LetLetLet ~ Warplanes

Let Let Let - Warplanes => Aircraft Modeling => Topic started by: Domi on March 04, 2013, 11:17:29 AM

Title: Eduard 1/144 Spitfire Mk.IXe
Post by: Domi on March 04, 2013, 11:17:29 AM
After releasing three delightful 1/144 MiG-21s, Eduard surprised us last September with a brand new 1/144 Spitfire kit..!  I am not a big Spit fan, nor have much in terms of references here at hand, so can not vouch for the accuracy of this kit, but compared to earlier 1/144 Spits, this one sets, in terms of quality, a new standard that should be difficult to beat...

As is now the norm apparently for those 'smaller' aircraft, Eduard offers a box containing two complete kits.  There is a notable difference though in this case: there are two types of wings in the box, one for each kit.  Those are the, I'd say, 'standard' elliptical Spitfire wing, and the truncated one, which I believe is more often associated with the Mk.IXe.  It would be quite simple to modify the longer set into the shorter set, of course.  Other than that, the rest of the parts are identical for both kits.  Eduard provides us with two very clear one-piece canopies, a set of painting masks and a very nice sheet of decals with markings for no less than 6 aircraft, 3 British, one Israeli, one French and, unsurprisingly, one Czeckoslovakian.  The instruction booklet is mostly made up of the full painting/decalling info for all 6 schemes.

(http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/ag16/djmodels1999/DSCN8498_zps1efb611f.jpg)

The one baffling thing about this kit, other than maybe the odd choice of Spitfire variant for a first Spitfire kit, is the total absence of cockpit detail..!  The inside of the fuselage halves have a neat recess where the 'tub' should be, but one will need to dish out a bit more cash to obtain the photo-etched detail set marketed alongside the kit, or do a bit of scratchbuilding.  The PE set does offer a few extra parts for the rest of the aircraft, I must add.  It's a pity that Eduard did not offer a basic cockpit tub, because built out of the box, the canopy, very finely rendered, will show off.. nothing..!

As of writing the Mk.IXc has also just been released by Eduard in this scale, and offers 5 choices in terns of markings.  I think this newer release will dispense with the truncated wings.

As with my earlier 'review' of the Eduard MiG-144 SMT, I will build this kit out of the box and report on any fit issue I may encouter.  I may build the second kit alongside and add a few little details inside this empty cockpit area, as I quite fancy having a French Spit in my collection, after all...
Title: Re: Eduard 1/144 Spitfire Mk.IXe
Post by: No.1 on March 04, 2013, 11:22:38 AM
Good luck with build, this look like nice kit to build ;)
Title: Re: Eduard 1/144 Spitfire Mk.IXe
Post by: Sall on March 04, 2013, 01:22:47 PM
Nice!! :-clap :-ok
Title: Re: Eduard 1/144 Spitfire Mk.IXe
Post by: Domi on March 04, 2013, 07:22:07 PM
Well, the kits are really simple.  I particularly liked how Eduard molded the wings in one piece with part of the rear fuselage/wing Karman cover.  It should make a neat joint line, but the tickness of the plastic of the fuselage halves prevent such an easy ride. The wings/fuselage fit remains very tight, and it is recommended to thin down the plastic edges of the fuselage where they meet the wings, from leading edge to trailing edge.

(http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/ag16/djmodels1999/DSCN8501_zps8488c77e.jpg)

The horizontal tailplanes are also very neatly designed and here the fit is perfect.  Superglue, sandpaper and engraving tool take care of the fuselage mating joint line.  In just a few minutes the kit is ready for priming! 

(http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/ag16/djmodels1999/DSCN8503_zpsc328958c.jpg)

