1/48 Eduard Spitfire Mk. VIII 'Lonesome Polecat'

[nicely11b]

So, I've wanted to build 'Lonesome Polecat' for years.  I got the book Fighter Command when I was about 12 and the photos of the 31st Fighter Group, and Lonesome Polecat in particular, stuck with me since.  When I saw Eagle Strike decals had a set of 31st Fighter Group decals with the Polecat, I had to get them.  I didn't have a kit yet to put them on, but I knew some day I would.  Then Eduard answered my prayers and came out with their Mk VIII profipack edition.  And even better, I had a groupbuild to build it for based on photo references.

Everything finally came together.  I had the plane I've wanted to build forever and the markings to do it up in.  Then I started looking for the correct paints and sort of hit a road block.  Without mixing colors, I was having a hard time finding matches.  Until Mr. Paint arrived on the block.  If you haven't used them yet, you really need to.  They are absolutely perfect.  They spray wonderfully right out of the bottle and cover better than anything I've used previously.  For this kit, I'm using their colors exclusively for the main parts - cockpit and paint scheme.  

I started work on her with a quick test fit of the fuselage and wings.  No problems stood out to me here.

I then began in the most logical place, the cockpit.  Everything fit like a glove, including the photoetch that comes with the Profipack edition of the kit.  There is some nice side wall detail that really pops with careful painting.

From what I've seen of cockpit photos and references, the seats were a type of fiberglass that was a red or orange color.  I tried to replicate that by painting it hull red and dry brushing with a lighter shade.  It turned out a bit darker than I'd hoped, but still looks the part.

The PE seat belts also look really nice, especially so after a wash of AK's brown wash for green vehicles.

With the cockpit together, it was time to start buttoning up the girl.  Again, the fit here was good.  There is a small seam where the fuselage halves meet, but nothing that can't be fixed without much of a fuss.

The wheel wells come in multiple pieces, but they all fit spectacularly.  And look lovely under Mr. Paint's Azure Blue.  As you can see here, the surface detail on this kit is really, really nice.

There she sits.  Hopefully tomorrow will allow me to attach the wings to the fuselage and move on from that point.

[TRM]

Nice! Always up for a decent Spitfire build!! Off to a great start!!

[Leon]

Nice start on the Spitfire! The pit and detail look great.

[dierk]

Love Spitties! They look great and had the best sounding engine. Looks like a great kit and you're doing a proper job!

[nicely11b]

Thanks, guys. Hopefully I'll do her justice.

[wing_nut]

You're gonna enjoy this. I just did this kit a couple of builds ago and loved it. Fit and detail are great. 2 things bugged me about how it was engineered. Engine cowl molded in 2 pieces and losing the fine detail along the seam. Not a hard to put back but ya gotta wonder... Why? The other is the exhausts having to be installed before the fuselage is closed up. Just a pain getting the weathering on them. I didn't do anything in he way of figuring how to get them in there afterward but you may want to give it a thought.

Looking very nice so far.

[Deleted]

Luvurly detail work!

[wbill76]

Off to a great start, got to love the detail in that pit.

[nicely11b]

Mar 11, 2016 9:41:26 GMT -5 wing_nut said:

You're gonna enjoy this. I just did this kit a couple of builds ago and loved it. Fit and detail are great. 2 things bugged me about how it was engineered. Engine cowl molded in 2 pieces and losing the fine detail along the seam. Not a hard to put back but ya gotta wonder... Why? The other is the exhausts having to be installed before the fuselage is closed up. Just a pain getting the weathering on them. I didn't do anything in he way of figuring how to get them in there afterward but you may want to give it a thought.

Looking very nice so far.

You did Grey Nurse, right?  

I'm kinda curious about their thinking with the cowl myself.  Maybe they planned on a lot of people buying their AM engine.  I've been tempted to leave the top part off until after painting, so I can get to the exhaust, but I think I may just do the exhaust, mask it well with Mr. Masking Sol Neo, and stick it in.  I'm hoping to be at that point today, so we'll see where I end up.

And thanks for the comments everyone!

[wing_nut]

AM engine or not, I am reasonably sure...not 100% but darn close ... there isn't a panel line down the center of the that part of the cowling. I am sticking with there no good reason to do that unless it saved them money some how.

[Rick]

Great work. Love these Eduard kits. Fantastic fit and detail. Got the mk IX in the stash. Looking forward to more

Rick

[nicely11b]

Mar 11, 2016 16:40:59 GMT -5 wing_nut said:

AM engine or not, I am reasonably sure...not 100% but darn close ... there isn't a panel line down the center of the that part of the cowling. I am sticking with there no good reason to do that unless it saved them money some how.

I put the halves together today.  It really doesn't make sense to me either.  I believe you're right, it's one piece.  I think I have it lined up well enough that it's not going to take much sanding, but if it doesn't it shouldn't be too bad fixing the engraved detail.

[nicely11b]

After getting most of the Polecat buttoned up, I decided to start work on the prop.  When I looked at my reference photos, I knew that the blades were bare on the leading edge, but forgot that early Spitfires had wooden blades.  So I painted them Alclad Aluminum, masked the leading edge with some Mr. Masking Sol Neo, followed by yellow tips and the overall black paint.  

