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Nguyen Huy Hoang
17 articles

Tamiya Spitfire 1/32

February 16, 2015 · in Aviation · · 25 · 2.3K

HI all,

This is probally the best model kit I've ever built, sadly I didn't bring out the best of her. Gunze paint was used, some minor scratch details for the engine, the rest is OOB. All comments are welcome.

PS: The aileron were set in the wrong way: both down 😀 the bar on the access door should painted in red.

Reader reactions:
9  Awesome

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25 responses

  1. Very nice work as always, Nguyen...minor "flaws" fixable, however.

  2. Amazing! We are all like PANASONIC, on a quest for zero defects. However, no build is ever flawless. This is masterclass modelling and something to be proud of! Well done!

  3. Very good detailing. It's a shame in some respects, that the interiors of many of these new 'super kits' deserve to be shown in their own right, and then are lost when buttoned-up in the main build.

    Still, a fine effort.

  4. Nice work, the ailerons can be set in neutral without a lot of problem. I'd say the one thing you want to consider with the next one is to reconsider the old artistic rule that "less is more." I refer to the overdone "Spanish School" preshading, which can end up looking like a cartoon of the real thing when applied too heavily.

    • Thanks Tom ! This is one of my frist attempt with pre shading and I have learnt the lesson in a hard way 😀

      • Well, that's the way most of us (most assuredly me) learn, through failure. I never ever met anyone who learned a single thing from success (well, other than it's nice), but learning from failure is the best guarantee of eventual success.

  5. Very very nice. Great job mate.

  6. I have to agree with Rob when it comes to all of the detail being lost or closed up. On the other had one can document the build and post a ton of pic's in WIP section. Or turn the model into a museum cut away with sections of the model removed for displaying the interior. Then again one can display the kit like Shep Paine did ...showing the a/c under going maintenance in the field with fitters and riggers crawling all over it. Over the kit looks pretty good Nguyen. The crow bar in the pilots access hatch ...in early Spits they didn't have them and the later Mk's had them in natural metal or painted silver/lacquer . Red Crow bars can be found on Warbirds or after WWII.

    • Actually, some early spitfires had the crowbar retrofitted. Alsothere were red crowbars used during WWII. They were just not as plentiful as the natural metal or silver ones.

    • Not to make too much of it, as the build is nice, but so much is brought to attention through macro photography ( and not just in this scale) that it's easy to forget the amount of work that goes into a build of this sort, pre-shaded or not. When seen on an exhibition table it's often the case that we simply see a genetic type of aircraft without close-focus benefit of closer detail. Nguyen's a steady modeller. I'm sure he'll take lessons from the advice given, no matter what the subject.

  7. I agree with Tom Cleaver.
    I find the preshading a little (but only a little) overdone.
    On the other hand, there is something about the sheen of the model that I really like. It gives me the impression that the aircraft is standing outside just after a rain shower. I've never seen that in a model before.
    Very nice!
    A top notch model.

  8. Wow I really like it! I need to get me one of those kits.

  9. Very nice spitfire.

  10. Amazing job! One of my favourites here on imodeler. Thanks for sharing your beautiful Spit.

  11. I applaud your obvious skills-your Spit looks terrific. Straighten out the ailerons and leave the rest as is.

  12. Great job indeed! Every time a see this Tamiya Spitfire model built well and photographed, the detail and accuracy blow me away! The stencilling in the cockpit really does add that extra touch of detail. Love the silvering in the wing root area. Yes to add, I've never been a fan of overall panel shading, just never seen it on aircraft extremities, which tend to be pretty clean? Overall panel shading on kits to me, gives them a sort of "computer generated" look. Oil in panel lines around engines and lots of "dirt" around engines, yes. As for the ailerons, you can always say Johnny Johnson had heard about STOL modifications to aircraft, and decided to give it a try! 🙂

  13. gorgeous pit and spit

  14. This is such an amazing model and a great built in deed!
    Looking back on a number of builts of this model myself, I know how it keeps challenging you to do something special, to try something new and push yourself to some new limit. Rusted exhaust pipes, wing root chipping, oil and dirt in the engine compartment, how to get the crisp surface structure to carry some cool wheathering ...

    I think you had in mind a model very much on the worn side and you hit the nail to he head. I really like it a lot.

  15. Very well done indeed! Love the extreme detail

  16. I guess everyone has their own opinion regarding weathering and pre-shading, etc, but no one is going to disagree on the quality of this build, it's stunning.

  17. Thank you all for your kind comments and advise. When this build was finished, I think to myself : I just ruined a perfect kit, maybe next time I will try harder. So I put this Spitfire on sale and 5' mins after I posted it on an online forum, I get the best offer ever. Next time I will do a tropical Spitfire

    • I'm fairly new to the site, and was having a browse around some other builds when I came across yours. All I can say is, wow. I spent several minutes absorbing all the detail you put into it, and frankly I don't think you put a single foot wrong in my humble opinion. I get inspiration to build from subjects such as yours and others around the site. As for the weathering I think that's a very 'personal' choice - it's essentially your 'signature' on the subject that you've built this and no one else has. Unfortunately for me weathering has never been my strong suit - I overdo it or not enough and I haven't seemed to find the right balance in all the years I've been doing this hobby - but I can appreciate the level of weathering here because there's depth to it and simply so much to look at in just the finish alone.

  18. Really nice model! I wish I could "ruin" them like that...:)

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