Antti_K

Terve Troy, yes, you are right. I was of course talking only about Spitfire XII. Looking at the sprues I would use the Airfix Spitfire XII propeller as a starting point for my next Mk.XII project. It would probably mean far less work than reshaping Airfix PR.XIX blades. And I would still do some work with the propeller blades for a Seafire as well. The shape looks pretty good but to my eye they still are too broad. Cheers, Antti

I would reshape those propeller blades (see the photo in Troy's post). The blades are far too broad, the general shape is wrong and they should be rounded at the base. Cheers, Antti

Thank you John_W I messed with risers and cords in my reply. Although trying to explain the same thing. Cheers, Antti

Hello Adrian, we were taught to dive head first when leaving the airplane (Fouga CM.170 Magister). Then spread one's legs and pull the rip chord spreading both arms simultaneously. All this was done to prevent any tendency to spin as this could be very dangerous while the chute is exiting the bag. The risers are attached to two "straps" that in turn are attached to the shoulders of the harness. The parachute turns you automatically in correct position once the main chute is fully deployed. Cheers, Antti

Thank you Troy This certainly gives a more detailed view on Mark12's project. I was simply looking at a photograph (originally posted by you?) of his "Spitfire Factory" with a four blade propeller visible at the front. The blades carried "pink" discs with yellow drawing number. And of course I assumed that propeller actually came from Mk.XII. It seems that the propeller markings in my model may be wrong. What you said in your earlier post about the shape of the Airfix propeller blade shape sounds good. The blade roots weren't as broad as in some Seafire marks. And certainly they were very different to those used on PR.XIXs. Morgan & Shacklady give two different propeller types for Spitfire Mk.XII. Does this mean that the propeller hubs were of different type but same type of blades? Books and magazines give three different propeller diameters. I wonder whether there should be only one correct value or are they all correct? Cheers, Antti

Terve Troy, and thank you for your detailed response. I found that document about propeller blades and their markings "a couple" of years ago when I did some research for my PR.XIX projects. I based my assumption of pink discs and yellow blade drawing number on a photograph of the remains of the last surviving Mk.XII published here on BM. IIRC the BBMF ground crew member who shared the document on Key forum also explained, that the pink discs were the most common. Can you give any further information about decals 21-24 and 31-32? Do they give the technical specifications about the paints used for camouflage? The Wired Through (WT) marking is clear as is the small DTD517 marking. That "SAL/65/R1272" for example is confusing me. What does it mean? On the rudder of MB853 there is "PA/BK/307344/DSL" (which is also a mystery to me). Toy, your translator is working perfectly Cheers, Antti

Hello Justin, I found the information about differential oleo pressures in "Spitfire - The History" (by Morgan & Shacklady). There is a page giving all the technical specifications for Mk.XII including oleo pressures. I would say that the pressures were set at the factory. The photos from IWM collection give the modeller an idea what to do. I used the photos to calculate how much to remove from the oleo. As I used Eduard Mk.VIII as a base for my Mk.XII conversion, I had to cut the landing gear leg, shorten the oleo and re-attach the lower part again. I used my modelling knife (Tamiya) to cut the gear leg. Cheers, Antti

Hello Troy, and thank you for the post. I'm finishing my Mk.XII in 1/48 scale and got more interested in the subject when I saw your post. The Airfix decal sheet reveals interesting details: decals 11 - 14; are these for the propeller blades? I would say that the "discs" should be "pink" (or rather dull red) in colour and there should be only one line of text in yellow giving the drawing number decal 15; at least MB882 didn't have these on the spinner, but an oval hatch with a key hole (like in Mk.IX) decals 18; the letter M is located inside a square on MB853 decal 19; where should this go? decals 21 - 24; the lettering doesn't match at all with that seen on MB853 decal 29; fuel capacity 90 galls? according to Morgan & Shacklady and A.P. 1565K-P.N. it should be 85 galls decals 44 and 45 (and 52, 53) show that there is a triangular "cut" in the front of main landing gear bay (again MB882 didn't have this feature) no decals for Coffman starter, oil filler or gun camera? Should we call these "inaccuracies" or did Spitfire Mk.XIIs really differ that much between individual planes? Cheers, Antti

