Airfix 'Dogfight Double' - Dundas vs. Wick

[maltadefender]

Hi all,

Is it really five years since we last did this? Wow! Hopefully there will be time and energy for at least a couple of builds, but this one was my birthday present back in February that was bought by my wife specifically for this GB.

We live quite near the southernmost areas of the Battle, and the Solent is quite a key part of family life, so when Airfix came out with its recent Dogfight Double of the new tool Spit Mk.Ia and Bf109e in the markings of the ill-fated combatants John Dundas and Helmut Wick, it seemed like the right thing to get it. Of course the fatal encounter between the two took place after the end of the Battle, but both aircraft depicted saw service throughout so I hope I'm safe on that front!

Here is the box and sprues:

The one thing I will be adding is Propblur propeller blades - the rest will be my attempt at making them to an acceptable standard!

[maltadefender]

On the topic of John Dundas… well, he was quite a boy!

John Charles Dundas was born in 1915, the grandson of Scottish Liberal politician John Dundas and the great grandson of the 1st Earl of Zetland. At the age of 12, John won a scholarship to Stowe school and went up to Oxford at the age of 17. He graduated with a First in Modern History before going on to study at the Sorbonne and the University of Heidelberg.

After his academic life was over, Dundas became a journalist for the Yorkshire Post. One of his peers remembered Dundas for his scraggy appearance - in particular his frayed trousers, ink-stained hands and his habit of spilling beer over himself when drinking. It was also noted that he was popular with the newspaper's female staff.

In July 1938, at the age of 23, Dundas was commissioned as a Pilot Officer with 609 Sqn RAuxAF - the West Riding Squadron, which had been established by his godfather at RAF Yeadon (today's Leeds Bradford Airport). At that time, the squadron was manned by part–time civilians and was equipped with Hawker Hind light bombers.

Dundas embodied the Auxiliary movement - a well-heeled and well-connected young man, whose day job as a journalist saw him accompany Neville Chamberlain during the Munich Crisis and conduct a face-to-face interview with Benito Mussolini in Rome. Hard to imagine a local 'paper sending its staffers on such junkets today!

In August 1939, 609 Squadron was re-equipped with Spitfires. In May 1940, 609 left Yorkshire and arrived at RAF North Weald to help defend the Dunkirk evacuation. As was the case among the 610 Squadron pilots I detailed in my 70th anniversary GB builds, casualties were high - a third of 609 Squadron's original members becoming casualties during Operation Dynamo.

In July 1940, 609 Squadron moved to RAF Middle Wallop to defend the south coast of England. There was also an advanced flight based at RAF Warmwell. On 21 October 1940 the squadron became the first to achieve 100 confirmed enemy aircraft kills. Boasting 9 'aces', pilots F/L Frank Howell (8 confirmed kills),P/O David Moore Crook (6 confirmed kills), P/O John Curchin and John Dundas, who had 9 confirmed kills and held the rank of Flight Lieutenant.

Of interest is that two Spitfires that flew with 609 Squadron during this period, X4590 and R6915 are now preserved at the RAF Museum, Hendon and Imperial War Museum, London respectively. The latter aircraft is one that Dundas flew and scored kills in - he was also wounded in the leg while flying R6915 on October 7 1940. The Squadron Diary records:

"Fg Off Dundas R6915 was hit by an explosive shell and received numerous small pieces in his leg. Landed safely at Warmwell and walked casually to Sick Quarters."

Meanwhile on the other side of the Solent, there stood Helmut Wick...

Helmut Paul Emil Wick was born on 5 August 1915 in Mannheim, the youngest of three children of a civil engineer and his wife. Owing to the demand for his father's skills and expertise building roads and bridges, Helmut spent most of his childhood traveling throughout the German Reich during the Kaiser's reign and onward into the post-war years before settling in Berlin in 1935.

Upon graduating from high school in 1935, Wick applied to the officer candidate course of the new Luftwaffe. Scoring well on the suitability tests, he was accepted into the German military on 6 April 1936 at the officer candidate school in Dresden. After completing compulsory Reich Labour Service, Wick swore the oath of allegiance to Adolf Hitler on 16 April and was assessed as "well suited to become an officer" on 13 July.

On 1 January 1939, Leutnant Helmut Wick was transferred to 1. Staffel of JG133, which was later renamed JG 53, where he first flew the Messerschmitt Bf109 under the tutelage of Werner Mildews. Under Mölders' guidance, Wick became a Schwarmführer (flight leader).

On 31 August 1939 Wick was given orders to transfer to "Jagdgeschwader Richthofen Nr. I". At the time there was no such unit; JG1 certainly existed but the "Richthofen" name had been incorrectly put on Wick's order - and this meant JG2, at that time the 'Top Guns' of the Luftwaffe. Only Wick noticed the clerical error, and his query meant that he could now choose between JG1 and JG2. Wick went to JG2 - the "Richthofen Geschwader".

