ep221 - build review of the 1/32 tamiya spitfire mkixc part 1

in which we behold the glory of what may be the most popular aircraft kit ever.

[@Rick-Jangle]

It’s hard to know how to pose a model Spitfire! They look awesome hanging from the ceiling, and yet they look fantastic parked on the ground. Beautiful plane. I gotta get one of these tamiyas. I’ve built a couple of spits over the years but this one is the best I’ve seen.

[@cesarignjas]

Some people really like the weathering part of the build, others loves the airbrushing routine, some even feels satisfying to just cut things off the sprue and dryfit the thing, put apart and back to the box, what I like the most is spending basicaly forever to scrachbuild small tiny details not presented in the kit that nobody will ever see but for me makes all the difference, I´m started with wiring that porsche from Revell and I can see me goind deeper and deeper in that rabbit hole from now on. Your cockpit in this Spitfire is fantastic. I´ll be taking notes, thanks for sharing.

[@da-madmodler4692]

Complete joy to build fit and finish is what modeling is about and this kit has it all.

[@SEMJW]

Hi, Will. your description of the object at 17:35 - ,you may have found out the purpose by now. If not, it is a spring tensioned pin barrel with a slot lever lock (like the bolt of a rifle) that connects to a cable that activates a latch at the end of the shoulder harness assembly to be a emergency quick disconect. This kit was the first aircraft model I built coming back into the hobby after thirty years (57). Bought two. One, Aires, resin cockpit with Edard parts and used as a reference to scratch build the ugrades on the second model. 1st Spit: JE J , 2nd: loosely based on the ,Silver Spitfire', that flew around the world recently. I used Molotow liquid chrome to simulate the high polished aluminum. I put a lot of effort into replicating stress skin and subtle surface effects on the growing collection ; 1/32 , 2x ZM -A1 Skyraiders, Tamiya, 2x F4U-1Ds, 1x P-51, 1x Mossy Mk.VI, 1x f4E. Trumpeter, 2x P-47Ds. Also, 2x Moebius Jupiter 2s with lighting, 1x 1/35 Elco PTboat with online reference site, PT103 for corrections and added detailing . The reasoning for duplicate kits is the desire to build one in flight. I build custom motorcycles; www.chopperworks.yolasite.com ,and have fabricated metal stands, some that allow the aircraft to pitch 360 degrees. Your videos are inspiring, helpful and enjoyable. They were part of what conviced me to take up the hobby again. Thank You Will.

[@richt1760]

FYI....the ‘round looking thing’ you talk about at about 17:50 is the control housing for the upper and lower identification light switches, and the identification lights Morse code switch (to send Morse signals using external ID lights). Not important as for what you’re describing, but if anyone is curious, that’s what it is. I always like to know what each part in a cockpit is when building a kit, if possible. Seems to help me as far as possible super detailing or how to paint particular parts, as well as just being curious. Another FYI, if anyone is interested-the 3 white-ish balls right above the ID light switches are replacement filaments for the reflector gunsight attached to a storage bracket. Basically spare light bulbs in case your gunsight light burns out. Also, I enjoyed the video. I’ve been on and off working on the Mk VIII version of this kit for quite a while and agree as far as the quality of the Tamiya 1/32 kits.

[@barpfoto]

awesome! i also like knowing what the gadgets are.

[@user-ni2zo5zo3c]

2 (Continued) At 14:30, you explain that nickel-silver (which for most applications in model building I prefer to brass, for the colour; the former readily lends itself to any “chipping” wear effects I may want in a particular instance of regular use) actually is an alloy of copper, much as brass is an alloy of bronze and copper. I greatly appreciate learning specific details such as this; I call it “tightening up the knowledge”, where you augment what I already have learnt with new information. In fact, I wish an especially erudite modeller, or perhaps better yet, a group of such, would gather into an annual compilation such items. For entries to earn approval, each would have to establish empirical evidence to the concurrence of a majority of the other members. It may be simpler to post such content in a folder of one’s, or the group’s, channel; call it “Tightening Up the Knowledge”. I assume you know Airfix makes a 1:24th-scale kit of the Spitfire Mk.IX. Have you seen it? Acquired one? Evaluated it? Is it a faithful replica of the actual aircraft? Do you plan to build the kit? Similarly, does Tamiya make a 1:48th-scale kit of this æroplane? If not, do any other kit-maker produce an accurate kit of it? Regarding a 1:72nd-scale kit of it, I ask you the same questions, please. I ask because my hope eventually would be to form of them a forced perspective airborne diorama (I have some ideas to negate from view the sight of any “stand”) in echelon at 6,000 metres, all of the same mark, squadron markings, camouflage, etc., just as they espy several thousand metres below a band of black-hearted Nazi vultures in Luftwaffe greens and greys. Or perhaps these doughty sky-knights of Old Albion, mounted upon their swift, graceful, winged thoroughbreds, already have entered a steep dive, their 20mm talons raking the backs of these predatory invaders . . . ! And good-quality kits in ascending scales of de Havilland’s DH-98 Mosquito RAF Mk.VI Light Bomber/Mk.II Photo-Reconnaissance aircraft. Would you be able to provide us your assessment-or, better yet, make a video build-of Airfix’s and Tamiya’s kits of it, please? One that simultaneously cross-compares and contrasts them, sorting through their various shortcomings toward effecting together their improvement. When you can, of course. I so wish I were wealthy enough to sponsor several of these build channels, as well as my own polystyrene habit! :O SMH! :/

