GB-47 (ABANDONED) 1:72 Spitfire Mk IXc - WW2 D-Day and After - Western Front

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A lot of build vids will paint the panel lines black, so I went one further and did a black prime. I then painted the dark green around the cockpit because I'm going to have open canopy and door and I hope I can mask this area without the canopy in place. How does everyone deal with the little nubs where the parts are attached? I like the needle file first and a final swipe with sandpaper.
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I'm going to have to up my impression of Eduard kits. The fit is fantastic but you really have to keep track of what you're doing. The little piece at the top has to be in place first, because the inner area (toward the inside of the wing) is wider then the outside. None of this is glued yet. The fit is so tight, you can't feel the joints.
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There is a tiny raised lip on the lower wing, other kits have this area meet flush.

They offer two different gear doors, I can't see any difference but 7 and 10 are not used on this model. There are three cockpit door options (and three doors), closed, closed with open canopy and all open. They show you what to cut away for the closed canopy. It took me a while to figure out what was going on. There is an overlap on the real cockpit between the door and the canopy. Other kits don't bother to provide that 1 mil difference.
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While the Tamiya fit and finish are excellent, Eduard offers just a little extra in options and detail at the cost of a more complex build. Now, I'm old enough to remember when kits came with raised markings and the "cockpit" was two halves of a pilot's head. Compared with them, today's kits, are so much better. Now I'm wondering where there is any place for improvement. There are already many tiny parts and the accuracy and fit seem near perfect.
 
I've been doing some research and found this picture of MH819.
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This photo was taken in late 1943 at a presentation of new Spitfires. I was glad to have picked this aircraft because my cities nickname is "Red Rose City". But Eduard missed this detail because while the seal is on the decal sheet, the RED ROSE III is not. :( (unless it was removed from the plane for some reason) I found the aircraft history listed as such:
33MU 26-9-43 485S 8-10-43 CAC 3-11-43 ros 310S 12-6-44 420RSU 15-6-44 332S 22-6-44 CE I deciphered this as it went to 332 Sqn on 6/15/44 and crashed and was written off on 6/22/44. The black and white will not be weathered but the rest will. I am a bit behind schedule and very busy because this little project is going on.
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Fixing the ceiling, new electric, paint and paper; I have a contractor but I'm helping out as much as I can. If you're not familiar with the term "knob and tube", it's the way houses used to be wired. Hat's off to the European crowd with houses a hundred years older then mine.
 
Humm.. the name should be there because it was printed as one decal marking with the emblem together. If you have the decal markings printed on the white background paper you may miss that easily. On the blue one it can be noticed though.

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That wireing is scary! I have remnants or that stuff in the basement of my 125 year old house but none of it live. The oldest wireing I'm dealing with is that cloth covered stuff from the 1930s and that's scary enough.
 
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MH819 'RED ROSE III' was coded OU-M when operated by 485 (NZ) Sqn in 1943.

Great work on the build so far.
I agree (from what I've done on my XVI) that while being beautifully detailed, they are not simple builds. Almost TOO many parts, requiring alot more fettling to make sure everything fits properly.
 
This GB is abandoned; I've switched my focus onto the Carrier build. I got a set of the Eduard overtrees so at some point, I can redo the build. I'm not happy with the way the overall black prime is turning out.
 

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