Eduard Spitfire Mk.II Gun Bays & Mk.IIb SPACE Cockpit (648611 & 3DL48007) 1:48 for Eduard

[Mike]

Spitfire Mk.II Gun Bays & Mk.IIb SPACE Cockpit (648611 & 3DL48007)

1:48 Eduard Brassin

 

 

We reviewed Eduard’s new state-of-the-art new Mk.IIb kit recently here, and now we have a few interesting aftermarket sets in the shape of a resin set of gun bays for the wings, and a new style of cockpit set from Eduard called SPACE that comprises a mixture of new 3D printed decals and regular Photo-Etch (PE).  I think we’re seeing the start of a trend here folks.

 

 

Spitfire Mk.II Detail Set SPACE (3DL48007 for Eduard)

This arrive in a flat resealable package, with a new branding and a white backing card protecting the contents and the instructions that are sandwiched between.  Inside is a sheet of pre-painted PE for various aspects of the cockpit details, plus a new 3D Printed instrument panel, with dials and their glazing depicted by a final clear layer, giving it a realistic sheen, and looking very convincing.  Eduard’s new system lends itself very nicely to the Spitfire’s panel, so the end result is excellent.  The PE parts on the nickel-plated sheet include head-armour; seatbelt retraction reel; back armour; painted four-point seatbelts; flare-rack for the front of the seat; a new compass face in 3D printed material; ring & bead gunsight; small details for the sidewalls; rudder pedals and their straps; pull-handle for the canopy; rear-view mirror and entrance door mechanisms.  The final parts are the gear-position indicator that requires a 0.3mm hole to be drilled in the top surface of the wing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spitfire Mk.IIb Gun bays (648611 for Eduard)

As is now usual with Eduard's smaller resin sets, they arrive in the new shallow Brassin cardboard box, with the resin parts safely cocooned in bags, and the instructions folded around acting as additional padding.  There are 28 resin parts in the box, plus a fret of bare brass PE, and three small sheets of instructions.

 

The first section of the instructions shows which parts of the wings that should be removed before construction begins, including sections of the upper and lower wing skins, and a small section of one outer part of the wheel well to provide clearance for the new parts. Furthermore, the bays reach back as far as the ailerons, with two small sections removed from the rearmost lip.  The set provides enough parts for both wings, so the same process is applied to both wings.

 

With the preparation completed, the gun bays are begun, making each one up with a letter to distinguish which bay goes where.  The bay walls are made up from folded PE walls with perforated floor parts, then the resin gun breeches are inserted.  The inner station carries a cannon with a large bucket-shaped drum magazine, which necessitated the familiar wing bulge to accommodate it.  This is the simple one, as it only has one piece of additional PE fitted over the mag.  The two outer guns are .303 Browning and have PE front faces and actuator cams fitted, with a resin barrel stub at the front.  There are two cannon bays and four machine gun bays, so a fair amount of repetition that should ensure you get faster at making them up.  The bays are then inserted into the wings, the cannons into the upper skin, the Brownings into the lower skin along with a bay for the ammo cans, which are fitted later.  The machine guns themselves are also installed after their bays, and have a mount added to the front from below afterwards, with a scrap diagram showing the correct orientation of this multi-legged part.  A full set of scale-thin resin bay doors are included in the set, with 12 in total in both sides of the wing.  Careful painting should give your Spit potential for a great re-arming diorama.

 

Colour call-outs are given in Gunze codes throughout, which should help immensely with getting your model looking good.

 

 

 

Review sample courtesy of