The truncated-wing Spit got a cockpit tub courtesy of some plastic card.  The details can be added at a later stage.
Title: Re: Eduard 1/144 Spitfire Mk.IXe
Post by: No.1 on March 04, 2013, 07:47:18 PM
It is made to be fast build :))
Title: Re: Eduard 1/144 Spitfire Mk.IXe
Post by: draken35 on March 04, 2013, 09:01:56 PM
Nice and fast!!! :-ok
Title: Re: Eduard 1/144 Spitfire Mk.IXe
Post by: Domi on March 05, 2013, 10:00:53 AM
Ok, I had to do a bit of research, as I do like to know what I'm working on, and it looks as if the French Spit in Indochina option offered by Eduard, a late Spit LF.IX (LF for Low Flying, hence the truncated wings) actually had a rounded rudder rather than a pointed one.  Not a massive issue, really, easily do-able, but there are two other issues with this option that make me consider an alternative route...  First of all, probably the more 'serious' issue is the fact that the blue of the French roundels is, in my eyes, way too dark.  Adding the 'scale effect' and the rather extreme weathering Spits were subjected to in Indochina, those markings will simply not do.  Secondly, but more difficult to ascertain is whether this particular French Spit had the yellow thin circle around some or all of the roundels...  Eduard only give yellow-outlined roundels for the fuselage, but pictures of Spits in Indochina show a mixture of outlined and not-outlined roundels on the fuselage and under the wings.  Pictures rarely show off the upper wings properly, so it's even more difficult to make a proper judgement there.  Taking all this into consideration, I'll continue building the 'review' item with my original plan, the Israeli aircraft, and will build and detail the other one as a post-WWII civil-registered Belgian machine.  More on this soon...  
Title: Re: Eduard 1/144 Spitfire Mk.IXe
Post by: No.1 on March 05, 2013, 10:06:20 AM
Nice point so you have now two options (if choose French machines)- to do as is (and show actual product in its reality) or to convert errors and present to readers how to get it into correct shape ;)
Title: Re: Eduard 1/144 Spitfire Mk.IXe
Post by: Sall on March 05, 2013, 02:30:09 PM
Cool and fast!! :-clap
Title: Re: Eduard 1/144 Spitfire Mk.IXe
Post by: draken35 on March 05, 2013, 05:50:19 PM
Excellent researches my friend!
Title: Re: Eduard 1/144 Spitfire Mk.IXe
Post by: Domi on March 05, 2013, 10:01:09 PM
The primer coat did not reveal any surprises, so I airbrushed a coat of aluminium over the two Spits.  I used a Revell enamel paint for a change, normally going for an acrylic base coat, but there you go..  The only 'issue' with this enamel layer will be the time needed for it to dry properly, before moving on to more interesting things.  Had I used acrylics, those two Spits would be almost finished now!!  ;-)

(http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/ag16/djmodels1999/spit1_zps61794312.jpg)

(http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/ag16/djmodels1999/spit2_zpse503e7a1.jpg)

Here's a close-up view of the cropped-wings aircraft, which will eventually get some bits added inside the cockpit.  At the moment, the 'tub' is just walled off with plastic card and Milliput.

(http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/ag16/djmodels1999/spit3_zps2c393d7e.jpg)

As you can see, the engraving is really nice all over...  Lots of nice recesses for the forthcoming washes..!  Some may argue that in 1/144, all those panel lines should not be visible, and they are probably right, but nevertheless, they will help the modeller in obtaining a proper weathered look, and Eduard's engraving is certainly in the same league as that found on the more recent 1/144 kits from bigger companies such as Revell. 
Title: Re: Eduard 1/144 Spitfire Mk.IXe
Post by: Second Air Force on March 05, 2013, 10:52:11 PM
Great review, mate!
Title: Re: Eduard 1/144 Spitfire Mk.IXe
Post by: Domi on March 06, 2013, 08:47:40 AM
It has to be said, patience is NOT one of my virtues.  I had to get on with this build...  Here's a picture of the state of things after yesterday late night airbrushing session:

(http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/ag16/djmodels1999/spit4_zpsd721c989.jpg)

The kit with the black anti-glare panel is the 'out of the box' build, now waiting to get its Israeli markings.  The other is to be OO-ARE.  In terms of colour scheme, that's it for OO-ARE, but I must find some tiny registration letters in red, hopefully somewhere in my stock.  Although I had realised earlier that OO-ARE had a rounded off rudder, I still managed not to modify the kit before painting, so this was done afterwards.  This means a little touch-up job for later.  Although re-shaping the rudder presents in itself no problem, the 'ribbing' of the earlier narrower-chord rounded-off rudder is quite different from the 'ribbing' of the later rudder...  Re-creating a new rudder from plastic card would not be too much of a problem either, but as most people will never notice nor realise the difference once the model is finished, I'll let it go, this time.  Still, it is a bit of a pity that Eduard created a whole new cropped wing for this Mk.IXe kit, but did not provide a separate alternative rounded-off rudder, as it looks like a lot of those Mk.IXe Spits had those fitted as standard...  Maybe some garage company out there will soon offer a replacement resin rudder??  ;-)

On OO-ARE, you will however notice that I cropped off the wings canons, though!


Title: Re: Eduard 1/144 Spitfire Mk.IXe
Post by: draken35 on March 06, 2013, 09:13:02 AM
I'm impatient to see both finished, especially the OO-ARE!!!
Title: Re: Eduard 1/144 Spitfire Mk.IXe
Post by: Domi on March 06, 2013, 01:11:44 PM
Decalling done !   The Israeli markings provided by Eduard went on just fine.  A touch of setting solution helped the decals conform to the model.  The rudder markings are best added one at a time, with a bit of drying time before adding the other side.  A bit of red paint will take care of the 'gaps' around the edge.  Note that I did not clear coat the models before decalling, and the Eduard decals still did not give a single little hint of silvering.  I'm impressed!

