A group of Eight various 1/48 Spitfires………. Four Airfix and Four Tamiya, Mk 1 to the FR 46 / 47

Started by Louis Gardner · 332 · 4 years ago
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    David Mills said 5 years, 8 months ago:

    Great work Louis - well done for bringing this one in !

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    Stellan Schroeder Englund said 5 years, 8 months ago:

    What a fantastic project! Good to see all the progress. Ordered Eduards IXc, IXe, VIII and XIV in 48 scale, hope to have some fun with them. Might even go for Tamiyas old Mk I and V to warm up the build table.

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    Louis Gardner said 5 years, 8 months ago:

    Thanks David. @davem

    I’ll try my best to knock it out before the deadline.

    Stellan @stellan

    From what I have read those Eduard Spitfire kits are nice. I personally don’t have any experience with building them so I have to rely on what has been written about them by others.

    Now as far as the Tamiya kits are concerned, I have built 4 of them. Two Mk 1 and two Mk V versions. They were part of this journal and I can speak from experience with these.

    You will not be disappointed with the early Tamiya Spitfires. They are little jewels. I didn’t need any filler and everything fit like a glove. They’re a very relaxing kit to build up and I really enjoyed building them.

    The only down side is that it is reported on these older kits is that they are not quite up to modern standards as far as the outline of the wing and the shape of the rear fuselage. From what others have written about them, they are a little "big" on the back side...of the fuselage.

    But hey, they're getting a little age on them so it's perfectly acceptable... 🙂

    The wing outline can be fixed with a few minutes of sanding on the trailing edge if it bothers you. I left mine alone and it's acceptable to me.

    I can’t seem to tell the difference but I didn’t check them against any sort of scale drawings.

    Who’s to say the drawings are correct anyway ?

    To me they still look like little Spitfires and that’s what counts.

    Thanks again gentlemen.

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    Louis Gardner said 5 years, 8 months ago:

    Here’s how the last Tamiya Mk. V looks since the final coat of flat clear has been applied.

    Topside colors on "FL * A"


    The underneath looks OK too...

    I then applied some liquid masking on the sliding portion of the canopy...

    This part needs painting, and a little more work needs done on the landing gear.

    Then I can do the final assembly.

    This one just might make it by the deadline !

    as usual,
    Comments are encouraged.

    Thanks for looking.

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    Stellan Schroeder Englund said 5 years, 8 months ago:

    Thanks for the short review on the older Tamiya Spitfires. I probably wouldn´t get more build fun with the new and much pricier Spitfire Mk I so I will probably go for the older ones. The paint job on FL-A looks sharp and neat.

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    Louis Gardner said 5 years, 8 months ago:

    You're quite welcome my friend ...and thank you for the compliments on the Spitfire. @stellan

    I don't think you will be disappointed. They are a very nice and easy building model, plus they still look respectable when completed as far as I am concerned.

    I made some more progress with "FL *A" today.

    The main landing gear were completed and installed, as was the propeller assembly.


    I then removed the masking from the clear canopy parts...and added some exhaust grime. Once I was satisfied with the exhaust streaks, I installed the exhaust pipes after they received a little attention too with a little weathering to give them a used look.

    I used some "Matt Aluminum" Bare Metal Foil for the wheel hubs, and detailed the pitot tube.

    It's almost done now...

    Maybe tomorrow I can finish this one.

    I'm going to post up the 2nd half of the Revell of Germany P-51D kit review in just a few.

    As usual,
    Comments are encouraged.

    Thanks for stopping by... 🙂

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    Louis Gardner said 5 years, 8 months ago:

    I completed my mission. It’s done and on time. Barely but I’ll take it.


    All of the last little bits were added and the final painting is done.

    I’ll take some pictures and post it in the headline section soon. The next time you see this one will be on the reveal.

    Thanks again for following along with this journey.

    As usual comments are encouraged.

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    Tom Bebout said 5 years, 7 months ago:

    TaDaaa. Looks good buddy

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    Chuck A. Villanueva said 5 years, 7 months ago:

    Excellent series Louis, As the good Lord said, I am finished!. (appropriate as Easter is upon us) Well done, finish looks fantastic. This is the best of the best. Sharp details, and the call letters painted on looks great. Looking forward to your posting in headlines.

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    david leigh-smith said 5 years, 7 months ago:

    Louis, I think anyone would “take it” - huge well done on a lovely Spitfire. I’m really coming around to ‘factory fresh’ builds - this looks just beautiful and the metal foil does ‘pop’ as they say.

    Kudos, my friend.

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    Tom Cleaver said 5 years, 7 months ago:

    That is one of the best Spitfire models I have seen, Louis. A very, very little bit of exhaust stain, and oil stain under the fuselage center, and you have it exactly. People don't realize those airplanes were much better cared for than they think. In European weather, they weren't flown every day, and in Channel Front operating conditions, they didn't last long enough to look all fouled up. Kudos on this one!

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    david leigh-smith said 5 years, 7 months ago:

    And there you have it, praise from Tom C - for what it’s worth I completely agree, she’s a lovely build and really nice to look at; just like the real thing.

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    Louis Gardner said 5 years, 7 months ago:

    Thanks Gentlemen for the compliments !

    I just posted the last one "FL * A" in the headlines section. Here's a link should you decide to take a peek... 🙂

    100 Years of the RAF, Spitfire Mk Vb, 81 Squadron RAF Hornchurch, June 1942 “FL*A” / BM-461 Tamiya 1/48
    Thanks again !
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    Allan J Withers said 5 years, 7 months ago:

    Nice one of many Louis !

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    Louis Gardner said 4 years, 3 months ago:

    Our good friend Dmitry Stropalov @starfar
    has been building some of the newly released Eduard Spitfires. There has been one posted in the headlines section too by Tom Cleaver. This has rekindled my desire to finish up what was previously started here.

    There were several additions and changes that have happened over the past 1.5 years... Man, where did the time go ?

    I'll give a quick recap as to what has been going on.