lasermonkey
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Posts posted by lasermonkey
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According to the Spitfire Camouflage 1938-1940 article in the November 1982 issue of Scale Aircraft Modelling (still a really good reference) Nos 266 and 603 Squadrons "appear to have used silver until the new paint arrived".
I guess we'll never know for sure whether the colours matched by Lucas were indeed off-the-shelf paints, but having already mixed up batches of "duck egg blue", "duck egg green" and "sky blue", I'd much rather be able to buy something off the shelf myself, and the WEM paints are probably as good as anyone will be able to come up with, and they are excellent paints after all.
Incidentally, we used to use BS 381c No 101 Sky Blue at work. There's an aerosol of it knocking around somewhere....... :-)
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White Ensign Models does Sky Blue No 1 in their Colourcoats range of enamels (along with everything else you might need for a BoB era plane: Eau de Nil, MAP Sky Blue, Sky Grey and, of course, Sky!)
A rousing Huzzah for WEM!
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There goes my pay rise!
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Blue Rider did the sworl fabric as part of their set BR234, which also has markings for four Austro-Hungarian Albatroses. You may get lucky and find some on eBay, but I think they're long out of production.
Good luck!
Mark.
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Hi, I'm currently building a number of 1/72 Spitfire Mk Is, the goal being to do at least one from each squadron operating during the Battle of Britain. So far it's coming along quite nicely, but in the process of deciding exactly which aircraft od do, I came across these two pictures. First up is R6596/QJ*S from No 92 Sqn. What intrigues me is that the fin flash colours appear to be reversed:
I've seen this on a No 610 Sqn Spit, so it's certainly possible. If anyone knows of any other photos of this aircraft, I'd be deeply indebted if you could share.
Secondly, this No 41 Sqn Spit seems to have light coloured windscreen frames:
This areas *should* be Dark Green, but it looks to be lighter than that, or for Dark Earth for that matter. I'm wondering whether it's a replacement, unpainted or primed example. I seem to remember seeing a photo of another 41 Sqn Spit which had light coloured canopy framing.
If anyone has any thoughts or comments, I'd be glad to hear them.
Cheers,
Mark.
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Wot, you mean this?
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Yet another Mark chiming in! I'm currently doing R6596/QJ*S (amongst many others!) and have a few queries. Looking at the photo mentioned above in the Osprey Spitfire Mk I aces book, it would seem that the profile in the aforementioned book is incorrrect, as is that on Mark Styling's website. The fuselage roundel appears to be approximately 49" and non-standardly proportioned. Luckily, that can be sourced from the Tamiya kit. The forward demarcation line between the upper and lower surfaces looks like it follows the panel line, not the older, curved style as depicted on the Osprey profile. I can't make out the upper/lower demarcation on the rear fuselage. Both profiles show it was being a wavy line. Anyone know differently? The fin flash appears to be 3x5" and not the full height of the fin. Interestingly. in the aforementioned photo, the red and blue sections look to me like they're reversed! I've seen this on a No 610 Sqn Spit, but not elsewhere.
Oh, and any ideas if underwing roundels were carried?
If anyone has access to any other photos of R6596, or has any thoughts on the aforementioned photo, I'd be much obliged if you would comment.
Cheers,
Mark.
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The LK codes are from No 87 Sqn, which used Hurricanes during the BoB (and after!) I'm afraid. Spitfire squadrons in the BoB were:
No 19 (codes QV)
No 41 (EB)
No 54 (KL)
No 64 (SH)
No 65 (YT)
No 66 (LZ)
No 72 (RN)
No 74 (ZP)
No 92 (QJ)
No 152 (UM)
No 222 (ZD)
No 234 (AZ)
No 266 (UO)
No 602 (LO)
No 603 (XT)
No 609 (PR)
No 610 (DW)
No 611 (FY)
No 616 (also QJ!)
I know that Superscale did a 1/32 sheet for P9386/QV*K of No 19 Sqn, but don't know if they're still avaliable. I think it's likely that you'll have to resort to the generic sheets of roundels and codes as done by Carpena (or whatever they're called these days!)
I just found codes LK-B in my pile !!I know for sure that's BoB.
I just don't have the serials P 9398. But I'm sure I will be able to get suitable separate letters and numbers to make those.
Guess I'm in again.
