Francois was looking forward very much to the release of Eduard's new 72nd scale MkIX "late" spitfire release - So instead of just reviewing the kit he built one up instead - See how he completed it in this SBS "Step by Step" - ooh baby!
Build review: Spitfire Mk. IXc late version Profi-PACK
From: Eduard Model Accessories
1/72nd scale
Kit No# 70121
Kit includes 6 decal options, Eduard made plastic parts, PE parts & painting masks
Price USD$18.71 – Directly from the Eduard Website
This new boxing of the Eduard 72nd “late” Spitfire Mk. IXc kit is made of 166 top notch grey plastic parts, 16 clear parts, thin and without any distortion, kabuki paper express masks for the canopy, and a small but very nice pre-painted photo-etched fret to add to the box. Everything you need in the one box to make a lovely little spitfire we are told – but how does the kit look made up? Let’s have a look…
The 161 parts of the kit are made mostly from a medium grey plastic - There is no real flash on the sprues, the surface detail on the outside skin really is a thing to behold, with fine raised and recessed rivets on the skin, just like the real thing. This kit also includes droptanks and bombs.
The cockpit walls come pre-moulded - and in good detail for such a small scale.
In a little closer detail...
The insides fo the fuselage walls is recreated in simple detail.
Flying surfaces are just as impressive in 72nd.
The Build:
All pieces are cut from the sprues, cleaned, secured on a double-sided tape and painted with a base coat of cockpit green from Tamiya, lightened with some white.
As soon as it is dry, a coat of citadel Nuln oil is applied all over the pieces with a brush.
When the wash is dry, the same cockpit green is airbrushed again, this time concentrating on the middle of the panels.
All smaller details are painted with Vallejo paints, then we glue the photo-etched parts, and voilà, the cockpit is finished.
I have to say this is a shame that most of those details will be hidden when all is closed, as it is in my opinion the best interior in 1/72 scale I have ever seen.
Be careful when you glue the seat to the B53 piece, an error is easily made there, as I discovered after gluing everything together...so I had to separate all the pieces (fast) and to it all over again.
The construction of the main body is straightforward, everything falls together very nicely, but I have to say that I had to use a fair amount of putty on top of the fuselage… maybe a more careful (but not as fast) builder won’t have that minor issue.
It all cleaned up rather nicely though...
Time to paint that plane:
I always prime my models using the Alclad II primer, which is an absolute must. This time, I used the white one, sprayed in thin layers.
After it dried (about 2 minutes) I lightly wet sanded it with a very fine sanding sponge.
Next, I painted the underside of the plane, using a mix of medium sea grey and white by Tamiya.
The centre of the panels is painted in a much lighter version of that tone, and that’s it for the underside. A nice trick is to cut your paint with some clear to achieve a satin finish, it also makes your paint more translucent, which is a good thing when you want to have a better control.
Next stage: masking…
And we are ready for the upper side: the grey was mixed between Tamiya field blue and medium green, to achieve that ocean grey colour we want.
After masking some of the areas of the underside i highlighted it with selected panels painted with a lighter underside tone.
Same as the underside, main tone, and lighter version in the inside of the panels.
Masking: first I copied the instruction booklet to have the correct dimensions, and used a new tool to cut paper mask, the gyro cut.
The masking on the fuselage was done using the Blu-tack method, but I prefer using a soft eraser as I find this product easier to work with.
Green: same as the other colours, except this time I used a gunze colour that I had, which has the correct tone. Both this, and the grey/blue colour are painted in a very thin mixture so you can see the bleed through of colour from the patch-work painted panels beneath.
For the clear coat, I tried a new brand this time: Alclad II acrylic gloss, it works great, ready for your airbrush, and dries fast. A great product.
There are six choices of decals I this boxing – we thought we would look at them quickly before we chose the one we wanted:
Spitfire Mk.IXc - Spitfire LF Mk.IXc, MJ586, flown by Pierre Clostermann, No. 602 Squadron, Longues sur Mer airfield, July 7 1944
Spitfire Mk.IXc - Spitfire HF Mk.IXc, ML296, flown by F/Lt Otto Smik, No. 312 Squadron, North Weald AB, Late August 1944
Spitfire Mk.IXc - Spitfire LF Mk.IXc, MH712, flown by W/O Henryk Dygala, No. 302 Squadron, Summer / Autumn 1944
Spitfire Mk.IXc - Spitfire LF Mk.IXc, MJ250, No. 601 Squadron, Italy, Summer 1944
Spitfire Mk.IXc - Spitfire LF Mk.IXc, ML135, flown by Jerry Billing, No. 401 Squadron, Tangmere AB, June 7th, 1944
The same kite but later on - Spitfire Mk.IXc - Spitfire LF Mk.IXc, ML135, flown by Jerry Billing, No. 401 Squadron, France, July 1st, 1944
Decals: These are very thinly printed, and here they are in perfect registration.
I can say that they react well to Micro set & sol. They snuggled down on he surface quite tightly.
The stencils were very detailed as well, the instructions have a handy sheet to show their proper locations.
After a lot of consideration, I choose the Closterman plane. One of the more famous aces of WWII and in interesting colours.
I masked and painted the white and black identification markings as per instruction, I have to say it is not that easy to have them all the same, but I guess it is just me…
Another coat of clear coat, and while it dries for the next day I prepared the small parts (undercarriage, etc.). I have to say that I was a little bit concerned by how the undercarriage legs are glued, but in the end, everything was fine.
Weathering:
I used a sludge wash of black oil paint for the upper part and grey oil paint for the underside. As soon as it is dry (with the help of a hair dryer).
I used a sludge wash of black oil paint for the upper part and grey oil paint for the underside. As soon as it is dry (with the help of a hair dryer).
I removed the excess with a dry tissue, this is possible only if you don’t wait too long before it hardens too solidly.
Vallejo engine stains created some great effects when streaked underneath.
...Added to with some fuel stains on the upper side in various strategic spots that needed to be darkened...
Next, some crayons were used to represent chipping. This was a first for me to use that technique, it is easy and very forgiving.
Chipping was also achieved using Vallejo air aluminium, cut with a little dark brown, this time with a small brush.
The base is very simple, just a piece of grass field. If I can get my hands on a pilot and a vehicle it would be a nice addition, as for now that plane is kind of alone I think.
So, to summarize, what we have here is the best Spitfire in 1/72 scale, and I mean by far.
Is it the definite spit at that scale? I think so - for now certainly, but who knows in the future…
I can’t wait to try the different versions that will surely come for sure in the future.
If you like the spit, this is an absolute must.
Cheers
Francois Laloux
Thanks to Eduard Model Accessories …
…and 16 Escadron for providing this model to Francois to make and review…
