discussion Eduard 1:48 Spitfire Mk IX Limited Edition “The Longest Day”

[Guest]

Eduard 1:48 Spitfire Mk IX Limited Edition “The Longest Day”

Aircraft Review

Kit No. #1191

Pros- The best Spitfire Mk IX in its scale

Cons- Where are the invasion stripe masks? I thought stripped spitfires was what the boxing was all about!

This kit was highly anticipated by myself, and I refrained from buying this until a limited edition came out, knowing it would come with extras and hopefully, a special boxing. I was rewarded for my patience, and Eduard released this Limited Edition boxing of their widely acclaimed Spitfire Mk IX. The Limited Edition boxing is pretty much a Profipack, except that it contains resin and it has a wider variety of boxart compared to the profipacks. Although not a large manufacturer of model kits in the scale of Airfix, Hasegawa or Tamiya, Eduard have built a name for themselves for their fantastic aftermarket accessories, the incredibly detailed and accurate kits and multimedia boxings containing masks, PE and Resin. This boxing contains resin for the bomb and it’s bay, 1 die cut mask, 1 Photo etch fret, 5 highly detailed sprues of grey plastic and a round wheel of clear parts. Box art is great, reflecting the Spitfire and its involvement in D-day. The surface detail is truly exquisite, with overlapping rivet rows as seen in the photograph below which was taken from the eduard Spitfire Blueprints. The rivets are truly a work of art and they are definitely the best I have seen in 1:48 scale. There is absolutely not flash present on the sprues. The double ribbed effect is rendered perfectly. Wheel bays have excellent detail to display. The engineering of the upper cowling is a little questionable, due to its two part nature, but it should not pose any real problem. There are 2 wing sets with this boxing, permitting the modeller to build a “c wing” or an “e wing” version. The clear parts are extremely clear with highly thin and in scale parts. There is a comprehensive fret of PE for the cockpit and exterior parts. The detail is superb as seatbelts, dials and various other instrumentation are replicated in PE in the cockpit. A grille for the carburettor intake are included along with wheel covers. The decals are printed by cartograf. The decals looked fine and in register, although the Spitfire Mk IXc profipack boxing did have some problematic decals. The masks were up to the usual eduard standard. These were for the canopy only. It is a little disappointing that the masks for the invasion stripes were not included, as these can be bought from the eduard store. The resin for the bomb and its racks were sublime and there were no moulding imperfections. The casting blocks were extremely thin and the parts did not contain any resin moulding flash.

This is a highly recommended kit. The extra Brassin parts are sublime and the plastic itself has nothing to fault. The plastic is really amazing in all aspects and this kit overall is one of the best kits I have ever seen (in 1:48).

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[monica]

nice review thank you for shearing

 

[stona]

If I did 1/48 it sounds like I should build it! Thanks for the review.

I would say that invasion stripes are very easy to mask using normal masking materials rather than pre-cut masks so their absence shouldn't really put anybody off.

Cheers

Steve

 

[Alan 45]

Good review, why can't they do a kit of the hurricane of this sort of detail ?

 

[Ian M]

The Eduard spit is a great kit in all its guises, with or with out the resin and PE.

Alan, Have you considered writing to them and asking them?

Ian M

 

[Alan 45]

Just been on the site and it would have to be by post as they have no email contact option Ian , I'm all for letting them or anyone else know what we or I want or just finding out why they haven't released a kit but they have to make it so they are approachable to Dutch requests

Phone lines at premium rates isn't the way to go about it

I'd does seem strange they don't do a hurricane kit as they did have a squdron of them

 

[Dave W]

Perhaps they feel they wouldn't get enough sales as Italeri have released new Hurricanes over the last couple of years.

 

[Alan 45]

Perhaps they feel they wouldn't get enough sales as Italeri have released new Hurricanes over the last couple of years.

That's true dave thing is their not very good ones to be fair, I've built the IIC, MkI and the Sea hurricane from Italieri and the two that were new tool were pretty iffy the one that was a rebox was the best.

The aircraft builders in my club say that the Italieri ones aren't the best

 

[Ian M]

haven't released a kit but they have to make it so they are approachable to Dutch requests

Not quite sure I understand that Alan.

The email address you cant find is at the bottom of the "Support page".

• Product Requests: suggestions@eduard.com
  

Perhaps they feel they wouldn't get enough sales as Italeri have released new Hurricanes over the last couple of years.

Hmm 'cause nobody else makes models of Spitfires...

