Question; Starfix Scale Accuracy

Nov 12, 2004 14 Replies

Really off topic....this is a modeling question



My son just got a Supermarine Spitfire F. Mk. 21 from Starfix. Box has the scale at 1/48. The plane looked a bit small, so we went to

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The Flightline - A WWII Aviation Archive and checked dinensions on a Supermarine Spitfire clipped wing, Wing span says 32 feet 2 inches, model wing span is 6.375 inches. That worked out to 1/61 scale, not the quoted 1/48 on the box.



Are these people always that far off on scale? Has anybody else had this problem? I mean the scale is not a real problem if you know what you're getting, but to say one thing and get another......well.... Mike G.


Both Spitfires and both Messerschmitt 109s are badly offscale. Their 1/72nd scale Alpha Jet, Mustang, F-5 and T-38 (really an F-5B) are better (being reverse-engineered from other makers')...but the A-4 Skyhawk and the Zerosen are dogs. Their space shuttle is good only as a source for spare sci-fi parts. Haven't built their helicopters or their Galaxy transport.

Stephen "FPilot" Bierce/IPMS #35922 "Beware the Zealots, for while they may believe in a great many things, there is one thing they will never believe in: life, liberty, justice or mercy for anybody other than themselves."--Tepid 11:03

Let's just say you can't use the term Starfix in a sentence that includes words like "accuracy" or even "kit". I assume your son is too young to drink,as he can't really expect that thing to ever look like a spitfire without. They are good for a joke tho.

BTW guys.I've seen some bagged starfix kits on ebay being sold from England including some types I didn't know they made,such as a F-104.Who did they copy these from?

Hmm... 'Starfix' and 'scale accuracy' - there's a contradiction in terms. :-)

RobG

The 104 is actually reverse engineered from the ancient Frog Supermarine Scimitar... or so I've been told. :-)

RobG

That would be a piece of engineering. Of course if it's Starfix it only has to resemble an F-104 not be one.

Bill Banaszak, MFE

Oh, he's old enough....he's 29. He got one of the Messerschmitts too, that thing has the wings all wrong plus a few other things. He said well....live and learn! There won't be any more from that company thats for sure! Mike G.

I sold both of those on E-bay last year and advertised them as some of the worst kits I'd ever seen but they might be good for painting technique practise. Strangely, they sold for more than I paid for them!

Bill Banaszak, MFE

No, no, no... the Frog Scimitar was a copy of the Heller Criquet.(Fiesler Storch). That's why it went together so well. :-)

RobG

Supermarine

You got it! Although there are those who maintain that it was actually from 'The Sovreign of the Seas', but I don't agree.

RobG Let's stop now - this is getting silly!

Definition: You Gotta Be Shi***ng Me!

;^)

Martin

I'd argue it was a liquid,but starfix can only be built with tubes...lots and lots of tubes of glue...or welded...

All right, put those tubes of glue down right now, both of you!

Bill Banaszak, MFE

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