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Whilst searching for info on X4036/AZ*D on No 234 Sqn, I happened upon Mark Styling's artwork/profile site. Ignoring the yellow leading edges, and black serial numbers on the 66 Sqn machines (they should be Medium Sea Grey), I'm intrigued by the inclusion of a few a/c which are depicted with "Type B" fuselage roundels, namely K9959/RN*J of No 72 Sqn (Aug 1940) link and L1000/DW*D of No 610 Sqn (July 1940) link. I haven't been able to find any photographs of these two aircraft, but wouldn't the "correct" type A1 roundels have been added by these dates? Thoughts???
Cheers,
Mark.
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Here's another one for the pot
My wife used to work there!
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Thanks for posting the link, Carl! That's some nice work there. Can't wait to see it finished.
I'm really glad I could help. That was the whole point of those walkarounds, and it's rather heartwarming to know they've been put to good use.
Cheers,
Mark.
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Red kites, several of them, and it's a delight to see them so airily dismissive of the gulls, who're going absolutely demented at these interlopers.
Edgar
We get quite a lot of them 'round these parts too. What magnificent creatures!
I managed to get a long-range photo of one at Old Warden a couple of years ago.
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Pretty much everything from the Shuttleworth Collection, with the odd few from Duxford now and again. Oh, and we often see Mark Jeffries practicing in the distance.
I like living here!
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Lovely stuff! I'm a big fan of Miles aeroplanes, and these really are excellent. Well done!
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Maybe these might come in handy:
Cheers,
Mark.
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Hi, I popped over to Old Warden at the weekend and was very pleasantly surprised to see the Demon there. As they had a few panels off, I thought I'd take a few shots...
More here
Cheers,
Mark.
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LOL I come home with pockets full of these. The door pocket in my car is packed full! Never thought about buying them!
Me too! We use them at work when handling delicate optical components. As we don't re-use them, I take home what would have been otherwise thrown away.
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I've built the M and D variants and didn't have that problem at all. I found the overall fit to be very good indeed. I'm sure that doesn't help you one bit, mind.........
edit: this is how my D turned out:
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Having heard much about the narrowness of the Airfix Hurricane's nose, a quick look at some scale plans confirmed this. Once you've noticed it, it's hard to ignore. Anyway, I thought I'd have a go at correcting it. What I did was cut off the extreme nose, immediately forward of the exhaust stacks and packed out the fuselage halves with plastic strip, so the nose followed the plans. I then glued together the bits I had cut off, and with a thin, plastic card shim (to make up for the saw cut), glued it back onto the nose, making sure it was centred. This way, you ensure a circular section on which to affix the prop and spinner. It was then a simple case of fairing this in to the, now wider, nose. It's not particularly difficult to do and it does make a vast improvement.
I will post pics as soon as I can (I'm making the model at work).
Incidentally, on this Hurricane I'm using the DH prop from the Airfix Spitfire I. I'm interested to see how it looks when it's finished.
Cheers,
Mark.
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I'm a big fan of Lifecolour paints. Like many acrylics, they take some getting used to, and all seem to have their own particular foibles.
I thin, with distilled water+ a few drops of Liquitex Slow-Dri acrylic retarder, to the consistency of semi-skimmed milk. This way, I avoid any nozzle clogging.
Lifecolour isn't keen on being the first coat onto bare plastic, but it can be done. It has a tendency to pool onto the plastic, so I mist on the first couple of coats. It will still tend to bead and pool, but if you leave it be, it will self-level. Once that's dry, you can use heavier coats. I've yet to find any paint that gives a smoother finish.
To clean up the airbrush, I use hot water with some washing-up liquid. It works a treat in my Aztek. Of course, one has to flush through afterwards with water, to remove any bubbles!
Many people struggle trying to brush-paint Lifecolor. I did too, until Andy from MR&ME told me that it's possible of you thin with water which has a drop of washing up liquid added. It really works. I also add some retarder, and use several, thin coats.
Hope this helps.
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I believe the correct colour is Hellgrau L40/52, which most manufacturers label RLM 63. RLM 63 is very similar to RLM 02.
White Ensign do L40/52 in their Colourcoats range.
HTH,
Mark.
Looking for yellow code letters
in Resources
Posted
Kits At War did a sheet in 1/72 that featured this aircraft, though I think it's out of print now.
Cheers,
Mark.