[@GryphonArmorer]

The cockpit is amazing. And... that wing root is very well engineered. I can’t believe how bad some are out of the box, and never ceases to amaze me the number of builders that enter a model in a show/competition and don’t even try to fill/fix the wing root. I think we (you and I) are among a few that prefers to paint as many insignia and markings as possible. To me it just looks much better, let alone it’s easier to weather. I’m still trying to decide what my first 1/32 aircraft will be. I’m close. I have a 1/35 Blackhawk I got for my birthday a few years ago for a “Blackhawk Down” diorama, but it’s not the crash, it’s the rangers fast roping in. Still gathering resin & pe for it (a bit here, a bit there). Great video. As usual. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and knowledge. 👍👍

[@FinsburyPhil]

Your wish looks like coming true Will - Kotare (ex Wingnut Wings staff) will be releasing a high quality 1/32 Spitfire Ia supposedly later in 2022, and it will come without an engine or gun bays. They say that it has been 'designed and engineered for accuracy, detail and ease of assembly'. The surface detail in the CAD images looks stunning.

[@danielbritton8588]

That's a pleasant looking back wall. Congratulations on being able to have space for it. I have a 1/32 scale B-25 that has nowhere to be if I build it. Same with my 1/350 carrier Enterprise. Good camera work. It is enjoyable to watch. Nice looking instructions. I mark notations on my directions also, but, more. It is part of the build fun. Detail is staggering. This video is build fun, thank you for your finely directed video. Your cockpit looks nice.

[@Im_MarkS]

I totaly agree on your review, for me its not building a kit because its cheaper, because if you build a tamyia 1/32 and it take you 2-3 months the price is relative cheap, let say without aftermarket ec, but the joy tamiya brings because of their mindset and philosophy is for me resounding. I know scrachbuilders like upgrading kits, i 2 tend to use some extra tubeing/ magnets and plastic here and there, but i love the journey that tamiya give you as a builder, that said, this kit is not for beginners, i allways buy 2-3 same-kits and learn from my mistakes, not that i make a lot lol but you get my drift. Thumbs up on the vid !!

[@wwkdiecastmore5647]

Nice review and the cockpit build looked great, thanks for sharing!...Bill

[@GryphonArmorer]

Beautiful cockpit work there Will. I really want to build one of those some day, in that scale. I have a few builds coming up, four to be exact, in 1/72 scale, as the main subject in dioramas to sell, and one of them is an Airfix Supermarine Spitfire Mk1a. Obviously the detail is not anywhere near as good as 1/32, but it's actually pretty darn good and I went ahead and picked up a photo etch for it that's for mostly interior and a little bit of exterior. I hope it won't be futile being that it's 1/72 and it's going to be in flight. Before that though, I have a 1/35 UH-64 Blackhawk that I got for my birthday a few years ago. I'm picking up some photo etch and resin components & accessories here and there as I can to geek out on detail and make it a Blackhawk down diorama, when the Rangers were fast-roping in. I totally agree with you on the cost of the kits as respect to the tooling. Some of that also has to do if they are making the molds in-house or they outsource it and if they actually outright own the molds or if the mold maker does and reserves the right to "sell" it in a predetermined time frame. But in any case the saying holds true, that " you get what you pay for". Obviously bigger scale equals bigger bucks. I think it's funny how so many people making KZbin reviews and/or builds bitch and moan about how much these new tool models cost or how much flash are on the older or repop kits have. I grew up working with models that typically had a fair amount of flash, so to me it's just part of the game and am pleasantly surprised when I get a kit with little to no flash. Yet again, great video. I really enjoyed it, especially seeing the extras. Your quality of work is always inspiring. Keep up the good work and thanks again for sharing.

