One of the Few
Supermarine Spitfire Mk.I

by Chris Evenden

images by Brett Green

Tamiya's 1/48 scale Spitfire Mk.I is available online from Squadron

Tamiya's 1/48 scale Spitfire Mk.I was very easy to build.

Hardly any filler was required, just at the leading edge of the wing root join. One problem that did arise though, was that I found I had managed to install the cockpit so that the rear bulkhead (what the seat attaches to) sat too high. When it came time to attach the clear pieces the small rear part wouldn't fit. I had to file the top of the bulkhead down and shim the clear piece with 10 thou to get it to fit.

In the cockpit I added some control wires and lengthened the handles on various levers with sprue. I also replaced the kit's seat with one from Ultracast. On the outside I drilled out the exhaust pipes and replaced the rudder control rod with one made from stretched sprue. The elastoplast type gun opening covers where made with small pieces of Tamiya tape.

The kit was painted in Humbrol enamels. I tried a couple of times to paint it free hand to get the feathered edge but my attempts were dismal failures, so I masked out pattern using the Tamiya instructions and the Aerodetail book as a guide. I used Tamiya's masking tape as I have found this gives the best results for masking, being low tack and giving a sharp demarcation line.

I weathered the model with artist's acrylic paint and pastels. The paint chipping was done with Humbrol Silver Fox with a dash of black added.

I used the kit decals. There went on beautifully. I must admit to being some what surprised at this. as they seemed a little thick when I looked at the decal sheet. But once on the model they were very thin and reacted to well to the Superset/Sol combination I use as a setting agent.

This model was photographed at the ACT Scale Modellers' Society Annual Competition held during May 2004 in Canberra, Australia's national capital.

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

 

Spitfire Mark I/II Aces 1939–41 Aircraft of the Aces 12 Author: Alfred Price Illustrator: Keith Fretwell US Price: $19.95 UK Price: £12.99 Publisher: Osprey Publishing Publish Date:  November 16, 1996 Details: 96 pages; ISBN: 1855326272 Shop Buy it from Osprey Publishing

Model and Text Copyright © 2004 by Chris Evenden
Images Copyright © 2004 by Brett Green
Page Created 04 June, 2004
Last Updated 04 June, 2004

Back to HyperScale Main Page