found out today my plan to make a wheels up version of the eduard IXC spit hit a snag. even though the directions give instructions to trim the top of the wheel cover for a wheels up build the landing gear and tire does not FIT in the wheel well and there is no recessed edge to glue the cover to if i just wanted to glue it on without the gear attached to it. looks like despite what the instructions say the kit is not engineered to build a in flight version. like i said before for all the hype about this kit, to me it is just average at best. even had issues with the fuselage halves fitting together. of course still it is not a bad kit, and it is a lot better than some other kits i’ve built. plus this is also my first spit build so i do not have anything comparable to compare it to, just saying i don’t share all the praise lavished on it.
Thats a shame Joe. After the hassle you have had. Could you not make something to hold the wheel in place and do away with the landing gear.
I built the Eduard limited edition Tornado F1 [farewell version] and it is a Revell kit with Eduard aftermarket items. A bit disappointing and quite a bit of filling in parts. I suppose it depends on which kit they base their version or if it is their own plastic.
Keep at it Joe, the fun is in the challenge…sometimes
Pete
i’m going to try cutting most of the gear off, just use the spindle to mount the tire on and glue the tire in the well. i will use a small ball of the fun tack higher in the resess for the gear shaft to hold it in place. i may need to sand down the tire to reduce it’s thickness and allow the cover to fit flush…
This is where I am with the Revell Mk IX. I need to detail the interior before sealing the fuselage, and then I will attach the wings and tail bits, but leave off the MLG and small things.
I was thinking of switching to the aluminum scheme ‘UF Q’ even though bare metal Spits weren’t that common, just because it is different and again because I don’t anticipate anyone seeing it besides myself will know that bit of trivia.
After I assemble everything that needs to become aluminum, I will give it the gloss black treatment and allow it to cure over the holiday break. In the mean time I have a 1/16 Pz.Kpfw J to finish painting and mid-terms to administer.
Thank you, actually the only rough bit is the way some parts are attached to the sprues, for the rest… no cleaning up, great fit…
I think everybody remembers the ancient Airfix Mirage in silver with those red lightnings, at that time the only Israeli airplane one could buy… as I have that somewhere in my stash it will be nice to do this one in the same colours, so I will end up with two totally different airplanes in the same colours…
I still haven’t started my Spit. A few weeks ago SWMBO decided my hobby room was out of control (which, to be honest, it was) and moved everything out of there and told me to reorganize. I’m slowly doing that but there’s no modeling going on while it goes on. The end is starting to be in sight, but I think the 1/32 Revell Mk.II is now too much given our time frames. Also, with what’s going on in the world, I think that I too need to build an Israeli Spit.
I find that I have several Hasegawa 1/48 Mk.IXs in the IDF box. Now, I know all about the hue and cry regarding its length, but I have too many to really try to replace with Eduard kits at this point, so I did a comparison:
That’s Eduard at the top, Hasegawa in the middle, and ICM at the bottom. I think I’m going to live with the 2 mm difference for now.
I also have a nice decal sheet from Sky’s Decals for IAF First Fighters which allows me to do Spits in any of a number of paint and marking schemes. Now I just have to decide which to do…
