1/32 Supermarine Spitfire Mk.VIII from Tamiya
Catalogue # 60320
Price: ¥11,000 (around £80)
Supplier: Hobby Link Japan

Those of us who had experienced the hype in the wake of the release of the earlier Tamiya Spitfire Mk.IX kit from will know very well that the sometimes you actually do get what you expected, and in this case, far more than we could have hoped for. The previous Mk.IX was just about the most exquisitely detailed model kit yet released, bar none. Everything from the surface detail, right through to Tamiya’s own engineering feats, such as the incredibly thin engine cowls’, and the sequential construction, meant that it was going to be a sure fire winner. Yes, it was an expensive kit in relation to some, but you really do get what you pay for with this release.

Those of us who looked at the design of the Mk.IX must have realised that Tamiya had something new in store for us before long. After all, why would Tamiya go to the trouble of making the tail wheel area have separate fuselage plates where they surely didn’t need it?

Welcome the new Tamiya Mk.XIII Spitfire, and this is no poor cousin to its predecessor. I will try to review this kit as I would if I had never seen the previous release, as surely not everyone buying this Spitfire, will have seen the Mk.IX. Sometimes comparisons will be inevitable.

The Mk.XIII comes in a stunning box whose design and packaging exudes quality from the outset. You know you have something special in your hands when you see this kit. The box lid is adorned with a superb artwork of Lt. Bill Skinners’ 308^th Fighter Squadron USAAF machine, based in Italy in 1944. I still think a Spit in American colours is as odd as a ‘Stang in RAF Roundels, but I suppose this is part of the idea. The name of the Spitfire on the lid is resplendent in shiny gold writing. Pure class.

What do we have inside the box?

The contents of the box are packaged in two ways. The medium grey sprues are all individually packaged in their own cellophane packets, and some of the more delicate parts are thoughtfully placed inside a glossy box, each containing their own small card reinforced packet. Full marks here, and no danger of parts rubbing, scratching or, hopefully, breaking.

The kit also contains two decal sheets, a glossy colour call-out for the USAAF machine, a glossy 16 page reference guide to help you paint and detail your model, plus a 36 page instruction booklet with over 70 constructional stages, with information on stencilling and decaling. More about those later. Let’s take a look at the plastic.

This kit contains 16 sprues of medium grey injection plastic; 1 sprue of clear plastic, and one of black which is solely for the display stand. Another sprue of black rubber exists for the tyres, both in ‘wheels up’ and ‘wheels down’ formats, plus the brake hoses for the undercarriage. Oh, did I mention, there are a few extra parts too. These are contained within the card box inside the kit. In here are contained the smallest and most fragile parts of the kit. The engine cowlings are stored within this pack, and again, they are moulded in plastic of around 0.4mm thickness for scale effect, plus also so the Merlin engine can be depicted in a scale size too and not be reduced due to the cowl thickness. These are very delicate and best left until you really need them. We also have a sprue of black rubber as mentioned above, plus several other packets containing reinforcing rods for the undercarriage and ailerons etc; numerous magnets so that we may position the undercarriage and cowls in a variety of poses and 2 etch frets of brightly polished metal. I have a feeling this is stainless steel and from my last experience,  you will need some very sharp and fine cutters to remove the parts, or a brand new blade that you are happy to sacrifice to the cause. Lastly, there is a metallic name plate for the stand, and a set of canopy painting masks, although you will need to cut them out yourself as Tamiya still haven’t realised that we’d like them die-cut. Still, we can’t have everything I suppose!

With this being a different mark of Spitfire, there are a few fundamental differences to the previous Mk.IX kit, and therefore we have some brand new sprues in the box. In fact, we have a total of three new sprues with a shiny 2010 stamp on them. These parts are:

Strangely enough, there is no difference in the sprues concerned with the Merlin engine, so I presume that the differences between the powerplants were internal or very superficial.

Tamiya have given the option for this model to be displayed either on its own wheels, or on a stand, and the wheels, as a result, are removable via small magnets. No doubt you may have seen this from reviews of the previous Mk.IX kit, but now, with the tail wheel, the same applies. The whole ensemble can be removed and a ‘closed’ set of tail wheel doors can be applied. This isn’t too gimmicky either as the choices for display are viable and no compromise has been made to the look of the model in order to incorporate these features. A choice of how you display your Spit on the club table is always a welcome addition. The only thing which, for me, slightly ruins this is the cockpit door, in that 2 are provided for open and closed positions, and in order to maintain your display choices, you will need to carefully balance the ‘open’ door, or it will simply fall off.