Then I was kindly reminded of the wooden blades and realized that I messed up, so it was back to square one with them.  I tried sanding them smooth and going back over with Mr. Surfacer, but I touched it while still wet and then decided just to strip everything and go back to bare plastic.  Using IPA, I did that.  In the end I was glad that I went that route.  It gave me a smoother finish than I would have gotten by trying to just cover it up.

So after respraying Mr. Surfacer Black, and the yellow tips, I masked the leading edge and sprayed them with Model Master Jet Exhaust enamel.  The leading edges were actually brass, but I liked the look the Jet Exhaust gave it - a sort-of patina.

I'll give the enamel a few days to fully cure before clear coating and adding the few decals to the props that need to go on.  While I wait for that, I'll move back to the fuselage.  

After being at the Tricon IPMS meet in Pittsburgh this past weekend, I got a lot of feedback on what I can do better.  So I'm focusing on getting good seams and a smooth finish where everything meets.  Luckily, the Eduard kit makes that pretty easy as the fit is wonderful.  

So with the major parts of the fuselage together, I filled some gaps with Perfect Plastic Putty.  I like using this where the parts are split at panel lines because it allows me to keep the panel line there.  I fill the gap and once the putty is dry, I clean it up with water.  It allows just a little bit of the gap to show, looking like a panel line.

After all that, I go over the panel lines with my go-to primer, Mr. Surfacer 1500 Black to make sure everything is fixed.

Now, one thing that is still a bit perplexing, is Eduard's engineering of the exhaust.  It has to be installed before the cowling is put on.  I guess I could have installed it and painted it after it was in, but I decided to paint first, mask, and then detail it after everything else is painted.  We'll see how that decision plays out.

[deafpanzer]

Fantastic work on the propeller!

[martslay]

Great work! Good luck!

[Leon]

Nice progress on the Polecat!

[Rick]

Getting better and better. Good choice on re-doing the prop. Looking forward to some camo.

Rick

[wbill76]

Making good strides with this one, nice work on the prop redo.

[adt70hk]

Very nice work so far!!!

That cockpit was a stunning job!!

Well done!!

Andrew

[nicely11b]

Ok guys, lots of progress since my last update.  When I last posted, I had most of the fuselage buttoned up and had the prop painted, stripped, and repainted.  Once that was taken care of, I tackled the biggest flaw of this kit, the two-piece cowling.  The bottom was simple enough as there is no detail on it to worry about, save right at the nose.  I just filled the gap with CA and sanded smooth.  It was the same process on the upper cowling, though much more care was taken since there is a lot of raised and recessed details that can be removed.  I went back over the rivets with a scribe once it was sanded to add some more depth.

The canopy on the Eduard kit fits beautifully.  It's actually the best fitting glass that I've ever used.  I secured it with Tamiya Extra Thin and masked it with the included Eduard masks.

Once the propellor was dried, I painted the spinner with Mr. Paint.

Primed with my go-to, Mr. Surfacer 1500 Black.

After priming, I could finally start getting into my favorite parts of the build.  I decided to start with the Azure Blue on the underside since it was the least complicated part of the scheme.  After mottling the paint, I took care to leave a bit more of the panel lines show through, without making it look like a tartan.  For the top-coat I thinned the Mr. Paint with some Mr. Leveling Thinner, giving one of the smoothest finishes I've ever had.

I moved on to the upper surface and started with the first layer of Mr. Paint's Sand.  Again, I took care to leave more of the panel lines show through while still having a lot of variation in the final look.

The plan going forward now is to put down the final coat of Sand, then move to the Dark Earth, masking with ropes of blue-tack.  Thanks to the awesome coverage quality of the Mr. Paint, I'll do the yellow band on the wings last.

[Deleted]

Stunning work!

[JimD]

Excellent progress. That cowling piece still very much baffles me but overall the kit is so nice it's something that can be lived with I guess.

[nicely11b]

Thanks, Bruce!

Yea, Jimmy, I don't really get their thinking with it, but it was easy enough to fix if you're careful when gluing it together. At least they were nice enough to have two cowlings in the box so if you mess up the first, you can give it a second try.

[Leon]

Nice start on the painting!

[deafpanzer]

Brilliant pre-shading job!!!!

[wbill76]

Looks like a great start to the paintwork, always good to see it go on smooth.

[wing_nut]

Looking very schwingerific. Looking at the cowl, which you did an outstanding job on btw, I am wondering if there should be rivets in that gap. Of course it would be impossible with that ridiculous seam ... ok, sorry .. I won't go there again... but it sure looks like rivets would be perfectly spaced if added to that gap. Trying to find a good cowling photo.

[nicely11b]

Mar 31, 2016 16:06:48 GMT -5 wing_nut said:

I am wondering if there should be rivets in that gap. 

That's a good question, Marc.  I don't have any references of my plane with the top of the cowling, and honestly, I didn't think to look at other planes.  I think it's a good possibility that they should be there, but as good as everything else has been with this kit, I'm curious why they wouldn't mold rivets there.

[nicely11b]

Hey everyone! Well it's been about two weeks since my last update here and the Polecat is just about finished.  Painting and decals have gone without much of a hitch.  The Eagle Strike decals have gone down really well and settled into all the surface detail with Microsol and Solvaset.

Once decals were down, weathering began with a combination of Ammo's panel line washes and oils.

And yesterday, I finally got her up on her legs.  

[Deleted]

Awesome work! That looks great!