1/48 Eduard Spitfire IXc - Johnnie Johnson EN398

[bigbadbadge]

Cracking job on the interior details, looks fantastic. 

Chris

[Steve 1602]

54 minutes ago, bigbadbadge said:

Cracking job on the interior details, looks fantastic. 

Chris

Thanks Chris - the Eduard kits are really nice I think. Enough detail to make it interesting but plenty of scope for additional work and PE. 
 

Steve

[Tail-Dragon]

Regarding the seat belts, I found the answer in a posting from Edgar (Burrows?) in 2008 ...

 

"Early belts, Paul. The Sutton harness remained in use throughout the war, and (certainly on Spitfires) wasn't replaced by the (QS) harness, with the parachute box-type release until 1946. The confusion probably arises from the "Sutton harness, type K" being called the "The QK harness," sometime during the war, but the mods book, on the Spitfire, is specific enough to give 6-8-46 as the start-date for the "QS" harness "so making quick release operative."

Edgar"

[Dave Swindell]

57 minutes ago, Tail-Dragon said:

Edgar (Burrows?)

Brooks

[Steve 1602]

1 hour ago, Tail-Dragon said:

Regarding the seat belts, I found the answer in a posting from Edgar (Burrows?) in 2008 ...

 

"Early belts, Paul. The Sutton harness remained in use throughout the war, and (certainly on Spitfires) wasn't replaced by the (QS) harness, with the parachute box-type release until 1946. The confusion probably arises from the "Sutton harness, type K" being called the "The QK harness," sometime during the war, but the mods book, on the Spitfire, is specific enough to give 6-8-46 as the start-date for the "QS" harness "so making quick release operative."

Edgar"

Thanks - Luckily I found a Sutton in another kit so I’m squared away 👍

 

Steve

[Tail-Dragon]

20 minutes ago, Dave Swindell said:

Brooks

A senior moment, couldn't recall his last name.  Somedays I'm lucky to recall mine!

[Dave Swindell]

46 minutes ago, Tail-Dragon said:

A senior moment, couldn't recall his last name.  Somedays I'm lucky to recall mine!

I know the feeling! Close but no cigar...

[Steve 1602]

A productive evening and I made some solid progress. First up, I completed the seat assembly and fitted an Eduard PE seat harness (pinched from another Eduard Spitfire boxing).

 

 

I also finished the compass - for which Eduard supply a tiny decal which I ‘glazed’ with a spot of Kristal Klear.

 

Then it was fitting the cockpit assembly and joining the fuselage halves - some pictures of it all glued in place.

There’s some artistic licence with the gunsight and an amber reflector lens. I also made an oxygen hose from wire and fitted it on the sidewall. 

 

 

And finally, wings on! I’ll get the rest of the airframe assembled and then start getting ready for paint.

 

Steve

[Scooby]

On 1/17/2022 at 9:14 AM, Steve 1602 said:

Thanks Colin - that the one I had seen from Avieology - which makes me think that red on the Kenley wing badge is a good assumption. 
 

Steve

And that photo is credited to my friend who did the research defending the red leaf. I’d prefer that the leaf be red, I just feel green is correct.

 

I thought that emblem and colors were found on Typhoons, just as Aviaeology depicted them.

 

 

[Scooby]

On 1/17/2022 at 3:42 AM, Steve 1602 said:

 

A few questions back though -

I thought the Canadian Divisional patches in WW2 used a gold rather than green maple leaf (certainly that’s what I found on a  couple of sites)? 
 

perhaps I should do one side green and one red so I am at least 50% correct 😆

 

Steve

You are correct, the leafs were gold on the armored markings. My mistake.

 

And I do know someone who put one of each on a JEJ Spitfire. I also know a person who said he was going to created a vinyl cling marking that he could put on top of the alternate roundel. So he could switch them when he wanted, not sure how they turned out though.

[Steve 1602]

Lunchtime progress and we now have wingtips and tailplanes! I’m really happy with the fit and seams overall, although I predict some engine cowl seam removal in my immediate future!
 

Dependent on how things go this evening, I may be able to get some primer on tomorrow.

 

Steve

 

 

[Andy J]

I'm a little late to the party Steve but will follow along with great interest from now on 🙂. Brilliant work so far mate I have a feeling this Spitfire is going to look superb when finished 👍 

[Steve 1602]

25 minutes ago, Andy J said:

I'm a little late to the party Steve but will follow along with great interest from now on 🙂. Brilliant work so far mate I have a feeling this Spitfire is going to look superb when finished 👍 

Thanks Andy - that’s just increased the pressure 😆

[jackroadkill]

That's a great start there, Steve.  The kit looks very nice, too.

[Andy J]

11 minutes ago, Steve 1602 said:

Thanks Andy - that’s just increased the pressure 😆

No pressure mate......just be sure to make a good job of it 😆👍

[Steve 1602]

7 hours ago, jackroadkill said:

That's a great start there, Steve.  The kit looks very nice, too.

Thanks JRK - the kit is lovely. I built a pair of Eduard Mk XVIs previously and the late Spits are a treat to build. 
 

