Review: Ultracast Spitfire Mk. IX resin parts for the Eduard kit.

Somewhat of a Spitfire aficionado (having built so many by so many different manufacturers that he has probably lost count himself) Tony Prince stepped to the plate when there were some new 48^th scale spitfire improvement sets for the Eduard MKIV kit from Ultracast to examine. See what he thought in today’s Review…

Ultracast 48th scale  Spitfire IX products reviewed here:
1/48  Spitfire Mk IX 4-Blade Propeller & Spinner Cone (fits Eduard Spitfire Mk IX kits)
1/48  Spitfire Mk IX Cockpit Door with crowbar & fittings (fits Eduard Spitfire Mk IX kits)
1/48  Spitfire Mk IX Flared Exhausts (fits Eduard Spitfire Mk IX kits)
1/48  Spitfire Mk IX Tubular Exhausts (fits Eduard Spitfire Mk IX kits)
1/48  Spitfire Mk IX 1-pc Flat Upper Cowl (fits Eduard Spitfire Mk IX kits)
1/48  Spitfire Mk IX 1-pc Bulged Upper Cowl (fits Eduard Spitfire Mk IX kits)

All of these are available from the Ultracast site directly at the links above and below...

Ultracast out of Canada make some very nice resin correction and improvement sets (as well as some nice figures) for many different scales. They are typified usually with thoroughly researched and fine casting detail and a fair bit of subtle detail and the ease of use. Most of their resin comes with the simplest assembly. I for one am over cutting and gluing lots of tiny and fragile resin parts.

We decided to look at all of these bits for the Spitfire together as they all concern the improvement of the Eduard 48^th scale MK IV kit that in itself is already pretty well detailed and accurate. These had better be good then if they were to be of any use! We got Tony Prince – our recent Spitfire nut who has built more of these than he can count and seen more corrections to good and bad spitfires than he can remember to have a look at these Ultracast parts to see if they warrant dishing out the extra Canadian to improve your MKIV.

For a start all of these kit correction/improvements or however you like to call them come in a simple zip-loc bag. The parts inside on examination are all bubble free on their surfaces, They are connected to s small casting block but none of them are in a scary place to remove so no clenching here!

Let’s look at them all now in turn…

1/48 Spitfire Mk IX 4-Blade Propeller & Spinner Cone 

(Fits Eduard Spitfire Mk IX kits)

Ultracast 48260

6 parts of cream resin

$10.95 (CDN Funds) each 

To be very very fair, there is nothing much wrong with the Eduard offering that a few swipes with a sanding stick couldn’t put right, but on closer examination my feeling is that for the purist, the Ultracast blades have just a little edge (no pun!). My opinion is that there is a more refined curve to the slightly broader chiselled tip of their blades, a slightly straighter leading edge & just maybe a more pronounced trailing edge curve.

Not everybody will worry about these differences, but I believe they are worthwhile & will save you hours of frustration if you try to get all four Eduard blades exactly the same. As for installation, Ultracast has worked out a pretty fool proof method: The base of their blades glue (CA) directly on to the Eduard backplate & sit on top of the hub of the prop shaft which is included. As for the spinner; same dimensions & shape I think, but features the backing plate attachment holes around the perimeter of the base. A big bonus is that if you should be building (say) a Hasegawa Spitfire IX, then these are a must. Not only are the blades the correct length; the spinner is too!

 

Here is a close-up of Ultracast spinner cone. The replacement cone has rivet and fastener details which are missing on the Eduard kit spinner. The nose of the cone is also better detailed than the Eduard offering which is a feat!

Propeller blades have more accurately shaped tips and are keyed for positive location on the kit backing plate. The twist in them is evident here in this picture as well.

1/48 Spitfire Mk IX Cockpit Door with crowbar & fittings 

(Fits Eduard Spitfire Mk IX kits)

Ultracast 48261

1 part of cream resin

$4.95 (CDN Funds) each

It’s hard to work out how they made it like this but this is a one part resin piece to re-create the detailed open door on the spitfire which is very prominent as it opens with  the cockpit when the pilot/crew entery/egress.

Details of the cockpit entry door with the prominent escape crowbar fitted to its inner surface. First closed..

and open..

How does Ultracast do it? At first glance I thought ‘Oh yes, a nicely cast door which is realistically thin to boot’. Then I had another look: the crowbar is moulded on as a ‘separate’ item, I.E. There is daylight under the bar! Another look showed that the locking bar on the edge of the door has received similar treatment. Unbelievable!

