Aires 1/32 Tamiya Spitfire Cockpit

[Poppop]

I saw the review of the Aires 1/32 Tamiya Cockpit set on today's homepage .

I was wondering if anyone has actually tried to fit this into a Tamiya kit? I have tried a couple of Aires cockpits and they have not been the easiest to fit. It usually requires sanding the cockpit sidewalls to near paper thin, doing the same to the Aires pieces, etc.

I would like to thank everyone in advance for their comments and opinions.

Regards,

Charlie L

[stalal]

i dont really do after market stuff. But if you look at the gorgeous details Tamiya has already provided in the kit, do you think it will be worthwhile spending money and effort on after market?

I have built the kit myself, and most of the details disappears once the fuselage halves are glued around it.

[FrankC]

I looked at one - looks nice. But I think a better approach would be to get a few items that will improve the overall detail as the kits pit is really good. Typically aires sets are a chore to fit! I don't mind doing the work if it makes sense but for this kit, it might not make sense.

Barracuda sells detail sets that are quite reasonable where you add a lot of detail and not spend $45 for the aires set. IMHO the stencil decals that Barracuda sells will add a lot more detail than anything in the aires set.

They sell a seat, new throttles and gunsights - really nice stuff and very affordable. Look at the sets look at builds people are doing and decide for yourself. Wolf Buddee is building this kit over on HS and he has posted shows of hte kits pit with some of this Barracuda resin - looks fantastic.

I would check that out then decide - but if you go with the aires set you probably can't go wrong. Their stuff is nice - it's just hard to install and usually quite pricy.

Frank

[skuki]

I have this set. also have baracuda upgrade set.

of chourse that the set is more detailed that the model parts. thats why i will use few bits from aires and include them in them in the kit cockpit + baracuda. that is not economical of chourse because i will not use most of the cockpit from aires, but i didn't know that when i bought it.

The main reason i wont use the aires pit is that i think it will be difficult to install it. Another reason is that, at least in this case and considering scale, is better and more effective to put your own wires and other details than to have all the wires molded in one huge detailed part.

IMO those decals that came in barakuda set worth more than the whole aires set.

[Mika Heikkila]

I really do like the look of the Aires set. It sure is a bummer to thin down the sidewalls of the Tamiya kit, but still, it only took a couple of hours compared to the work needed when doing all the wiring yourself, already done that once, too. The Aires set is actually a later IX-variant, compared to the Barracuda that builds into an earlier version more naturally. When using the equally excellent 'cuda set, you still have to carve of things from the kit, but you will still miss some of the Aires upper wall details.