Eduard Spitfire 1/48 Scale Unboxing and Review Supermarine Spitfire Limited Edition 

Pete, I'd have to echo the suggestion that perhaps, for one's first aircraft kit, a Tamiya or Airfix kit might be an easier place to start. Tamiya kits are reported to go together with few problems (i.e. good fit). I have never built an Eduard kit, so I can't speak to specific issues you might encounter. As far as general things to look out for: 1) when installing the horizontal stabilizers, it is necessary to ensure that they line up with each other, and that they are perpendicular to a vertical plane running fore / aft through the fuselage. 2) It looked like the instructions were calling for cementing the top surfaces of the wings to the lower wing before attaching the combined wing structure to the fuselage. It is possible that this assembly sequence can r3esult in gaps between the upper wing surfaces and the fuselage, due to fit issues with the parts. It is probably worth considering attaching the fuselage to the lower wing section before attaching the upper wing surfaces to the lower wing section, or, at the very least, doing a VERY careful dry fit of the fuselage to the lower wing, with the upper wing surfaces securely taped in place to determine whether there will be any gap issues. In general, being extra thoughtful with dry-fitting as many parts together as possible, to see what issues, if any, one might run into while, or after, cementing parts together, is a good defense against unpleasant surprises (bur I think you already know this from your work on the Yamato).

Hello Peter. Take your time mate! Read each step before starting on that step. The rest is like every other model, be sure of what you're doing before you glue anything. And you have Jason to seek advice from. He is the Spitfire man! Take care & enjoy the process, Jim

Dear Peter, Notes as you presented: Supermarine was the manufacturer of the Spitfire, but was owned by Vickers- Armstrong, hence the aircraft sometimes being named “Vickers Supermarine Spitfire.” The design of the model seems to follow most 1/48 variants- the parts you pointed out are indeed cockpit side walls. As far as propellers are concerned, you may have up to three variants available- a Rotol or De Havilland three blade type and possibly a Watts two blade version to depict very early Mk1s. The smaller decal sheet are walkway lines and placards which visibly include underwing trestle markings. Depending upon which variant you choose, these trestle markings may be obscured by overpainting. Paint finishes were changed regularly throughout WW2, so check your references!! The prototype Spitfires is recognised by its tail skid and by the flush exhaust outlets rather than the later Inconel stubs. The underside would be either night/ white or “sky” but not grey until around 1943. Tron makes a good point about the wing fitting. The part you describe as “air intake is for the radiator. The oil cooler is smaller and on the other side. If you decide to show aircraft on operational readiness, then the rear vent flap should be open. You should pay particular attention to the fitting angle of both the wheels and the oleo legs in order to correctly represent them- the wheels are angled inwards in the vertical plane and the oleo legs are on the inboard side of the wheels such that the wheels would enter the well first- this error can be made on some kits. The air ministry instructions on painting stipulated a clear demarcation between camouflage colours and upper/ lower surface colours also- masking would be required to properly depict this. The instructions look nicely done! A fine review sir!! Regards, Z

Hi Peter, It's a really cool model. Have a great build. 🛩

Good value for this box... lots of extras.

Sir Douglas Robert Stewart Bader Pete is famous spitfire pilot for flying with no legs, lost them in a accident before the war and fought to get to where he was. lot of video Documentary on RU-vid about him

looks like a nice kit pete good luck with the move buddy

I have the Eduard Spitfire story: The sweeps dual combo, looks very similar to what you have. May follow you with this build pal, not done an Eduard kit myself either. Good review.

Great review of an interesting this aircraft.

HI Pete, good to see you taking on your first aircraft, the Spitfire being a good choice, however choosing an Eduard kit maybe not such a good idea, a Tamiya or Airfix would have been a better option with far fewer issues, anyhow good luck with the build.....👌

I've often heard that a good start would be the Tamiya 1/48 P-51D, but you have some experience building, so you might be on the right track here. I think you've worked with PE, so you're ahead of the game. Anyway, I hope it works out for you and you fall in love with building aircraft.

Great review Peter that's one aircraft i have yet to build so cant comment on the build and fitting but i will be watching this one closely have fun 👍👍

Cool......❤