1/24 Airfix Spitfire Mk Ia: A tale of two Merlins

Let's take a quick look at the kit supplied Merlin III, and then a more attractive alternative from a slightly later Airfix kit. I'll demo quick'n'dirty builds of both in order to judge whether swapping in the later tool is worthwhile.

[alanreid]

That hole in the bottom of the Merlin was for the wires if you decided to motorise the prop. The wires were routed down through a hole in the top of the display stand, where the batteries were installed in the base. I don't know if the Hurricane had that option, as I only had the Spit. This was the original release from the early 1970s.

[Dalesmanable]

I did the 1/24 Mk1a as a teenager over 50 years ago. It was a quantum leap over other Airfix models (Tamiya were better, at 3 times the price). No aftermarket whatsoever - mouldings, photo etch, machined parts, paint washes etc for detailing were unheard of. Airbrushes we’re prohibitively expensive. I did fit the optional motor and used some wiring to represent the ignition wires though. Ah, simpler times.

[greybeardmodels]

Very interesting Bo, I have both the Spitfire and the Hurricane kits in the stash. I have recently got the Airfix MkIX, which is stunning. But finding your channel has given me some ideas. Cheers Bob 👍

[PiperStart]

As a 15 year old, building this kit almost 40 year's ago, such subtle vagaries of detail were irrelevant to me - it looked like a Merlin engine. That was magic and really quite naiive. Now I am happy with a 1/72 scale that has such accurate detail and photo-etch!

[septiccalling]

That’s very interesting 🤔
Certainly it shows me the difference so that I don’t have to fork out a fortune myself to see the clear improvement.
Of even more interest will be how you deal with the total lack of dihedral when the Spit is assembled. I’d look forward to I am subbed!

[ekspatriat]

I might be missing the point but does it infer I buy a complete Hurricane kit just for the engine?