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Eduard 1/48 Brassin Spitfire Top Cowl


IanF

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I've bought three of these to use on Eduard's Spits, the problem is, they don't fit! 

 

They are too long and are too wide at the front to match the nose profile. I've offered one up to the Mk.IX, MK.XVI and MK.VIII with the same result. 

 

I realise I can sand/trim to fit, but it defeats the whole point of buying them. I can replace the recessed detail, but the raised fasteners won't be so easy. 

 

I assumed as they were made by Eduard for their Spitfire, they would just be a drop fit. 

 

Has anybody else used these and had the same issue? 

 

Ian

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I've just tried the fit of this cowl and yes it is a 1mm too long, to make it fit you would end up loosing the fasteners which like you say defeats the point of this part.

 

I can't really see a problem with the width though, once it's shortened the width should be fine.

 

I don't like this cowl at all, not only is the length way off but they have added the rivets to the Dzus fasteners, which while accurate doesn't match the fasteners on their own kit.

 

I prefer the Barracudacast cowl, it's more expensive but the length is correct and the Dzus fasteners match the kit and the intake scoop has the front hollowed out. 

Best place for the Eduard one is the bin.

 

Edited by Tbolt
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I've had a go at shortening one, I actually took too much off and now it's a fraction too short, it's still too wide though. 

 

I did notice that the detail on the resin part doesn't match the kit detail, but I assumed this was because the resin part is superior to the kit parts, how wrong was I?!!

 

Looks like I'll be giving a Barracuda cowl a try. 

 

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Yeah off the top of my head the barracuda one looks like its mastered from original kit parts, so more likely to fit first time. 

 

The eduard brassin one was probably made from a cnc'd/laser cut or 3d printed master so perhaps the measurements went wrong at some point? Surely they would have tested it before releasing it? 

 

Now that two people have had the same thing happen very keen to try this out for myself. 

 

PS good point about the extra detail fasteners on the brassin cowl.  While nice to have it then loses consistency with the rest of the kit. We plastic gluing and painting lot are never happy... 

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Fully agree, you would have thought they would have tested the fit before release, particularly with it being designed to fit their own kit! 

 

I'm keen to hear what you find with yours, Tony

 

 

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Well, sadly I too can confirm the brassin cowls are oversize. 

Width left to right over the exhaust area is ok, but the length front to rear is too much. 

When flush up against the fuel tank, the cowl overhangs the nose at the front by as much as the whole rivet section with the fasteners on it. So about 1.5mm +

As mentioned already, trimming/sanding it flush with the rest of the nose will result in the loss of all this detail.

Not good, they seemed to have dropped the ball with this one. 

I will send an email to eduard and let you know what they say. 

 

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They have got back to me asking for some pictures to show the problem. Will try and get some done over the weekend to send through to them. 

Sounded like they haven't heard of this or been reported by anyone else yet? 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
12 hours ago, gingerbob said:

You'd think that they could take a kit cowl and a Brassin cowl and compare them themselves...

 

Or maybe engineered the kits with a one-piece plastic cowl from the start (like ICM)!

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12 hours ago, Welkin said:

 

Or maybe engineered the kits with a one-piece plastic cowl from the start (like ICM)!

 

I'm no expert but I believe you can't get the shape right when molding it from one piece of plastic, though it could probably be done like canopies in one piece but you would still have a seam to clean up so you would really gain much.

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To be honest I didn't find the seam on the top of the cowling any worse to clean up than the seam on the fuselage half joins.  

And nobody witters on and on and on and on about the top cowling joint on virtually everyone else's Spitfires!

My complaint would be that the exhausts seem too tight to fit later as per most other recent kits.  Or I was just clumsy popping off the top cowling when fitting them - still my top cowling joint stayed together!

 

cheers

Will

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On 18/07/2017 at 10:26 AM, Tbolt said:

 

I'm no expert but I believe you can't get the shape right when molding it from one piece of plastic, though it could probably be done like canopies in one piece but you would still have a seam to clean up so you would really gain much.