Really, you need lots of these if you have a collection of Spitfires like mine.

1/48 Spitfire Mk IX Flared Exhausts 

(Fits Eduard Spitfire Mk IX kits)

Ultracast 48262

4 parts in cream resin

$9.95 (CDN Funds) each

These four parts show two parts of hollowed out exhaust from cream resin and two mounting blocks which enable them to be easily applied at any time of the build – it sure does save you time!

This kit allows for installation of the exhaust after the kit is painted, so that the exhausts can be painted separately.  The Eduard kit exhausts unfortunately must be installed before painting.

Thank you, thank you. If ever a part was needed this is it (or these are them). I had a lot of trouble sorting the assembly sequence out when I built my kit. I finally did it but at a cost….. These will certainly be going in to my next Eduard kit… after I finish the paint job.

1/48 Spitfire Mk IX Tubular Exhausts 

(Fits Eduard Spitfire Mk IX kits)

Ultracast 48263

4 parts of cream resin

$9.95 (CDN Funds) each 

Again you have four resin parts make up this set of tubular exhausts that already have it over the Eduard kit in their ease of installation and painting flexibility – just like the tubular set…

The Mk. IX and later Merlin-powered Spitfires mostly used six individual exhaust stacks as is provided by this kit. We found out through research that some MK V’s also used these tubular exhausts as well in stack of six. This kit lets you install the exhaust after the kit is painted, so that the exhausts can be painted separately which gives you the flexibility that the Eduard kit exhausts unfortunately do not as they must be installed before painting.

What can I say? I’ll just have to build an Mk.IXe or a XVI won’t I? Same ease of fit as above, so no excuses.

For those who needed a better understanding of the spitfire MK IV cowls we are looking at next we found this on the Spitfire site which is pretty much the font of all knowledge of Spitfire need-to-know

“From top to bottom:

(1) short Spitfire Mk. V cowling which was the starting point for the Mk. IX. 

(2) Initial Mk. IX cowling produced by Rolls-Royce through straightforward extension of the Mk. V nose. 

(3) Early production Mk. IX cowling. 

(4) Enlarged late production Mk. XVI and Mk. IX cowling.”

For this information I consulted the internet (The Spitfire Site) & my reference library (SAM Publications ‘Supermarine Spitfire Pt.1 & AJ Press, ‘Supermarine Spitfire IX – XVI). I thank the respective authors as they know a lot more than I ever will!

1/48 Spitfire Mk IX 1-pc Bulged Upper Cowl 

(Fits Eduard Spitfire Mk IX kits)

Ultracast 48264

1 part in cream resin

$7.95 (CDN Funds) each

This part had me scratching my head. Out came the reference books – all because they didn’t seem to agree on the location of the intercooler filler cover. My research showed me that this was moved further forward compared to the flat cowling so as to suit the Packard Merlin in the Mk. XVI as this Mark had a different location for its coolant tank which was apparently integral with the intercooler.

I just plain didn’t know this & found that, sure enough, many of my references showed this difference. It’s up to you whether you go with this or not, but it would be a simple matter to fill & re-scribe should you feel so inclined. Either way, the bulged cowling was fitted to both late IX & all XVI versions as far as I can see, so it appears that Ultracast has got it right as it is, for a XVI & if re-scribed, for a IX as well. Otherwise the same comments apply as for the flat cowling.

The Eduard kit upper cowls are two pieces that result in a lot of time and effort to fill and sand and prepare for painting without losing any detail on the cowl which is finely riveted.

1/48 Spitfire Mk IX 1-pc Flat Upper Cowl 

(Fits Eduard Spitfire Mk IX kits)

Ultracast 48264

1 part in cream resin

$7.95 (CDN Funds) each

  A straight out swap for the two piece kit cowling. One could be excused for missing the very fine surface detailing because of the cream resin, but hey, you’re going to paint it aren’t you? Every bit as detailed as the kit part & it will save you some work as well.

As we said above the  Eduard kit upper cowls are two pieces that result in a lot of time and effort to fill and sand and prepare for painting without losing any detail on the cowl which is finely riveted.

These parts do indeed add a lot to the Eduard kit and a few of them we have been long waiting for so many many thanks to Ultracast for making such great and easy to install parts available.

Tony Prince

Finally, a big thank you to Ultracast for supplying these castings for review