LetLetLet ~ Warplanes
Let Let Let - Warplanes => Aircraft Modeling => Topic started by: Second Air Force on August 22, 2013, 07:57:50 PM
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Here is a new thread to work in parallel with Daniel's Eduard Spitfire project. This is the Royal Class kit, as you can see. This comes with two complete kits, photoetch details, photoetch flaps, and Brassin wheels and beer kegs. Also included is a nice crystal beer glass and coaster!
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/IMG_2070_zps1d97a1a5.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/IMG_2070_zps1d97a1a5.jpg.html)
On to the start of the build. First I decided to drill out the prominent lightening holes in the cockpit bellframes that are visible:
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/EduardSpit003_zps307ec7e1.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/EduardSpit003_zps307ec7e1.jpg.html)
Next all of the cockpit sub-assemblies were worked on with the goal of painting the interior green in the next couple of days. The photoetch armor behind the pilot seat and headrest are very nice touches:
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/EduardSpit005_zpsc61cd403.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/EduardSpit005_zpsc61cd403.jpg.html)
More later!
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This will be great to watch and this kit is available here:
http://www.eduard.com/store/Eduard/Plastic-kits/Royal-class/Aircraft/1-48/Spitfire-Mk-IX-ROYAL-CLASS-1-48.html
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Found this on my system.
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Also found the following:
"In the lighter moments of WWII, the Spitfire was used in an unorthodox role: bringing beer kegs to the men in Normandy .
During the war, the Heneger and Constable brewery donated free beer to the troops. After D-Day, supplying the invasion troops in Normandy with vital supplies was already a challenge. Obviously, there was no room in the logistics chain for such luxuries as beer or other types of refreshments. Some men, often called 'sourcers', were able to get wine or other niceties from the land or rather from the locals. RAF Spitfire pilots came up with an even better idea.
The Spitfire Mk IX was an evolved version of the Spitfire, with pylons under the wings for bombs or tanks. It was discovered that the bomb pylons could also be modified to carry beer kegs. According to pictures that can be found, various sizes of kegs were used. Whether the kegs could be jettisoned in case of emergency is unknown. If the Spitfire flew high enough, the cold air at altitude would even refresh the beer, making it ready for consumption upon arrival.
A variation was a long range fuel tank modified to carry beer instead of fuel. The modification even received the official designation Mod. XXX.
Propaganda services were quick to pick up on this, which probably explains the official designation.
A staged shot of the Mod. XXX tank being filled.
As a result, Spitfires equipped with Mod XXX or keg-carrying pylons were often sent back to Great Britain for maintenance or liaison duties. They would then return to Normandy with full beer kegs fitted under the wings.
The Spitfire had very little ground clearance with the larger beer kegs.
Typically, the British Revenue of Ministry and Excise stepped in, notifying the brewery that they were in violation of the law by exporting beer without paying the relevant taxes. It seems that Mod. XXX was terminated then, but various squadrons found different ways to refurbish their stocks, most often done with the unofficial approval of higher echelons.
In his book Dan cing in the Skies, Tony Jonsson, the only Icelander pilot in the RAF, recalled beer runs while he was flying with 65 Squadron. Every week a pilot was sent back to the UK to fill some cleaned-up drop tanks with beer and return to the squadron. Jonsson hated the beer runs as every man on the squadron would be watching you upon arrival. Anyone who made a rough landing and dropped the tanks would be the most hated man on the squadron for an entire week."
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This Royal Class comes with two sets of beer kegs also! I do recall reading somewhere that new drop tanks were used to ferry adult beverages to the Continent. On a similar vein, a friend of mine (no longer with us, unfortunately) told me that when his bomb group maintenance department had to break in engines on their B-17s the test crew sometimes took the ration of beer along to cool it to American tastes.
Back to this excellent kit: Daniel is building his Mk IX with the addition of the great resin Essential cockpit and other parts. On this Royal Class kit I am using the styrene "standard" parts. First the various components were sprayed interior green and left to dry while other pieces were painted in the appropriate colors.
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/RoyalClassSpit1001_zps9c735e6f.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/RoyalClassSpit1001_zps9c735e6f.jpg.html)
Last evening I assembled the cockpit and can report that the fit is excellent and detail is nearly as good as the Brassin parts. There are differences, such as the aft fuselage bellframe, but this is a nice "stock" cockpit out-of-the-box. The PE parts are typically Eduard, top notch! I've decided to build this first kit with only kit parts, so no additional wiring harnesses or tubing will be added.
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/RoyalClassSpit1005_zps08e7fdf0.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/RoyalClassSpit1005_zps08e7fdf0.jpg.html)
So far, the fit of parts is very precise. Also, the kit has optional parts depending on sub-variant, so watch the instruction sheet call-outs closely. Even things such as different style gunsights are included. I really think the hardest part of building this is picking out the markings options.....Eduard encloses so many different decal choices that it is made very hard to decide on a scheme. Ellen and I sat down with the instruction sheet last night and agreed on two final choices.
