Metal Earth Supermarine Spitfire 3D Metal Model Kit

A very good and enjoyable little kit to start working on, for this type of model. Challenging but fairly straightforward. This is not a clip together 10 minute toy. Its a fiddly, and at times trying, model that will take a few hours to complete, with care and attention. Not for children under 14.

Not built yet but looks good

Fairly easy build the only problem I had was when the tailfin broke apart when I tried to fold it together as the contact point where the two peices meter are so small, so be careful when you get to that part. Otherwise a really nice little build.

beauty and good quality

The instructons could do with some explanatory text in places, it's easy to miss a step and difficult to go back if you do. Need - Fine strong tweezers, flat side cutters, small pliers and something like a small art paint brush. There are some parts that need to be curved and a thin dowel or brush handle is a good way to do that. A little glue to hold the more shooglie parts after it's built.

Speedy delivery and well packaged. Much smaller than I was expecting - the metal sheets are just larger than A6 size! But I am keeping the product as the detailing looks amazing. Not yet been built as it is a gift.

This was my second Metal Earth kit and with experience was easier than the lunar lander. There are still some challenges with this one but the result is nice. The things I found hard was getting the rear wings and tail tight enough to stay put. The instructions suggest shaping the rear fuselage slightly before fitting them. On reflection I would try to add them before shaping it too much so you can get access to the tabs and get them firmly in place. Even then I found them sagging a bit or hard to get at the correct angle. In the end I filled the rear fuselage with hot glue to keep them from moving -yes I know that isnthe point of these kits... The second thing I found hard was getting the rear and main fuselages to the same shape. Not doing this makes the join more visible than is should be. This took quite a bit of time and effort to get them even close. The stand is quite a flimsy affair too. Whilst I cannot call mine a museum quality model I am happy with it and it was fun to build.

Sorry, but in my opinion, the effort required to complete this model is too high when you look at the quality of the result. I got part of the way through and just decided that while I was capable of finishing it, it just wasn't going to look any good. I took the decision to bin the whole lot. The fact is, you will need a large collection of fine model-makers tools to build this model to any reasonable level. Buy this for a 14-year old and give him/her just a pair of tweezers to complete it with and you're asking for trouble. Buy a decent Tamiya model or one of the "Vintage Models" series instead. It will cost more, but it will look a whole lot better than this when its finished.