Thanks gents !
Today was a very good day at the "Iron Werks" or as some now call it, "Casa Bromwich" π
To begin with, the wings and tail surfaces are all installed on the Tamiya Spitfires. I have not added the wing tips on the Mk V's yet, as I still have not decided on exactly what markings I will paint these birds with. I definitely want to build one of the Mk V's as a George "Buzz" Beurling plane from Malta. I just haven't decided which one to model, nor have I decided on the Airfix or Tamiya kit to represent the Canadian Ace.
Anyhow, here are the four Tamiya's as the currently sit...
Here's a close up of the Tamiya Mk V's.
and the Tamiya Mk 1's.
Then I started working on the Airfix Mk 1. I followed the kit instructions and built the wings, then installed them as a unit.
Building the kit using this method left a small gap along the Port side wing root joint.
I was able to fix this by adding in some plastic strip stock. Now the gap will be much easier to repair.
I continued work on the Airfix Mk 1, until the majority of the construction was completed. It's definitely starting to look more like a Spitfire now ! π
I decided to droop the elevators as this was normally how you see them in various original era pictures. This is a very nice feature of the new Airfix kit...
This next photo shows the elevator droop a little better.
Then I added the carburetor air intake under the nose, along with the radiator and oil cooler under the wings.
The radiator has some nice details cast into the parts. It is made up of four individual parts, and the rear air exit can be posed in the open or closed positions. Here's a close up photo of the part after it was installed.
These next series of photos were done as a side by side comparison between the older Tamiya kit (which fit perfectly with no gaps anywhere), and the new Airfix Mk 1. The Tamiya kit has the darker colored plastic, while the Airfix Spitfire is the lighter one.
Starting off with the noses: Tamiya on the right, Airfix on the left.
Here's the tail sections sitting side by side:
Tamiya is on the top left, while Airfix is on the bottom right.
Both are very nice kits.
The Tamiya Spitfire seems to fit a little better, and has less parts which makes it an easier building model. Some say it has some shape problems, but to me it still looks like a Spit.
The Airfix version has quite a few more parts, making it a more complicated build. The Airfix Spitfire has more details, and has the option of pose able control surfaces. The Airfix kit also has the option of building several different types of Mk 1's from the very early two bladed un armored plane with a standard hood, to the later versions with a blown hood / armored glass / pilot armor and a choice of 3 bladed props. The three bladed props are offered with a Rotol or DeHavilland version along with the corresponding spinner.
I have been thoroughly enjoying the builds from each company. As far as the value goes, I would pick the Airfix model since you have a lot more options. The trade off is a little more work and the fit isn't as good.
Now that I know what to expect, I'll build the other Airfix Mk V a little differently, so please stay tuned with that happening very soon !
If you want to build something that is trouble free (and builds up very quickly), go for the Tamiya. These are still a very nice looking plane in my opinion. The engineering and fit are still very good even though the kit is over 20 years old now.
I'm calling it a night,
As usual,
"Comments are encouraged"
Thanks for looking .
