The BEST Aircraft Model Kit EVER? Tamiya 1/48 Spitfire Mk. I (1), Full Build 

This was the only thing i wanted as a kid. That was 50+ years ago now, and it was just a plane, and stickers. No other bells or whistles. What a true enthusiast you are. Its nice watching people who do things with such precision. Anyways, its 50 years later and i can still smell the glue that came out of the wee ali tube. As for models, i was terrible. Clumsy with my hands, no finesse, lol. Fine with a guitar, or a rugby ball or pretty much anything else. It took me 20 years to become an "adequate" wood carver, so now im just starting out. And that was only coz i refused to give up on carving.

As a yank, to me this has to be the most sexiest fighter of WW2. Plus hearing a Brit narrate brings it altogether.

I never knew about the depth of these kits. As a young lad I pinched an Airfix Spitfire from Woolworths in the UK. I was caught and ended up crying my eyes out. They let me go and I never shoplifted again--ever.

😮😮😮DUDE ! !, THANK you for modelling LZ- N she was one of my DAD's charges during BoB with 66Sqdn. When the Revell 1/32 Spitfire first came out, I HAD to paint on the LZ-D codes as I have several photos of him fondly standing next to "HIS Kites".😊Many Thanks, and a great build BTW

Yep! Going to the model shop in the 70s was the thing to do

I remember as a 13 year old back in 1971 building one of these. I was as rough as guts, but I will never forget the satisfaction I felt at building several WW2 aircraft, the Mk 1 Spitfire being the best of all.

One of your best builds matey, well modelled. The 'blue' underside was more common than folks think, officially we know that Sky Type S was the Ministry preffered colour but some references say as many as 30% of the Spits, Hurricanes & Gladiators wore a blue underside. I was told by a Blenheim pilot and model builder (his squadron shared an airfield with a couple of Hurricane units in Spring 1940), that all of those Hurri's were blue underneath whilst the Blenheims were still painted aluminium - the squadron boss was impressed enough to send the maintenance team to the local Woolworths and buy-up as much pale blue paint as they could so they could match the Blenheims to the Hurricanes. The punchline is, that the Blenheims were sent to another station before they could paint a single aircraft and the Hurri's 'inherited' all the tins of unopened Woolies blue emulsion !! Best from NZ.

Really nice video. I'm 54 now and hasn't built a model since childhood. My wife bought me an Airfix model of a Lancaster a couple of years ago when i was trying to recover from Covid. Worst kit ever, missing parts, poor alignment. Good to see there is a decent kit maker out there still. Thanks for sharing the build.

Tamiya - the ONLY model making Company

I stopped modeling for a bit (armor) because I can’t weather for the life of me. I ruined several models trying many techniques so I became frustrated. Now I just build them and leave them as is and ill revisit them later on if my technique ever improves lol. You’re inspiring me to build by first aircraft.

I'm in the final stages of the Tamiya 1/32 Corsair. It is simply the most precise kit I've ever seen, some parts fit so tight it is almost a snap-in. Some parts are so tight that a layer of paint was too much. I've been out of modelling for the last 25-26 years, and I'm a little surprised, but happy, to hear that they are still the best in the industry.

My first model as a small kid was a Spitfire. It’s still after 60 years of living my favorite looking fighter. All the right lines in all the right places. Simple beautiful.

Had hours of fun making airfix models as a kid back in the 1960s.....loved them...!

See the 2 seat version flying over the Isle of Wight nearly every day. Yesterday 2 in formation. The sound makes your hair stand on end!!

RU-vid randomly suggested this to me. Loved your enthusiasm for the kit, kept me watching

One tiny detail that I think adds something is to flatspot or press onto a hot surface the tyres where they are going to stand. Seeing a perfectly circular wheel on a standing plane always looks a bit weird. Beautiful work!

Well, my brother evaluates model kits professionally.... Seriously, I don't know if he still runs that business, but this looks right up his alley! Well made, well researched... He would build kits and modify them to match some historical 'war-bird'. He has several B-17 models in the Smithsonian; replicas of famed aircraft, every bullet-hole and flack-stain meticulously realized. We experimented with an air-rifle, sand-blasting grit and aluminum foil to make 'scale battle damage'. Air-rifle to propel a small charge of grit at high-speed, foil is perforated randomly to simulate flack damage. We shot dozens of bits of foil; he used ones that closely matched damage seen in photographs. Soot from the blast came from candle flames! He worked out a brittle paint for the foil that would break off, making 'bright rings' around every bullet hole! He did all sorts of diorama scenes: He did the artful stuff, I came up with 'micro-explosives' to damage his creations. We used 'wire-explosions'* to punch raggedy holes in Styrofoam sheets, then painted the surfaces to look like broken concrete and rebar, or bricks and mortar. *Discharging a high-voltage capacitor through a very fine wire often results in a powerful but tiny explosion. It could easily split a 2x4, but the explosion couldn't throw the pieces apart! No burn, but a dark smudge of vaporized copper in the hole that made convincing small-scale weapons damage.