I might ask are they only interested in aircraft that have seen Czech service?

I would love that they did more British aircraft but fear they are to into German and Soviet types.

 

[Ian M]

H

That's true dave thing is their not very good ones to be fair, I've built the IIC, MkI and the Sea hurricane from Italieri and the two that were new tool were pretty iffy the one that was a rebox was the best.The aircraft builders in my club say that the Italieri ones aren't the best

The ones I have built have been very good. The cockpit fit was a bit tricky but it fitted well once the trick was found.

Still I would buy a few from Eduard as well if they tooled one

 

[Alan 45]

Thanks Ian , I checked out the company section

The builds are good its the attention to detail I find is the problem , the cockpit is quite detailed but if for the latter versions , the spinner cap is all wrong it's those sorts of things that make a good kit ,

The one I'm building at the moment doesn't know what it is lol but at least the spinner cap is correct just a shame the propeller blades are wrong ! And don't even ask about the cockpit

 

[Dave W]

Not quite sure I understand that Alan.The email address you cant find is at the bottom of the "Support page".

• Product Requests: suggestions@eduard.com
  

Hmm 'cause nobody else makes models of Spitfires...

I might ask are they only interested in aircraft that have seen Czech service?

I would love that they did more British aircraft but fear they are to into German and Soviet types.

Spitfires are popular the world over and always sell well. Can the same be said of the Hurricane?.Yes it's famous in the UK.But would overseas modellers want one?.Incidentally,I built the Italeri Sea Hurricane and thought it was a great kit.

 

[Ian M]

Incidentally,I built the Italeri Sea Hurricane and thought it was a great kit.

I can only agree with that, Built a couple and have two more in the stash.

The hurricane did actually see service in quite a few services and in a multitude of roles. There was also a lot more of them than Spitfires. Where as the spit is a thing of beauty (IMHO) the Hurricane had a more set and practical look. Not ugly just solid.

 

[Alan 45]

The hurricane served in every theatre of the war with outstanding success , that's not to say it was better than the spit it was out of date by the time it entered service so it shows how good it really was to last the war and play a big part as well

 

[stona]

I agree with the first bit Alan, and the last, but I don't think you could say it was out of date by the time it entered service

The Hurricane prototype first flew only about four months before that of the Spitfire so they were more or less exact contemporaries. The first Bf 109 prototype had flown six months before the Hurricane

The Hurricane was slightly inferior to the Spitfire Mk 1 and arguably the Bf 109 E but it was better than most other contemporary fighters. We'd have been in a world of sh*t without it in 1940.

It was significantly out performed in just about every respect by the Bf 109 F and of course the Fw 190 A, but soldiered on in North Africa and did sterling service in theatres further afield. It is often forgotten that the Soviet Union received nearly 3,000 Hurricanes!

It never had and never will have the appeal of the Spitfire. There were many 'Spitfire funds' but hardly a 'Hurricane fund'. Some who gave money for a Spitfire were probably disappointed when they got Hurricanes instead, and it did happen

I tend to agree that interest is limited to the UK (and US for modellers who combine the hobby with a bit of history). In Europe, and certainly in the Asian market I think the Hurricane has much less sales potential.

Cheers

Steve

 

[Alan 45]

Sorry Steve I should of added construction wise , it followed some of the old bi plane methods

 

[stona]

Sorry Steve I should of added construction wise , it followed some of the old bi plane methods

Ahhh! Yes, absolutely. No monocoque, stressed skin, construction for the venerable Hurricane

I've seen pictures of some SAAF Hurricanes out in the desert on which the fabric covering the fuselage is distinctly flabby!

Cheers

Steve

 

[Guest]

If I did 1/48 it sounds like I should build it! Thanks for the review.I would say that invasion stripes are very easy to mask using normal masking materials rather than pre-cut masks so their absence shouldn't really put anybody off.

Cheers

Steve

Yep, I get what you mean, but eduard limited editions should include more extras if you get what I mean. Nevertheless, it's a fantastic kit.

John

 

[Guest]

...overlapping rivet rows as seen in the photograph below...

Thanks for the review. But I can't see any photo.

 

[Guest]

Not quite sure I understand that Alan.The email address you cant find is at the bottom of the "Support page".

• Product Requests: suggestions@eduard.com
  

Hmm 'cause nobody else makes models of Spitfires...

I might ask are they only interested in aircraft that have seen Czech service?

I would love that they did more British aircraft but fear they are to into German and Soviet types.

I really want a Me 262 in 1:48 by eduard.

John