Supermarine Spitfire and Seafire

[NARSES2]

Especially the neutrality striped version 

[Mossie]

Yeah, Swiss WWII paintjobs are generally bland, although the neutrality stripes don't half spice them up!

[GTX]

Flugwaffe Spitfire Mk.I (with due apologies to Bill Clave!).

Regards,

Greg

[The Wooksta!]

Cut and paste, with some additions, of my comments from Britmodeller.

I have a couple of these now, after braving the water feature at Modelzone on Grainger street here in Newcastle.
Dry fits have identified several problems, although one could be my hamfistedness!

Firstly, the locator pegs in the wings are tight, holding the uppers in place but then they ping off! Solution? Take them off.  Alternately, sanding down the internal spar has been suggested.

Secondly, the canopy. Very nicely moulded but the fit is *VERY* tight. All round fettling with a sanding stick is needed here and even then, it's still tight and the canopy has a tendency to ping out again. Frustrating as the way it's designed to fit is quite ingenious and I can see this being a real source of frustration for a child.

Thirdly, the cockpit. Beautiful level of detail, wiping the floor with the Tamiya mkIa. However, the aft bulkhead/seat attachment is quite thin and delicate handling is advised. I snapped one of mine and the other kit was short shot in this area. The attachment lug on the "floor" which snaps into the aft bulkhead is quite tight, leading to more pinging out! Again, a slight swipe with a sanding stick or scalpel blade cures it.

Finally, with the cockpit interior in, the fuselage is loathe to close up around the tank just forward of the cockpit.
Despite these niggles, I'm very impressed with the kit. The wing/fuselage fit is superb, the tailplanes are quite ingenious too. Comments elsewhere that the u/c doors moulded with integral legs looking clumsy and retrograde are wide of the mark as these are nicely detailed. I noticed that the u/c up/down indicators are moulded on the wings. Very neat touch! Also, the leading edge landing lights are there inside the blobs.

I've compared it with a Tamiya example and the Airfix kit wipes the floor with it - I couldn't compare it with the recent AZ kit as, like my CMK kits, they're all packed away.

Just don't expect it to fall together.

[NARSES2]

Cheers Lee 

[raafif]

only just got around to looking at the first few pages of this thread so thanks to Nev & Radish for the ideas ...

Two SeaFire FR-53 floatplanes of the Greek Orthodox Air Force, operating from a secret location on uninhabited Islands, seek German Ju-352 'Hercules' transports escaping from Malta, September 1948.

[NARSES2]

 

[GTX]

Don't ask me why but suddenly the idea of a Spiteful with tip tanks popped into my head:



regards,

Greg

[raafif]

doesn't look too different  -- show it to me in plan & 3d !   

[Daryl J.]

Israeli, Honduran, Congolese, or Canadian markings anyone?   
Love the tip tanks, Greg. 

[GTX]

doesn't look too different  -- show it to me in plan & 3d !   

I don't do 3D in pixels...maybe in plastic.

Regards,

Greg

[raafif]

plastic's good, Greg -- get to it ! 

reminds me of the tip-tanks on my maritime Lincoln.

[GTX]

Just realised - this year (2011) is the 75th anniversary of the Spitfire's first flight back in 1936.

Regards,

Greg

[Radish]

The Airfix 1/48th Spitfire XII is out, and it looks very impressive on the sprues. Neil Robinson has built it and reports a flawless build with no filler at all.
As a low-level fighter, it was built in very small numbers and equipped a mere 2 squadons of the RAF in Northern europe, based in the UK.
But, the kit being so attractive, and this being the world of whatiffery, there's huge potential, from just using alternative RAF markings to more expansive mods and schemes.
Here's a few musings, some of which might appear, some may not....but the promise of Airfix Spitfire XIIs in funny colours and markings is made.

WW2.......
RAF units in Europe, Italy, Balkans, SEAC
USAAF 9th AF
Free French
Yugoslavian AF

Postwar......
French : North Africa, Indo China
Taiwan

Italian AF
Yugoslavian AF
Greek AF

[Radish]

Obviously, in an alternative world the Crusading knights will have some.

WW2....Soviet Russia, Swedish

Postwar.....Polish Air Force, Israel, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, El Salvador, Domincan Republic, Cuba.