After a halting start to his wartime career, stymied by engine failures and a lack of parts, by Wick had 10 flourished in the Battle of France, ending the campaign with 14 confirmed and two unconfirmed victories over Fairey Swordfish bombers on 19 May.

Wick rose quickly in rank and in profile, both in the battle zone and as a public figure back in Germany. During the early days of the Battle of Britain his successes reached 20 confirmed kills, being promoted to the rank of Oberleutnant and becoming the leader of 3.JG2 on 21 July 1940. On 20 October 1940, Wick was granted command of JG 2 "Richthofen" by the personal decree of Hermann Göring. At 25 years of age, he thus became the youngest Major and Geschwaderkommodore in the Luftwaffe.

By 28 November 1940, Wick stood as the most successful fighter pilot in the Luftwaffe. His score stood at 55 - one more than Mölders - after shooting down the Spitfire of Archie Lyall from 602 Squadron in the early afternoon. Upon his return to JG2's base in Cherbourg, Wick ordered the aircraft refuelled and re-armed. He took off once more, with Erich Leie as his wingman, at 4:10 p.m., heading for the Isle of Wight.

Spotting a flight of Spitfires, Wick climbed hard before intercepting from the most favourable attack position. In a diving attack, Wick shot down and killed Pilot Officer Paul A. Baillon of 609 Squadron, flying Spitfire R6631. However, the attack on Baillon was not without cost. Polish pilot Zygmunt Klein, flying a Spitfire from 234 Squadron, claimed hits on Wick's Messerschmitt, as did Pilot Officer Eric Marrs. The attack disintegrated into a melée, during which another GJ2 pilot, Rudolf Pflanz, saw a Spitfire shoot down a Bf 109, whose pilot bailed out. Pflanz then shot down the Spitfire, which he observed to crash in the sea with its pilot still inside.

That Spitfire was X4586, flown by John Dundas. Whether or not Wick's aircraft had been hit by either Klein or Marrs, Dundas was the man who finished the job and was heard to shout: "I've finished a 109—Whoopee!" It was to be his last transmission.

While celebrating his 12th 'kill', Dundas was himself caught by Pflanz, who fired into the Spitfire and saw it crash with its pilot inside. Only later did Pflanz find out that it was Wick whom he saw bailing out. Upon Göring's personal order, the Kriegsmarine was dispatched to rescue the stricken pilot but no trace of him was ever found. Helmut Wick and John Dundas both fell into the waters around the isle of Wight; both being victims of the sustained, exhausting fury of the Battle of Britain.

Edited July 31, 2015 by maltadefender

[stevej60]

Superb start,you,ve certainly set the scene for this build,really looking forward to this!

[maltadefender]

Thanks, Steve. Cockpit Green is in on the Spit and I've started painting both pilot figures. I reckon that in October-November, Dundas would have dug out his old Sidcot suit from his time in Hawker Hinds. Blooming cold at ground level at that time of year, let alone at 25-30,000 feet.

[maltadefender]

I'm working on the pilots tonight, pics to follow. I went to the barber's today and took James Holland's Battle of Britain book with me, which fleshed out some more details on John Dundas. Holland is a bit of a Marmite historian - about 25% of his work is based on his own interviews, the rest is stitched together from memoirs. Personally I find it better to read the memoirs in context, but as a 'greatest hits' anthology, Holland saves you a bit of leg work.

By the sounds of it, Holland interviewed John Dundas's younger brother, Hugh, who was also a pilot in the Battle of Britain with 616 Squadron. Both the brothers get a fair amount of coverage as a result! Anyway, what I gleaned was:

Dundas was popular with the ladies but he himself had fallen for the well-known actress, Margaret Rawlings. She was nearly 10 years older than him, a divorcee who was also engaged in affairs with the playwright Charles Morgan and the businessman Robert Barlow. Both of these other men were married and neither was intending to leave their families, so the attentions of a raggedy-yet-dashing young journalist and pilot must have seemed like light relief!

They had met when Dundas interviewed her for the Yorkshire Post in 1938 (quite a year for him!), and when 605 Squadron transferred south to Northolt in order to take part in Operation Dynamo, Dundas was quick to capitalise on being so much closer to her London home. When 609 moved westward for the Battle proper, he maintained a lengthy correspondence with her about life in the squadron.

By contrast, Wick's domestic life was rather staid! He had married Ursel Rolfs in August 1939 - albeit when she was already heavily pregnant with their son, Walter, who was born that October. While Wick was back in Germany after the end of the Battle of France they conceived again - although he would never get to meet his daughter, who was born in February 1941.

