kit in my collection, when you put the two next to each other, you can see at three feet how awful the Hasegawa kit is.

Tom C.,
I learned something here, thanks for the bit of information.

I normally don't place too much emphasis on drawings as a rule, since even engineering drawings can be off. I was an automotive machinist years ago, and ran into this same scenario several times when the "engineered" drawing just wouldn't work without a minor change in one or more of the dimensions that were published with the drawing. They are nice to look at, and give you a reasonable presentation as a rule as to just how an object "should" look.

I actually place more energy towards how something looks once completed. Having two different Spitfires of the same Mark, placed next to each other, and then you see a difference with the naked eye, that holds more credence with me.

Sort of like the old saying... If it looks like a duck, acts like a duck, walks like a duck, and squawks like a duck, well then it's probably a duck... 🙂 The same goes for Spitfires.

I try not to loose sleep over things like that which I have no control over. I'll take your advice and see how these all look placed next to each other once done.
Thanks...

David,
Good to hear from you ! 🙂 I've been meaning to ask you how the old Monogram TBD turned out from the Midway GB. Each time it seemed to slip away from me though.

Marquis of Mopar... I like that. At an earlier time in my life I was nicknamed "The Mopar Guru"... 🙂 and it does have a certain ring to it.

So I sincerely appreciate this. 🙂

I hope you all enjoy this next post... I put a lot of time and energy into it.

so here goes.

Let me start out by saying I'm not a Spitfire expert by any means. This is to allow you, (the viewer) the opportunity to see for yourself what some of the talk about Spitfires is about. Please draw your own conclusions. I'm not trying to sway your opinion one way or another. I can't vouch for the Tamiya drawings as far as accuracy. It's all I had available.

I do not know how "true" the Tamiya drawings are. They do fit the outline of the Tamiya parts perfectly however. This should be expected, since they go together. I didn't have another 1/48 scale drawing to use as a reference.
But this will be good enough to demonstrate the differences between the kits... Please keep in mind that the photography angles will distort the appearance of how far off a plastic part is when viewed from different angles. Where this occurred, I tried to take a close up photo to show exactly how far off the plastic was from the drawings.

I took pictures of the fuselage side plastic for each Spitfire (and the last 4 unbuilt kits shown above). I used a standard drawing that comes with the Tamiya kits as a camouflage painting guide as a standard reference.

Then I placed the corresponding Tamiya fuselage half over the drawing, lining it up as close as I possibly could. This is a typical photo you get. If you look close, in this picture it looks like the nose is longer than the drawing (but it is not). In fact, the Tamiya parts fit the Tamiya drawing perfectly. This illusion is in part due to the fact these Tamiya Mark 1 fuselages have been glued together. It would have been more of a true representation if the parts were still apart. The other thing that caused this is the angle of the camera when the picture was taken.

Here I took a Tamiya Spitfire Mark 1 upper wing half and placed it directly over the drawing. This picture is a much better example to go by. You can see the wing fits the outline of the drawing very well indeed.

I had three Tamiya Spitfire drawings to go by. One is for a Mark 1, next is a Mark Vb, and the last was a Mark Vb Tropical. I aligned the outlines first, then placed them up against a bright light and checked the to see how the outlines were.

The earlier Mark 1 had a different spinner, and some minor changes in the panel lines on the engine panels.

The overall dimensions looked to be very similar on the later Mark V, other than the Vokes filter.

Using this method of placing the plastic fuselage halves against the Tamiya drawing, I took some pictures of each kit represented in the build. I started with the Airfix Mk 1, and there were some minor differences...

The main thing I noticed were the length of the fuselage in the nose,

and a panel line ahead of the cockpit windscreen was way different. This is where Airfix has an insert for the different types of glass, armored or not.

Next up, I changed over to the Tamiya Mk V drawings since I was measuring a Mk V airframe...
and placed the Tamiya Mk V Tropical fuselage on top of the drawing.

Again the fit was spot on.

But then again the Tamiya drawing was used.

here's the same thing, but this time I'm measuring the Tamiya Mk Vb against the Tamiya Mk Vb drawings. The same results were achieved... I used this Mark Vb drawing for the rest of the demonstration...

Next up was the Airfix Mk Vb placed over the Tamiya drawing.

With the same results as the earlier Mark 1. The fuselage panel line was off considerably.

and the nose was approximately 3 MM longer than the Tamiya kit.

Next up, the Airfix Mk XII

There was a slight difference noted on the outline of the rudder / fin

and the nose was about 3 MM longer too, just as it was on the earlier Airfix MkVb

Then I shifted gears and measured the PR Mk XIX. This plane had a different engine than that used in the earlier Marks. I'm fairly sure these were Griffon powered, so the nose will be different.

The tail was lightly different ...

and so was the nose, which was expected due to the different engine used.

Next up, the Airfix FR 46/47, just for kicks. I didn't expect this one to fit anywhere. (and it didn't) 🙂

Here's the nose of the FR 46/47

Here's the Special Hobby / Revell of Germany re box of the Seafire Mk XV.

This one was pretty close to the Tamiya drawing. Look at the tail outline.

The cockpit

and the nose was different, but this was expected too...

Shifting gears to the Hasegawa kits:
Here's the Mk VI

It was really close around the cockpit.

as was the general outline and location of the tail.

Quite honestly, the nose was the same length as the Tamiya version too...

The next Spitfire is the Hasegawa Mk IXc

where you can see the cockpit is very close to the same location as the Tamiya MKV.

and the outline (and location) of the tail is very close too.

There was a difference in the length of the nose however. It was approximately 3 MM longer than the Tamiya Mk V. This is due to the different engine used in the Mk IX, which was a Merlin 61.

This next photo shows a Tamiya Mk 1 on the top of the photo, and the Airfix Mk 1 on the bottom. I lined up the rudder hinge line for a comparison. Sorry the photo is a little canted...

This next picture is self explanatory. From top to bottom:
Special Hobby / Revell of Germany Mk Seafire Mk XV.

Next is the Airfix PR XIX

Last is the Airfix FR 46/47

In this next picture, you can see the following kits. from top to bottom:
Airfix Mk 1

Airfix Mk Vb

Hasegawa Mk VI

Hasegawa Mk IXc

Airfix Mk XII

Finally the Tamiya kits are on deck. Please keep in mind these have been assembled and will not lay flat on the drawing. From top to bottom:

Mk 1

Mk Vb

Mk Vb Tropical

In this last picture, I have all of the planes laid out for inspection. Sharp eyed viewers will notice that only one Tamiya Mk 1 is shown, when I'm building two...

The Tamiya kits pretty much build themselves and are a joy. The fit has been spot on so far with them too.

Like you, I am really liking the details (and fit) of the new tool Airfix offerings. They honestly look like the Spitfire more so than the other kits I have built so far. You can't go wrong with them.

I haven't built the Hasegawa versions yet, but that's about to change... I'm interested to see how they look side by side with the others...

So I'm going to add to this madness and build all of my 1/48 scale Spits... since I have opened the plastic on all of them now, and you don't want the kits to spoil... 🙂

That is if I can outrun David LS, and his "special" jacket... 🙂

Thanks for your input Tom...

My head is spinning a little after that lot! That last photo is fantastic Louis. It has started me visualising THE photo! I have a little time today - if it is possible can you put a list here of what you are going to build, please? If you know years and squadrons, I can see the Mks and any makes - I can then get to the inventory and put them all in the appropriate place. Once they are locked in we can sort the Strait Jacket and mashed potatoes! Louis, you are a legend!