Build Report: Trumpeter 1/48 Supermarine Spiteful

I’d previously built this kit in 2012, and was quite impressed with the overall fit, ease of build, and surface detailing. For that build, I’d done a “what if” in Israeli markings.

The build on this kit was really no different. Good fit, good surface detail. Not too many parts. Not too fiddly. I used decals from a Mk. 22 Spitfire to model what the Spiteful might have looked like had it gone into long term production.

Paint is Tamiya’s “Spitfire Trilogy”, XF-81, 82 and 83. True Details provided the exhausts, and a set of SAC metal landing gear was used, although I really didn’t see much improvement over the kit gear. In fact, the metal gear were a bit more fiddly to deal with when it was all said and done.

Overall, it’s a simple build. Yet as with any Trumpeter kit, it falls a bit short in the accuracy area. The nose seems a bit short, the scale seems a bit off. It’s obviously a Spiteful, but I’m puzzled why Trumpeter (and Hobbyboss) refuse to do just a bit more homework. Every 1/48 kit they produce seems to have some issue that really should not be. Cockpit openings too wide, cockpit depth too shallow, purely fictional detail, obvious shape issues. It’s like they get the CAD designs 90% correct, and then bring in someone else with no familiarity with the project, and just tell them to make up the rest.

If they’d do just a bit more research, they could own the market.

But this is supposed to be about the Spiteful kit.

If you want a Supermarine Spiteful in 1/48 scale, and you’re willing to live with the warts, this is a no-brainer, shake and bake kit. If you worry about the details- this one will either require some work, or you might just want to pass it by.


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