This was another "nostaliga" kit I'd built as a kid. I got this one on sale for about $12. I've since read it's not the most accurate or builder-friendly Spitfire on the market. As it was inexpensive, I used it as kind of a test mule for some new build, painting and weathering techniques, and I'm fairly pleased with it. The build itself was pretty straightforward. I didn't experience much difficulty with fit of the fuselage halves, wing halves and wing-to-fuselage- nothing Tamiya extra thin and a little sanding didn't take care of. The windscreen and small rear canopy piece fit was atrocious! I fit the windscreen as best I could with filing and sanding. After installation of both pieces, I filled the gaps with canopy glue, painted the filled gaps and put a coat of varnish on the paint. The landing gear is pretty sketchy as well- they do not seem very durable. I used a sponge dipped in "steel" for adding paint wear on the left wing walkway, and did minimal chipping by the gun access panels using the same technique. The exhaust manifolds were first painted steel, airbrushed with thinned soot paint, topped with Tamiya Weathering Master burnt red and burnt blue, followed by a buff color dry brush. The exhaust staining was airbrushed engine soot with Weathering Master soot blended in closer to the manifolds. For some reason, the exhaust looks really black in my photos.
Building a few Revell offerings with satisfactory results has been a confidence boost. I feel prepared to tackle one of the 1/48 Tamiya Corsairs I have stashed pretty soon.
The lighting in here isn't ideal for photography, but I did the best I could. The soot streaking looks much darker than it is.
Happy Holidays!
