Spitfires over Burma and the Pacific

[Giorgio N]

Just a placeholder at the moment as I'm not going to start these for a while. My main contribution to this GB will be in the form of two Spitfire VIIIs, one to fit in the Australia and New Zealand theme and the other to fit with the SEA theme. To make things quicker I'll build them alongside each other, if the hosts are fine with it I will post the builds in parallel in a single thread. If this is not acceptable no proble, I'll start two separate threads.

 

Both models will be built from this fantastic box:

 

 

The Eduard Aussie Eight package is a dream for every Spitfire enthusiast ! Inside the box are two kits, each with PE parts and masks. The decal sheet is incredible, giving the modeller really a lot of options. Instructions are in colour and are great but the best part is the inclusion of this book:

 

 

The author alone is a guarantee of accurate and well researched information ! Peter Malone is probably my favourite source when it comes to Australian Spitfires, he really has done a lot of research on the subject. In addition every time I had a chance to discuss Spitfires with him he's showed to be a very kind and generous person.

The only problem I have is to decide which Australian VIII I should build ! At the moment Gibbs' machine as shown on the cover is my favourite option. Really I'd like to build at least 3 Australian Spitfires, but for the GB I also want to build an RAF machine in Burma. The plastic will come from the Eduard box but the decals will come from here:

 

 

I've yet to decide the subject but I'm really tempted by that famous leaping panther....

 

Can't guarantee, but should the build be quicker than expected (unlikely with me...), I may throw in another VIII from one of these boxes:

 

 

A pretty large box (actually the same as the previous box, just less deep) in white cardboard that inside shows another Eduard kit ! These are the famous "overtrees",  just the plastic with no decals or PE parts. A cheap option for modellers who have decals in the stash

[TEMPESTMK5]

Good afternoon Giorgio

 Great 3 Eduard Spitfire 😁I amlooking forward to see you start building them ..

 

Cheers

Patrice

[trickyrich]

welcome aboard Giorgio and I like your choices very much!!!  

 

I've got the same box set as well but the 1/48th version, I had thought of building them too, but I wanted to build something unusual, P-39 in RAAF colours. Plus I wouldn't have been able to choose which ones to build either! 

 

Good luck with the builds, it'll be a pleasure as always to follow them.

[Giorgio N]

With the F-104 build for the Nato-Warpac '60s GB approaching the end I started with the Spitfires. Or better, I started with one of the Spitfires.. I have built the Eduard Spit before but I have never built any of the Profipack or similar boxes with all the PE goodies so I decided to build them one at the time, the first one will be used to check any problem before I build the second one. Not sure if the approach is valid but too late to worry now...

Not much use in showing the content, the Eduard Spitfire kits are well known. Let's just say that the detail is very good and the coloured PE parts give an even better look to the cockpit. It didn't take too much to reach this point:

 

 

A lot of nice details and I haven't added the PE compass yet !

Closing all the parts in the fuselage halves should be easy enough, I'm only worried about the shoulder belts: these are reproduced in two parts, one attached to the seat and one going into the rear bulkhead. They have to be glued together in a specific spot, will they align correctly ? I'm considering gluing them together first but I don't know if I'll be able to easily fit them in place if I go this way. Don't know why I'm worrying, it's Eduard, they sure have done things right !

[Greg Law]

That's great. Something for my Oscar to shoot down..............😎

That reminds me I will need to do some seat belts for the Oscar. No point in getting PE for it as the cockpit opening is small. 

[trickyrich]

that interior looks nicely done. I'm sure it'll all go together nicely.

[Rabbit Leader]

Nice going Giorgio. Am I the only one not to have an Eduard Spitfire in the stash? It’s almost a crime I know! I can see myself building plenty of these however seem to get sidetracked with other models each time the opportunity presents itself. That cockpit is looking good mate, so yet another build to keep and eye on.

 

Cheers.. Dave 

[trickyrich]

I can see a new addition to your stash soon, maybe you can ask Santa to bring you one?? 

