“Rabbit Leader, Revell MK.II take-off” - François builds the new tool 1/32nd Revell Spitfire Mk.IIa

At first we saw the new 1/32nd scale Revell Spitfire Mk.IIa coming out and though “new money for old rope” but the kit has many surprised at the quality and features of this kit. Int he spirit of “a build is the best review” our man from Belgium François Laloux built this lovely Revell Spitfire Mk.IIa in to show you just how she goes together.

Review: Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IIa

Kit N°: 03986

Kit type: injection Moulded

Scale: 1/32

Sprues: 13 styrene + 3 clear

Parts count: 130

Decals for 2 different markings:

N° 19 Squadron, Fowlmere June 1941

N°65 Squadron, Kirton-in-Lindsey, July 1941.

About 45 years after it released its MK.I in 1/32, Revell decided it was time for a new tool early Spitfire. So when the postman arrived with the box, he nearly lost his sleeves – we wanted to get it reviewed for you as soon as possible!

Instructions are in the usual paper black and white cartoon style with decals for two different spitfires included

Our man François has built it from the box and mightily impressed we were with the result. Let’s first have a quick look inside the box before we get started. As usual – and very much appreciated – this Revell kit is sharply priced, MUCH cheaper compared to other big scale Spitfires, and as we saw - a pretty good result for it as well. 

Clear parts for the canopy are thin and nicely transparent

The control surfaces are detailed finely - some nice weathering to be had here, rivets...

and fabric suefaces as well are not overdone.

..The fuselage is packed full of rivet detail that you can fill in a little with primer or highlight depending on your tastes - "better looking at it than for it" is the motto here.

Construction is quite logic and the number of parts will make it accessible for all type of modellers. The panel lines and rivets look prominent in the photos, but are actually very nice on the finished kit.

 We like the wheels as well - chunky enough

The spinner looks slightly too pointed, maybe you might sand it to get it a little rounder.

The cockpit is quickly built and painted. It has some nice details, but as always there is room for more. The most obvious things you can add are the seat belts and the armour plate behind the seat. The seat-belt was made from the cap of a wine bottle. A cutter, a punch & die set and 5 minutes is all that took François to make them. 

For the I.P. the punch & die was used again to get the individual instruments rather than use the decal in one piece. You could leave the pistol cartridge rack in front of the seat off – as it wasn’t installed in the Spitfire Mk.II.

...and the other side of the IP...

Painted, washed and weathered, the cockpit looks very convincing. Time to close up the fuselage! Construction from hereon is fast and simple. 

The wheel bays look very good and and are simple to build. Make sure you check the landing gear assembly, because here François encountered a problem with the kit. The holes where the struts have to be are way too big, which makes it hard to position the gear in the right way. A little sprue used as filler to make the holes smaller will fix that problem.

The largest visible inaccuracy with the kit can be found under the wing, the air-cooler doesn't have the correct shape for a MK.II Spitfire. It shouldn’t be circular, just half round. I guess the A.M. companies will have a replacement part for it by the time you read this, though.(we are sure one company in the US is already on to it-hint hint)

Time to get the paint out. All the paints used are Gunze acrylics. With the basic colours on, some very soft shading was done on the panels and details. After this, some varnish was necessary to get the decals on – you know the drill – which went nicely, although not as smooth as with the Bf-109 G10 we built this month as well for Revell. The details such as the gear doors, canopy and cockpit door were glued after a wash and some weathering. 

To give the kit a typical 1941 scene, François painted two RAF pilot figurines from Masterbox in the Ukraine to add to the vibe of the scene - somewhere in England in  1940.

We are thinking “I say, I simply had to bring down that Jerry to get back in time for tea ... any chance of a biscuit old chap?”

Right. Money time for this new Revell Spitfire. Is it a good kit for its price? Yes it is, in that it is a winner and will bring modellers a lot of fun. Is it accurate? Pretty much so, although it has a few inaccuracies of which the oil cooler is the most prominent one. Are the hundreds of rivets a plus? Well, they look nice and bring a lot of life to the kit. Some modellers like em'- others not so much. But when we look at the finished kit, it sure looks the part, though!

Model by François Laloux

Text by Nicolas Deboeck

Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For details visit www.revell.de/en , @RevellGermany or facebook.com/revell