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Andreas Fey
32 articles

Airfix Supermarine Spitfire Battle of Britain + addons 1/72

December 25, 2020 · in Aviation · · 22 · 3K
This article is part of a series:
  1. Airfix Supermarine Spitfire Battle of Britain + addons 1/72
  2. Arma Hobby (Expert-Set) Hawker Hurricane Mk I Battle of Britain + Addons in 1/72

Hello modellers!
Here are my two tiny little Spitfires from . I wanted to build a scene where pilots wait for their next scramble, as shown on many historic pictures. This is becaue I like it to give my models a „natural“ invironment and photograph them just the way someone would do this if he was present in this scene.
The Airfix kit is a nice decent kit unexpensive, wents togheter very easily and turns out in a very good looking model (with some extra patience of course).
I decided to detail the cockpit of one plane and show the canopy in open position. Therefore it is necessary to cut the canopy in 3 pieces, keep the windshield and replace the to other parts with thinner material.

Because the panellines of the Airfix-kits are a bit to overaccentuated, I filled them with acrylic filler.
As you can see on the pictures, an scale kit is not that detailed as a 1/32 kit and some parts turn out loo large or are not present at all. But the advantage is that you can build a tiny diorama on a very smal space.
Hope you like it, let me know!

AIRFIX KITS
MkIa: A01071A and A01071B
Tilly car from „WWII RAF Vehicle Set“ No .A03311

FLIGHTPATH KITS
„Small WWII Airfield Hu“t No. FP-72-002c
„RAF /WWII Trolley Accumulator Set“ No. FP-72-005a

DECALS
Xtradecal „Battle of Britain Part 2 Supermarine Spitfires“ No. X72224
Photo Etched Parts
Some parts of Eduard Spitfire Mk I for Tamiya kit No.SS214

FIGURES
Pilots & Ground Crew Royal Air Force WWII Revell, No. 02401

PAINT
AK-Real-Colors WW2 RAF Tempered Land Scheme Set No.38 & RAF Cockpit Grey-Green RC293
AK wheathering pencils

Reader reactions:
13  Awesome 1 

27 additional images. Click to enlarge.


22 responses

  1. Andreas: Very impressive and realistic! For a second I thought your photos were outtakes from "The Battle of Britain". Nice assortment of photos. Love the one with your fingers that gives it scale.

  2. Thank you Eric, happy that you like it!

  3. Nicely done, and excellent figures! Figures are so hard to pull off in 1/72 scale.

  4. Very nice, a realistic scene that tells a good story. The airplanes are great but the figures are spectacular in that scale.

  5. "Don't just stand there get one up!" One can hear Robert Shaw yelling to his novice Shitehawk
    Great execution on this as the others said the figures are great. Love the sky background.

  6. Hey Bill,
    That's exactly what I wanted to achieve, I watched the film several times and made screenshots of the little hut and the pilots. Happy that you like it. on this picture (penultimate line)
    https://imodeler.com/uploads/2020/12/f/fletcher_201225_5fe61c694a9e5-200x200.jpg?v=1608916073 you can see the bell (I have the sign to " dont just yell, ring like `ell! too) but I was out of patience for that little detail...

    1 attached image. Click to enlarge.

  7. Very realistic, Andreas.
    You created a beautiful diorama which looks like real.
    Those details are incredible.

  8. Fine models in a spectacular diorama. Special, reflecting great skill.

  9. Well done all round Andreas, I like !

  10. Great, Andreas, very well done, you've achieved what you set out to do and more.

  11. You did a wonderful job there, Andreas, really really hard to believe it is...1/72!
    I can only echo above gents comments!
    Congratulations!

  12. Very, very... very impressive!

  13. Thank you gentlemen, makes me happy to hear that you like it!

  14. Tail end Charlie here. What's great about these Airfix Spitfires in 1/72nd is that Hornby chose to echo the original release in re-doing the kit line. There accurate in shape and out line, have excellent decals, and offer several options for the prop arrangement and have several early paint schemes. More importantly, they are reasonably priced and offer opportunities for younger hands to have a hands on experience. The hobby can be expensive for folks new to the hobby and for kids the tube glue, brush, paint and kit experience is within reach. Furthermore, Andreas you've taken the kit and have done one of the basic tenants of modeling and that is to use some modeling skill take it to several levels to improve the kit and prove that you don't always need a lot of money to make a kit shine. Having written that, a kid (Adult kids included) having done a Spit could see with this article the other options that are out there for displaying their build. Add the ground crew, the vehicle and some great photography stirred but, not shaken and you have a winning formula. It adds up to some fun and entertainment which modeling is all about.

    Two thumbs up.

  15. Stephen, thank you about you comments and compliments about my Airfix Spitfires. I have a heart for Airfix models and build them since 1970`s
    I am working on a Spitfire Prototype, based on the old Airfix-Kit. The details are much more simplified compared to the new tooled, modern kit, but the shape is allmost the same.

    2 attached images. Click to enlarge.

  16. Wow - stunning - LOVE the vignettes, and the figure painting is fantastic - I put pilots in all my 1/72 builds and know how challenging it is to get those little guys looking realistic. You really have the knack for that!

  17. N3249/QJ*P was flown by a few famous 92 Sqn B of B pilots,Bob Tuck,Roy Mottram,
    Roger Bushell and finally Titch Havercroft,who belly landed it.
    After repairs it went to 610 Sqn and was usually flown by Herbert Denchfield
    who bailed out of it 5th February 1941.
    Roger Bushell and Bob Tuck both scored kills whilst flying it.

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