--> **** DONE: 1/48 Spitfire Mk 22/24 - Post-War Warbirds

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JKim

Senior Master Sergeant
3,601
544
Jul 1, 2014
Carlsbad, CA
Username: JKim
First name: John
Category: Advanced
Scale: 1/48
Manufacturer: Eduard
Model Type: Spitfire F Mk. 22/24
Aftermarket addons: Squadron Vacuform Canopy

I'm doing the Last Spitfire... the Griffon-engined, pentapropped, big tail final version of the legendary fighter from Supermarine.

 
My entry in this GB is the Eduard-boxing of an Airfix kit. Although it is not of the most recent vintage, the reviews on the Airfix release of the Spitfire 22/24 are universally positive. I've never built an Airfix kit so I am looking forward to building this model.


The instructions come in two parts: one is the assembly instructions and the the other is a multi-colored sheet with the decal options for four separate birds.


Although I have not finalized my choice, I am leaning towards the blue-nosed Mk 24 of the Number 80 Squadron that was based in Hong Kong.


The main decal sheet looks to be manufactured by Eduard. I've had nothing but good experiences with Eduard decals so I expect nothing but good results here.


There is a smaller decal sheet that holds all of the stenciling.


Eduard Limited Editions are similar to their Profipack kits and offer some multi-media options that weren't included with the original Airfix kit. The most substantial addition is this resin cockpit detail set. It is manufactured by Aires, which has a reputation for very well detailed castings and dubious fit. I have had lousy luck with aftermarket resin and will have to proceed cautiously with this one.


The sidewall parts are impressively detailed. From other online builds that I have seen, the use of the Aires cockpit requires extensive thinning of the resin sidewalls as well as the fuselage interior. I should throw these parts into the trash bin RIGHT NOW!


The other resin parts look great as well including hollowed out exhaust pipes.




The other "extra" included in this kit is a fret of photoetched brass details, which includes the instrument panel, harnesses, mesh radiator grills and other small details.


The clear sprue holds a two-part canopy, various landing light lenses and a gun sight.



My only aftermarket purchase has been a set of vacuform canopies from Squadron. This set is designed to show the cockpit open. Instead of supplying two sets of open canopies, I wish Squadron offered one open and one closed.


Next are the plastic bits...
 
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Here is the bottom of the wing. This kit was purchased from Ebay as opened but unbuilt and a few parts were floating around in the box. I didn't do a rigorous parts check but nothing appears to be missing.


Not ever having seen an Airfix kit, I was impressed by the molding quality of this "older" release. Panel lines are recessed and fairly subtle.


Here are the upper wings. I'm not a Spitfire expert and can't say anything definitive of the various bumps on these parts except that they look to be molded well.



The interior side of the upper wings have the wheel well details molded into place. Looks pretty rudimentary but I'm not sure I'll be doing anything extensive here.


The starboard fuselage sprue has the landing gear as well as some cockpit parts. Although the tail wheel is small and simple, I like the sharp definition between the hub and tire... it makes it much easier to paint in a convincing manner.



The kit-supplied instrument panel is fairly well executed.


The sidewall detail molded into the fuselage interior is pretty shallow and doesn't come close the Aires sidewalls. But since this detail needs to be scraped away to make room for the resin, I'll have to commit one way or the other BEFORE I can check fit... urrrggg!


The port fuselage was detached from its sprue but seems to be undamaged. Details on the tail control surfaces looks very good.



The wing cannons are in need of some attention with some sink marks and short-shot plastic. Hopefully I can clean them up without having to resort to aftermarket replacement.


This small sprue holds the five (separate) prop blades and the spinner assembly.


This last piece was also detached from the sprue. I think it is the chin cowling and it has some obvious sink marks that need to be filled and smoothed out.



That's it for the sprue tour... I'll get started when I need to take a break from the Dora. See you then!
 
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I'm lucky to have found it on EBay. I didn't get at a bargain price but paid around MSRP when it was released ($50).

Looking forward to getting this one started. I already started scraping the resin side walls down in thickness so I am definitely working to utilize that beautiful resin cockpit. Hopefully, it doesn't bite me in the butt.
 
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Good choice John, and it's a very nice kit even in the basic Airfix issue. It's one from their resurgence period in the late 1990's, being released around 1997 (at least, that's when I got mine).
With a bit of work, and maybe a little scratch-building, the cockpit, and wheel wells, are fine as provided, as very little can be seen, even with the canopy and cockpit flap open, due to the narrow cockpit. The resin parts look great, but they are a sod to fit, as they, and the cockpit walls, need to be ground down quite a lot.
One thing though - get rid of the part indicated by the yellow arrow in the pic below. It's supposed to be the flap actuator cover, but apart from the fact that the flaps are never deployed when parked (unless for servicing), it's the wrong shape and size.

 
Thanks for the tip Terry! Eduard has this covered as they supply both (a) a scribing template to show the cover in the normally closed position and (b) a PE piece to show it more accurately in the open position.
 
Hopefully easy but I'm sure the resin bits will give me some headaches! I've made a slow and careful start to the Spitfire. Started with the chin cowl, which was already detached from the sprues. A bit of rough sanding to give some bite to the surface of the plastic.


Here's the part after two rounds of Mr Surfacer 1000+sanding. There is also a depression around the base of the chin intake that I wasn't sure about. Do I leave it or fill it? Will have to do some research.


Based on online information that I could gather about this Aires cockpit set, thinning of both the resin sidewall parts and the fuselage sides is needed to make things fit. Here are the resin pieces cut from their casting blocks and placed in their respective fuselage sides. The molded detail that Airfix put into the interior of the fuselage needs to be removed.


Luckily, the plastic on this kit is of the softer variety and takes to scraping and sanding very well. Using a combination of a rounded x-acto blade and a rough grade of sandpaper, I thinned the fuselage walls.


I did the same with the resin sidewall.


Here is the starboard fuselage side with the resin piece resting in place. Instead of assembling the sidewalls and cockpit floor prior to installation per the instructions, I am going to glue the sidewalls into the fuselage sides and then insert the cockpit floor from the bottom after the fuselage sides have been attached. That seems to be consensus approach to success with this resin kit.
 
Looks like you've got it sorted John.
Do you mean the depression shown by the yellow arrow ?
If so, this helps the carb intake to 'stand proud' of the cowling panel, and is correct. You may need a touch of thin filler at the joint when the intake is fitted, but a dry-fit on mine shows it should be fine without.

 
John, there is a risk with that approach to adding the resin from the underside. It happened to me on my Tempest. If you end up not thinning things enough and assemble the tub after he fuselage is glued together, you may find that it won't fit into the opening all they way, in which case it's very difficult to continue thinning.
 
Maybe tack the resin side walls into place with PVA, then test fit the cockpit ?
The resin can then be 'popped off', thinned more if required, and test fit again.
 
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