Eduards 1:144 scale Spitfire Mk IX is a cracking little kit.I bought this dual-combo "Super44" kit for around €8 online, and I was not disappointed!

I don't think it's been reviewed on Aeroscale (?), so I'll open with some comments on the kit itself.

The sprues are in a greyish blue, with two identical main sprues, an two different wings (standard and "clipped")



The clear parts are very fine, and Eduard even added some minute masks for those that use airbrush rather than brush


The parts are really exquisitely molded


The instructions are clear, and there's color images of alle the 6 profiles included (3 for each type of wing)


The decals are made by Eduard in-house, and are thin, with minimal excess film (important in this scale), with clear, strong colors.

As mentioned is there 6 different profiles to chose from.


For the standard wing the choices are:
PT396 "ECJ" W/C Jack Charles, Tangmere Wing, Tangmere AB, March 1945
PV181 "RAB" W/C Rolf Arne Berg, No132 (Norw.) Wing, Twente AB, "Winter 1944-1945" (more on this profile later)
Unknow Serial "Black 58" No.105 Squadron Israeli Air Force, Ramat David AB, June 1953.

For the clipped wing:
TE515 "DU-W" Czechoslovakian Air Force, previously No. 312 (Czech) Squadron RAF, Ceske Budejovice AB, August 1945
MK791 "K" GC I/4 French Airforce, French Indochina, ca 1947-1948
TD147 "JF-E" W/C James "Stocky" Edwards, 127 RCAF Wing, Schneverdingen AB, May 1945

Interesting note. This kit was the basis for an Eduard "E-Day" limited edition. The profile was of the same aircraft included here as "Black 58", but then in it's previous life as the machine of the commanding officer of the 4th Fighter Regiment, 2nd Air Division, Czechoslovakian Air Force, February 1946.

Now as noted there are some problems with the profile for PV181, more on that next...

Wing commander Rolf Arne Berg (War Cross, DFC&bar) was an interesting character, but I won't go into much detail here. Suffice to say that his career was closely tied with No. 331 (Norw.)Squadron, where he started in 1941. After D-day he served as W/C of No. 132 (Norw.) wing. As part of the 2nd TAF, the No. 132 wing participated in the Normandy Landings and moved to Caen, France in August 1944. From September onwards, the Norwegian squadrons participated in the liberation of Holland and took part in the crossing of the Rhine.

Berg was killed in action February 3. 1945, he at that time had 6 (or 5.5) kills to his name.

Now the colorful Spirtfire PV181 was his personal plane, and as a W/C he had personalized identification code, his initials. He,as many Norwagian pilots, wanted to "represent Norway" so in the autumn of 1944, he had his plane repainted with Norwegian pre-war national markings on the wings and rudder, instead of the standard RAF wing-roundels and tail flash. Originally the Norwegian wing had gotten approval for carrying the Norwegian colours as a spinner-band, but when Berg petitions RAF to introduce his color scheme on all the wings aircraft he was denied. RAF was afraid this would lead to RAF pilots from several occupied countries demanding to introduce their national markings in full force. This would undoubtedly increase the risk of friendly fire accidents.

Now Eduard gives the profile with both invasion stripes as well as the Norwegian colors. But everything points to the Norwegian colors being added to the wings when the invasion stripes on the wings were painted over sometime around September 1944.

The plane was probably repainted again around New Years Eve 1944, when 2nd TAF had a series of changes in color schemes. (The spinner for No 132 wings was repainted black, rather than sky, still with the RAF sanctioned Norwegian color band, and the sky band on the fuselage was removed. You can easily build this version of PV181 using the kits decals if you want...)

So if you plan to build this profile, do not paint the wings with invasion stripes! Incidentally both the stripes and the fuselage band is not included as decals, which means you need a steady hand, or good masking skills! (I painted mine freehand, pictures in next post!)

You have ample precedent

Now the build is hassle free, but be aware that Eduard give no parts for the cockpit. So unless you want to buy an AM-solution, you'll want to scratch something, as the cockpithood is clear and it will look bare, even if you paint the interior flat black.

I made a simple seat of cardboard and a stick of stretched sprue. A dashboard would not really be visible so I dropped that. Also note that you'll need to paint the top of the wing in your chosen interior color, and it's easier before you glue it together!


The kit goes together beautifully, and the clean up of the parts are easy. But be aware that the rudders have *not* flash, but a thin edge at the mounting point to blend into the fuselage! Be aware that the parts number for the rudders are reversed in the instructions, A11 is the right, A10 the left.


The final touch is of course the paints and decals, and that went surprisingly easy.




Now all I have to do is decide what profile to use on the other kit!

Thank you for reading!

Eirik,

Nicely done.

I can't imagine anyone modeling WW11 fighters in 1/144 scale. Even with my Optivisor, I would have difficulty in seeing what I'm doing.

Joel

That was one large fruit fly!

Nice build and presentation.
/Fredrik

There is always the going home scheme.

Finished the second Spitfire as TD147, W/C James Francis Edwards Spitfire LF Mk XVIe (i.e. with the Packard-built Merlin 266) JF-E. Funny that it's the same code as Clostermanns Tempest which I finished last week! (The explanation is off course that Edwards, as Wing Commander of 127. RCAF Wing had personalized his machine as he was entitled to.)

Eirik,
Nicely built and painted pair of Spitfires. I struggle even seeing 1/72 scale, and they're both 1/144 scale. Just can't imagine trying to work in that scale.
Joel