Here is my attempt at building the Tamiya 1:32 Spitfire MkIX.
Whilst the it is an excellent kit I decided to use some aftermarket offerings including:
Montex masks
HGW fabric seat harness
HGW wet transfers
Aires resin wheels
Quickboost cockpit door
Barracuda resin rocker covers
Barracuda resin cockpit interior
Master gun barrels
Yahu instrument panel
Paints were Tamiya, MRP, vallejo, Alkan & 502 Abteilung oils
This isn’t a “specific” aircraft, I chose the JHC codes as their my initials.
I really enjoyed the build, I made quite a few mistakes, significantly with the landing gear “fixings” that I managed to put in the wrong way meaning that the landing strut couldn’t be “slipped” into place, I had to cutoff pat of the strut and glue the landing gear in the down position, Tamiya give you the ability to change the model to an “in flight” mode providing you don’t glue the landing gear as I had to.
The engine could be a model in its own right, I decided early on that I didn’t want to hide it away although “in theory” I still could as the cowl panels are magnetised.
The only “disappointing” part of the kit is the instrument panel decals, why Tamiya give you a blue artificial horizon is baffling.
For some reason, I’ve no idea why, I started the kit way back in 2020 and then she sat on the shelf for a couple of years, it could have been because of the IP?, anyhow I really enjoyed the build and would recommend it for the more experienced modeller, it isn’t a “shake and bake” kit.
Enough waffle here’s some photos…
And some black and white versions
until next time
as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)