[@J.A.Hansen]

Awesome review🔝I agree with you 100%. I must say that i only made good expierence with Tamija Modells. Doesn't matter if its a Aircraft or a Ship.I do miss Monoramm a lot because they where also great. However there are a lot of companys that made overall some great modells(When it come to ship modells Trumpeter is awesome) However.The Spitfire is on my to do list. I'm building at the moment from Tamija the Arado 196 in 1:48( The version that was on the Bismarck)(I also buildet the Bismarck from Tamija and it was top)and its a lot of fun.Everything is molted very well and its 100% solid.No flesh or anything.However.Greetings from Germany✌ 😎✌

[@user-ni2zo5zo3c]

David R Lentz, Columbus, Ohio, USA (Friday, 19 July, 2024) Hello, Mr. Pattison, and thank you from the outset. As keen as I am to learn your perspective on this joyously wondrous kit, I first must ask: “Rube Goldberg”? My paternal grandfather had mentioned him. When had the Spitfire Mk.IXc first entered operational service? I would not want my model to represent an aircraft late in the war, as you had mentioned (5:06). Also, which mark was the initial version with a five-bladed propeller? Similarly, which variant was the first to have the Rolls Royce Griffon engine? I greatly appreciate you for noting specific issues; first is the hinge arrangement (3:18) of the empennage control surfaces, the lack of instruction regarding the control horns (3:40) if one implements the hinges; resolving this strikes me as rather obvious, requiring no enquiry: attach the bloody lever apparatuses to the corresponding fixture for them to enable our pilot to control them sufficiently to manœuvre! You next note the ambiguity of the cutout in the ventral surface of the wing (4:45), and the issue of opening the holes (5:45) in the wing’s leading edge. Then, the engine cowling panels (7:37) and the magnets ostensibly to hold them fast-with emphasis on “hold them fast”!-strike me as professional-grade fiddly bits one would do well to eschew on principle; in a closely similar sense, the screws (7:57) to give one options for positioning the main landing gear struts goes double for me! (I much prefer building airborne my aircraft replicas, though this is not exclusive.) Tamiya ought to create a “correction forum” on their website and KZbin channel where modellers publicly can call out such issues. I would prefer certified experts to announce any corrections or clarifications (e.g., you might explain, “One inserts the pin on Part D3 in the hole 3 mm from the edge parallel to the tiny fairing, not the one 7 mm closer to where the trailing edge of the wing meets the wing root”. I might say, “No, Part B9 absolutely cannot be carcinogenic.”). At round 10:06, you express your admiration for Tamiya’s way of creating, researching, planning, designing, developing, and manufacturing kits; no, you are not-oh, I cannot quite say; yielding to their siren-song spell, or something akin to that, I suppose. I feel much the same way. It is rather more wistful for me, though; almost painfully so. I come to KZbin to watch the better channellers with the super-detailing videos; that is my entertainment. (I am so myopic, though, that I just wish I could be there in person to watch up close; say, 10 cm or so [round 4”], where the object under study is in focus.) I also wish that the super-detailer, in adding, say, a length of wire, tubing, strip stock, dowel; or painting something a particular colour; or fashioning out of a cube of polystyrene 7.25 mm (0.2854”) painted satin black with three disks 2.032 mm (0.08”), one white, one yellow, one azure, with ten tiny black lines all round their edges radiating out from the centre, set in a horizontal line across the centre, etc., 1) would explain exactly why she/he made that particular substitution, modification, addition, etc.; or shows the original; or in the lack thereof documents visually the alteration or change), and 2) give the object’s precise measurements on all three axes length, diameter or gauge, colour, etc. Such guidance would give us a view to developing our own corrections. (Continued) 1

[@williamcorban5244]

Tamiya is the best👍👌👍!

[@rorythornton3335]

Nice looking build Will, Value is so subjective it holds different meaning to us all, I hope to build a Tamiya 1/32 spit and mustang one day but for cost of 2 Tamiya 1/32 birds i can buy 7or 8 different aircraft subjects of decent quality , just my 2 cents. Again Thank you for sharing your vids and subject matter are really top notch enjoy learning from you.

[@604-enduro-Vancouver]

Great work will loving the videos and congrats on almost hitting 10000 subscribers

[@aodmon1849]

superb cockpit

[@almacneish9657]

Nice review Will - keep those tips coming as I'm building along with you (I need all the help I can get) ;-)

[@darronhedges5873]

EDUARD sell 'Overtrees' they are kits with clear parts,but no masks decal's etc,they also have 'weekend','profipack' to 'limited edition'.Tamiya could offer at least 2 option's.

