Another build finished, this time it's Hachette's 1/18 scale Mk1a Spitfire. For me personally this has been a very enjoyable build. The finished model looks great. The panel gap issues mentioned by many other builders are non existent ( I did make a couple of adjustments, which took all of 5 minutes to close any gaps that surfaced during the final stages of the build). I am active on many social media pages and am aware of the many builders that have given up on this build through frustration and the re-works handed out by Hachette. I didn't really come across difficult problems during the 2 year build, and any issues were part of the build process that any seasoned modeler just deals with.

So here's some pics of my finished build. I really wanted to show that this is really a fun build that produces an excellent reproduction of the Mk1a Spitfire.

My Uncle flew Spitfires during the course of the war and was based in Darwin, Australia. I have added a photo of him standing next to 'my' Spitfire, and also some exerts from his memoir where he discusses the time that he had to bail out after confronting Japanese fighters off the coast of Australia. He splashed down 18kms out to sea and some 100kms from the nearest civilization. He was lost for 22 days before being rescued by an Aboriginal tribe.

Build difficulty rating: I give the spitfire a build difficulty rating of 4 (out of 5). There are a few technical issues to resolve with regard to panel gaps, but these are easily overcome. Also there’s some rework to do towards the end of build which requires some disassembly of the model which could be frustrating for some, but really it’s a 30 minute job to complete.

Electronics difficulty rating: I have given a difficulty rating of 4. There is a bunch of fiddly wiring to contend with here. Straight forward if you follow the instructions.

Overall the end product (as a static model) is excellent. The supplied base is overly big, but many including myself have build a reduced size base.

Enjoy the finished pics and the short read. :-)

excellent, stunning end result. WTG




Regards
delboy271155
(Derek)

It’s been a troublesome build for many. From the 20 or so finished videos That I’ve viewed I reckon only 5% have behaved ‘normally’.

If you’re a seasoned model builder then the build issues are nothing to worry about, just work the problem and move on. The finished model is a thing of beauty. I’m entering the Spitfire into the state model titles next month so we’ll see what the public think.