the Supermarine Spitfire mark 2 was an improved variant of the earlier mark 1 version featuring a slightly more powerful engine and in some aircraft the addition of 20 millimeter cannons to help improve its firepower join me in this video as I build and review the Revell 1/48 scale plastic model kit of this historic machine hello and welcome to model minutes in this video I build and review the 1/48 scale plastic model kit of the Supermarine Spitfire mark 2 from Revell this model was chosen by you the community as it won a poll with just over a third of the votes to be one of my next builds before I start the kit please remember that adult supervision may be required due to the use of sharp tools and toxic paints and chemicals Revell recommends this kit to those aged 10 years and older the front of the box features an exciting image of the aircraft attacking German bombers whilst the rear has images of a built example of the kit safety warnings some general information and the required Revell paint colors for completing the paint scheme I will be using humbrol colors so we'll convert the paints to the closest version I can inside the box you'll find all the parts of the kit this includes a safety warning sheet which is often wrapped around the decals to help protect them the decals consists of a small sheet which are well printed and seemed to be – the usual standard for more recent releases from this manufacturer I had hoped to see more decals seen as this is a largest scale model than I normally build and was a little disappointed that there were so few the instructions come in an a4 booklet and are well printed featuring full-color exploded diagrams which are easy to follow this extends to the painting and decal placement at the end of the booklet which helps clarify the correct paint scheme the model components are contained within a plastic bag and consists of a small clear sprue holding the cockpit canopy and three larger light gray plastic sprues which hold the rest of the parts the parts of the aircraft are well molded with little to no flash being present but I was disappointed that it was lacking in detail in places and some parts being overly simple for a kit of this scale having done some research into the history of this kit this particular version dates back to 2016 which is when the decals and paint scheme were released the tooling for the kit was first manufactured in 1978 however and this makes sense seeing as the parts are not up to the standard you'd expect from more modern kits the first thing I did with my kit was to give all the plastic parts a clean in warm soapy water washing the parts will help ensure that any oil or grease leftover from the molding process is removed clean parts will allow paints and cements to stick to the surface better whilst the parts were drying I went through the instructions and wrote on the alternative Humbrol paint numbers I was going to use I'm not a big fan of Ravel's paint labeling system in their instructions as I feel it can make it a little more complicated as each paint already has a number in their product line which they then replace with a letter in the instructions I find that I have to flick back and forwards in the instructions to remind myself that paint a is black and that B is green for example writing my own numbers on will help avoid any confusion the first step in the construction of this kit was that of the cockpit components I removed the pilot seat bulkhead control panel pedals and control column parts from their sprue and cleaned up any burs with a nail file I'm using Tamiya extra thin cement throughout this build as it has a good flow and bonding properties small amounts of cement was then brushed onto the bonding surfaces of the parts and the parts held together in the correct position until the cement had set hard the cockpit assembly can be a little fiddly so some tweezers could be a useful tool to help hold and position the parts at this stage prior to cementing all the cockpit parts together I painted them their correct colors I used humbrol 78 cockpit green matte acrylic for the majority of the internal paint color and even used it on the wheel wells whilst that paint was drying I noticed that there was a copyright stamp and words molded into the bottom of the wing component I found this to be highly infuriating as it had to be sanded off why would Revell mould this on the outside of the kit surely it would be better to put it on an internal surface so that this extra work doesn't have to be conducted marks off for common sense here I think I used a nail file to send this off to the best of my ability attempting to avoid removing any moulded detail by accident I then added the pedals to the cockpit assembly and painted them humbrol acrylics silver number 11 I also used this paint to pick out the gunsight on the control panel humbrol 33 matte black acrylic was used to paint the top of the control column and the pilots headrest you'll be able to note that I've also painted the seat with humbrol 29 matte earth acrylic the decal for the control panel was then cut from the decal sheet and soaked in warm water humbrol decal fix was brushed onto the control panel and the decal then slid into position a further coat of decal fix was applied to help soften the decal into the surface of the part with the decal cured the control column was then cemented into the correct position I then repeated the process for applying the decals for the seat belts these are a little fiddly and require careful positioning the decal fix is quite helpful as it ensures they fold around the sides of the seats quite neatly this kit does not come with a pilot figure included so it was at this point I decided to model the aircraft of its landing gear lowered and cockpit canopy open options to close the canopy and install the landing gear raised are included however with that step complete I picked out some of the internal details with humbrol 33 matte black acrylic on both the fuselage halves which would then remove from their sprues and the rough areas cleaned up the cockpit components were then carefully cemented inside one of the cockpit Hoffs taking time and patience to complete this step and ensure they were accurately positioned the other fuselage half was then cemented in place using the extra thin cement to flow into the joins between the two components this was held in place until it had fairly cured humbrol 64 light grey acrylic was then used to paint some of the components such as the air intakes and landing gear covers whilst they were still on the sprue the wing components were cut from their sprues and the rough areas cleaned up with a nail file I noticed that the bottom half was slightly bent but decided to see how out of shape it was when it was cemented together the air intake part was cemented in place in the bottom of this wing component the top halves of the wings were then cemented in place and held until set the bend in the bottom part of the wing was not so noticeable now so I decided to carry on to the next step the fuselage is cemented in its position on the wings some careful