Dennis_C Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 (edited) Hi all, Today I'm posting the last one of my Spitfires trio. This time I've got a little non-typical one - this is a clipped-wing mk.IX in Israeli markings. The War of Independence (or the 1948 Arab-Israeli War) was the last conflict where Spitfires saw air-to-air dog-fighting - most paradoxically a lot of this action has been happening between Spitfires flying in RAF, Egyptian Air Force and newly formed Israeli Defence Force. The prototype that I've chosen was one of the aircraft flown under Velveta I operation from Czechoslovakia in late 1948 that arrived to Middle East in time to see some action in the last months of the conflict in December 1948 - January 1949. The aircraft belonged to the 101st "The FIrst Fighter Squadron". At the time of the conflict Spitfires were still retaining their factory colours of Dark Green, Ocean Grey and Medium Sea Grey. The rudder as well as propeller spinner were repainted into squardon colours. Israeli roundels, squadron badge, recognition number ('14') and serials ('2004') were added. The kit used is the Eduard's masterpiece. It's definitely the most elaborated kit I've ever assembled. The fit is great, the quality of details is outstanding, At the same time I would not say it tends to jump together. Quite a lot of care and diligence need to be invested to receive a great result. Dryfitting, thin glue, removal of excessive paint on joints are mandatory here. Also what I noted during the construction - all the beauty of the kit manifested only after final matt coating when one could finally very well see all those minor details on the wings and fuselage surface. Apart of the standard kit contents I used Eduard Brassin exhausts (honestly the kit part loses a lot to the resin option) and Master gun barrels - again brass barrels are much nicer and more importantly are more resistant to clumsy fingers. The decals are a mix of Eduard stencilling and Sky Decals' set for early IDF fighters. Eduard decal is excellent. Sky Decals are good but tended to crack especially on the rudder which is a beast to apply decals honestly. The rudder turned out well in the end thanks to having a very well matching red paint in the paint box. Perhaps, painting it from the start would be a better idea and much less nervous job. Some close up shots: Paints used are Tamiya's XF-81, 82 and 83 which are in my view a very good tone match to Dark Green, Ocean Grey and Medium Sea Grey respectively, however they are a little too dark so require proper dilution with white. Assorted Vallejo, Tamiya and Hobby Color paints were used for other colours. Finish is Tamiya Clear before decals application and Micro Flat for final coat. Some more shots from different angles: And that's my favourite - Spitfire looks very Mustang'ish here - clipped wing, 4-bladed airscrew, bomb holders. True fighter! Very muscle look: For the dessert - I could not resist doing more group pictures of all the three Spits in my collection. Mk.I and PR.XIX were already shown individually under RFI section . Hope you enjoyed Happy and Much Better New Year to all!!! Dennis Edited December 30, 2020 by Dennis_C Spell check 31 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corsaircorp Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 Great Spitery Dennis !! Both 3 are beauties !! Korocho !! 3, 4, and five blades great combo and fine presentation !! Congrats Man !! Happy new year !! CC 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil5208 Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 Excellent work, I have the Egyptian Air Force one in my collection, also from the Eduard kit and intend to build the Israeli one this year. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinnie Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 Outstanding work on all three Spitfires. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis_C Posted December 31, 2020 Author Share Posted December 31, 2020 Thank you, guys! 8 hours ago, corsaircorp said: 3, 4, and five blades great combo and fine presentation !! Yeah. That was the intent. Sort of Spit evolution: early and late Merlins and Griffon. Now I need a two- and six (3×2) -bladers 36 minutes ago, neil5208 said: I have the Egyptian Air Force one in my collection, also from the Eduard kit and intend to build the Israeli one this year. Nice plan! Never enough Spitfires! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellsprop Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 That's a superb looking Spitfire and a lovely collection! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swralph Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 Very nice build.😀 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanC Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 A very nice looking Spitfire there Dennis. You're right that it's not the easiest of kits to put together - I've only done one and I found it quite fiddly. But the end result is well worth it as you have shown. Let's hope Eduard has a go at the early mark Spits before too long. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis_C Posted December 31, 2020 Author Share Posted December 31, 2020 30 minutes ago, IanC said: You're right that it's not the easiest of kits to put together - I've only done one and I found it quite fiddly. But the end result is well worth it as you have shown. Hi Ian, fully agree. One thing that you're mentioning but I did not speak up before - some joints are indeed not robust at all. In particular flaps are very fiddly - there is only a very narrow edge where you apply glue and no way to use a lot of glue there. Undercarriage joint is very unusual too. It is not a traditional pin and hole combo but rather a spherical and a prismatic recesses on the wing part with two symmetrical endings on the leg. So this causes some instability in longitudinal direction and you really need to make sure you get the right and same angle for both legs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 Three lovely models well done, and a happy new year to you. 🥳👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natter Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 An Israeli Spitfire. It doesn't get much better than that. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corsaircorp Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 16 hours ago, Dennis_C said: Thank you, guys! Yeah. That was the intent. Sort of Spit evolution: early and late Merlins and Griffon. Now I need a two- and six (3×2) -bladers Nice plan! Never enough Spitfires! Seafire 47 is coming ??? CC 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis_C Posted January 1, 2021 Author Share Posted January 1, 2021 7 minutes ago, corsaircorp said: Seafire 47 is coming ??? CC And K5054! Happy New Year!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team Aer Lingus Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 Great looking model Dennis and a nice trio very well done thanks for sharing regards Eamonn 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viking Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 Very nice Spitfire collection, , and it is nice to see one in unusual markings. I really must get one of these when we are allowed back to modelling shows again! Cheers John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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