Tamiya 1/48 Spitfire Mk.1 (61119) After-build review

My building experience of the 1/48 Spitfire Mk.1 ('The Phantom Flyer') may not be what we all expected...-as Luke Skywalker said in Star Wars: "This is not going to go the way you think!" Lol!

I forgot to add: When I said I overcame the Tamiya thick decals on the earlier 1/32 kit build, I remembered afterwards that I actually got so frustrated with trying to get them to conform that I switched to the 'Techmod' decals instead, which then worked fine. 😳

The required stencils ARE on the decal sheet, but many of them not mentioned on the instructions stencil page! 😖

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[johnrenton]

Your videos are invaluable Peter for old gits like myself contemplating a return to this hobby after several decades - keep up the good work!

[nooooru]

When I start this build I though this would be another 10/10 kit from Tamiya. Now I'm about to finish it and I found exact the same issues. Realy good review!

[halohead]

Hey Peter, I am currently building this and stumbled across your video. Enjoyed it, but I think some of the "major" faults you credit this one with are really not faults at all.
So in defense of Mr T: ;)
-the canopies knockout panel clear masks are supposed to be bigger than the engraved outline to simulate the overlap where the panel is attached to the glass
-The hole for the light behind the aerial is actually noted in step 1
-there is a little dent visible behind the prop on some old spitfire photos, that looks just like on your model, I think thats why the cutaway piece makes (some) sense there
-stencil data are not even on all spitfires, some miss, some are overpainted by the roundels e.g.
-there is a seperate color sheet in the box that shows the decals under the wing
-I think their open canopy solution is pretty genius as it keps the scale look, the alternative would be a different wider canopy for slid back/half open which would show its not to scale thickness in open position, but yeah its a bit unusual


I thinks so far it builds really flawless, sure, tamiya decals suck as always and there are tiny things but for me a solid 9/10
And great work on yours!

[freemanreed]

Thank you for your I have not bought Tamiya's 1/48 Spitfire, I have second thoughts. A good honest opinion, again, thanks!!!!

[davidwallace]

You have done a terrific job there Peter, thank you for the heads up on the errors. They've been noted for when i eventually start it.

[Payneview]

I was glad to see this honest review. I was gifted this kit and have now annotated the instrucitons with your findings.

[bunii_idol]

Hey my dad really loves ur videos !! Thanks for making content that he enjoys !!

[peregrintokes]

Ahhhh warlord ! One of my favourites, along with the obligatory commando, and also action, and battle, before they combined into battle action . Still got a few commando knocking about, wish I had them all still lol

[PiperStart]

Well done. I have made the Revell 1/32, the Airfix 1/24, the Tamiya, Academy, Airfix and Hasegawa 1/72 models of the Spitfire. I found the 1/24 Airfix the most satisfying.

[nirvana]

Subscribed instantly, what an amazing channel and info/stories that go together with scale modeling and actual history.Great stuff Peter👏🏻So far my favourite channel, greetings from Russia.

[stevesmodelbuilds]

Hi Peter! I'm building this kit now. It cost me C$63.00 (about 38 pounds) with free delivery. I've always been a great fan of Tamiya, but with this kit, I agree there are some issues, and I'm glad it's not just me. I'm not the brightest bulb, but some of the instructions were baffling, and that open canopy set-up was problematic for me -- add, take away, put back? What, why? And I hunted around for the part they show that needs decaling on the side hatch, but they didn't tell me that's only for the closed canopy -- the open hatch came at the end... It was also difficult because it kept me jumping around from sprue-to-sprue. Anyway, as they say: An old friend is someone who knows everything about you, but they're still your friend anyway... 😏 Now you've made me go and look for the BF-109G-6... P.S. i thought you had crickets in your garage, but now I see it's your camera zooming...

[ianthomson]

I recently finished my N3200 QV version of this and had no problems whatsoever with it. The front of the cowling fitted almost exactly with only a very light sanding, and the fit of the wings was so good that they would stay in place without cement. I thoroughly enjoyed the build- it's one of the most pleasurable kits I've ever made. I studied the instructions thoroughly before starting and noticed the issues with the holes in the top of the fuselage, so I dealt with them as they came up. I must admit I didn't notice the wrong-sized canopy hatch- as it's moulded into the canopy, I left the extra pieces off. The unused photo etch parts are awaiting future duty in my spares box- I'm grateful for them!
It's rare for a Tamiya kit to have the slight faults you experienced, and if you want an example of poor instructions, you need look no further than the Revell 1/24 Land Rover- a most frustrating kit to build with mistakes in the instructions and parts scattered at random over more than a dozen sprues!

[greenheartjg]

I was wondering if you looked at the first release of Spit MK I by Tamiya, Kit 61032. It had no photo etch with it and the front cowling piece you disliked was not a separate piece. Would like to know your thoughts on it.

[jerrybird]

Despite all, you've done a great build, and the paintwork is superb!

[cmarnold]

I had a big coloured sheet with probably the stencils etc on. It was a scale/model sized graphic of the plane scheme.

[kevinsands]

I made two of them and fitted a resin merlin exposed engine. The second one I put an electric motor in it.

[luciussander]

Good to see you call out the issues with this kit, although I found the wings and fuselage fit to be perfect - it all just clicked into place, incredibly good. The wee hole where the gun sight would be for variant B is very obvious and I filled that before priming the kit. The hole you need to open up behind the radio mast, well I missed that and annoying as it was, easy to fix.

My two biggest gripes are the seamlines on the engine canopy and the part you insert where it should all be one panel. People must have test built this kit and quality checked it? How could it get to production like that? Amusing that on Tamiya's own website, the pictures of the built kit show that little hole unfilled! Overall, it's a nice kit, but not amazing. Oh, the photoetch? You have to paint it, which again, why Tamiya? The decals are awful though. I knew they would be, so used some aftermarket jobbies from Xtradecal - one coat of microsol and all sorted there. My final point would be the crap canopy masks that Tamiya throw in - I used an Eduard mask, way better and no faffing around. It is critical to get the canopy perfect on any project as it do it badly and the whole thing is ruined.

So... no, I wouldn't recommend this kit. If you want a really great Spitfire kit in 1/48, get the Eduard Profipack - more detailed, decent mask included, photoetch is pre-painted, fit is excellent and the decals are exceptionally good.

[Reactordrone]

There is a production joint at the front of the cowling on the real aircraft but it's hard to see most of the time. Given that it's not a big panel joint the clean up you did on it was just about spot on.

[owenlewis]

It does tell you to cut a hole for the morse code light on STEP 1 to the left where it says <<B11, B20>> and STEP 3 to the left where it says <<B12, B19>>

[andy]

Hi I wanna get into modelling I have built a couple off models years ago when I was I kid but wanna get into it properly with proper equipment for detail I've never heard off the photo etched on these models does photo etched come with most models like revvell or aifix or is it something that comes with more expensive kits like tamiya