For a Spitfire fan, you are correct & it is an excellent kit, I do have a couple in 1/48th and the entire 1/32nd issues. {only the MkVIII left to build}. But for me the Tamiya P-47 family {except the "N", never issued} does it for me and consider the best kit ever issued {to this date I've built 30 with another twelve to go}. P-47 "Razorback" was actually voted kit of the year when first released. When ever I have a frustrating build, ED, SPH, Trumpeter, Zoukie, Hassy, Modelcollect, my go to kit is a Tamiya. This way I always realise how much fun this hobby is. Not using Tamiya colours on a Tamiya kit? SACRILEGIOUS! GATHER THE CITIZENS OF THE VILLAGE! Time to hold an inquisition! Whether it's armor or aircraft, you do an excellent job. Mk1 looks excellent! Congrats! KUTGW!

Great teaching video for me, I haven’t done a model since a was a young teen, over 40yrs ago. I’m looking to take it up now that I have extra time in my life. I was a little gun shy as to where to start, but you have helped me with that! Thx again…I’ll be watching more of your content 👍🏻

This build just popped up randomly (I usually get all sorts of model railroad vids suggested) but I used to do a lot of plastic until about 15 years ago when I began moving about too much, then concentrating on photography in depth. I miss building and may someday return to it, for it was always very rewarding. I grew up in the 70s with the old generation of injection molding that left so much to be desired and correcting manufacturing defects or poorly executed details was simply part of the process. This model is beautifully finished and shows just how incredible modern day molds have become. I remember when the photo-etched details entered model railroading and they obviously add all the more when coupled with the plastic models, as well. Thanks for sharing this build, even if I'm witnessing the video a couple of years after the fact. Well done!

Haven't done any model construction in years. After watching this I've I've just ordered the same kit 🤪

Ii had this one. The cockpit was pure art, the paint job was going very well. All I had to do was paint the green parts of the livery. Cat jumps onto my table and knocks this and another model onto the floor breaking both. I was more than miffed.

I made this when I was a kid. My dad taught me what MK 1 meant in the car home from the model shop. It's a nice memory.

Why can’t Airfix make a kit that fits this well? Great kit for an unconfident modeller returning to modelling since my youth in the 70s and 80s.

Thanks for a great, instructional video. Well done. It is so good that you talk and explain things rather than play some stupid music throughout the video like a lot of model video makers do. This rookie thanks you for the assistance!

It’s an amazing kit in terms of engineering - I’m yet to find anything else with a wing root fit so perfect. However, I think the Eduard Spitfire MK I blows it out if the water in terms of surface detail. Throw in better photo etch, better masks, and better decals while you’re at it and you’ve got an overall better kit… just one you have to work harder for

I agree completely with the title 👌

You've got to love a Spitfire! Iconic.

I just bought this model to have exact references, to start a high fidelity 3D model, I already bought an official Owner's workshop manual. I definitely fall in love with this iconic warbird !!!!

'It looks like the picture, it just doesn't look right on a model.' Truer words have never been spoken... This is unfortunately a major problem for many modellers who are striving for a more 'artistic' finish - but 'artistic' does not necessarily mean realistic, and that goes for figures, tanks - and of course aircraft. In fact, I once saw an image of the underside of an A-10 Warthog which was absolutely smeared with gun soot, to the point it was hard to see the original color. This was a realistic as it could be, it being the actual aircraft, but on a model? No model judge would ever give a model with that a high score since it would be called overdone, and quite possibly 'not realistic'. I'd say that this model is a perfect example that actually look realistic, period.

NEVER seen a small plastic model as good as that - superb detail. Takes me back to my Airfix days as a lad!

Beautiful work.I’m new to modelling and always wanted to build a Spitfire.I found this video very informative and motivating.Thanks.

i still love the old tamiya panzer 2 kits when i want to build something that is fun then play with painting fun to me.

