1/72 Eduard Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX, VIII and XVI

[alt-92]

Oh goodie. That means the overtrees will also be up again.

[Piotr Mikolajski]

48 minutes ago, alt-92 said:

Oh goodie. That means the overtrees will also be up again.

 

Available already for 10.95 USD / 9,75 €:

• 70121X - Spitfire IXc (Late Version)
• 70122X - Spitfire IXc (Early Version)
• 70123X - Spitfire IXe
• 70127X - Spitfire XVI Bubbletop w/ Late Wings
• 70128X - Spitfire VIII

[Bedders]

Do we think Eduard will produce any of the other Spitfire marks in 1/72? The VIII/IX/XVI are starting to look a bit unimaginative when we have increasing numbers of 109 and 190 subtypes in circulation. Short-nosed Merlins and Griffons would be very welcome. I can't face starting another Sword kit.

 

Justin

[Piotr Mikolajski]

6 hours ago, Bedders said:

Do we think Eduard will produce any of the other Spitfire marks in 1/72?

 

Before they start with the next versions, they should first decently complete VIII, IX & XVI releases, because what they have done is some kind of bloody misunderstanding. There is so many variants and markings to release, especially wartime XVIs, that I really don't understand how they could have made the chaos they produced so far.

[Bedders]

3 hours ago, Piotr Mikolajski said:

 

Before they start with the next versions, they should first decently complete VIII, IX & XVI releases, because what they have done is some kind of bloody misunderstanding. There is so many variants and markings to release, especially wartime XVIs, that I really don't understand how they could have made the chaos they produced so far.

But 17,000 Spitfires were not Mark IXs. Do have to wait for them to do all 5,000 IXs first?

[John Thompson]

As much as I like the late Merlin Spitfires, some Griffons would be very welcome, the XIV in particular. I could make do with the several Ventura ones that somehow crept their way into my stash; they're lovely for limited run kits considering their age but I just don't have the time or patience any more for so much parts cleanup and dry fitting, to echo @Bedders regarding the Sword ones.

 

John

[TEMPESTMK5]

Good morning

 Very good news but I would like to know when Eduard will downscale their 1/48 P 51D Mustang to 1/72  ?

 

Best regards 

Patrice 

[Tbolt]

2 hours ago, TEMPESTMK5 said:

Good morning

 Very good news but I would like to know when Eduard will downscale their 1/48 P 51D Mustang to 1/72  ?

 

Best regards 

Patrice 

 

I'm not aware that Eduard have given a time frame, they've just said it's in their future planes. I guess that mean we won't see it for at least 3 or 4 years.

[TEMPESTMK5]

3 minutes ago, Tbolt said:

 

I'm not aware that Eduard have given a time frame, they've just said it's in their future planes. I suspect that mean we won't see it for at least 3 or 4 years.

Good morning Tbolt 

 Thank you for your answer I will have time to build all the Tamiya kits I have in my stash and also build the Armahobby kits that should be released this year even if it should be more expensive given the current price of the P51B ...

Too bad for Eduard they won't get my money ..

Best Regards 

Patrice  

[Piotr Mikolajski]

On 7/3/2023 at 8:18 AM, Bedders said:

But 17,000 Spitfires were not Mark IXs. Do have to wait for them to do all 5,000 IXs first?

 

Since they didn't release Spitfire XVI decently, I don't know why I should believe that other versions won't be treated in a similarly random manner.

 

12 hours ago, TEMPESTMK5 said:

Very good news but I would like to know when Eduard will downscale their 1/48 P 51D Mustang to 1/72?

 

There are rumours that the 1/72 novelty to be announced at Eday 2023 will be the P-51D. We will find out at the end of September whether this is true or just wishful thinking.

[AaCee26]

On 7/3/2023 at 5:24 PM, John Thompson said:

Griffons would be very welcome, the XIV in particular. I could make do with the several Ventura ones that somehow crept their way into my stash

Hi John,

 

Knowing you are not scared of extensive surgery how about to cross-kit Ventura Griffon nose, fin, rudder and liquid coolers with a suitable Spit IX (or other suitable sub-type, I don't know Spitfeuers too well)?

 

Cheers,

 

AaCee

[DominikS]

On 7/3/2023 at 4:35 AM, Piotr Mikolajski said:

 

Before they start with the next versions, they should first decently complete VIII, IX & XVI releases, because what they have done is some kind of bloody misunderstanding. There is so many variants and markings to release, especially wartime XVIs, that I really don't understand how they could have made the chaos they produced so far.

Actually, they might retool the whole line while making early Merlin versions. When compared with other kits in 72nd of theirs, Spitfires VIII-XVI are the worst quality. I mean the parts look soapy, and the small parts show the problem with forms - unfortunately, I don't know English term (form shifting?). And yes, I completely don't understand why they haven't released low back Mk.XVI as a ProfiPack.

[LansVVS]

10 hours ago, Piotr Mikolajski said:

There are rumours that the 1/72 novelty to be announced at Eday 2023 will be the P-51D. We will find out at the end of September whether this is true or just wishful thinking.

Not bad, but something else is better, like an early Spitfire

[Seboo]

4 hours ago, DominikS said:

 And yes, I completely don't understand why they haven't released low back Mk.XVI as a ProfiPack.

They actually have: https://www.eduard.com/index.php?&cl=details&anid=29122

Now it's discontinued but I bought it in April tis year in their 50% off sale.

[DominikS]

6 hours ago, Seboo said:

They actually have: https://www.eduard.com/index.php?&cl=details&anid=29122

Now it's discontinued but I bought it in April tis year in their 50% off sale.

