Eduard has taken up
the idea to develop a model kit series that shows the development of the
legendary spitfire, starting, of course, with the Mk1, as it was supplied to the
Royal Air Force back in the late 1930s. The kit contains two complete models and
enough parts to make two out of a selection of 10 different versions of the Mk1.
Interesting
information about the development and delivery of the Spitfire is included along
with some more detailed information about the specific versions that are
provided. I decided to build one very early version, with the still flat canopy
and two bladed wooden propeller, and one version with the already bulged
canopy and three bladed steel propeller.
Click on
images below to see larger images
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Building
the kits was pretty easy and fit was again
perfect. The PE is easy to add and looks great. Early on it's paramount that you
decide which version you want to build because single tiny details determine
which parts you are supposed to use. Eduard clearly put a lot of research into
these kits.
Painting was
interesting since the early spitfires had black and white undersides. But it all
went pretty easy. Camouflage was also straightforward using posterbuddies to
trace the patterns and allow me to create the soft transitions of the colours
without overspray. I'm satisfied how that went.
The decals however
were quite tricky to apply since they are very thin and tend to roll up
around the edges. But in the end they went on pretty nicely. A nice touch is
that the early version had it's roundels partly oversprayed with camouflage
colours but the roundels were still slightly visible through the paint. The
roundels provided in the decals have slightly transparent outer rings that
simulate this effect very nicely.
Of course I added
some weathering. Not too much on the early version (the instructions actually
mention that the paint should be fresh) but quite some on the later version. Oil
trails under the nose point at the tendency of the early Merlin engines to leak
oil as if it was for free and of course I added some smoke trails wherever
appropriate.
I hope you will
enjoy the pictures. :)