[TEMPESTMK5]

23 hours ago, Rabbit Leader said:

Nice going Giorgio. Am I the only one not to have an Eduard Spitfire in the stash? It’s almost a crime I know! I can see myself building plenty of these however seem to get sidetracked with other models each time the opportunity presents itself. That cockpit is looking good mate, so yet another build to keep and eye on.

 

Cheers.. Dave 

Good morning Dave

I recently added this box to my stash and I highly recommend it ... but I fear I won't have enough time time to build one of the Spit for this Gb ...

 

Cheers

Patrice

[Giorgio N]

On 11/14/2018 at 8:51 PM, Greg Law said:

That's great. Something for my Oscar to shoot down..............😎

That reminds me I will need to do some seat belts for the Oscar. No point in getting PE for it as the cockpit opening is small. 

 

Mind, the VIII not an easy one to shoot down 😁

 

In general I feel that seatbelts improve quite a lot the realism of a cockpit, without going the PE route I always try to add them using foil. Simple, cheap but effective

 

 

On 11/19/2018 at 10:04 AM, Rabbit Leader said:

Nice going Giorgio. Am I the only one not to have an Eduard Spitfire in the stash? It’s almost a crime I know! I can see myself building plenty of these however seem to get sidetracked with other models each time the opportunity presents itself. That cockpit is looking good mate, so yet another build to keep and eye on.

 

Cheers.. Dave 

 

You should really add one ! This is one of those kits that have made all previous ones obsolete. No other 1/72 Spit IX/VIII kit can offer the same combination of accuracy, detail, ease of build and I may add even price, as the Weekend Edition boxes are IMHO very good value for money.

 

 

[Giorgio N]

On 11/15/2018 at 11:37 PM, trickyrich said:

that interior looks nicely done. I'm sure it'll all go together nicely.

 

Well, it did and it didn't...

Most parts went pretty well but the seat belts made me swear quite a lot. Part of the fault lays with the CA glue I used, as this for some reason decided to stick to everything except the belts. Anyway, it took me a while but I've not almost completed the cockpit. I say almost as the model is still missing the gunsight (a lovely piece of clear plastic that however I may replace with a resin one), the pedals  and the top frame under the rear canopy section. Anyway, let the pictures do the talking...

 

 

 

 

In the meantime I have also worked on the wheel wells. Eduard offers a selection of parts to accomodate different variant of landing gear legs used on the Mk.VIII and the wheel wells differ accordingly. The instructions clearly state which subjects require which parts. As one of my Spitfires will be built using different decals I had to check the serial numbers and found that both will use the later version. The inclusion of different well walls for the different landing gears shows how much attention to detail Eduard has put into this kit, simply fantastic.

Edited November 22, 2018 by Giorgio N

[Greg Law]

On the seat belts I lucky remembered I had a spare cloth set from the Zero. Although I found them a bit over size, so I used the shoulder straps for the lap belts as this plane only used lap belts.

[Giorgio N]

While Eduard supplied quite a lot of detail in this box, I've decided to add a couple more things, both simple enough but hopefully effective.

The gunsight has been replaced with a Quickboost part. To do this I chopped the Eduard part, retaining the mounting frame and eliminating the sight itself. The Quickboost resin sight was then glued onto the frame and this inserted in the relative slot in the instrument panel. Easy and effective. The glass will be replaced with acetate but I'll do this only immediately before gluing the windscreen in place.

I then added the rear belt pull wires, that in the real Spitfire go into the area behind the cockpit. To simulate these I used invisible mending thread. It's a small detail that however I find quite interesting.

After these parts and the pedals were added, it was time to close the fuselage.

 

 

Not sure how much all the details will be visible with the canopy in place, even if posed open, but I have to say that the overall result is very nice.

 

 

While the fuselage glue was setting it was time to prepare the wings. The top halves need some persuasion to fit properly on the bottom part, maybe I did something wrong with the wheel wells, in any case they are now sorted.

