Ola People

I usually built ww2 German groundforces but from an uncle who was cleaning out his attic I got some Aircraft kits. Among them was a 1:24 Spitfire MK 1A from Airfix. Now I'm researching a bit on what is available on the AM front. because I like to do that with my armored vehicles as well. But so far I haven't found much. Is that because there is not much available or am I not looking in the right places because of the fact that I simply have no clue where to look.

An help would be appreciated. I got a book with the kit. Aero Detail 8 about the spitfire and it has a lot of nice photographs and a lot of drawings. How accurate is it? And if there are flaws what is needed to get them right. Or do you say.. it's your first Aircraft. Just build it and have fun.

Looking forward to hear your advice.

With friendly greetz

Robert Blokker

Hi Robert

Edgar Brooks is our resident expert for all things Spitfire, so I'm sure he can advise you on building the kit - but, as a general rule, I'd always say "build it and have fun" (omitting the "just") - I've let far too many builds stall in the pursuit of unrealistic attempts at "perfection".

All the best

Rowan

Grey Matter Figures offers a few items, mostly aimed at the Trumpeter Mk. V. RB Productions offers a Sutton Harness and Waldron has a set of printed placards which will dress up the cockpit nicely.

Ola Rowan and Jessica

Thanks for replying so fast.

@ Rowan. I know what you mean I have a lot of projects waiting for that illusive missing photograph that shows how exactly a certain part was looking like. Or with so much AM that I simply loose track because I have to work with 5 instruction sheets at the same time. I have seen a built from a guy who builts this exact kit and he added a lot to it. But my knowledge of this is not nearly enough to do what he did.

@ Jessica
Thanks for those links. The prices for those update parts are not that high. Might invest in a few of them. Certainly that harness and the Placards. How interchangeable between the MK I and MK V are those resin parts from Grey matter?

Thanks for the help so far. Looking to forward to any other information this topic may bring up.

The kit is over 40 years old, so is not, by any means, up to modern standards. One desperately-needed item is a scratchbuilt mainspar for the wings, or their weight will pull them down (and the fuselage out) so that you end up with flat dihedral.
It's also a bit of a hybrid, because you have the early pump-handle undercarriage retraction system, plus "lead weights" moulded onto the engine bearers, which only applied to the early two-bladed propeller version (and you get a three-blade in the kit.)
I'd advise against using the gimmick of the working u/c, because you're asking to break the oleo legs before very long. Talking of the legs, because they're designed to retract into the wells, they're moulded as if they're extended, so, if you don't shorten them, your model will appear to be on tiptoes.
In 1971 Airfix published a "How-to" book, about the kit, which has some useful ideas on improvements; I could scan the relevant pages, and send them to you, if you're interested; remember, though, this is long before the days of resin and photo-etch.
Edgar

The control stick and aerial mast are the only parts I would consider. The tailplanes in the Airfix kit are not FUBAR like the Trumpeter ones are so you won't need them, and the Canon barrels and Aboukir filter are Mk. V specific.

Here's a thread wherein the Airfix kit is discussed, along with links to various other articles.

Thanks for the help and advice really helpfull so far,

@ Edgar
I have to admit I had to do some extensive googling to decipher some of the stuff you posted. A Mainspar is a reinforcement I assume. Is that something that runs through both wings and through the planes fuselage?
I have no clue where the early pump handle undercarriage retraction system is or what it looks like but possibly I can find something about that in the book I have gotten with the kit. But I think I know where the lead weights are. Are they the square blocks on the ends of the scaffolding inside the crafts enginebay?
Oleo legs was also a term I never heard of. I have always done armor. But I think that when the plane is standing on it's wheels the weight of it pushes the legs down.
I would love to see that article. And I never had a problem with doing without PE and resin. I know how to scratchbuilt and have all the materials at home. So yeah if that article shows how to improve the kit a bit I would love to read it.

@ Jessica
Thanks for the heads up. I will buy those items. As I said before the prices are nice n low so it will be a fun addition to the kit.

The main spar is the piece of the wing that gives it its strength. It runs from wingtip to wingtip through the thickest part of the wing. Every other wing part is attached to it. You can see the spar in this cutaway. Yours doesn't need to be so elaborate You can set the proper dihedral angle from a 3-view drawing.

The oleos are directly comparable to the shock absorbers in your car, and do the very same thing. You can see one behind the tyre in that drawing. When the aircraft is flying, its weight doesn't compress them, which is how Airfix moulded them. You'll want to shorten them so it looks like your model has some weight.

The undercarriage mechanism that Edgar was talking about is on the right sidewall of the cockpit. The earliest batches of the Spifire had a hand pump which is the black backwards "L" in this picture. This is what your model has, which is wrong for the variant in the kit. It should look like this instead. You get one of those with the joystick in the Grey Matter Figures parts.

Incidentally, that cockpit photo came from this set, which is very much worth your while. In fact that whole site should be a gold mine for you.

That aircraft in the photos is a Mk.V, which is very similar to your Mk.I. The major differences are the crowbar on the door flap which I believe was not fitted to the Mk.I, the gun trigger switch on the spade grip (look at the one in that early Spitfire cockpit above), the composite seat and the harness straps (which had to be updated to modern standards). Some Mk.Is did have the composite seat, but it was not likely to have had the dingy inflation bottle clearance bulge in the bottom of the seat pan since the inflatable dingy was not in use during the Mk.I's time in service.