[@MightyWiggus]

It's interesting that the 1/32 kit does not include the welds on the exhaust, yet the 1/48 Mk.1 that I am building does. That kit also has some head-scratching omissions and vagaries in the instructions.

[@richt1760]

Mighty Mighty Wiggus The Mk VIII kit, which came out about a year after this kit, actually does have weld seams on the square flange exhaust stubs. Maybe part of one of the sprues that was changed/updated from the Mk IX to the Mk VIII. Attaching those damned exhaust stubs (and getting them to stay put) is about the only real pain in the ass I ran into during construction of the Mk VIII. Ive read that they were improved for the 1/32 Tamiya P-51D (which I haven’t started yet) thankfully.

[@MightyWiggus]

@@richt1760 The exhaust stubs on the Mk.1 were, I thought, a great way to hide the sprue gates...and it is. But it too was the biggest pain I had while building the kit.

[@joaquinruiz8479]

thank you Will for a fantastic review! I’m sorry I didn’t catch the name ofthe brand of the seatbelts you mentioned... Can you please write it for me? Many thanks

[@Bryan-cs9to]

Will you might really enjoy the Hasegawa 1/32 Ki-84 new tool just add some photo-etch and its a beauty and the kit can be found for under $40 - You would be very good at making one and finishing it all beat to hell and chipped paint/stained !

[@cesarignjas]

Spitfire "Weekend edition" like Eduard does, that´s a good tip for them :-)

[@kevinm3751]

Is this kit #60319? The item you was wondering about on the starboard side that links back behind the pilote is the Morse key for the undercarriage control quadrant.

[@Peter-Oxley-Modelling-Lab]

Great vid, Will! 😃 But I think you may have wrong Master canons for MkIXC? It seems you may have made same error I did there, and had to buy Master Model AM32016 instead. This video very useful as I am soon to begin construction on my own Spit 1/32. Thanks for all the tips! 👍🏻

[@barpfoto]

sort of. the m2 conversions were common by late '44 as i understand it.

[@ApriliaRSV4F]

Really tossing up on weather to get this kit or the WNW Albatros D.V "Manfred von Richthofen". Also hope WNW bring out more WW2 aircraft once their Lancaster is released.

[@larrybrown1824]

you tempt me to run out and buy one...

[@kevinchapman635]

Does the spitfire marks have self sealing fuel tanks ! ?

[@vincentlussier8264]

I love all the aftermarket items you showed but I can't afford it all. The one thing I'm ticked at is Tamiyas' decals. With the price of their kits, you shouldn't have to buy new decals. Revells' Mk2 Spitfire has Cartagraph decals and their fabulous.

[@ApriliaRSV4F]

I've been looking at this kit for a while. What did you use for the oxygen hose?

[@barpfoto]

i wound 0.010" lead wire around a length of 0.020" lead wire.

[@ApriliaRSV4F]

@@barpfoto Sweet. Cheers for that.

[@FRED031447]

What camera and audio equipment are you using?

[@barpfoto]

just a jvc everio.

[@danielblythe5337]

I rolled over laughing! Will said" you would have to pretty much be living under a rock, to have not heard of the Tamiya 1/32 Spitfire". This builder does great work,! Sure alot of difference between this 1/32 kit, and the fairly mediocre 1/48 Tamiya Spitfire. On That kit, I despise Separate prop blade assembly. Machined in one piece, not likely to have inaccurate tolerances. With individual blades, just 1/2 MM off, would equal how much off in scale ? Also, the Accurate Miniatures Avenger, and Dauntless kits seem truly great.

[@markcandlin6421]

what happened to part 2?

[@coyo419]

At the rate I get kits built, cost is not a factor :-)

[@Juzgames]

tamiya has been in the biz since 1946.... anything less than good is a shocker...lloll

[@alec_f1]

Um, rock dweller here. I bought the 1/48 scale Spit and a bunch of Eduard kits. Your first video on this was a first for me. Those shitty Revell kits are all I see in 1/32 on KZbin. Then again, I think I'm unconventional and withdrawn from the majority of the modelling community.

[@jodyblackwell9012]

Tamiya is killer but at over 100.00 its way out of my price range

[@rustywarrior5288]

Can I have my rock back please? 🤪

[@andresramos567]

hasta las huevas

[@wmcwings4343]

You need to do a better job with your camera work. Getting sick watching it jump all around and zoomed in on your fingers and thumb instead of the build. Sorry man, but it is what it is.

[@barpfoto]

it's a fair comment. but it's not likely to get much better. i do try but...as you say...it is what it is..