Accurate Miniatures

1/100 Ez-Build Spitfire Vb

Kit Number: 1000

Reviewed by  Paul Bradley, IPMS# 35554 Ably assisted by daughter Robin (5)

MSRP: $7.99 Another in Accurate Miniatures' EZ Build Fighter Legends series, may I refer you also to Jim Fox's review of the P-51 and Bf109. Like Jim, I found this to be an ideal project to share with my 5-year-old daughter, Robin. She has built 3 models previously with my help, and quite enjoys the process. The box contains a single sprue with 18 parts and a separately bagged and pre-painted canopy. Also included is a square pre-formed plastic display base with a name-plate sticker. As this is a pre-painted model, markings for a 71 (Eagle) Sqn, RAF, Spitfire are already tampo-printed onto the parts. So that there is minimal damage to the paintwork, the sprue gates are cleverly positioned on the inner surfaces of the parts, which means that dad can use side trimmers and sanding stick to get a good gluing surface. Once all the parts were separated and cleaned up, I gave the parts to Robin for assembly. I dispensed a goodly amount of tube cement into an old milk carton lid. Using a cocktail stick, Robin put glue (not too much) on the appropriate pins, following the construction sequence pictured on the back of the box to the letter (Memo to modeling dads: do not try to deviate from construction sequence pictured on box….). She had difficulty in a couple of areas - the tabs for the tailplanes were a little too big for the slots and I had to carefully slide these in for her; the undercarriage parts did not want to stay at the correct angle, and I ended up supergluing them in place; and the exhausts were simply too fiddly for her inexperienced fingers. I also found it necessary to superglue the upper wing halves to the one-piece lower wing at the wing roots as the pins were slightly too big for their holes. Otherwise construction was fairly easy for her, and within 20 minutes the model was complete. She was particularly taken by the tiny pilot figure and was pleased that he could be easily seen through the clear canopy (no glue smudges!). The model can be displayed on its base, but this one will most likely end up suspended by monofilament from her ceiling, flying formation with the Heller Bobcat Harrier T.2 that we did over Christmas! For the more serious modeler who wants to know if these kits are worthy of their attention, these little kits will need a bit of work. All the seams will need careful clean up if you are to avoid marring the paintwork, the surface detail consists of deep trenches and all the markings are glossy. The interior detail is limited to a boxy seat and bulkheads. You will hate me for saying this, but "it looks like a Spitfire" and that's as far as I will go accuracy-wise. The point is that this is a good model for a beginner who doesn't want to spend a lot of time or money on their latest plaything. Remember those days when we built a model straight from the box in an hour, didn't paint it before adding decals and played with it until it broke later that afternoon? This is one of those kits. The parts are few and relatively easy to assemble, it doesn't cost an arm and a leg and there are six to choose from in the series, so your youngster and their friends can play dogfights. As Robin put it, "this is neat!" My (and Robin's) thanks to Accurate Miniatures for the review sample. Accurate Miniatures' EZ Build series are available directly at their website (www.accurate-miniatures.com), or from all good hobby stores and distributors.

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