(http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/ag16/djmodels1999/spit5_zps4ddc0cfb.jpg)

From the pictures I could get on the internet, I am not convinced the OO-ARE codes were red on this machine; indeed the colour profile that can be found online shows a number of little errors..  On those black & white pictures I could find, the code looks a touch darker than the top of the fuselage, so I went for black codes, far easier to find, of course!!!  Those were made from individual letters coming off a ModeArt decal sheet.  Those decals are rather thick and old and I cut real close all around the black ink (not so easy in this scale!) to minimise risks of silvering and having a visible 'step' where the transparent carrier film would have been.

I think my mind is still somewhat into the 'French Indochina' scheme as it took me a while to realise that the Belgian Spit had no antenna mast..  This came off quite easily with a sharp knife.  Fine sand paper restored the contour of the fuselage and a touch up job was made in red paint.

For the record, Oostende-based company COGEA Nouvelle operated a handful of Spits Mk.IX from 1956 until 1961, and provided target tug duties to the Belgian Air Force (and apparently other NATO air forces too).  Four of those COGEA Spits were made famous by appearing (re-painted!) in the movie 'The Longest Day'.

(http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/ag16/djmodels1999/spit6_zps7e670180.jpg)

A coat of varnish is needed next, to seal off everything, then I will start the weathering, before adding on all little extras...



Title: Re: Eduard 1/144 Spitfire Mk.IXe
Post by: draken35 on March 06, 2013, 04:18:04 PM
:-ok
Title: Re: Eduard 1/144 Spitfire Mk.IXe
Post by: Domi on March 06, 2013, 09:30:01 PM
Well..!  As it happens, this red-topped Belgian Mk.IX was not red..!  A couple of Belgian friends were kind enough to send me a (poor quality) period colour picture of OO-ARE and the top of the fuselage is painted in some kind of darkish blue-grey.  They also sent me a couple of black & white documents showing that the aircraft also wore a code on the upper surface of the right wing, and had a black walkway on top of the left wing, just under the cockpit opening. 

So, out came the masking tape and airbrush again and the model now wears a more accurate colour scheme.  The extra code was added on the wing and things are now drying for tomorrow's big jobs, a coat of varnish to seal decals and paint job, and a dark wash as a start to the weathering process.  Pictures of the re-painted Belgian Spit tomorrow morning, promise!

 
Title: Re: Eduard 1/144 Spitfire Mk.IXe
Post by: No.1 on March 06, 2013, 10:54:01 PM
This is great find :-clap
Title: Re: Eduard 1/144 Spitfire Mk.IXe
Post by: Domi on March 07, 2013, 08:11:07 AM
As promised, here is a picture showing the new colour scheme for the COGEA Spit IX..  Come on, say it, it looked better in red..!  ;-)

(http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/ag16/djmodels1999/spit7_zpse72c20ec.jpg)

Title: Re: Eduard 1/144 Spitfire Mk.IXe
Post by: No.1 on March 07, 2013, 09:03:37 AM
Huge improvement from basic Eduard proposition of layout ;)
Title: Re: Eduard 1/144 Spitfire Mk.IXe
Post by: Domi on March 07, 2013, 05:15:57 PM
So, a thin coat of Klear (Future) was airbrushed early this morning on both models.  After a couple of hours of drying time, I gave both models a dark wash, my usual mix of artist's watercolours, Sepia and Black, with water, vinegar and washing-up liquid.  Another hour drying time, and damp Q-tips are then used to remove the excess watercolour paint all over the models. 

During those pauses required by the painting process, I keep busy cleaning up, priming and painting all the other little parts that will complete the kits: propellers, landing gear,..

My second weatrhering step is done with Artist's Oils, this time Titanium White, drybrushed all over the airframe (and smaller bits).  I like the way this white paint dulls the silver paint and subsequent coat of Klear.  This is a 'light' process, not to be overdone.  An extra 'pass' is however given all over the edges, particularly all around the wings, rudder and tailplanes (including trailing edges!).  This in my eyes makes the model stand out from any background.

Most pictures I've seen of the underside of any Spitfires show a positively filthy aircraft.  Using photographic references, and Artist's Oil Black paint, I created long, short, thin and thick 'dirt' runs between the main landing gear, from the big intake just under the engine to the very end of the fuselage.  More stains run from the back end of the wing radiators and in the case of the Israeli aircraft, more subtle stains strea out from the ammunition chutes.  The staining of the Belgian aircraft is a little less 'obvious': those seem to have been well maintained machines.