Steve

7 hours ago, Andy J said:

No pressure mate......just be sure to make a good job of it 😆👍

Don’t panic 😵‍💫😆

[jackroadkill]

1 minute ago, Steve 1602 said:

Thanks JRK - the kit is lovely. I built a pair of Eduard Mk XVIs previously and the late Spits are a treat to build. 

I'm hoping the early ones are as nice; I have the mk1 and mk2 dual boxings and am feeling the itch to build one.

[Steve 1602]

These Eduard late Merlin Spitfires are an absolute pleasure to build - the only slightly vexing part is the engine cowl. This has been well documented elsewhere but the seam can be a pain to remove without removing all the surface detail. There are of course one-piece aftermarket replacements available, but with a bit of planning I think the kit parts are perfectly workable. I thought I’d share my approach.

 

First I assemble the cowl in place on the model. I tape it in place and then when I’ve got it as square as I think I can, I join it with Tamiya extra thin and leave it to harden.

 

Next I use some masking tape to protect the area surrounding the seam - I probably leave about 0.5- 1mm either side. Any rivets still visible and the cowling panel line are deepened slightly with a darning needle in a pin-vice. This ensures that I can keep that detail after sanding.

 

Then I give a quick swipe with some very fine sandpaper and apply some filler - in this case homemade sprue goo.

 

Then it’s some careful use of fine sandpaper - checking progress regularly. I also may need to focus on particular areas so I just tape off boxes as required. During this stage I may again deepen some rivet detail or panel lines. That gets me to this.

 

Finally I give it all a polish with toothpaste and water with my finger. And then dry and finish with a microfibre sunglass cleaning cloth. 
 

 

I’ll then see how that looks under a coat of primer. I also diverge from Eduard’s intructions at this point. EduarD would have you fit the exhausts and the cowling at this point but I think that’s then a pain in terms of painting and masking the exhausts. Instead, I lightly tack the cowling in place with a couple of dots of white glue which allows me to paint the cowling in situ and then pop it off at the end to fit the exhausts. 
 

Steve

[Steve 1602]

12 minutes ago, jackroadkill said:

I'm hoping the early ones are as nice; I have the mk1 and mk2 dual boxings and am feeling the itch to build one.

Me too - I’ve developed an addiction, I’ve got those dual combos as well along with both Mk V releases to date! They look great 👍 

 

Steve

[Valleyforge]

Its all looking great,  despite the E mail up dates I cant stay up with you,  Carry on the great work, it looks brill up to now. 

[Valleyforge]

25 minutes ago, Steve 1602 said:

There are of course one-piece aftermarket replacements available, but with a bit of planning I think the kit parts are perfectly workable

Never retreat, never surrender. 

[Steve 1602]

26 minutes ago, Valleyforge said:

Its all looking great,  despite the E mail up dates I cant stay up with you,  Carry on the great work, it looks brill up to now. 

Thanks VF 👍

[Steve 1602]

This is now as far as I’ve got tonight. Jobs remaining before painting are fitting the radiators and masking the cockpit. Fingers crossed for primer tomorrow.

 

Steve

 

 

[Tail-Dragon]

Before you prime, is the left canon barrel not parallel with the right, or is it just camera distortion?  If there is a problem, much easier to correct before paint.

 

[Gidge]

4 hours ago, Steve 1602 said:

These Eduard late Merlin Spitfires are an absolute pleasure to build - the only slightly vexing part is the engine cowl. This has been well documented elsewhere but the seam can be a pain to remove without removing all the surface detail. There are of course one-piece aftermarket replacements available, but with a bit of planning I think the kit parts are perfectly workable. I thought I’d share my approach.

 

First I assemble the cowl in place on the model. I tape it in place and then when I’ve got it as square as I think I can, I join it with Tamiya extra thin and leave it to harden.

 

Next I use some masking tape to protect the area surrounding the seam - I probably leave about 0.5- 1mm either side. Any rivets still visible and the cowling panel line are deepened slightly with a darning needle in a pin-vice. This ensures that I can keep that detail after sanding.

 

Then I give a quick swipe with some very fine sandpaper and apply some filler - in this case homemade sprue goo.

 

Then it’s some careful use of fine sandpaper - checking progress regularly. I also may need to focus on particular areas so I just tape off boxes as required. During this stage I may again deepen some rivet detail or panel lines. That gets me to this.

 

Finally I give it all a polish with toothpaste and water with my finger. And then dry and finish with a microfibre sunglass cleaning cloth. 
 

 

I’ll then see how that looks under a coat of primer. I also diverge from Eduard’s intructions at this point. EduarD would have you fit the exhausts and the cowling at this point but I think that’s then a pain in terms of painting and masking the exhausts. Instead, I lightly tack the cowling in place with a couple of dots of white glue which allows me to paint the cowling in situ and then pop it off at the end to fit the exhausts. 
 

Steve

 

One minor peeve of mine is they offer a one piece resin part as an extra. Personally I'd rather pay a little more and have it in the box rather than have to pay for the regular one in the kit which you won't use and pay extra for the one piece part