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I like this basic plastic set and hope I will make one day one 'basic' kit of Spitfire :))
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P.S. Sorry about the photo quality, I'm still learning how to use this camera......
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No problem ;)
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Looking like its going to be a very nice kit :-ok
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Yes, it's a fun kit to build!
The cockpit is now finished after installing the PE seatbelt harnesses. Next will be to install this and join the fuselage halves.
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/EduardSpit2011_zpsc6f603a1.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/EduardSpit2011_zpsc6f603a1.jpg.html)
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Great reference approach :-ok
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Reference material is located here: http://spitfiresite.com/2010/07/anatomy-of-spitfire-cockpit.html
This is a great series of photos.
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Excellent place, worth to be bookmarked ;)
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A small update: Eduard's engineers have designed a nice feature into the horizontal stabilizer halves. The top half has the entire leading edge molded as one piece and this wraps around to the bottom. When gluing the bottom half in place the seam is in the perfect place--right on the normal panel line! The result is that no filler is required.
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/EduardSpit3007_zps3a388996.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/EduardSpit3007_zps3a388996.jpg.html)
While drinking coffee I was able to assemble the multi-part wheelwell walls. This assembly seems a bit over-complicated at first glance but really works out quite well. One bit of advice is to make sure to glue the two main landing gear trunnions very securely onto their bulkheads. If you don't secure them they could come loose with rough handling of the gear struts. Then wheelwells were painted and upper wings attached to lower wing. Mine uses the later Mk IXc wing and you should know that Eduard includes three types of wings in this kit--early c, later c, and e armament options.
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/EduardSpit3001_zps67349b78.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/EduardSpit3001_zps67349b78.jpg.html)
A couple of shots of the finished cockpit/fuselage:
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/EduardSpit3004_zps4b9193bd.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/EduardSpit3004_zps4b9193bd.jpg.html)
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/EduardSpit3002_zps407f190f.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/EduardSpit3002_zps407f190f.jpg.html)
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Nice work on the cokpit Scott, it loooks like the kit just falls together almost! Very nice.
Ernie
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Fast like lightning :))
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Once the cockpit is built up, the rest of the airframe goes together almost instantly!
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:)) :)) :-ok
Ernie
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Yes, it's a fun kit to build!
The cockpit is now finished after installing the PE seatbelt harnesses. Next will be to install this and join the fuselage halves.
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/EduardSpit2011_zpsc6f603a1.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/EduardSpit2011_zpsc6f603a1.jpg.html)
Excellent!
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:-salut :-jump :-jump :-jump
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All the major airframe parts went together wonderfully. The radiators are multi-part and the instructions must be followed exactly to get the components all oriented right.
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/EduardSpit4002_zps6494b12b.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/EduardSpit4002_zps6494b12b.jpg.html)
When joining the fuselage to the wing I found that the upper wing panels fit just a tiny bit too tightly on my sample. A few passes with the sanding stick gave a perfect fit. After all the flying surfaces were dry I applied a very small bit of putty to a few joints. Nearly none was needed! Just tiny amounts because the fit is so excellent!!! The lighter grey in this photo shows the only areas that required filler--Eduard has designed the kit to use panel lines from the real airplane to camouflage joints on the model.
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/EduardSpit4001_zps92069c6c.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/EduardSpit4001_zps92069c6c.jpg.html)
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Look great! I have trap my self with many improvements so my build will be much longer
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The Royal Class kit comes with many options. Included is the Brassin set of tires and wheels--these are all the resin and styrene tires and wheels that comes with the two-kit set. Included are early and late wheels, untreaded, radial tread, and knobby tread tires, and also photoetch wheel covers for the very early solid wheels:
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/EduardSpit5005_zps20e26718.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/EduardSpit5005_zps20e26718.jpg.html)
Here is a shot to compare the Brassin wheel and tire on the left and the kit parts on the right. The kit parts are more than satisfactory, but the resin pieces are even better! Even the valve stem is faithfully represented on the Brassin wheels......
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/EduardSpit50031_zps3da0cf5a.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/EduardSpit50031_zps3da0cf5a.jpg.html)
We've finalized the paint scheme and will be using one of the Royal Class options for this build. With that in mind I sprayed the white and a little section of the Sky fuselage band tonight:
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/EduardSpit5001_zps22422de4.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/EduardSpit5001_zps22422de4.jpg.html)
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Content is great as well your progress :-ok
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Great! :-ok
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Thanks, friends!
Small parts painting goes on. Also the invasion stripes and underside camouflage has been applied now. Next will be the topside.....of note also is the Eduard masks provided in this kit, they work very nicely as usual!
