I'll do my best Steve!

@@garys_stuff : I'm absolutely sure you will... You'll do a fine job of it! 🙂

Hi Steve, like you, I got the MK 1 when I was a kid. Big Bruv got the P51 and little Bruv got the ME109. They looked pretty inspiring all lined up together - from a distance. I remember we had no matt black and no money so it was talcum powder mixed with gloss black for the engine, tyres etc. Sacrilege I know but.........

It also had an electric motor for the propeller.

@@mbak7801 Blimey, I remember those. You had to give them a bit of a spin to get them going. Or was that the smaller, metal dinky/corgi metal planes? Or both. Years after the Spitfire's demise I had its propeller left and coupled it up to a much larger electric motor. It moved some air alright, broke free and dented the ceiling. Strangely the Prop survived.

Thanks man, the change in background was a viewer suggestion and I've been bugged by sound issues for a while but I think I've beaten them. Always happy to action good suggestions from you guys!

Cheers John!

Thanks Dave, very kind comments. I'll ask Santa for a frame for my modelling room (or spare room as we currently call it!!!)

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!

Couldn't miss out on this one - the Airfix Club discount really helped for once!!!

Thanks mate!

Cheers darren - it'll be an interesting build...

You and me both mate!

Thanks man, the change in background was a viewer suggestion - people power at work!!!

Thanks for watching Peter!

Legend!!

Not all of the colours are required for each kit, but even so there is a lot of real estate to cover! I'd be surprised if i got away with just one pot of underbelly grey, for example. Don't know how much it actually weighs, probably not as much as you'd think. The box isn't crazy heavy and that includes the sprues as well.

looks so good - and so much to do!!!

Amazing attention to detail in places!

It certainly is.

I strongly suspect that this time the 1/24 kit will be the basis for future versions (what they refer to as capex 2/3 - capital expenditure in 2nd and 3rd years). Oh, for a FR.47!!!!!

Well, the option is to have small companies who have to charge monstrous amounts for more niche kits. Economy of scale is a major factor whe you've a design and manufacture budget to recoup. The Kotare kit is lovely, really lovely, but it's 1/32 and has no engine and is about the same price as this. Is it noticeably better than the Airfix kit? I'm not sure, I couldn't see enough when I was looking at them at Telford. Before this Airfix went with a Typhoon and a Hellcat in 1/24. No idea what their sales were like, but I'd bet they were nothing as strong as this Spitfire will be.

@@garys_stuff So the future is bleak.

@@paulmorgan6269 no, but there is a commercial reality to any given company's product plan. If I remember correctly, a typical major project (1/48th and bigger) runs to about £300,000 from start to finish - including research, design, tooling, testing, instructions and decals, packaging design and print and so on. You need to make a profit. They will always have Spitfires in the range at a variety of scales because they are nailed-on sellers that help fund everything else. Also, it is kind of expected of them, being a British company, and they have to please all levels of model makers, many of whom have never heard of the kind of things you and I would really like to see. However, I don't feel the last year has been bleak given the 1/48 Buccaneer (really good) and the 1/48 Anson (outstanding) for example. When I was young I really wanted a Vulcan or a TSR2 - both were only available in vac form!

Welcome to the channel Carl! Won't be long now...

I know. The Kotare kit looks really good too, and they've got a Mk.V coming next year as well. Time to buy a hangar somewhere...?

Thank you Anthony!

@Anthony Roberts here is the link to my Supporters' video kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rsCXnMSA0pacc5c.html

Fantastic stuff! And congratulations on 52 years!

You can make it closed up - but not entirely sure if the whole Merlin can sit outside. Mainly because the prop shaft needs to poke out the front for the prop and it helps support the front end. But you don't have to put the whole engine in if you're having the bonnet closed, as it were. Having said that, I'm sure with some ingenuity it could be done. Or a clever after market resin adapter!

I'll be starting it very soon!

@@garys_stuff yes I can't wait I have subscribed so I will be watching

Good plan - I must admit to some trepidation about making this one...

Started and finished! Started it just before Xmas, the final video went up in February - I think there were five videos. The first is here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/pM5_Y8yl366mc30.html

Cheers, Gary - don't know how I missed them, I'll watch them later today.

Me too, although now I have to build it in the public gaze...!

Oddly enough I will be converting our spare bedroom soon so I've got more space for building and filming. A new tool 1/24 Hurricane would be brilliant. There was the April Fool's thing of announcing a 1/24 Lancaster this year...

@@garys_stuff That spare bedroom? Be sure it doesn't lock from the outside . . .

@@randytaylor1258 🤣🤣🤣 unless it has a beer fridge and food deliveries ...!