 

 

 

The different colout in the image of the lower surfaces is due to the primer that I spraid while working on the wheel wells as some areas need painting before the wing is assembled. Notice how this is a proper Mk.VIII wing, with shorter ailerons, fuel tanks in the wing leading edges and outer ID lamps. Eduard did their homework here and they reproduced all the various differences, they didn't just add a retractable tailwheel and a pointed rudder to a Mk.IX...

 

With the wing and the fuselage completed I couldn't resist trying to dryfit the two assemblies to see how they worked together...

 

 

What can I say, brilliant ? Great ? Actually there's a tiny gap where the wing leading edges meet the part moulded on the fuselage. The fuselage also needed a swipe of abrasive paper in a couple of spots... ah, how could Eduard make such a badly fitting kit ? 😁😁😁

 

While I expect the wing-fuselage fit to be pretty good I know from experience that the lower engine cowling part may give problems in this kit. I'll try to be more careful than I've been in my previous Mk.IXs. One set of parts that I know fit pretty well are the tailplanes, here however I have to decide what to do...

Eduard moulded the tailplanes with the elevators in the neutral position. Nothing strange here, most companies do the same on all their kits. The Spitfire on the ground however generally features elevators that point downward because of their weight. It was possible to introduce a lock to the control stick to keep the elevator neutral and I could reproduce my aircraft this way, however I feel that having drooping elevators is more realistic. What to do ? I could simply cut the elevator from the tailplanes but the shape of these makes the work not that easy without damaging either the fixed or the moving part or both. I could sacrifice a set for the fixed parts and one for the elevators and then make a resin mould, something that could make sense if I want to build more Eduard Spitfire (and beside these two I have another 7 in the stash...). Alternatively I could buy the Aires set that offers tailplanes with separate eleators in resin... decisions, decisions...

 

[Greg Law]

With my Zero I simply cut them off and filled the gap. Mind you this was to be a simple build for me so I didn't want to do anything too difficult. Anyway I'm happy with he result remembering my not to perfect eye sight.

[modelling minion]

Great work Giorgio, this really is coming along nicely.

[trickyrich]

some nice little detailing work Giorgio, interesting how the belt straps are mounted, I never knew that.

[Rabbit Leader]

You’re making me really want one Giorgio. Just learned something about ID lamps that I didn’t know about Mk.VIII’s? Many thanks for that. She’s looking very nice mate! 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

[Grey Beema]

10 hours ago, trickyrich said:

some nice little detailing work Giorgio, interesting how the belt straps are mounted, I never knew that.

I think, and hopefully there is an expert on here that can correct me, the seat belt worked in two ways.  

 

One set of straps went over the pilots shoulders then down behind the seat and I assume either mounted to the seat or to the airframe behind the seat which together which when latched to the lap belts would stop the pilot being shot upwards out of the seat in inverted flight or a -ve G manoeuvre and be kept in back in his seat if in a dive.

 

The second set of straps again passed over the shoulder and back into the fuselage into an inertial real (similar to a car), again my assumption is to stop the pilot being flung forwards in the event of a crash (or arrested landing).

 

Or at least I think that's how it works..

[Grey Beema]

Great work so far Giorgio,

I wish that Eduard would make a 1/48 Seafire III with this level of detail.  I would be buying a few.

On 11/23/2018 at 3:49 PM, Giorgio N said:

 

Eduard moulded the tailplanes with the elevators in the neutral position. Nothing strange here, most companies do the same on all their kits. The Spitfire on the ground however generally features elevators that point downward because of their weight. It was possible to introduce a lock to the control stick to keep the elevator neutral and I could reproduce my aircraft this way, however I feel that having drooping elevators is more realistic. What to do ? I could simply cut the elevator from the tailplanes but the shape of these makes the work not that easy without damaging either the fixed or the moving part or both. I could sacrifice a set for the fixed parts and one for the elevators and then make a resin mould, something that could make sense if I want to build more Eduard Spitfire (and beside these two I have another 7 in the stash...). Alternatively I could buy the Aires set that offers tailplanes with separate eleators in resin... decisions, decisions...

 

As far as animating the elevators go I think I would be applying the razor saw.  With careful sawing I think you could separate them without to much damage.  Clean up with a file and a smear of filler and Robert is your mothers brother..

