Spitfire Mk.IXe
Weekend Edition

Eduard, 1/48 scale

Reviewed by Brad Fallen

Eduard's 1/48 scale Spitfire Mk.IXe Weekend Edition
is available online from Squadron.com for just $26.96!

Czechoslovak fighter pilots made a significant contribution to the RAF effort during World War 2, destroying nearly 300 enemy aircraft and probably destroying or damaging a further 200.  In August 1945 the three squadrons of the RAF’s Czechoslovak Fighter Wing – Nos. 310, 312 and 313 Squadrons – made a triumphant homecoming in their Spitfire Mk.IXes, where they were reformed into the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Air Divisions.  These new units only survived for a few years before they were disbanded, and the Mk.IXs (renamed S-89 in Czechoslovak service) replaced with more modern Soviet aircraft.  By 1950 all of Czechoslovakia’s surviving Spitfires (approximately 60 of the original 78) had been sold to Israel; four years later, a number of the same aircraft were among the 30 Israeli Spitfires sold to Burma.

Several Spitfires with a Czechoslovak connection have already featured in Eduard’s 1/48 Mk.IX kits:

• Spitfire Mk.IXc, ML296, No. 312 Squadron, August 1944, in the Mk.IXc late version Profipack and the Mk.IXc late version Weekend Edition kits

• Spitfire Mk.IXe, 2014/D-133, 101st Tayeset, Israeli Air Force, January 1949 (ex-Czechoslovak machine) in the Mk.IXe Profipack kit

• Spitfire Mk.IXe, PL124, No.312 Squadron, June 1944 in the Mk.IX ‘The Longest Day’ Limited Edition kit, and

• Spitfire Mk.IXc, MH819, No.310 Squadron, June 1944, also in ‘The Longest Day’. 

Eduard has now added a Czechoslovak Air Force Spitfire to the list with the release of its 1/48 Mk.IXe Weekend Edition.  This kit contains markings for IV-8/TE570 of the 7th Air Regiment, 3rd Air Division (previously B Flight, 313 Squadron) based at Prague in 1946.  The kit instructions contain little information about this machine, but research suggests it is a worthy marking choice.  According to Jiri Rajlich’s ‘Czechoslovak Spitfires in Detail’ TE570 was taken on charge in July 1945 before being crashed and written off in September 1946.  The pilot at the time of this mishap was Captain Miroslav Liskutin, who had an eventful wartime career with the RAF and went on to escape from Soviet-dominated Czechoslovakia in 1948.  Liskutin flew again in a Spitfire last year, and turned 95 in August 2014.  Looking at the post-accident photos of TE570, he is very lucky to have reached this age!

This kit is listed on Eduard’s website as the last Weekend Edition to be released in the familiar blue, yellow and white box; subsequent Weekend Editions feature revamped two-tone blue packaging. 

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Thumbnail panels:

The box contents are as follows:

• Four sprues of grey plastic parts.  I won’t go into detail about these parts in either writing or photographs as Eduard’s 1/48 Mk.IX sprues have already been extensively reviewed here on Hyperscale, with the Mk.IXe covered here and here.  The parts in this kit are of a similarly high quality, with very fine surface detail and no moulding imperfections.

• One sprue of clear plastic parts.  These parts are also excellent, and include options for open and closed canopies.  As the kit subject is a clipped-wing Mk.IXe, you have the option of using the clear wing tips for this version that will make it easier to replicate convincing wing tip lights.  In my experience the clipped wing tips also fit slightly better than the standard span tips, although this may be a reflection of my building ability.

• A 12-page A4 instruction booklet, with construction called out in Eduard’s usual logical and clearly presented style.  The booklet contains a full colour four view painting and marking guide, which was also the case for the Mk.IXc early version Weekend Edition I reviewed in July this year and now seems to be the norm for kits in this series.  TE570 retained its RAF colours of Ocean Grey and Dark Green over Medium Sea Grey, with a Sky spinner and fuselage band, Czechoslovak national markings in six places and a version of the 313 Squadron insignia on the lower port cowl.  Photos of TE570 in Rajlich’s book – both pre- and post-crash – reveal a glossy, well maintained finish showing few signs of wear.

• A small decal sheet of national and individual markings, printed by Eduard.  The decals are crisply printed with good registration and density.  The font used for the ‘TE570’ and ‘IV-8’ decals matches that of the real markings, and the Czechoslovak national insignia are also in the correct style (white borders on the tail insignia, borderless on the wings). Eduard has printed the tail insignia in a distinctly brighter shade than the wing insignia; it’s impossible to detect this difference in the black-and-white photos I have but I can only assume that Eduard has done its homework.  An instrument panel decal is also provided, but stencils are not; if you wish to add the latter they are available separately here.

This Weekend Edition Mk.IXe is a bare-boned package compared to the photo-etched detail, masks and marking options of a Profipack kit.  However, having now largely completed the Mk.IXc early version Weekend Edition kit as an out of the box build, I can confirm that you don’t need these extras to achieve a great-looking model.  I built the IXc over the course of a few days’ modelling escape with a friend (he was tackling the old Airfix 1/72 Buccaneer kit so I definitely got the better end of the deal!). 

What struck me most about the IXc kit was the quality of the fit and the level of detail delivered by the plastic parts; the IXe will be no different.  I’ll be adding aftermarket seatbelts, and possibly an etched instrument panel, but not much else.  Unfortunately I don’t have many photos of the build but at times I felt like I was building a snap-together model, so precisely did the parts go together.  The only ‘gotcha’ I experienced was entirely of my own creation, when I attached the upper engine cowls before fitting the exhaust stacks. There was no way I could fit the stacks through the openings, so I had to remove the cowls; cue swearing.

Eduard’s Spitfire Mk.IXe is another welcome addition to the 1/48 Weekend Edition range.  The quality of the basic kit, combined with the interesting marking option, makes this an attractive and well-priced package.  Of course, if the supplied markings don’t interest you, there are plenty of other Mk.IXe decals available from which to choose.  Whichever route you take, I can highly recommend this kit to both Spitfire fans and anyone looking for a couple of days’ worth of relaxing modelling.

References:

• Jiri Rajlich, ‘Czechoslovak Spitfires in detail:  the history of Czechoslovak Spitfires LF.Mk.IXE from 1945 to present’ (RAK, 2002).

Thanks to Eduard for the sample

Review Text and Images Copyright © 2014 by Brad Fallen
Page Created 25 November, 2014
Last updated 25 November, 2014

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