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/StirlingBook001_zps3252d75d.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/StirlingBook001_zps3252d75d.jpg.html)
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:-jump :-jump :-ok :-ok :-salut :-salut :-clap :-clap
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So clean and crisp!!
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Excellent!
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Thank you! :-flo
A small update is all I have--other duties again........but I would like to add the second top color this weekend. I must also say the way Eduard has handled the exhaust system is quite unique, having the cylinder head and shrouding to fasten the stacks to. This can all be painted individually, and the best part is that you can wait to install the exhausts after all painting is finished on the airplane. :-ok
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/EduardSpitfire6001_zps99d85ad4.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/EduardSpitfire6001_zps99d85ad4.jpg.html)
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Good :-ok
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:-ok
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Camouflage complete on this one:
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/EduardSpit7001_zpsb0629a19.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/EduardSpit7001_zpsb0629a19.jpg.html)
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Excellent!!
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Splendid!
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Today the clear gloss coat was applied and this evening I started to place the many stencils. Eduard's decal sheet is very clearly printed and, as usual, the stencil sheets contain a few extras of some of the smaller stencils.
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/EduardSpit8002_zps37b99d55.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/EduardSpit8002_zps37b99d55.jpg.html)
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This details are top standard :) By the way, black band edges does not match :(
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Good eye, No.1! They don't match intentionally. When the invasion stripes were brush painted the bottoms often were quite ragged. I had the good fortune to visit with a mechanic who helped apply the stripes just before D-Day in his squadron (P-47s). He explained that they didn't really work very hard to get straight lines, especially under the fuselage where there was little room to work, because they were in a great hurry to apply the stripes.
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:-ok
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Sorry to say, I have had little time to devote to this build and I apologize for my lack of progress. A few decals can be applied in spare minutes over a sip of coffee but other chores....... :-wall :-wall :-wall I can say that the Royal Class decal sheet is a supreme pleasure to work with, as usual with an Eduard kit. :-ok The lower roundels are a good example, having to fit over a large fairing. I applied each and used some MicroSol decal solution on them and they both laid down perfectly without a wrinkle or tear!
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/Dogfight91413005_zps8abc75b3.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/Dogfight91413005_zps8abc75b3.jpg.html)
Finally last night I placed the last decals and now the final flat clearcoat can be applied this weekend. Perhaps even a start on the oil leaks and weathering if time allows.....
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/Dogfight91413007_zpscd73264c.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/Dogfight91413007_zpscd73264c.jpg.html)
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Very good my friend!!!!
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Excellent result! :-ok
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The final touches have been applied to this excellent kit and more photos will follow:
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/EduardSpit9002_zps09dcd7d5.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/EduardSpit9002_zps09dcd7d5.jpg.html)
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Just important note- this kit can be found and order here:
http://www.eduard.com/store/Eduard/Plastic-kits/Royal-class/Aircraft/1-48/Spitfire-Mk-IX-ROYAL-CLASS-1-48.html
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Very nice!
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Here are a few more photos of the finished machine. This build, including excellent decals, is straight from the Eduard box with no extra add-ons. This is one of the most enjoyable models I have ever built, with such great fit and wonderful additions that are part of the Royal Class packaging.
The decals I selected are for a LF Mk.IX, MH779, assigned to 453 Squadron, RAAF, at the time of the Normandy invasion.
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/EduardSpit99002_zpsb0afc70d.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/EduardSpit99002_zpsb0afc70d.jpg.html)
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/EduardSpit99008_zps1f0554aa.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/EduardSpit99008_zps1f0554aa.jpg.html)
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/EduardSpit99006_zps1e80fd5e.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/EduardSpit99006_zps1e80fd5e.jpg.html)
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/EduardSpit99001_zps57e2232f.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/EduardSpit99001_zps57e2232f.jpg.html)
And here is the wartime image of the real airplane and the model after it:
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/images_zps02340ff5.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/images_zps02340ff5.jpg.html)
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/EduardSpit99011_zps8fb5c69f.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/EduardSpit99011_zps8fb5c69f.jpg.html)
Once again, I must highly recommend this kit for anyone wanting a 1/48 Mk.IX Spitfire! I haven't even started with the second model, slipper fuel tank, beer kegs, optional wheels and tires, numerous decal options and photoetched flaps--these add even more value to the Royal Class Spitfire.
Special thanks to Eduard for this review model and to our own draken35 for shipping the review kit over here.
Follow No.1's link to direct purchase this beauty!
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Amazing kit :-ok
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Extra!!!
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My favorite , my precious :-eek :-eek :-obey :-clap :-jump :-jump :-jump :-jump :-ok
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Thanks everyone!
This kit really almost builds itself in many ways.
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Scott,
Great, I have this kit and it is very helpful your WIP (Well, finished)