In Box Review – Eduard Spitfire Mk.IXc Late Version (8281)

The Spitfire may be a British icon but it's certainly one that has not been as well represented in 1:48 scale as it could have been.

While there's plenty of kits out there they are largely plagued by inconsistencies or lacking the production standards that more experienced modellers demand these days.

With the Mk.IX we've most recently we've seen releases from Airfix (in 2007) and Italeri's American Aces release (from 2010). In my opinion both these kits are simple and lack the finer details but should not be discounted, especially if you want a straight forward build or if you're a novice modeller.

Elsewhere there's ICM's release from the late 1990's which if I remember correctly featured an interesting VVS, (Soviet), version but was an absolute nightmare to build and the Hasegawa's release a few years later which was unfortunately too short in the body meaning you needed an after market conversion kit to get it right.

So over to Eduard, can they finally give this legendary aircraft the kit it deserved? Recently my business took a delivery of Eduard kits from our wholesaler and I couldn't resist taking a look.

Well, upon opening the box my initial response was, "is that it"? Eduard's profipacks are usually packed with sprues and yet this box was only half full, containing four grey sprues and a single clear one.

However my initial response was a misjudged one, there's everything packed into this kit. The surface detail is beautiful, fine panel lines, rivets and they all look great, even the exhausts have been hollowed out.

As with all Profipacks there are photo-etched parts, mostly for the interior and these look to be the usual Eduard high standard. In addition the clear parts aren't too thick and there's an option of either opening or closing the canopy. Either way you should be able to show off that nice photo-etched interior.

Shape wise it looks good, add that to that the detail and it makes this the obvious choice over the Hasegawa kit which was it's nearest competitor.

Now if that wasn't enough this is also going to be one of the kits that has the option of Eduard's own resin Brassin extras. Already there's tyres, drop tanks and an incredible cockpit which I'd consider painting on it's own as a side project.

For the marking options you have a choice of six. Naturally they're all RAF markings, and five of the six are standard camouflage schemes. However there's a good choice of pilot nationalities to choose from, for me the aircraft flown by Pierre Clostermann stands out as the one I'd probably want to build.

Manufacturer's finished product shot

So back to my earlier question, can Eduard finally give this legendary aircraft the kit it deserved? In my opinion, it looks like the answer is a resounding "Yes." However I would say while it appears this kit does go together rather well it's still probably one for more experienced modellers. For the beginner out there I'd personally recommend the Airfix release mentioned above, I have an unfinished one somewhere and it's not such a bad kit.


Overall In Box Score: Outstanding. The perfect Spitfire!