Weathering just use cheap artist acrylic sets. Water based if you don't like what you see you have a few minutes to wash it off start again. Just add a drop of washing up liquid to break the water tension. Fix at various steps with matt or satin lacquer.

Tamiya has the best 1/48 aircraft kits you can an buy. They’re the only ones that I’ve been able to put together and not have to wrestle with fit issues or giant gaps in obvious places. Just top notch kits.

Just watched this and have to say that I really enjoyed your presentation style and I did learn some good tips from you. A great model built, painted and weathered with skill and passion! Thank you.

As a Father and fulltime worker. Tamiya allow me to stay in the hobby. I dont wanna waste time making something align or fit. Awesome stuff

Ak Camouflage putty is fantastic and really simplifies the camo painting. Looks great, just bought one.

WOW!!!! I AM SO IMPRESSED WITH TAMIYA!!!! I HAVE NEVER BUILT A TAMIYA MODEL. I NEED TO BUY ONE!!!!

I built these as a child, maybe 7-8 yrs old had many hanging from my bedroom ceiling. Don't know why I was attracted to WW2 planes. Then at 9 yrs old my dad passed away and later learned that dad was in the Canadian Navy aboard the HMCS Bonaventure as an aircraft mechanic. I wish I knew my dad....60 yrs of pain.

Coming from building mostly 1/48 Hasegawa kits, the the Tamiya Ki-61 Tony and A6M3 Zero were excellent kits as well. These latest batch of Tamiya kits truly are the bees knees, and I wish other manufacturers would attempt to meet their standards.

Are you British? And not a fan of the Spitfire? Shocking 😂. I'm American and i think it's one of the prettiest war planes ever. And this is a beautiful build.

40 some years ago when I was building model planes, I seem to remember Duck Egg Blue as being the recommended paint for the underside of the spitfires and hurricanes.

When I built my first AIRFIX models in the 60s as a child, I used a hot needle and (lighter supervised of course) and burned holes in the cockpit/wings to simulate bullet holes! Then I had them hung from a painted ceiling to simulate BoB. I even had AIRFIX waterline models of the Hood and Bismarck on my bedroom windowsill. Painted to simulate the rough sea. It’s funny that I’m now 60 on Sun and I’m a creative,DIY person all my life. Inc fixing the car(s) we had and making playgrounds for our budgies.

Wow!!! Looks great!!! Not weathering too much is NOT an issue IMHO. Most builders today over weather...i think it goes in trends. This one is perfect...one of the nicest Spit builds ive seen imho.

Hi all. Not having made a kit in many, many, many years I want to get back into modelling. You chaps are so tempting with your cool videos. So many new things though to re-educate myself with when it was only a knife, glue, a brush and some tins of Humbrol paint. Being a kid and knowing the result, the joy was simply in making it than appreciating the final effort! So, could someone answer this please? Back then it was carefully dab the Britfix or Testors onto an edge and press together, with hopefully no excess. But with something like Tamiya extra thin where you can dab anywhere close to the edges and capillary action draws it into the gap, does that bit on the surface cause any sort of blemish... a raised spot or affect the surface in any other way? It looks simple enough but I really sweat this small stuff! Yep, you guessed it, I haven't tried it on a real kit yet. Every time I plan to buy a few cheaper, simple kits to practice on, my city goes into lockdown and everything closes down, rather regularly. Thanks guys.

Great breakdown of the kit! Will be looking to add one of these to the stash now 😄

Tamiya Riko were always the 'dogs bollocks' of assembly kit manufacturers. And their larger scale models the best of all. My favourites were the Zundapp motorcycle & the Kübelwagon. Oh! And the Walther P38.

That looks like a great model kit, so satisfying when it all fits together

I enjoyed this video of the spitfire mk.1 nice kit aircraft.

About weathering and those oil stains in particular- there's a fine line between accuracy to a source (trying to match a photo for instance) and what looks "right" on a model. I think you're right about the base color- the correct color would have made the oil stains look a bit better. And yes, real aircraft can have stains that obvious. Still, as you say the point is having fun, but if you're not fully satisfied when you're done then you're missing some of the fun. No reason not to redo what you're not happy with.

Good grief! I never realized this kind of realism could be achieved with a model kit. Nicely done!

Wow, Tamiya are still around? They were the top kit makers when I was a kid during the seventies! Thank you for the great video.