 

Had Eduard made two complete half-fuselages then I wouldn't have complained. But to make the fuselage minus the cowl area, and then to mould the cowl itself in two parts, just seemed to me to be perverse and poor design - the only downside to a brilliant kit. ICM made separate one-piece cowls for their Spitfires, as did Tamiya for their Mustangs (for example). In any case I bought myself a set of Barracudacast cowls, which are a better solution, IMHO!

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2 hours ago, Welkin said:

 

Had Eduard made two complete half-fuselages then I wouldn't have complained. But to make the fuselage minus the cowl area, and then to mould the cowl itself in two parts, just seemed to me to be perverse and poor design - the only downside to a brilliant kit. ICM made separate one-piece cowls for their Spitfires, as did Tamiya for their Mustangs (for example). In any case I bought myself a set of Barracudacast cowls, which are a better solution, IMHO!

 

Well the Eduard cowl isn't the same as the ICM kit or the Tamiya Mustang - the P-51 cowl has a gentle curve,, very different from a Spit cowl, so is easy to mold as one piece.

 

ICM doesn't appear to have the accuracy curve in the sides of their Spit cowl like the Eduard one, which gives it a slight undercut, which if moulded in one piece would it give problems removing from a two piece metal mold? I don't know as I'm not an expert on moulding.

 

The only cowl it can be compared with is the Tamiya 1/32nd one, which is accurately shaped and with similar detail, but yes Tamiya managed to do this in one piece but I don't know what technology Tamiya used to mold their  beautiful thin cowls, but it probably came down to Eduard trying to keep their kit at a reasonable price by using more traditional molding methods.

 

 

Edited by Tbolt
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Just bought 4 sets for my VIII:s and all four parts were too long, exactly as above.

My Guess is that these covers are from the engine set, where you cut off the entire nose to replace it with new parts. It doesn't matter then if the resin is too long, since all plastic is fine.

Bummer!

 

Should've bought Barracuda in the first place :(

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On 23 July 2017 at 16:37, Christer A said:

 

My Guess is that these covers are from the engine set

 

No they aren't mate, the panels in the engine sets have details on both sides so they can be used upturned in dioramas or the like. 

 

Seeing this thread again has reminded me to take those pictures and send them to eduard.

 

Perhaps we all should...

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10 hours ago, Christer A said:

We most certainly should!

I had a go at shortening one my my cowls.

Results can be found here:

 

 

Nice fix but you've bought a resin cowl to save you having to join the kit parts and prevent loosing detail only to cut it in two! So you ended up with as much work with a part that doesn't quite match the kit with the fasteners.

 

I would ask for my money back on the other three if you can.

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I will defintively contact Eduard and show the problem. If I can get any money back, it would be great.

It really isn't worth the hassle though. I did it as experiment to ser if it can be salvaged somehow. It's not glued to the plane yet, so I can always replace it with plastic :)

Edited by Christer A
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1 hour ago, Christer A said:

I will defintively contact Eduard and show the problem. If I can get any money back, it would be great.

It really isn't worth the hassle though. I did it as experiment to ser if it can be salvaged somehow. It's not glued to the plane yet, so I can always replace it with plastic :)

 

You could try contacting your seller - that's why I like shopping from places like Hannants as I've sent several things back after getting them and realizing they were inaccurate and they had no problem refunding my money. But I've learnt now not to trust any company and always buy one of something first to check it out before I buy anymore (if I can't find a review), I've been caught too many times, one that comes to mind is Aires 1/72 spoked Mosquito wheels - they obviously looked at them only from a pictures of the left side of the aircraft and put the spokes on both side of the wheels!

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  • 1 month later...

hello, i recently purchased 1 x early and 5 x late, yes i can confirm they are all too big, i have created a ticket with Eduard and sent them some pictures as well as posting on Facebook, not sure if i got a bad batch, how could they have missed this issue ?

 

IMG_0450.jpg

 

IMG_0449.jpg

 

 

i will keep the group informed of what they say

 

cheers

 

 

 

 

Edited by squidgy
add pictures
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