I will have fun, but I feel duty bound to stand by my offer and make whatever the majority of my voting viewers decide! Although if a few more would like to vote for the French scheme I won't be upset...Democracy and transparency - you may not find it in Westminster but you'll find it here (oooh, bit of satire there...)!

Prices are getting crazy for kits. This one is over 400 pieces, although they said that including a pilot would have pushed it over the £100 mark!

Totally agree; for this price, I'd have hoped to see a pilot, some metallised or etched parts, and rubber tyres. Even 60-quid would have seen it on a par with Trumpeter and previous Airfix releases still coming up on Ebay, so I'll give this a swerve.

They are (predictably( very cagey about future versions but from what i can sense from them they won't be doing a Griffon one any time soon.

Always fancied grabbing one of those but I'm scared of making a Napier engine!!!!

I know, wishful thinking perhaps... maybe 6 or 7???

Excellent. I think the amount of aftermarket will grow and grow...

It is so pretty, isn't it?

@@garys_stuffwill you make this version?

@@jpht1964 it's out of my hands! There is a vote in the community tab on my home page here - four schemes to choose from and French Fact is one of them. Just between you and me, I did rather want to do the French scheme when I first saw it!😉

Yes, an FR.47 would be nice. I keep asking them but they just keep humouring me...

Hi Ian, there is no news of a 1/24 Hurricane, at least not that they've let on to me! I think there was a bit of a hubbub as they are doing some special Hurricane-based events in January that this might be a launch, but i think so hot on the heels of the Spitfire would eb too ambitious even for them. From what we heard back in July (at HQ, not the factory), the focus next year is mainly on starter sets, but to be fair they could just be diverting our attention! From a business investment point of view, and from production rate which I know is a slow process with this kit, I don't see one next year, but 2024? I'll have to feed Mystic Mug some strong coffee and ask!!!

No, the two canopies are there as a result of the manufacturing process. The "correct" one is slightly too bulged to be able to be injection moulded between two plates. I think the mould has two upper plates and one lower plate, although I will find out more detail. Thus there is a small seam in the transparency. Not every modeller wants to polish that out, so they also provide a slightly less bulged option that works at the limit of a seamless mould but isn't a strict 1/24 scale shape. As for the instrument panel - well there are two provided, one for using with decals and another with more relief presumably for painting and dry brushing. I guess to get illumination through you could put the decals on the back of the panel, thus any light could leak through the thickness of the piece. Or even drill tiny holes to place micro LEDs. Im not sure Airfix thought of it that way, maybe they can just get a crisper piece with the clear plastic. As for Flying Hours, they tend to follow the cost of the kit more than the complexity, although there will be some rough correlation of course.

Indeed, but it would take some engineering past the bits you have to have in the nose though.

I'd love that big old Felixstowe flying boat, but it would be even more work than the Spitfire!!!

@@garys_stuff yeh I like the look of it but the rigging is pretty terrifying lol

@@davroshalfbeard8368 now that I've tried the stretchy rigging from Ammo by MIG I'm not so scared of rigging any more! Really easy to use.

@@garys_stuff that's good there is product for it now beats sprue stretching or thread lol .I will bet the majority are never going to be build stash bound or flog em for silly money .I think you will do grand job on the spitfire looking forward to it .pity we did not have you tube when we were kids lol

Yes, the sprue sequence is missing an "I" but that might just be because it's not so easy to see - bit like why some letters are not used for number plates. However I do agree with others that there is definite potential for future variants.

The designer says they are part of the flap mechanism, I had to ask him when he was at Telford!

They are hinged doors that are spring loaded and pushed up by the flap actuating mechanism when flaps are selected down. You never see Spitfires with the flaps left down on the ground as they are pneumatically operated and you would drain the air supply.

Would like to think they'd get some more use out of the research and design if they had more than one version, but I guess it's whether the added expense would be clawed back in sales for other versions. I mean, I'd love an FR.47 so all they need is a new fuselage, change the engine to a Griffon, add the contra-rotating props, new wings with wing fold, new gear legs and some stores - practically nothing!!! But a PR.Mk.IX could be done with one new side fuse piece with a window and some structure behind it with a camera. And the aftermarket PRU pink really suits the Spitfire!!

@@garys_stuff I think you might be able to get a Griffon engined MkXIV out of it, judging by the break at the firewall. What do you think? That would be nice!

@@MillwalltheCat I'd love it - I'd have to check when I'm building it but looks feasible. I'll ask the designer - I'm seeing him on Monday, not that he'll let on anything. But if there's a solid reason why not he'll say so.

