AIRFIX 1:72 SPITFIRE MK.1

 

Reviewer: Paul Wherran  (rec.models.scale)
Kit Review submitted:  January 2001

Aircraft:
 Given that this is one of the most famous fighters of the Second World War it seems silly to go into a lot of detail about what this aircraft is.  Suffice to say the Mk.1 version was the first Spitfire production variant built in decent numbers and participated in the Battle of Britain.

The Kit:
 This is an early 80's Airfix tooling with raised panel lines and adequate surface detail. It's manufactured from the early 70's Spitfire Mk.V kit/molds and is also a very cheap kit in spite of being difficult to pick up anywhere in my search. Very little flash encumbers the light grey parts and they have a crisp feel to them. There is a three piece canopy set which is thick and distorted and likely to give little view of any work done in the cockpit.

Construction:
 This starts in the cockpit with very little detail provided, just seat, stick etc and the detailer will need to add in their own scratchbuilt harnesses, packs, armour plates etc to make it more realistic.  If memory serves correctly there are aftermarket detail sets available so its best to use one of these. I used stretched sprue and plasticard pieces to spice up the interior a bit including console and instrument panel detail.

Unfortunately surface detail is not a strong point of this kit and to make a really accurate Spitty-1 you need to drill out ducts, scoops and pipes and add in small bits of stretched sprue.  Naturally it is a little difficult to provide commentary on this step in writing so best to keep a really good Spitty-1 reference photo alongside you at this point.  Once the detail was added I affixed the fuselage halves together - which was relatively easy - trapping the propeller shaft/spinner sub assembly at the same time.

The wings were slapped together pretty easily and are made up of the standard lower wing piece and two upper halves. The trailing edges were a bit thick so I sanded this down a little.  They attach reasonably well to the fuselage but the resulting wing/fuselage gaps had to be filled and sanded.  But you do need to be attentive in how you let the wing dry, make sure it is positioned correctly to get the correct dihedral effect.  One thing I noticed is that the gun troughs are not included on the wing so these will need to be drilled to provide them - likewise there is also an absence of the port wing camera port. On both occasions it is also best to refer to appropriate reference material.  Further detail like flap hinges will need to be added to the model.

The wheel wells are deep enough to be reasonably accurate but are completely void of any detail.  More stretched sprue can be used for interior plumbing and the like. The undercarriage is very basic with the wheel covers molded straight onto the main leg. Any detail here has to be added in by the modeller and furthermore it would be difficult to complete a wheels-up model if one wanted to do this.

Painting and Finishing:
The kit supplies some small antenna masts but other small components such as pitot tubes have to be researched and scratchbuilt by the modeller. These were the last things added to the model and then it was primed and painted using Humbrol paints airbrushed finely to achieve the earth/dark green camouflage I wanted. I then weathered the aircraft, drybrushing aluminium bits to make it look like chipped paint, and then a fine spray of misty exhaust/gun smoke was added for extra effect. In terms of weathering, you could also cover the paint with metal foil or give it a natural metal finish, then apply your paint before using sharp sprue ends to chip off the paint for a more realistic effect. 

Versions & Decals:
Only One aircraft is covered by the kit being a mid-series Mk.1 (DeHavilland prop) from 234th Sqn - "AZ¤H" used in the Battle of Britain.  The decal sheet is reasonable without being comprehensive supplying a small amount of stencilling and roundels. Register was not the best and a slight bleed through was apparent in some cases. Smaller decals were blurred also. I used roundels from an Aeromaster sheet I have and simply used the kit decals for the aspects unique to this particular aircraft example; eg: serial numbers and squadron codes. 

Accuracy:
 I compared the completed project to drawings to "SAMI" published ones and was very pleased with what I found.  The main shortcoming of this kit is it's detail - you will need to add in bits and pieces yourself for a truly accurate replica.  

Many Spitfire kits seem to suffer with the cowling shape as well as odd inaccuracies in one of the wing, tailplane or fin shapes.  Even the propeller blades and cockpit are rarely accurately profiled.  

The side profile and fuselage of the Airfix Spitty-1 is pretty good but lacks the duct, fuel filler caps and other fine detail in the kit - and stuff that is provided, such as the exhaust stubs, are a little crude and best replaced.  Panel lines are accurately portrayed.  The wing when compared with the drawings looks spot on as well and convincingly captures the renowned gull-wing profile. The only downfall is the thick trailing edges and this is also the same for the tailplanes.  The propeller blades are correctly profiled and look like the DeHavilland props and most important the fin and tailplanes are accurately done too.

Measurement wise the kit is well within acceptable limits, so all in all this kit convincingly and quite accurately profiles the Spitfire Mk.1 - just remember that this statement includes the extra scrathbuilt detail I added in.

Overall:
I was pretty satisfied with the result this kit produced because it looked like a Spitty-1 more than any other similar kit I have done in spite of the lack of detail.  To be truly accurate the modeller needs to use reference material and add in some scratchbuilt stuff but even out of the box it is accurately shaped and contains enough parts to be a convincing replica.  It was not a difficult kit and despite its age and a couple of shortcomings it is certainly recommended for the Spitfire buff.

 

Note: the following related reviews links have not been updated since early 2000's - more kit reviews of this aircraft may now be on SMAKR, not reflected below.  Refer to the Index for other kits of this type.

Related Reviews:- 

In the Box reviews:-  

SMAKR Home  |  What's New  |  Submissions  | Information Requests |  News  |  Links  |  Reference Corner  |  Site Info 
1/72 Reviews  |  1/48 Reviews  |  INBOX Reviews