Introduction

Modellers of the legendary Spitfire have plenty of options in 1/32 from Tamiya, Hobby Boss and Revell. But there is always room for improvement for kits of this size. Enter Eclipse Model Design, who produce resin upgrades for large scale (1/32nd and bigger) aircraft.

Spitfire Curved Fairing Cannons

Eclipse Model Design offer these finely sculpted and cleanly cast set of curved fairing 20mm cannons designed to complement any 1/32 late Spitfire Mk.IX and onwards kit or conversion. The set features four cannons that can be used in pairs on either one or both wings in either the short or long configuration using the supplied extension tubes.

The kit also includes the option of reversing the cannon mounting stubs so they can be used to portray blanked off cannon fairings or they can also be made to exhibit the rounded stub fair that was sometimes found on late MK.IX Spitfires. The modeller is advised to check the references of the model they are depicting for the correct configuration.

Cast in gray resin the parts are free of flash, seam lines and air bubbles with only small stems from the resin pour are present on the part that would contact the other parts they are small and easy to remove. The resin is neither brittle nor soft.

I decided to test these cannons on my 1/32 Hobby Boss MK.V to see how these cannons fair. Once the hole was made to the correct dimension I started with the reversed cannon stub and the rounded fairing without any issues. Next I reversed the mounting stub and attached the short cannon fairing again the fit was excellent. Finally I tried making the long cannons and this is where a little skill is needed. If the modeller is not careful enough there is a possibility of the cannon not being straight. I would recommend starting with the mounting stub and gluing the extension in place and ensure that it is kept straight while the glue sets. After that just rinse and repeat for the cannon part.

Conclusion

I’m no expert on the Spitfire but Eclipse Model Design have created a great looking set of Curved Fairing 20mm Cannons for the Spitfire with plenty of scope for the many different configurations that I believe the late Spitfires had. I found these easy to use but I would recommend this set for the intermediate to experienced modeller due to the issue of squaring up the long cannons

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