If I had to sum up 2011 in a single word, I’d probably go with “grinding”. This has been a year. Two job switches. A layoff and a month and a half of unemployment. Building a house. A move (which we’re still recovering from!). A November of aggravating ailments and injuries. The hottest summer ever…
Category: Tamiya Spitfire VIII
Tamiya Spitfire Mk.VIII – COMPLETED
Finished “Fargo Express” up last night. Overall, absolu-friggin-lutely amazing kit. It’s pricey, but I think it absolutely earns its price tag. More pictures, review, etc are posted up in COMPLETED BUILDS
Tamiya Spitfire Mk.VIII Build Report 4: Decals and Details
With the Spitfire painted, things have been coming together rather quickly. There are a ton of small parts to contend with in this kit, but by this point in the process, they’ve mostly been attached somewhere. But after paint, I added several more that had been waiting their turn. The fuel gap, .303 machine gun…
Tamiya Spitfire Mk.VIII Build Report 3: Paint
It feels like it’s been a long time coming, but the big Spitfire Mk.VIII is finally going under the airbrush. Stupid Hot Building kits in the garage, in Texas, during the height of summer introduces some serious environmental challenges. Obviously the heat, and the fact that even the slight effort of masking a wing or…
Tamiya Spitfire Mk.VIII Build Report 2: Merlin Build-Up
One thing most nations discovered during the course of World War II was that engines mattered. A lot. In fighter aircraft especially, the choice of engine could decide whether a new airframe turned into a war-winner, or got relegated to secondary theaters and lesser allies. The Spitfire never had to worry about that. It started…
Tamiya Spitfire Mk.VIII Build Report 1: Cockpit and Main Airframe Assembly
Is it possible to be a modeling adrenaline junkie? It seems that, after coming back to the hobby last year, I’ve been hurling myself at challenge after challenge, barreling right into situations that used to intimidate the bejesus out of me. In the last six months alone, I’ve tackled my first open-turret armor, my first…
Not All Photo-Etch is Created Equal
Case in point. Eduard’s PE instrument panel for the 1/48 Tamiya P-51… …and Eduard’s PE instrument panel for the 1/32 Tamiya Spitfire…
On the Bench: 1/32 Tamiya Spitfire Mk.VIII
The Spitfire Mk.VIII was a victim of timing. In September 1941, the Luftwaffe’s new fighter, the Fw 190, made its operational debut, and quickly outclassed the RAF’s Spitfire Mk.V. That same month, a potential answer, the upgraded Rolls-Royce Merlin 61 engine, made its first flight. The engine was a stunner, and work began at once…
And the winner is…
When I opened up my next armor build to voting a few months back, it wasn’t really a contest. The AFV Club Achilles took an early lead and never came close to giving it up. Early on, it looked like the aircraft voting would go the same way, with Trumpeter’s F8F-2 Bearcat grabbing a strong…
Doogs Models 