Part 2: The Build

Picking up where Part 1 left off, it was time to tackle the magnificent Merlin engine included with the kit. I will say that this portion of the kit would take it out of the possibility list for a novice builder. Some experience will be required in order to make this portion come out correctly. As previously mentioned, the cowling covers are held in place by tiny magnets and small metal plates … An absolutely phenomenal piece of engineering, but this requires a nearly perfectly aligned engine to work. The best advice I can offer to this end is to work slowly, allowing the liquid cement for each segment to dry before moving on to the next item. Also helpful are numerous test fittings of all the parts before finally cementing in place. The extra effort here, as the images show, is well worth it in the final analysis. (I must say that I'm somewhat surprised to have not seen the "Rolls Royce" logo molded into the sides of the valve covers … Perhaps licensing issues were involved here.) The 16 page color reference book contained in the kit is most helpful with detailing the engine and components. The end results are shown in the images, and trust me, they key word is "patience"! One caveat…the exhaust stacks are put in place individually starting from the rearmost stack and working forward, as the directions dictate. I can assure you that this is a must, because if you start from the front, it's almost impossible to get the next one in line correctly placed. It is STRONGLY recommended to follow the directions. If you do, you are certain to wind up with an absolutely gorgeous model of the Spit MK IXc. The deeper one progresses with the build, the same descriptive word springs constantly to mind…"click"…wouldn't it be nice if all kits would assemble this well? Oh well, wishes and horses. Also previously mentioned, one of the options included is to build the aircraft with the landing gear extended, and later convert it to retracted and placed on a stand. This is accomplished with the use of screwed in landing gear blocks, covered by an inspection plate held in place by a small magnet. So, I screwed in the gear (extended), picked up the inspection plate with tweezers, placed it over the opening, and the magnet took over instantly. Now, I can't get the plate off! A perfect fit, but sorry, no retracted gear, which is okay by me. Again, perfection in engineering. As to the other options, I chose to mount the flight control surfaces permanently rather than use the kit provided hinge pin arrangement. (That kind of thing always seemed, at least to me, to be an invitation to "wiggle" something till it broke). Flaps were installed in the "up" position in that I found nary a picture of a Spit IXc parked with flaps down. Further, the canopy was left slid back with the access door open to show the cockpit area off to advantage. Again, continue to bear in mind that this was built strictly straight out of the box, and the results were excellent, although I'm sure the "AMS" crowd could come up with items to be added to make it look even better. Having decided to use an aircraft from the Victory Models "Aces of the Empire" sheet recently reviewed on this site, I chose Wing Commander Johnnie Johnsons' bird as it appeared in St Croix on 6 June, 1944. This involved using the overall invasion stripes, which I've always thought looked neat. One of the choices on that sheet was for "JE-J Jr". This aircraft was the "beer run" hack, outfitted to carry 2 enormous kegs of brew back to the base. If I could have found kegs in 1/32nd, I would have chosen that one without hesitation. These Victory decals were outstanding, and went down without a hitch using the Microscale techniques. Sadly, Victory's sheet didn't include the stencils for the aircraft, so the kit decals were used for these. This is the only area of disappointment in the entire build for me. First, the kit stencils "silvered" an ungodly amount, even after using a very shiny Alclad II clear gloss prior to decal application. In fact, it took up to 4 applications of Solvaset and an extraordinary amount of poking with the tip of a #11 blade to make the silvering disappear. Another problem involving the kit decals was the fact that when they released from the paper backing sheet, it is difficult to move around on the model for accurate placement. If you paint on the setting solution and then try to position it, you will surely destroy the decal, which I did several times. Along with this, I decided to use the kit bottom wing roundels because of the "geography" of the area around the shell ejection parts, and the blister toward the rear area. The kit decals appeared to be designed to make this task easier, in that they had been prepared with a cut out for the blister with a second piece to be used as an overlay. Without going into great detail this quickly turned to near disaster once the setting solution was applied. Substantial brush touch up was required (as images show) to deal with the protrusion at the forward edge of the ejection port. This could have probably been left off, to be installed after the decal had dried…20/20 hindsight. No big deal, just be aware. Testors' Dullcote did an excellent job of covering the touch ups. In fact, all paints used on this model were Testors' Model Master Enamels, except for the high gloss coat from Alclad II prior to decaling. Another point that should be stressed is that no other model surface will accept a wash as well as Tamiya kits. The results are almost always spectacular. A mix of Warpigs black and brown wash was used here, followed by Testors' Dullcote, and a light dusting with grey and brown pastel chalks. Lastly, included in the kit are two pilot figures, one (Johnson) standing and one seated. The figure shown in the images was built and painted by Steve Dottavio, one of our local Fame Cities members. (Figure painting is an art that has escaped me…everyone I do winds up looking like Howdy Doody.) The dog was from the spares box and I thought it added a little something. Allow me to close this review by making the following observations, bearing in mind that I have been building model aircraft since the age of 9 years old - a total of nearly 63 years of doing this without interruption for cars or women!  · This, in my opinion, is the finest model aircraft kit ever produced by a manufacturer, at any time!  · Forget "kit of the year", this is the "kit of a lifetime".  · Sometime in the near future, a much younger modeler will delve into this kit and think that plastic kits have always been like this…he couldn't be more wrong.  · It should be known that in terms of recommendation, there is not a high enough level available to describe it. I especially need to extend a heartfelt "thank you" to Ms. Laurel Kamper of Tamiya USA for the review sample. She has further agreed to assist me with another review project for publication in the IPMS/USA Journal. Most genuinely appreciated, Laurel.