David R Lentz, Columbus, Ohio, USA (Friday, 9 August, 2024) A good look, if rather brief. How does the kit assemble? How does it compare with Airfix’s 1:24-scale kits of the Supermarine Spitfire RAF Mk.IX and VIII Fighter?
It is much easier to put together than those later Airfix offerings,which are state of the art in terms of accuracy and detail, and is better on the whole than the earlier 1/24 Airfix Mk.Vb and Vb. Trop offering as the tooling is newer. I have built Trumpeter's Vb version and it builds up in to a very pleasing aircraft, representing an early production Vb airframe which retains the canopy and screen of the earlier Spitfire marks. BUT the seat does not represent any Spitfire seat I've ever seen and the the PE hinges and rods for elevators and rudder are a PITA to assemble. Sadly, Trumpeter used the early production Vb as the basis of both the Vb/Trop and later Mk.VI (just with extra sprues). The problem here is that both of these are later mid production versions and have a different cockpit canopy and screen configuration to the earlier Mk.Vb. So you can't actually build an accurate Vb/Trop or Mk.VI using the base kit Trumpeter supplies and just adding on the extra parts from the new sprues to represent whichever Mark it's supposed to be. So my advice would be to get the Mk.Vb and just build it as it comes - an early Mk.Vb . Airfix did both early and mid production Vb in 1/24, the latter being the Trop. version with later canopy/screen - but as stated, these are not up to modern standards, based heavily on the old Mk.1A kit which was initially released in 1970 and are really showing their age with basic and clunky detail , lots of flash and poor fit compared to today's offerings. There may be a fix for the Trumpeter canopy. Buchon Scale Models do the correct front screen and rear canopy parts for the early Airfix Spits, but they say that with some modification they can be made to fit the Trumpeter Spit. However, they are sold separately and aren't cheap, especially factoring in S&H.
David R Lentz, Columbus, Ohio, USA (Friday, 9 August, 2024)
A good look, if rather brief. How does the kit assemble? How does it compare with Airfix’s 1:24-scale kits of the Supermarine Spitfire RAF Mk.IX and VIII Fighter?
Hi David. We don't assemble the kits so cannot comment on the fit. We have a brief look at the Airfix kit here ua-cam.com/video/PGIl5_URBAM/v-deo.html
@@HearnsHobbiesMelbourne , thank you for clarifying.
It is much easier to put together than those later Airfix offerings,which are state of the art in terms of accuracy and detail, and is better on the whole than the earlier 1/24 Airfix Mk.Vb and Vb. Trop offering as the tooling is newer.
I have built Trumpeter's Vb version and it builds up in to a very pleasing aircraft, representing an early production Vb airframe which retains the canopy and screen of the earlier Spitfire marks. BUT the seat does not represent any Spitfire seat I've ever seen and the the PE hinges and rods for elevators and rudder are a PITA to assemble.
Sadly, Trumpeter used the early production Vb as the basis of both the Vb/Trop and later Mk.VI (just with extra sprues). The problem here is that both of these are later mid production versions and have a different cockpit canopy and screen configuration to the earlier Mk.Vb. So you can't actually build an accurate Vb/Trop or Mk.VI using the base kit Trumpeter supplies and just adding on the extra parts from the new sprues to represent whichever Mark it's supposed to be.
So my advice would be to get the Mk.Vb and just build it as it comes - an early Mk.Vb .
Airfix did both early and mid production Vb in 1/24, the latter being the Trop. version with later canopy/screen - but as stated, these are not up to modern standards, based heavily on the old Mk.1A kit which was initially released in 1970 and are really showing their age with basic and clunky detail , lots of flash and poor fit compared to today's offerings.
There may be a fix for the Trumpeter canopy. Buchon Scale Models do the correct front screen and rear canopy parts for the early Airfix Spits, but they say that with some modification they can be made to fit the Trumpeter Spit. However, they are sold separately and aren't cheap, especially factoring in S&H.
@@ianbeale2527 thank you so much for all your information.