Thanks mate for showing us your techniques. I’m relatively new to this hobby after many years away from it all and am learning so much from your videos and others who produce videos as well. Thanks again and keep up the great work.

I used to love making these models a few years back and got quite good at making and painting them .no where near your level tho . But there a great way of killing time on cold winters nights .watching you do this is making me want to buy some kits

I have one of This famous Kit Spitfire Mk I from Tamiya.I think its now The BEST Kit Spitfire EVER.Like Messerschmitt BF 109 G 6 1/48 from Tamiya.Both kits are FANTASTIC!!!

At the very LEAST, tamiya has some of if not the best fitting molds on the market.

I did this kit a few months ago and completely agree, it's fantastic.

Just ordered mine! Thanks for sharing great build

I just started this kit myself . Beautiful job you did here.

Every nice quiet. Unique with the red prop

I built this same model 30 years ago. I hung it from my ceiling with fishing line chasing down a ME109! Tamiya Kits rule. Im more of a Hawker Hurricane fan.

For the best model kits ever produced I would suggest the Tamiya 1/32 WW2 warbirds range, Spitfires, Mustangs, Zeros, Corsairs and, perhaps topping even those superb offerings their Mosquito. The new 1/48 Tamiya’s are great but not quite as special as those 1/32’s.

The camouflage was hard edged. Rubber mats were laid over the air frame to mask for the dark green.

Thank you for the clear and informative explanations during the building process, Bookmarked this video as a guide as I’d like to build one someday.

Sir, its not the kit that makes a model great, its the builder!

Thanks for that build , loads of little tips & hints. I've recently got back into modelling after many years away & some of the washes & pigments you use give results that I couldn't have hoped to achieve previously.

I LOVE Tamiya's 48th scale planes! I have the 109, 190, 219, 162 and they are great! After building too many fiddly kits like a 35thscale Russian truck with almost 700 parts and tanks w/ interior and track links of 4 pieces each, these kits are a joy!!

You do an extremely good job on weathering. A lot of even top modelers tend to over do it IMO. I think I learned a lot from watching your gradual process which looks like it takes a while, and being conservative in the amount of my paint you use. Great video

I used to use India Ink to weather and add oil and grime when I was a kid. It was marvellous stuff and extremely effective. Good memories. Thanks.

Just started on mine and it’s a superb piece of kit!!

By the time I was 17 I considered myself a pretty good scale modeler. TRUE STORY: One day a friend dared me to enter a model contest at the yearly Pasadena hobby show, where I lived near Highland Park. I opted for the Revell Spitfire with DWK markings and spent 3 months researching every bit I could about the weathering and oil stains on that particular Mk 1. And just like you I discovered that at the bottom near the engine it was practically blacked out with oil stains. By pure luck I found a movie clip as that plane rolled over exposing all the detail of these unique stains, and the weathering. Three months & $300 later I entered my Spitfire Mk.1, and I was so nervous that I didn't stick around to soak up all this incredible hobby stuff. I just simply came over when the show ended to pick up my Spitfire. To my shock there was this massive 2nd place trophy by my Spitfire!! I was than told by an official that someone challenged the overkill of the oil stains on the bottom, but since I was not there they gave him 1st place. I won a lot of prizes including a top of the line Paasche Airbrush complete with compressor. I was in 7th heaven, even though they did manage to break my very weak tail wheel. Another time I was broke and wanted to attend the LA Car & Motorcycle show but their tickets were expensive. My friend said I'll take you and they'll let you in for free if you enter a car or motorcycle in their model contest... So I entered my massive Tamiya Honda 750 Road Race bike which I built to perfection. When the show was over a few days later I went to go pick up my Honda, and sure enough, it took 1st place!!!! Yet another 6 foot tall trophy and a bunch of prizes!!! My friends were shocked. I still have a picture of that Honda.

The new Tamiya 1/48 P-38 Lightning kit is another excellent kit! I've done both, the Spitfire and the Lightning and they a just superb!...

This randomly appeared in my timeline and it’s one of the most chilled and satisfying things I’ve ever seen. Just what I need right now. Can’t hang around though, I need to go and watch some more. Lovely work! 👌🏻

I stumbled across your channel and I’m so glad I did. My father would of loved this. You deserve all the subs you get and I’m confident you will do well.

I painted a picture of one when I was kid. It came out pretty good.

A fine job, and well presented, with a voice that doesn't ruin the whole thing. Excellent!