Or a second Airfix release next Xmas...!!!

I know, I'll hang my head in shame back in the mess - "Sorry you chaps, couldn't tell a Ixc from a IXe tail. I'm taking a revolver and a bottle of whisky to my room. Don't come looking until dawn." Spitfires are not my specialist area, what can I say? I understand the aerodynamics but don't know which kite has which bits! I do know about the late Seafires though- the XV through to the FR.47. So if they do a 1/24th FR.47 I will be in absolute heaven!

Yes, the built examples were really well done.

Hi William. Yes, I think it is very safe for you to use an airbrush but you must take precautions. Either use an extractor fan or a well ventillated room and make sure you wear a mask to prevent any paint entering your lungs. There are many videos on KZfaq explaining proper safety with air brushes, do please follow their advice! And a very happy birthday to you!

😊

It is a biggie!!!

@@garys_stuff it sure is,any bigger and you would be able to get in it.🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

@@garys_stuff currently working on a 1/72 Zlin Z-50 LS aerobatic plane from a company called Bren Gun.

@@damien5748 😁😁 blap blap blap blap blap!!!!! Like a military Pingu.

@@garys_stuff really want to see Airfix do a kit of the 2 seat Tr Mk 9 trainer version of the spitfire...now while im aware only 20 of them were ever built and it didnt come into being iuntill the late 40s (or possibly early 50s) and was NOT flown by the Royal Air Force, the real world Gracie Spitfire which is probably the most famous example of a Tr Mk 9 still flying is painted in ww2 Royal Air Force markings.....and its 1 of the 6 spits that were flown by the Irish Air Corps.

Think they are still Cartograf, but I will ask. Did I say Techmod? Sorry if I did, I've been looking at other things...

Just had another look - I said Techmod. So sorry!!!

Don't know yet Norman, the scheme choice is down Tony good folk such as yourself. Have a look at the community tab on my home page and you can vote for one of four schemes. Whichever gets the most votes is the one I'll do.

I am leaving it to my viewers - if you go to the community tab on my home page you can vote for one of four schemes - two from the box and two aftermarket ones.

@@garys_stuff You can t go wrong with invasion stripes.

Would have been nice!

I hate to think how much the 1/24 Mossie would be nowadays, probably close to £200.

Mine did!

Hi Adrian, first of all welcome back! Did you have any particular kit in mind? You could check out some of my starter set videos - about a year ago or so - like the Spitfire, Hurricane, Bf-109 and FW.190 - but they are strictly done with what comes in the box - so no primer (which I normally do). Maybe it's something I should do!!!

@@garys_stuff Hi Gary as I live 300 yards from the Dartmouth Naval college (although no longer in service with Navy ) I’m going for the Westland Lynx HMA8/MK 88.A in the Airfix range….Thanks for the reply …with the Dark nights and Jan Feb inbound I need to keep busy so I thought I could take my time over this and do it properly …Sister is getting me a range of tools ..for modelling kits …and I’ll practice my spraying before I even touch the model😁- any recommendations on a decent spray kit that won’t kill me ( now I’ve joined the ranks of the Pensioner Elite)

I use a Timbertech one from Amazon - comes with an adjustable compressor and three nozzles. Suits me and I can't justify a mega-expensive one either! Think it is still sold there for around £70 or so: amzn.to/3EIHDKp I've got that kit of the Lynx in my stack waiting to be built - were it not for the arrival of the Spitfire I could have pushed it up the schedule! Certainly take all the time you need and don't rush - just do what you like and as long as you can look at it in the end and be proud that you made it, that's a win! I would say you should use a decent plastic primer - I use Jenolite but I know others have their favourites. If you're spraying the whole kit you'll need to mask off the windows too - you can get pre-cut masks online or make your own. It's a great time of year to be making a kit - I find it excellent for the mental health and very calming. If there's anything else I can help with, do feel free to let me know.

@@garys_stuff hi Gary if I go to Airfix via your site will that help you in anyway

Yes it does Adrian, I get about 5% of the purchase price. You don't pay any more, it comes out of their share!

It means I'm trying to make myself sound more clever by using bigger words...!!!

I didn't - my limit when I was young was the Lancaster and Stirling. You can still pick up the Hellcat and the Typhoon second hand. Actually my local Hobbycraft has two Hellcats but as they won't reduce the prices I'm not getting one!

What would you have preferred them to have made at 1/24 - consider that you've got to recoup about £300k investment then make a profit on top?

Sorry Harry! Sometime I've just got to do a kit like this - not something you can hide though...

@@garys_stuff i know i really really want it Now🥲🥲🥲