Build Information
- Manufacturer – Eduard
- Scale – 1:48
- Aircraft – Supermarine Spitfire Mk. VIII
- Markings – Lonesome Polcecat, 31st Fighter Group
- Paint – Mr. Paint
- Aftermarket – Eagle Strike decals, Eduard Brassin wheels, Eduard canopy masks, Eduard color photoetch
Quick Review
I’ve never been a gigantic fan of the Spitfire, but I’ve wanted to build Lonesome Polecat since I first saw it in the book Fighter Command when I was a teenager. I don’t really know what made it special, maybe because it was one of the first color photos of World War II that I had seen. Whatever it was, it stuck with me and when Eduard came out with their Mk. VIII, I knew it’d be the perfect kit for the build.
Straight out of the box, the kit was beautiful. The molding was crisp and the plastic was well-detailed. I built the profipack edition so I had photoetch for the kit as well as canopy masks. The PE looked nice and the colors matched what they should. A test fit of the main parts showed no issues. Everything snapped together with only a few very tiny seams.
I started the build as most aircraft builds start, in the cockpit. Again, everything here fit as it should. The Eduard PE added some nice details, but most ended up hidden in the end. Though the instrument panel and seat belts stand out. If you build this, be careful of the fit of the PE panel on the plastic. It is just slightly larger than the plastic and can cause issues down the road. The cockpit was painted with Mr. Paint Interior Grey Green and the color appears to match well.
Once the cockpit was finished, the rest of the build went together pretty fast. The test fit played out during the build and the main fuselage parts went together with only a few small seams that filled neatly with some putty.
There is one area of the build that was baffling. Eduard decided to mold the cowling in two pieces. Not a big deal in itself, but if you’re not very careful while glueing, the halves won’t line up and you’ll have to sand and fill away a bunch of rivet detail. Thankfully, Eduard has a lot of extra parts in the box, including two sets of cowling, so when I messed up the first set, I was able to redo it. There was still a seam that I filled with CA and gently sanded, saving the detail, but it could have been completely avoided by making the cowl one piece.
Priming was once again done with Mr. Surfacer 1500 Black. It didn’t reveal any hidden issues so I moved onto paint, again with Mr. Paint. This time with US Sand, Dark Earth, and Azure Blue. Azure Blue is one of those colors that hasn’t been well represented by manufacturers, but Mr. Paint hit the mark here. They all went down flawlessly.
Paint was followed by a clear coat of Tamiya X-22 and then the Eagle Strike decals. Printed by Cartograf, the decals really hit the mark. They feel a little thick when they come off the paper, but the look painted on once they are down. I used a combination of Microset/sol and Solvaset with the decals and had no issues.
Once the decals were finished, I weathered with AMMO panel line washes and some oils and pastels. Everything was sealed up with a coat of Testors Dullcoat.
This kit was hands down one of the best I’ve ever put together. The few questionable engineering decisions by Eduard are easily overlooked with the quality of the rest of the kit. If you’re looking for a Mk. VIII in 48th scale, this is definitely the one to look for.
Photos
More photos with better resolution at SmugMug
Life in Scale 