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I was recently gifted an original tool 1/48 Tamiya mk.1 Spitfire which despite it's age is a really nice kit. Halfway though the build I noticed the piece that fits on the underside of the nose, the chin if you will, is missing. I am not sure if I have misplaced it, or it never came with the kit.

 

My conundrum is, do I pull my house apart looking for it and waste hours of my life? Or do I just try and make a replacement shape out of milliput and save a few hours of my life? I thought these Tamiya kits were supposed to be easy to build, lol!

Edited by Alternative 4
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Tamiya's instruction have a very complete parts breakdown and part numbers for ordering replacement parts.  The feedback I have read is they are very good about replacing lost or broken parts.  

 

Geoff M

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7 hours ago, Alternative 4 said:

My conundrum is, do I pull my house apart looking for it and waste hours of my life? Or do I just try and make a replacement shape out of milliput and save a few hours of my life?

 

It is a well-demonstrated axiom in the model railroading community that the only way to find a lost part is to replace it: once a replacement has been acquired or fabricated the lost part will reappear within anywhere from 30 seconds to 30 days.

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4 hours ago, ElectroSoldier said:

Tamiya not only replace lost of broken parts, they are also happy to replace parts you want.

In the USA maybe, for the rest of the world we are advised to go through a local distributor. I tried that another time and they weren't very interested. Sadly these are really my only two options.

 

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2 hours ago, southwestforests said:

 

It is a well-demonstrated axiom in the model railroading community that the only way to find a lost part is to replace it: once a replacement has been acquired or fabricated the lost part will reappear within anywhere from 30 seconds to 30 days.

 

😁

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12 hours ago, Alternative 4 said:

In the USA maybe, for the rest of the world we are advised to go through a local distributor. I tried that another time and they weren't very interested. Sadly these are really my only two options.

 

Thats how Tamiya do their spare parts service. Its a much better option for them to do it that way

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14 hours ago, ElectroSoldier said:

Thats how Tamiya do their spare parts service. Its a much better option for them to do it that way

 

I partly agree, while it does make sense in the world of brick and mortar stores, in the age of the internet it presents some challenges to the consumer (e.g there are no Tamiya retailers within 100s of Kilometers to me). But If that's the way they have chosen to run their business and the quality of their product means it's not that big of a problem for me.

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Hello. I believe the original tool Tamiya Spitfire Mk I fuselage tree is identical to the successively released Mk Vb. There is a review of the Tamiya Mk Vb on Modelingmadness and SVA confirms this in text. There is a pic of the trees related to the kit review. Check it out.

Maybe someone can spare their non-tropical chin from their Mk Vb or alternately use it as an excuse to pick up the Mk Vb. If all else fails I can dig up my Mk Vb this weekend and send the surplus chin your way.Hope this helps. Jim S

 

61035 is the Spitfire Mk Vb Tropical kit number reviewed on MM

Edited by Jim S
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2 hours ago, Jim S said:

Hello. I believe the original tool Tamiya Spitfire Mk I fuselage tree is identical to the successively released Mk Vb. There is a review of the Tamiya Mk Vb on Modelingmadness and SVA confirms this in text. There is a pic of the trees related to the kit review. Check it out.

Maybe someone can spare their non-tropical chin from their Mk Vb or alternately use it as an excuse to pick up the Mk Vb. If all else fails I can dig up my Mk Vb this weekend and send the surplus chin your way.Hope this helps. Jim S

 

61035 is the Spitfire Mk Vb Tropical kit number reviewed on MM

 

Thanks for the suggestion

 

I might just buy the Mk. Vb, it will be a good excuse to have another Spitifre.

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1 hour ago, Alternative 4 said:

 

Thanks for the suggestion

 

I might just buy the Mk. Vb, it will be a good excuse to have another Spitifre.

You’re welcome. One can never have too many Spitfires!

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9 hours ago, Alternative 4 said:

 

I partly agree, while it does make sense in the world of brick and mortar stores, in the age of the internet it presents some challenges to the consumer (e.g there are no Tamiya retailers within 100s of Kilometers to me). But If that's the way they have chosen to run their business and the quality of their product means it's not that big of a problem for me.

I think you misunderstand what a local distributer is.
I have many local retailers but the local distributer to me is many hundreds of miles away. A disty is usually though not always an importer too.

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The other catch with replacement parts from Tamiya is that the kit needs to be in production. I’ve had successes with parts and also responses saying the kit has been discontinued and no parts available

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