Airfix and Tamiya 1/48 scale Spitfire Mk.Vb by Tony Bell

Airfix & Tamiya 1/48 scale
Spitfire Mk.Vbs
A Tale of Two Spitties

by Tony Bell

Airfix 1/48 scale Supermarine Spitfire Mk. Vb

Airfix's 1/48 scale Spitfire Mk.Vb is available online from Squadron.com

Introduction

What kind of difference do a couple of decades make? Not much, as it turns out. Or a whole lot. Depends on what you’re considering.

Tamiya's 1/48 scale Spitfires

Tamiya’s release of their Spitfire Mk.Ia signaled their return to the 1/48 aircraft market way back in 1993, followed closely by the Mk.Vb the following year. At the time, the kit was a marvel of fit and finesse, featuring excellent engineering and lovely surface detail.

Which is not to say that it was perfect, mind you. There are a number of accuracy issues: the fuselage is too short by about 3mm, the position of the cockpit is too far forward by about 1.5mm, the wing is a bit too thick, the chord is about 1.5mm too broad at half span and the engine rocker cover is too wide and “square shouldered.” When viewed from behind, there is a strange hump to the wing forward of the spar starting near the cannons and, speaking of humps, the fuselage spine is slightly hunchbacked. None of these flaws are fatal by any stretch of the imagination, but the net effect is a Spitfire that is slightly malformed and a little too stocky looking in general.

Airfix 2014 1/48 Spitfire Spitfire Mk.Vb

Fast forward two decades to 2014 and we have Airfix releasing an all new tooled Mk.Vb to add to their growing lineup of 1/48 modern Spitfire kits.

Compared to the now long in the tooth Tamiya offering, Airfix’s Spit is a bit of a curate's egg. Surface detail is comparable, albeit less comprehensive; the panel lines are lovely, but it lacks some of the finer fastener detail provided by Tamiya, particularly on the belly.

The Airfix cockpit is vastly superior however, featuring accurate sidewall contours and more and better detail overall.

Whereas the Tamiya kit just about falls together, Airfix is let down a bit by its more ambitious engineering. Less experienced modelers may encounter troubles fitting the cockpit bulkheads to the side walls, and fitting the oil tank “saddle” over the instrument panel. The landing gear is weak and fiddly and is difficult to align properly.

Where the Airfix kit really shines though is in the accuracy department. The shapes and proportions are absolutely spot on. On its own, a built up Tamiya Spit Vb looks pretty good but sitting next to its Airfix cousin, its shortcomings become glaringly obvious.

Building Side-by-Side

I thought it would be an interesting exercise to build both of these kits simultaneously. Both were built with minimum of aftermarket bits and only minor tweaks and extra detailing:

Airfix

Wing trailing edges thinned down
Missing engine cowl fasteners added using discs punched from 0.005” sheet styrene
Sliding hood knock out panel cut from an old sheet of True Details “Fast Frames” (remember those?)
Master brass cannon barrels were used to replace the kit items
Sutton seat harness fabricated from painted strips of Tamiya tape
Wheels, prop and spinner sourced from the Hasegawa Spitfire Mk.Vb
Exhausts drilled out
Wing fillet fastener detail added
Tamiya acrylics were used for the camouflage colours
Stencils from BarracudaCals, markings were masked and painted, representing an aircraft from 403 (RCAF) Squadron

Tamiya

Wing chord reduced by about 1.5mm on the trailing edge and the trailing edge thinned back down.
Fuselage spine sanded down by about 0.5mm
Rocker cover engine panel re-contoured over the exhausts
Tamiya acrylics were used for the Sky and Dark Green, Gunze for the Dark Earth
Using the Airfix decals as a guide, all major markings were masked and painted

Conclusion

So, which one is better?

Well, it depends.

The Tamiya kit builds up quickly and easily out of the box and “looks like a Spitfire,” accuracy issues notwithstanding. Airfix is a slightly more challenging build and looks more like a Spitfire.

Put it this way: I will be building more of each in the future!