manipulating of the plastic is required to get it into the correct place the cement was then run down the joints to ensure a good bond the elevators were then cut from the sprue cleaned up and cemented onto the model a little care has to be taken to ensure they don't droop and look wonky I then added some of the smaller details on the underside of the wings prior to starting the painting of the model humbrol 64 light gray acrylic was thinned with a drop of water to help improve its flow quality and to avoid leaving brushstrokes this was then applied evenly over the bottom of the aircraft a few coats being required to get a good even finish next I repeated the process but this time on the upper surfaces using humble 106 ocean grey matte acrylic whilst the paint was drying I removed the propeller parts from the sprue and cemented them together humbrol 90 beige green matte acrylic was used to paint the nose cone prior to adding it to the assembly I painted the center of the propeller hub along with the landing gear legs humbrol metal coat polished aluminium humbrol 30 dark green acrylic was then added to the top surfaces of the model following the indicated camouflage pattern scheme in the instructions I did this freehand but tape or other masking aids could be used to help you with that coat dry humbrol 135 satin varnish acrylic was added to the model again thinned with some water this will become the base layer for the decals and will help prevent them from silvering the decals were then applied to the model using the same method from before during the build of the cockpit if you'd like further tips on applying decals I made a tutorial on this subject so have a look for it on my channel whilst you watch me finish applying the decals I'll tell you a little about the real Spitfire mark – similar to the early mark 1 version the mark 2 featured a better engine the merlin 12 which had an increase of 120 horsepower over the previous version the first Mark 2's were delivered to the RAF in August 1940 and they saw action during the Battle of Britain the majority of the mark 2 is produced featured the standard 8 303 inch machine guns of the earlier mark once owning the designation mark 2a a small number however were armed with two 20 millimeter hispano cannons and four 303 inch machine guns earning the designation mark to be the mark 2 was removed from frontline fighter service in 1941 as it was superseded by the mark 5 and it was instead relegated to alternative tasks such as air sea search-and-rescue where it was fitted with smoke bombs to mark downed Airmen in the water and dinghies and flare packs that could be dropped to help them until they could be rescued by ship or seaplane whilst the decals were curing I assembled the landing gear again removing the parts from the sprue they fit reasonably well together they look quite fragile but are quite strong and make a reasonably sturdy base for the model the propeller was then added onto it spin on the nose of the aircraft and the retaining part cemented into place it's at this stage then the nose cone can be added to complete the assembly the engine exhausts were then added to the model on the nose of the aircraft and the landing gear cemented into place on the bottom care has to be taken as the gear will need holding in position until it has set with the majority of construction complete the model was given a coat of humbrol 49 enamel matte varnish which was thinned with white spirit this coat of paint will help protect all the previous layers and also give a uniform matte finish citadel known oil acrylic wash was then applied to the recessed details there are not many recessed details on this model the majority being raised instead the areas that received the wash were the control surfaces of the aircraft on the wings and tail and the casing ejector holes on the bottom of the wings I then removed the excess wash using Tamiya acrylic thinners on a cotton bud brushing in the direction of air flow to help give a realistic effect the clear parts were then cut from their sprue and painted with humbrol 30 dark green acrylic a fine brush was used to ensure I could follow the molded lines humbrol 53 gunmetal gray was then painted onto the exhaust to help give a more weathered effect more metal coat was also added onto the tail wheel and whilst I was using that paint I started to apply it in various positions over the model to simulate chipped metal the clear parts were then added to the model using a general-purpose glue which prevents the parts from becoming cloudy as previously mentioned I chose to model the cockpit canopy in the open position a piece of stretched sprue was then cemented into position to represent the radio antenna to find out more about how to make stretch sprue have a look for the tutorial I made on this topic on my channel I then decided to simulate smoke from the engines and gun ports by drybrushing humbrol 33 matte black the paint was removed from the paint brush on a piece of paper and then the residual brushed in the direction of the airflow in the correct location leaving a realistic stain the final step was to paint the radio wire with humbrol 53 acrylic gunmetal gray which would help blend it in with the model and that's as far as I went with the build of my Revell 1/48 scale Supermarine Spitfire mark 2 so it's not a bad kit particularly if you're new to the Hobby and looking for something larger to get your teeth into it's quite easy to assemble and the detail is reasonable given that it dates back to the 70s on that note though it's not up to the standard of the more modern releases but would make a good basis for some modifications or scratch building the kit retails for 10 pounds in the United Kingdom at the time this video was made which I feel is a fair price for this kit I do think that it's let down by the decals however not in their quality but in their quantity for the same price in a smaller scale you can get similar models which feature many more decal options and even include transfers that represent the various warnings and labels that would be present I feel that this kit is overall lacking detailed for a kit of its scale at the end of the day however I've had fun building this and it makes a nice change to the smaller scale kits I normally build it didn't take too long to build with mine being completed in a couple of days I'm pretty pleased with the results I've managed to achieve and it's a reasonable representation of the Supermarine Spitfire mark – as always let me know what you think of my build techniques and finish model in the comments below I'm also keen to hear your suggestions as to other kits that you'd like to see me build on my channel so feel free to post that too all that's left to say is thanks for watching this video and don't forget to leave a like if you enjoyed it subscribe and click that notification button in order to see more content and help support the channel and feel free to share this video with your family and friends don't forget that you can connect with me on social media I'm on Twitter Instagram and Facebook see you all again next time