[Col.]

Tidy work and fast with it Giorgio. Well done getting so far so fast and keeping the quality of work high.

 

1 hour ago, Grey Beema said:

I wish that Eduard would make a 1/48 Seafire III with this level of detail.  I would be buying a few.

That would be nice of them. Get a bit expensive for me though.

[Giorgio N]

Thanks everyone !

 

On 11/25/2018 at 9:54 AM, Grey Beema said:

I think, and hopefully there is an expert on here that can correct me, the seat belt worked in two ways.  

 

One set of straps went over the pilots shoulders then down behind the seat and I assume either mounted to the seat or to the airframe behind the seat which together which when latched to the lap belts would stop the pilot being shot upwards out of the seat in inverted flight or a -ve G manoeuvre and be kept in back in his seat if in a dive.

 

The second set of straps again passed over the shoulder and back into the fuselage into an inertial real (similar to a car), again my assumption is to stop the pilot being flung forwards in the event of a crash (or arrested landing).

 

Or at least I think that's how it works..

 

Pretty much, not sure about the kinematics of the various parts but that's how they were made. It must be said that Eduard reproduced this arrangement very well in this kit, the only part missing are the cables that connect the second set of straps onto the inertial reel and these are the cables I added.

Forgot to mention that in order to reproduce details like this I'm using this book:

 

 

150 pages crammed with pictures of details of the Spitfire IX, a very useful addition for any modeller with an interest in Supermarine's finest. Some details differ between the IX and VIII but a lot are the same, I just need to keep in mind where the differences are. When I bought this book it was on sale from the publisher and paid € 15 for this, that IMHO is a very good price for such a publication

 

I should also add that the day Eduard will decide to issue a series of Seafires I will also be very happy. My preferred scale is 1/72 but I wouldn't object to a 1/48 kit. Really if Eduard ever decided to offer kits of the earlier Merlin powered variants similar to their IX/VIII I'd probably spend most of my modelling budget on their website

Edited November 26, 2018 by Giorgio N

[Giorgio N]

Now the elevators... yes, it is of course possible to simply use a razor saw or similar to cut them from the tailplanes but this is not the easiest of tasks, thanks to the shape of the later Spitfire elevators, well captured by Eduard:

 

 

Cutting the horizontal part is easy, cutting the vertical part of the compensation horn is also easy, cutting the angled part is not as easy, at least not without damaging the part. In the picture below I've marked the easy parts in green and the harder in red

 

 

Mind, when I say easy or difficult I only mean for me, other modellers may not have my same problems. Personally however anytime I tried to cut a Spit IX style elevator I've always had some problem.

Fortunately I realised that a potential solution is in every box of this kit.. let's look at a couple of sprues:

 

 

See how Eduard supplies 3 different set of tailplanes. The ones I've marked with A are the type first introduced on the Mk.I and are here included as they were still used on the early Mk.IXs. This style is pretty easy to cut.

The ones marked with B are the standard Mk.IX and following type, with enlarged horn. The Mk.VIIIs all used this type.

Now what are the ones marked with C ? They are a later variant that differs in having the elevator covered in metal rather than fabric. These were used on late M.IXs and XVIs and later variants.

The metal covered elevators are not to be used on the Mk.VIII kit but as the tailplanes are the same size they will allow me to do things a bit differently: cut the fixed tailplanes from these parts without much concern for the elevators, that will not be used anyway. Then I can cut the fabric elevators from the parts marked with B without much concern for the fixed part. After cleaning all the chopped parts I should end up with two nice and clean elevators (fabric covered) and two nice and clean fixed parts.

Well, that's the plan, we'll see if it works...

 

 

[Black Knight]

For cutting such as those elevators off I use a narrow panel scriber. Working on both sides I eventually get it to a point where the tip of a sharp scalpel will do the final cut through

[Greg Law]

That is what I was thinking too. I always use a scriber for this these days.

[trickyrich]

that's a clever use of the extra bits that come with the model. and a simple solution in this case as well.