SPITFIRE MK.1
First look at Tamiya 1/48 Spitfire Mk.1 (2018)
I
t is hard to believe but Tamiya
irst introduced a Mk.1 Spitire
to their 1/48 scale range 25
years ago. At that time this was
hailed as the best Spitire on the
market and to be fair today it still
holds up well against far newer
kits. But being second best is
obviously not good enough for
Tamiya as at the Japan Model
& Hobby show in Tokyo on the
28-30th September they revealed
an all new tool Mk.1 Spitire. At
that time it was expected that
this would be a 2019 release
but much to our surprise, a full
production boxing arrived in
the oice just one month later.
On opening the box you are
confronted by the normal high
quality plastic with ine recessed
and raised details. The attachment
points on most parts, are on the lat
joining edge of the part. This means
that you will have a little more
cleaning up to do, to remove the
runner attachment stub. But this
also means that you will not loose
any of the ine engraved detail.
The irst thing I noticed was
the fuselage halves, which have
large cut out’s that cover the whole
cockpit area. My irst thought
was that this was so they could
produce the later Spitire marks
with a bubble top canopy in the
future. In fact this combined with
a choice canopies is so you can
correctly show the canopy in the
fully open position. Normally
most manufacturers just give you
the separate canopy but when
positioned open this means that the
canopy sits too high. By producing
a cockpit section with a slightlythinner proile (Though inaccurate)
the canopy will now sit in the
correct position. This is the irst of
a number of innovative engineering
choices, my favourite of which
concerns the undercarriage. I
have always found that setting
the correct angles of the Spitires
thin legs is a bit of a challenge. But
with this kit, both undercarriage
legs are moulded along with a
spar, which means any guesswork
is completely removed. Another
beneit is that this leads to a far
more rigid assembly, which should
stand up well to moving your model
to shows, or even my wife’s dusting!
As well as a set of canopy masks
you also have a set of grey thicker
vinyl self adhesive pieces, these
supply the raised panels itted to
the sides of the front cowlings on
very early Mk.1. They also supply
the thin oval surround seen on
the port side of the canopy though
personally I will probably just
leave the raised clear oval as this
feature barely visible in photos.
Other early features supplied
include a ring and bead site and
the pole type aerial mast, it is just
a shame the very early two bladed
propeller was not included as well.
The detail supplied in both the
cockpit and the undercarriage
bays is truly outstanding and
the only aftermarket I will add
is some Airscale placards and a
little wire. A nicely moulded pilot
igure is supplied and a nice touch
is that the etched fret supplies
not only the normal seat belts but
also a shorter set that realistically
attaches the pilot to his seat.
This fret also includes all
the mesh for the radiators,
two styles of gun sight as well42 • DECEMBER 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
FIRST LOOK!