(http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/ag16/djmodels1999/spit8_zps07337bb0.jpg)

(http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/ag16/djmodels1999/spit9_zpscbe4924b.jpg)

I'll need this oil paint to dry a while before doing anithing else now...
Title: Re: Eduard 1/144 Spitfire Mk.IXe
Post by: draken35 on March 07, 2013, 05:42:18 PM
Excellent, my friend!!!

Ahem... OO-ARE looked better in red... ;)
Title: Re: Eduard 1/144 Spitfire Mk.IXe
Post by: Domi on March 07, 2013, 05:45:57 PM
Totally of your opinion, Draken..!
Title: Re: Eduard 1/144 Spitfire Mk.IXe
Post by: Sall on March 09, 2013, 11:27:20 PM
Very good job my friend! :-clap :-ok
Title: Re: Eduard 1/144 Spitfire Mk.IXe
Post by: Tweety on March 12, 2013, 12:19:57 PM
Great work with colors !  :-jump :-jump :-jump
Title: Re: Eduard 1/144 Spitfire Mk.IXe
Post by: Domi on March 12, 2013, 12:31:23 PM
Thanks, Tweety!
Title: Re: Eduard 1/144 Spitfire Mk.IXe
Post by: Domi on March 21, 2013, 10:00:15 AM
All right!  Those little Spits were actually completed a few days ago, but things got in the way, and I was not able to complete this thread until now...  Sorry about this!

The kits were exhibited at a show in England over the past week end, so in the end, lacking the time, I decided to temporarily forget about adding details in the Belgian Spit.  Indeed, I see now I took the 'final' pictures without adding the antenna wire on the Israeli aircraft and the whip antenna on the Belgian one.  Apologies for this.  Oh, I forgot to say that I did not use the masks provided for the painting of the canopy, finding this way too complicated to bother with...

(http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/ag16/djmodels1999/DSCN8552_zps81339750.jpg)

(http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/ag16/djmodels1999/DSCN8551_zpse76b50b3.jpg)

So in conclusion, I totally recommend this kit.  Easy build, lots of possible colour schemes, relatively easy to find references, small price, two kits in a box,..  This kit has it all, or almost all.  Yes, it IS a pity Eduard did not include a plastic cockpit in the form of a seat, floor, instrument panel and control column...  The inside of the fuselage halves could have taken a bit of detailling too to complete this cockpit.  As mentionned earlier, I have some reservations about some of the decals, in particular the deep shade of blue of the French markings, but on the plus side, the quality of those decals is really, really good.  The instruction booklet is minimalistic when it comes to the actual assembly (but really, there's not that much to assemble!), but is superb when it comes to the colour schemes, with all 5 choices fully illustrated.  I also think the choice of this particular variant (Mk.IXe) was a bit 'strange' for this first Spitfire kit in 1/144 from Eduard, but then the aircraft was used by the Czechoslovak Air Force.  We've seen strangest choices of kits in the past from many other manufacturers..  Lastly, it is maybe also a bit regretable that Eduard did not offer separate alternative rudders, as many a Mk.IXe had the rounded one.  

Let me remind you that Eduard do offer a pre-painted photo-etched fret to completely furnish the cockpit, and that the Mk.IXc variant is now also available, with a choice of 4 colour schemes.  This Mk.IXc kit is a double kit too, and both fuselages feature the rounded off rudder (the ribbing of which is not totally accurate, if you are a rivet counter..).

Of interest is that the Mk.IXe was first released during e-Day 2012 without a box and with striking markings for a single Czecholsovak aircraft (different from the one featuring in the cardboard box release).  

Finaly, if those markings provided by Eduard do not satisfy you, keep in mind that some manufacturers have released markings for some Mk.IX Spitfires.  KitWorld, in the UK, have a sheet featuring a British Mk.IXc aircraft graced with a beautiful, barely-clad lady...  JBr Decals from the Czech Republic offer two sheets, one for Israelis Mk.IXs and one for British, Dutch, Danish, Belgian, Soviet, Czechoslovak and Turkish Mk.IX c/e (some of them civilian aircraft). More will no doubt be released elsewhere in the coming months.

Title: Re: Eduard 1/144 Spitfire Mk.IXe
Post by: No.1 on March 21, 2013, 10:11:23 AM
Thank you for this nice work :-ok
Title: Re: Eduard 1/144 Spitfire Mk.IXe
Post by: draken35 on March 21, 2013, 10:51:54 AM
:-ok
Title: Re: Eduard 1/144 Spitfire Mk.IXe
Post by: Sall on March 21, 2013, 06:32:28 PM
Great work!! :-clap :-clap