An interesting insight is that, at the height of the Battle of Britain, Wick, who wrote to his wife in some despair. Being in regular contact with the top brass, he was disturbed by their insistence that, given just a couple of days of clear weather, the Luftwaffe could destroy the RAF once and for all. Knowing all too well the number of casualties that were being suffered and the evidence that, contrary to opinion higher up the ranks, the RAF was very far from dwindling, Wick wrote: "I think, we are winning ourselves to death over England, my dear."

Here are my pilot figures - they look a lot better in the plastic. Apologies for poor photography!

[maltadefender]

A fair bit of work done this weekend, but not as much as hoped. The Spit is together bar the smaller details and mostly painted, the Messerschmitt is semi-painted and mostly in bits!

The spit had a really tight fit at the wing root - much more so than other examples of the kit that I've previously built. A little bit of swearing helped.

In the meanwhile I looked up a bit more information on Dundas's final mount, X4586. She was first flown on 29 September 1940 and sent to 39 MU the following day. She went into service with 609 Squadron on 8 October on the same day as X4590, which has resided in the RAF Museum in Hendon for almost 40 years. Time flies...

Pictures follow ASAP.

[maltadefender]

Here's the progress so far.

I've had a few inconsistencies with the way that the paint has gone on at times, but overall fairly happy. I've tinkered about a bit with the finish to try and age Wick's machine a little, and give a bit of depth to the Spit. One thing I've learnt in my five years around this forum is that a multitude of sins can be spirited away in the final stages!

Edited August 4, 2015 by maltadefender

[PhantomBigStu]

how the hell did you paint the mottling on wick machine?

[maltadefender]

Dry brushed, spread the bristles out a little and just dabbed at it with the blunt end - apparently that's how the 1:1 mottling was done too!

[PhantomBigStu]

I'll have to try it out, been wanting to do wicks mount, sounds like something i can do with my limited skills

[Ozzy]

Looking good.

[TEMPESTMK5]

Good morning

Yes they both look good

Patrice

[maltadefender]

Well everything's pretty much together enough to get decalling, so I've clear coated them.

I always forget how much I hate trying to do stencils in 1/72.

Then I remember.

[maltadefender]

Warpaint on… and yes, I really hate 1/72 stencils that take forever to align and are invisible to the naked eye!

[rob85]

Very nice work, these two are turning out a real treat

Rob

[maltadefender]

Thanks, Rob.

I'm relatively happy with the 109 but the Spit has been a bit of a horror show so far. Not really sure why. It should come out passably but will really need a bit of focus between now and the finish.

[Hockeyboy76]

There both looking good dude.

[Davek72]

Great work and I think the spit is looking very good.

[maltadefender]

Thanks Hockeyboy and Dave,

Closer inspection last night made me feel a bit better about them! The decals that Airfix is putting out are lovely quality and sit well with just a little softener. It's all down to the final finish now, with Wick's mount having served him from June onwards without respite it should look a bit tired - although Luftwaffe aircraft were generally better maintained cosmetically.

Dundas's Spit only arrived on October 8th so a bit of oil and gun smoke and the odd nick or two in the paintwork should do it.

[maltadefender]

Quite a bit of progress so far today. Weathered both aircraft and varnished them. I've trimmed the prop blurs to the same length as the prop blades on the kit, which loses a bit of the effect, but I'm still quite happy with them.

I also painted and test fitted the display stand, as I find the stock black plastic a bit depressing. This shade of blue (it's Vauxhall Pastel Blue from Halfords!) reminds me of the Isle of Wight, where around the beaches and marinas you'll find it daubed on the beach huts and buildings and houses and elsewhere.

Both Wick and Dundas fell to the south west of the Island. Somewhere out there, these two aircraft remain.

[CedB]

Nice progress and nearly there

[maltadefender]

Thanks Ced - fells like a lot to do! Some shadowing on the elevators on the Spit, glasswork, little bits and bobs to fiddle with until the cows come home. If I'm missing anything please shout!

[Davek72]

Looking good. Let us have some more photos when you can.

D

[maltadefender]

Thanks, Dave.

Heading for bed with both successfully tested on the stand. Actually they will have to stay there now mostly as the prop blurs are so delicate! Goodnight all.

Port weathering on the Messerschmitt is about where I want it...

[maltadefender]

Has anyone else had a poor fit on the Spitfire canopy? I admit I was a bit lazy and didn't dry fit it until late in the day, but I've had to scrape away about 1mm from underneath and inside the bottom of the windscreen to get it to fit. Never had that problem before with this kit. Hope that the moulds aren't wearing out already!