Has anyone in the club ever used Fundekals? I want to purchase a set for a 1/32 Spitfire I am starting to work on.
http://www.fundekals.com/
It's a joint venture by Jonathan Strickland and Jennings Heilig. Jonathan was an employee of the Chapel Hill Hungate's in the 90s and was briefly a member of Eagle Squadron. Jennings has contracted as a decal artist for many, many firms including AeroMaster, Cutting Edge, Victory Productions, and Liveries Unlimited. He lives in Virginia. I've run into him a few times at the Roanoke show.
I can state that Jonathan and Jennings knock themselves out getting the best, most accurate artwork they possibly can produce, using source documents. The decal sheets are printed by Cartograf in
Italy, like most aftermarket sheets these days. Buy and use in confidence, I say.
Lee K
Quote from: Lee_K on Sat 02/21/15 10:45 AM
It's a joint venture by Jonathan Strickland and Jennings Heilig. Jonathan was an employee of the Chapel Hill Hungate's in the 90s and was briefly a member of Eagle Squadron. Jennings has contracted as a decal artist for many, many firms including AeroMaster, Cutting Edge, Victory Productions, and Liveries Unlimited. He lives in Virginia. I've run into him a few times at the Roanoke show.
I can state that Jonathan and Jennings knock themselves out getting the best, most accurate artwork they possibly can produce, using source documents. The decal sheets are printed by Cartograf in
Italy, like most aftermarket sheets these days. Buy and use in confidence, I say.
Lee K
Thanks Lee for the input. I want to build Lance Wades MKVIII with the extended wingtips. I will order the decals from their website.
Cool. So you're building the Tamiya wunderkit? I have one in my stash that came from the Mike Mittenzwei estate and I've been trying to screw up the courage to start building it. I'm not sure about the engine as I generally prefer my models to be clean without opened panels. I'll be interested to see how yours turns out.
Lee K
Quote from: Lee_K on Sat 02/21/15 04:10 PM
Cool. So you're building the Tamiya wunderkit? I have one in my stash that came from the Mike Mittenzwei estate and I've been trying to screw up the courage to start building it. I'm not sure about the engine as I generally prefer my models to be clean without opened panels. I'll be interested to see how yours turns out.
Lee K
Yes Lee I am building the Tamiya 1/32 Spitfire MKVIII. I started on the cockpit earlier in the week. The cockpit is pretty detailed with many parts and color callouts. Once I get the cockpit done and the fuselage closed up the kit should move pretty fast. I am not an engine guy so I will not put much effort into that particular area of the model. I wanted to build an aircraft piloted by an American or an American Squadron flying Spits. Decals are sort of sparse for this kit as far as American Spitfires go. They say there is not much difference between the MKVII and the MKVIII.
Spitfire Mk VIII Performance Testing
Brief Description
The Spitfire VIII was essentially an unpressurized Mk VII incorporating the universal wing with extended tips, twin radiators under the wings, enlarged engine cowling to accommodate the larger Merlins with 2 stage superchargers, four blade propeller and retractable tailwheel. It had a strengthened airframe primarily designed to take the 61 series of Merlin. As with the Mk VII, the fuel capacity was increased to 96 gallons in the main tank with 27 gallons carried in the two wing tanks making a total of 123 gallons. Early models featured an extended wing of 40'2". Later models had the standard span of 36'10" or were clipped to 32'2". The ailerons were reduced in size, having about 8 1/2 inches less span than on the standard universal Mark VC wing. There was little discernable performance difference between a Spitfire VIII and IX similarly configured. There were three major versions of the Spitfire VIII; the F (Fighter) with Merlin 61 or 63 engine, the LF (low and medium altitude) with Merlin 66, and the HF (high altitude) equipped with the Merlin 70. The majority of the Spitfire VIIIs produced were the Merlin 66 engined LF version. The operational weight with full fuel and ammunition was 7,800 lbs. A total of 1,654 Mk VIIIs were built.
So I guess Wades plane was an unpressurized MKVIII with extended wings.
Mk VIIIs were almost exclusively used in the Middle East and Far East, so you see lots of assignments to the USAAF and the RAAF. I've got a neat Barracuda Studios decal sheet with desert camouflage and green and brown Australian schemes. The funny thing about the VII and VIII was the plan for it to be the answer to the Fw 190 (which outclassed the Spitfive V), but production delays saw the IX being thrown into service first. A IX is a V with a bigger engine and it was so successful that it ended up being the most-produced variant of the Spitfire line.
I'm looking forward to your build.
Lee K