Eduard Spitfire Mk.IXc

The 1/72-scale Eduard Spitfire Mk.IXc is a phenomenon. This is my first Eduard kit, so I'd like to give my impressions. As I think is generally understood, Eduard kits are of high-quality: excellent detail, well-molded and engineered, great fit. No ejector pin marks, which I think might be due to the added “pegs” attached to each piece (perhaps fulfilling the role of the part of the sprue that gets ejected):

The ProfiPACK version includes photo-etch parts which up the detail ante (the intake vents are a nice touch), and decals are extensive, from nose art down to all the stencil minutia (though they have a matte finish which seems to make them prone to color lift). Canopy masks are included. The kit offers 8 different, well-researched subjects, instructions are clear and careful and actually provide blow-ups of the tinier decals to show you orientation. One quibble is that some decals precede certain build steps (or even other decals) and this ordering is not called out.

Unsurprisingly, with all these amenities Eduard damn well expects you to put together a striking model. And it's not going to necessarily be easy. I found the build a little challenging in places: while parts fit together well, sometimes there is little to no guidance (no slots or lips) on the parts themselves to help the fit along. Yes, there are times when these assists get in the way and I curse the model designers for thinking me some kind of simple brute that can't do without them. Well, I was slightly humbled here. Overall, my impression is that Eduard gives you the raw materials with which to craft an impressively realistic subject, but you are going to have to work for it. At comparable levels of detail and authenticity, Tamiya would then seem to offer a more relaxing challenge.

Like Tamiya, you'll spend a disproportionate amount of time on the cockpit, none of which will really be appreciated with a closed cockpit:

The pre-painted PE instrument panel is lovely.

Once the body is together, we can proceed almost immediately to priming since only filling of standard seams is necessary. The RAF camouflage scheme calls for Mr. Color 361 (Dark Green) and 362 (Ocean Gray). The underside is to be painted Mr. Color 363 (Medium Seagray). My LHS did not have it, but they did have Mr. Color 335, also Medium Seagray. These have the same code (BS637), the only difference being the finish (335 is semi-gloss while 363 is 75% flat). Either way, I was surprised at how dark this color is, barely providing contrast against the dark gray camouflage atop.

The red fabric cannon coverings are provided as decals, but this requires you to paint the yellow stripe on the fore-wing with just the right thickness. Anyway, I didn't discover these decals until after I had already painted them.

Before weathering, I applied a small amount of aluminum acrylic with a micro-sponge to simulate chipping on the fuselage, wing roots, and drop tank.

Weathering made use of AK Interactive enamel panel liner (for blue/gray camouflage), and a variety of oils (greens, blues, grays, tans) on top and the usual assortment of sepia and umbers on the bottom. Some Tamiya pigments were used to create some gun exhaust effect under the wings:

In conclusion, this was a time-consuming build: lots of paint details, lots of decals, and the PE conspire to stretch this one out. But, Eduard seems to be the obvious choice for these particularly iconic subjects.