As stated, one of the new sprues is for the wing, and thus the largest newly tooled bit of this model. The changes in detail are only subtle but include changes for the different gun configurations and their respective ports. Not actually having both sprues to look at side by side, this does seem the most obvious of the changes here.

As mentioned, the Mk.VIII has a retractable tail wheel, and a newly tooled sprue is included so you may model this in either position. Detail across these newly tooled sprues is identical to the parts of the original Mk.IX kit in terms of panel lines and riveting etc. That’s reassuring as I have seen examples where this has not been the case. The newly tooled extended wingtips are really the last change in this kit, and this sprue also includes the newly tooled upper surfaces of the ailerons. Another part on this sprue is the rear fuselage downward facing camera. The provision for this was obvious in the previous kit, but now we know! You will need to clear the plastic from the fuselage underside this time though!

That wonderful Merlin engine is included as per the Mk.IX, and it really is a mini project on its own. Built OOB it looks great with all of its plumbing, but would benefit from a little extra in the way of ignition harnesses. There are also no ‘ROLLS ROYCE’ nameplate on the rocker covers. Luckily the aftermarket guys have got this in hand. I have my sets at the ready.

On the Mk.IX, we had the option as to whether we wanted to use the horizontal tail surfaces where modification of the fixed stabiliser was used to fit the alternate elevators. With this kit, there is no choice, as you MUST modify the stabiliser and fit the alternative surfaces. The same applies to the supercharger intake. With this kit, you must only use the larger one. A few other subtle differences complete the Mk.VIII version, but they are only subtle.

Generally across all plastic pieces, there is absolutely no flash whatsoever. There are no mismoulded or misaligned parts. Nothing is bent or broken. It really is perfectly delivered with that care being taken to ensure that parts are packed individually on their respective sprues. Packaging the cowls in their own cardboard carriers, then sleeved in cellophane and enclosed in the smaller box, shows that Tamiya really do care what people think of their product. Trumpeter also do this approach with some of their larger scale models, and I wish more manufacturers would do.

Back to that box. Two incredibly shiny etch frets are included and they contain various cockpit components, , flying surface hinges, landing flap parts and a seatbelt, amongst many others. Etching is just about as sharp as you can get and is total quality. I would be tempted to use a Radu Brinzan seatbelt though as I find they look so much more natural than metal ones. The usual pack of miniature Neodymium magnets is here, plus extra for the retractable tail wheel assembly. These magnets really are incredibly powerful.

As per the previous release, all the undercarriage parts are reinforced with a steel pin, as are the ailerons and elevators. Pins are already the correct size and no clean up or burrs exist. A neat little Tamiya screwdriver is there too for you to interchange the parts of the model associated with the main undercarriage.

Tamiya have given us 3 decal options for this kit, and they are:

Two sheets of decals are included, one containing the RAAF and RCAF markings, along with the rather fetching ‘sharks mouth’ decal, and the second sheet contains the USAF markings and the many stencils. All decals are printed with perfect clarity and register, and the colours like perfect. Regarding the shark mouth, separate instruction is given on how to apply this in order to get all the parts to line up. I think decal setting solution are the order of the say here, or perhaps a mask if anyone will release one for this scheme. The decals are also very thin and from past experience, I know they conform well with Micro Set/Micro Sol.

Lastly, Tamiya have included a stand to use if you wish to display the model ‘in flight’. I didn’t use mine on the last model, but this time, I think I may just use it, secured to the model by that large slipper tank!

So what do we think?

It really is a great kit. I expected no less, but it would have been good to see the refinements like the ‘ROLLS ROYCE’ on the rocker covers, and some die cut mask, but they really are very minor points in what is otherwise a superb kit. Yes, this can be quite pricy, but if you are a true Spitfire fan who wants the very best available for detail, then this is the kit to buy. Very highly recommended.

Overall: 10/10

Many thanks to Hobby Link Japan for the review sample used in this review. This kit currently retails at ¥11,000 from HLJ which equates to about £80 at time of writing. To buy this item direct, visit THIS link.