I built Tamiya armor kits between 1975 and '79. I was an early adolescent who brush painted everything with Polly-S acrylic. I loved them. Great engineering and subject matter. Now, as a middle-aged father who works full-time and is a musician on the side, I need kits that can be built quickly. Think current Tamiya engineering with late 1970's detail.

Tamiya Kits (beside the bad ones) are so georgeus to build, it really decelerates my nerves and i take my time and wish it never ends. I agree that hard kits are much more satisfying when you get a good result out of it. I wish Tamiya would do more exotic planes. Tamiya, Eduard and Wingnut Wing kits are the best you can get and well worth the money.

Great kit. Bin the decals when you open the box and you can enjoy the build after that in the knowledge that everything will go together perfectly. The underside parts are just genius, especially the landing gear fittings

Great video, Jason! I have to agree with you, the Spitfire is THE most beautiful plane ever made. I've got this kit and look forward to building it one day. Love your result with the finished model!

I'm not a modeler, but I really enjoyed that. I'm glad the algorithm brought you into my feed. Thanks. And don't take this the wrong way, but to my American ears you do a remarkable impression of Jenson Button.

I flew one of these in the war although I'm only in my 20s. The missus wanted a piece of me but i choose glue and model making. As she complained that I cared more for my models I imagined flying one and strafing her satin bedsheets. i call it the great war of 2020.

I constructed 2 Spitfire balsa wood models when I was young.

I'm having flashbacks to a RU-vidr from many years ago called Basic Modeling. Not sure what what happened to him but he did make a list of the most boring RU-vidrs on the site. He was an amazing aircraft fan and had some beautiful models. Sadly plastic kits are a bit of a yesterdays craft, horrid gaming & social media has caught all the kids now.

All you need now is a Tom Hardy figure standing next to the aircraft... Kidding Seriously, I'm 47 and I haven't built a model kit since 1987. You, my friend, have just reignited a fire in me. I have subscribed and am definitely looking forward to more videos. God bless

Beautiful! I just finished a Revell 1/32 Spitfire that I worked on for 5 years. It was tedious and unfun. I wanted to throw it across the workshop a few times but with great persistence it is finally done. 🤪

I am an AFV modeller but recently bought a BF109E from Tamiya - 1/48th. It's daunting but eventually I will put it together.

1st time watching your chanel ... have ti say impressed more by the skills and the way you describe it ... the kit engineering helps ...I started at about 6 years old in the 70s ... no one else in my house was interested so no help and back then there was no resources for a ymvery young kid to find out ..thats lost on young folk now... again great video

hearing you say Tamiya the way I do rather than the more correct Tameeya adds to my enjoyment of the vid

I appreciate your (almost) OOB build of the kit, and the simplicity of painting the camouflage. Your video focuses on the basic build. People getting into the hobby should not be intimidated by your methods. Thank you for a great build and a superb paint job. I don't build for competition, and fine shading techniques are still beyond my ability. I'll settle for a plane with some weathering to appear a little used. I enjoyed your video and would like to know your name and location.

Thanks for the video, and your great build. The Sky Type S is a "greener" hue, with maybe a hint of yellow, compared with the definitely blueish hue of the RLM 65. Also, the exhaust manifolds were of very high nickel content, Inconel alloy, which did not rust. The two manifolds closest to the prop would often show varied traces of bluish, coppery/ bronzey discolorization due to exhaust heat, and the rearmost four manifolds, also discolored in this way, would usually have an overly of light gray/tan to black exhaust soot, depending on how rich a mixture the pilot had been running, and whether he was using 100 octane avgas (which had higher lead content, tending to leave light gray deposits).

This is my first scale model since childhood. I guess it’s all downhill from here lol. A great kit and a joy to build/paint

Nice, concise video with just the right amount of detail. Thanks Jason.

I’m currently working on the P-38F/G from Tamiya, with this kit next in line. Of late, they’re all superb and fit together extremely well. Awesome vid and build.

It's been released for years but yeah this is one hell of a kit, simply the best I've ever seen.

Mr Color has the right colour for that Spitfire and for several RAF aircraft from WWII, it's colour 26.

Watched the whole thing through. Was a mediocre modeller when I was younger. Wish I had your skills and patience. 👍

Nice kit, like the attention to detail.

Though not a big Tamiya fan ( their kits look too Toy like) I enjoyed your video build. No matter how long you have been in this hobby you never stop learning. Great stuff.