Should have been more precise. They haven't released Mk.XVI with early/wartime wing E as a ProfiPack. The one from the link only has post war /very late war type E with bulges for larger wheels. 

[alt-92]

Ah, but there's the beauty that is overtrees, pick the IXe (70123X) and swap the wings.

IXe wings:

 

XVI wings:

[Ngantek]

Just out of curiosity, what is the difference between the early and late E wings? Is it just the bulged farings for the big tyres? At least that part doesn't seem like an epic job to remove those if desired. But with 6 schemes I agree it would be nice to include some late war ones and mention the offending changes in the instructions. 

[Dave Fleming]

Double post

Edited July 6, 2023 by Dave Fleming
Double post

[Dave Fleming]

19 hours ago, DominikS said:

Should have been more precise. They haven't released Mk.XVI with early/wartime wing E as a ProfiPack. The one from the link only has post war /very late war type E with bulges for larger wheels. 

That one has only been in the XVI Dual combo (which at least had PE and masks)

 

2 hours ago, Ngantek said:

Just out of curiosity, what is the difference between the early and late E wings? Is it just the bulged farings for the big tyres? At least that part doesn't seem like an epic job to remove those if desired. But with 6 schemes I agree it would be nice to include some late war ones and mention the offending changes in the instructions. 

Pretty much - i think Frame L (High back, late E wing) has only been released as an Overtree so far - my spreadsheet is a little out of date, as there have been a couple of further boxings, but this summarises::

 

Capture2 by David Fleming, on Flickr

 

Capture by David Fleming, on Flickr

Edited July 6, 2023 by Dave Fleming

[Piotr Mikolajski]

On 7/6/2023 at 10:56 AM, Dave Fleming said:

My spreadsheet is a little out of date, as there have been a couple of further boxings

 

The information is in your spreadsheet, but if someone is not familiar with Eduard's pattern of releasing models, may miss it. So it's time to explain it a bit - high backs were released in 2016, bubbletops in 2017. I wasn't interested in the high back at the time, so I didn't buy them at all. If only I had known, I would have stocked all the Overtrees with Spitfire XVIs.

 

But to the point. Eduard has released the following models as Overtrees:

• 70124X – Spitfire Mk.XVI High Back w/ Early Wings
• 70125X – Spitfire Mk.XVI High Back w/ Late Wings
• 70126X – Spitfire Mk.XVI Bubbletop w/ Early Wings
• 70127X – Spitfire Mk.XVI Bubbletop w/ Late Wings

The letter X after the catalogue number indicates that these are sprues only. The numbering corresponds to the catalogue numbers of the full kits in the ProfiPack line, so we should be able to buy the following kits:

• 70124 – Spitfire Mk.XVI High Back w/ Early Wings
• 70125 – Spitfire Mk.XVI High Back w/ Late Wings
• 70126 – Spitfire Mk.XVI Bubbletop w/ Early Wings
• 70127 – Spitfire Mk.XVI Bubbletop w/ Late Wings

Meanwhile, we have only one Spitfire XVI in the ProfiPack line:

• 70126 – Spitfire Mk.XVI Bubbletop

If you follow the catalogue numbering, you will ask - what is the problem, after all, if it is number 70126, it is a Spitfire Mk.XVI Bubbletop w/ Early Wings.

Well, the problem is that the contents of the box correspond to the sprues in the... 70127X kit. So yes, this is a Spitfire Mk.XVI Bubbletop but with Late Wings.

 

A mess? Yes, but it still would not be a major issue if other Spitfires XVIs were available in the ProfiPack and Weekend lines. You could buy two different kits, swap the wings in them, grab some spare decals and Bob's your uncle.

The problem is that the kits with the early wings have not been released separately, and the few available in limited edition kits have also disappeared from sale. The early wing sprue is like the Holy Grail - many have heard, few have seen, no one can get one.

 

You may ask, how did this chaos get started? I will tell you. I don't know.

 

What can (and should) Eduard do? Well, instead of reissuing the models with the same catalogue numbers, which means reissuing 70126 once again, they should 'modify' them. Which means releasing four separate ProfiPack boxes, followed six months later by four Weekend boxes. There will be no shortage of markings, people will buy the kits, Eduard will earn they cash, everyone will be happy.

[Denford]

The problem is that the kits with the early wings have not been released separately, and the few available in limited edition kits have also disappeared from sale. The early wing sprue is like the Holy Grail - many have heard, few have seen, no one can get one.

-oOo-

Well I must (metaphorically at least) have been at the last supper: actually Telford, I think the year before the Pandemic.  Here I bought, from the Eduard Stand, Overtrees for the early, bubbletop XVl.  Ironically  now wish I had bought the late, so if anybody wishes to swap (at Telford) let me know.

 

This thread has some  mention of the overwing bulge being needed for fatter tyres.  Not so: Eduard uses the same tyres A1&2  for both the MK lX & XVl.  The reason was to cant the oleo legs at a 'better' angle for the increasing number of surfaced rather than grass runways.  Eduard uses legs B25 & 26 for the Mk lX and legs 27 & 28 for the XVl.  One might well need a magnifying  glass to see the difference, but well done Eduard !

 

So in my wish to build a late XVl, I had planned to use the overwing bulges which come as separate items on the recently released Sword early Griffon Spitfires.  This I think was due to fatter tyres, so could somebody please tell me that I'm quite wrong and the bulges should be this shape and that position....