Spitfire Mk.IX Engine

Eduard BRASSIN, 1/72 scale

Reviewed by Mark Davies

Eduard Brassin’s 1/72 TER Sets are available online from Squadron.com

The Contents

The parts come in a small and comparatively flimsy flip-top box, but they are very well protected inside a sandwich of foam and enclosed by re-sealable bags. The instructions are folded and curved within the box, printed in colour on matte finish paper, and can be viewed or downloaded from Eduard’s website by clicking here. A parts map is provided and the instructional drawings are nicely rendered. Colour call-outs are cross referenced to Gunze Sangyo’s Aqueous and Mr. Color paint ranges.

This CAD illustration also gives clear picture of the parts breakdown.

The casting of the resin is flawless, with super-crisp detail, and easily removed casting blocks; although care is still required, especially with the smaller pieces. The PE parts are also produced to Eduard’s usual high standards.

The Kit

The engine set and Eduard’s Mk.IX Spitfire kit were developed in parallel, and designed to fit one-another from the outset. However, some surgery to the Spitfire kit is still required as the cowl panels and a section of main spar must be removed, as must a forward central piece of the lower wing skin.

Assembly of the engine, its supercharger, ancillaries and mounts all appear quite straightforward, I would advise care to ensure all is square with the resin firewall to ensure the original thrust-line and position is correct. The instructions advise the use of wire for various narrow pipes, with dimensions for these being provided.

PE provides the light framework to which the cowl panels would fasten on the real aircraft (Note that the instructions advise the resin cowl panels are not designed for fitment to the airframe). These PE frames will need to be annealed and gently curved to conform to the inner cowl shape and hug the engine’s outline closely. This will possibly be the most challenging part of assembly to get just right.

A couple of choices are provided with the set; fishtail or later round exhaust pipes, and early or late style upper cowl panels.

I have included both CAD and actual images of the finished model from Eduard’s website in the gallery section and below. Please note that the yellow stand the engine is shown mounted on is not included in the kit.

Subject Selection

Although not clear on either Eduard’s website or the engine set’s packaging is that this must be a Merlin 66. As such it is not strictly suitable for use with Eduard’s F Mk.IX kit which represents aircraft powered by either a Merlin 61 or 63 (click here for my recent “first look” at this kit on HyperScale). Not only is the small difference in the crankcase of these earlier engines, the aircraft itself had a small bulge on the starboard cowl panel just below the exhaust like the Coffman starter bulge on a Spitfire Mk.II. The panel supplied with this set does include this bulge. The Merlin 61 and 63 also used S.U. float carburettors, whereas the 66 used a Bendix-Stromberg injection type.

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Thumbnail panels:

Airframes in serial blocks AB, BR, BS & EN had Merlin 61’s, and blocks JK, JL, LZ & MA Merlin 63’s. The Merlin 66 was introduced part way through block MH from airframe serial number MH370 onwards (although it is possible some MH block Merlin 66 aircraft may still have had a starboard cowl panel with a bulge, despite it not being required).

Any thoughts of using the engine in a Spitfire Mk.XVI must also be abandoned as its engine, the Packard Merlin 266, had some distinct visual differences despite being a licence-built version of the Merlin 66. The most notable of these is the different style and arrangement of the inter-cooler radiator header tank on the top-rear of the engine, whilst some less noticeable differences include different throttle linkage runs, and some minor plumbing.

Eduard’s Spitfire Mk.IX engine is a little gem, and makes for a nice stand-alone model in its own right.

I think Eduard should have indicated its suitability for Mk.IXc & e kits, but not the early F Mk.IX.

Thanks to Eduard for the samples and images.

Review Text & Images Copyright © 2017 by Mark Davies
Page Created 21 March, 2017
Last updated 21 March, 2017

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