If this is anything like the two recent new tools I have built from Tamiya, it should be awesome. I don't how they do it, but Tamiya has even more stepped up their fit and construction on some of their new tools.

I've built the current 1/48 Tamiya Mk.1 Spitfire and found it a very pleasurable experience. I sure wish they would have spent their energy on something like a 1/48 F2H Banshee (or something other model where other manufacturers have buggered it up.) And it is not so far fetched, hell they did the F4D Skyray for crying out loud. Then again, I don't own Tamiya. They must see profit in a new Spit.

I hope this one and the Tomcat find their way to 1/32nd scale soon.

Noooooo-- I absolutely hope not in 1/32! I've been waiting so long for a Tamiya 1/32 Mk 1 that I've given up. Instead I found myself an old 1960s Revell Mk1 issue, which by the way has absolutely beautiful engraved exterior panel lines (interior sucks though). I plan to combine it with Revell's newer MkII interior-- a new Tamiya version will just screw up my plans miserably! Then I won't have the terrific challenge of cutting, filing, sanding and shaping my own Mk1, with all the subsequent swearing, elbow grease and head banging-- no, I'd rather have Tamiya bring out a new 109 or FW190, not a new Spit, because we certainly don't have enough 1/32 Messerschmitts and Focke-Wulfs on the market do we? Certainly there's room for another darned ME 109 in the market isn't there? We can't have enough of those kits can we? Leave us 1/32 Spitfire addicts alone so we can "build something from nothing" with the ancient kits we have in our stashes! Of course the only way to be sure Tamiya WILL bring out a Mk1 is for me to finish my "composite" MK1-- maybe I should get started! VR, Russ

I am sure it will be magnificent but what was so wrong with their existing 1/48 Mk1..? A wasted opportunity to spend the tooling cash on something like a 1/32 F-86 Sabre which would sell by the cargo ship load!

You just can't have too many Spitfires Russ. The newer Revell Spitfire MkII in 1/32 scale doesn't have that good a cockpit. The real problem there is the seat! You could do what I did and rehash the seat(And leave off the flare rack!). And back date it to a Mk1. There are decent after market items for that (see Barracuda cast). But the cockpit could still do with upgrading. You can Get the Eduard Brassin cockpit set and although it is designed for a MkII I don't think that there are any difference and it fits very well and has masses of detail. Although it costs about as much as the kit It is very likely that the Brassin cockpit will happily fit the early Revell MkI? Regardless get it built