Hello guys, I bought the Eduard 1/48 scale Mk.VIII to get a proper "blown" canopy for my Airfix PR.XIX. I was delighted to realize that there were two canopies in the box as it meant that I can build "something else" of the Eduard parts as well. It became clear that the Eduard kit is excellent; possibly the best one in the market. It is overly engineered at places but this guarantees the large selection of parts for different models. As I had one "crash landed" Airfix PR.XIX, I decided to have a go for a Mk.XII conversion using the Griffon nose for the project. I was astonished to see the excellent fit between Airfix nose and Eduard fuselage. Only a minimum of sanding was required. The most demanding part was the four bladed propeller. Using high resolution photos of the real thing, it was easy to note all the necessary details that needed to be dealt with: fill some inspection hatches and create some new ones, move the identification lamp and so on. Eduard kit provides all the necessary parts for a late Mk.XII interiors (cockpit, landing gear bays); you just need to locate them on the part trees. One can also find excellent info about Mk.XIIs on various treads here on BM. Some pictures of my project so far: At current my Mk.XII looks like this. I mixed Humbrol Enamels to match Dark Green, Ocean Grey and Medium Sea Grey with the colour chart in the "RAF Museum's book". Humbrol 23 is an excellent match for Sky. The squadron codes are painted using masks cut out of Tamiya tape with small scissors. A lower pressure was used on Port main gear oleo causing the plane sit Port wing down (this was done to compensate the propeller torque on take-off). Note also that the propeller blades of the Airfix PR.XIX had to be reshaped as the chord was too broad all the way to the tip. Cheers, Antti

Hello guys, are you familiar with the book written by USN lieutenant Robert A. Winston? Here is a short version about the test and delivery flights of Finnish Buffaloes. https://www.warbirdforum.com/winston.htm Winston got to know several Finnish pilots and was both terrified and impressed at the same time. If you are interested in the subject and can find the book, I can recommend it. I think that the most important thing behind the Finnish air force's success was the way the pilots were trained. Soviet Polikarpov fighters weren't up to the standards with Buffalo, but they also weren't something to fool with. Those Soviet flight commanders that had gained combat experience in Spanish Civil War were dangerous and very capable adversaries. Most Soviet pilots on the other hand had poor training and they weren't capable of taking the initiative in combat. During Continuation War Finnish Buffalo pilots shot down newer and better planes; even some Spitfire Mk.IXs and P-51Bs operated by the VVS. Cheers, Antti

Hello Alain, this is a most impressive collection! You might have more I-153s than our air force ever had. I like the way how you have studied the various paint schemes. Already waiting for part 2 Cheers, Antti

It looks very nice Rob. If you are able to flatten the top, it will be perfect. Your plan of re-shaping the area sounds good. I've been using plastic strips and Milliput, but a thin wire may work just as well. Cheers, Antti

Hello Rob, yes the word "kink" is better. It is more visible in plan view than in profile. This photo gives you pretty good idea how pronounced the kink is: Note also the curvature of the rear fuselage just above the air brake. This photo shows that top side of the rear end isn't inline with the center fuselage (look just aft of the white registration marking): The rear fuselage opening is nearly round but there is a narrow flat section on top of it; see this photo: Cheers, Antti

Hello Michael, I'm not 100% sure, but here in Finland both green and white inert rounds were seen. They were always marked with black (on white) or white (on green) word "BLIND" or sometimes the Finnish word "SOKEA" (for blind) was used. Cheers, Antti

Hello Michael, Swedish Air Force used these high visibility exercise markings during the Cold War years. They were used in exercises to show whether a certain plane was friend or foe. Large rectangles, stripes or checkerboards were seen and always in bright colours. The markings were usually made out of tape material. Sometimes they were removed shortly after the exercise but occasionally they were left in place and later additional markings of different colours were added. Those large numbers denoting an individual plane came little later (maybe during the late 80s). The number on top of the wings should be the same as on the fin. Cheers, Antti

Wow, what a collection! Lovely work Alain. It seems you have covered all the paint schemes from the very beginning until the immediate post war years. Brewster Buffaloes were well liked by our air force and great results were achieved. And you also have other interesting planes in Finnish markings in your collection as well: like that Ar-196 carrying the ferry registration. Cheers, Antti

Terve Vesa, I'm planning a conversion using ICM 1/32 scale Jungmann as a base. It won't be easy, but I think it is doable. There are areas where one have to accept inaccuracies but I'm measuring the kit parts and comparing them against the Jungmeister drawings. I'm not fond of resin kits. Do you know about the delivery scheme? Was the fuselage trim green in colour? Cheers, Antti

Hello guys, Kari was faster with posting those exact paint codes (I'm still looking for my copy of that same MiG book). The observation about the colours iainpeden just posted is very interesting. Is it possible that the lacquer has lost some of its aluminium powder (or paste) and a base coat is seeing through? That "silvery" aluminium paint turned darker and lost its sheen over time. So you can have two panels on the same airplane looking very different and creating a false impression of yet another paint (remember that sometimes the whole plane got repainted and sometimes only some panels were painted). And there were also examples that were painted all over with a single shade of "silvery" aluminium paint. Cheers, Antti

Hello Ray, I have a couple of books about MiG-21s and I also have access to original factory drawings and manuals. I will check if I can find some information for you. IIRC at least some of the darker panels on the wings are made of steel. Cheers, Antti

Hello Ray, Soviet planes were painted with various aluminium coloured paints and lacquers mixed with aluminium paste, hence the colour differences between individual panels. The point is there were no bare metal surfaces. The MiG-21 F13 in the second photo shows this very well. Some times MiG-21s were painted completely with one shiny aluminium coloured paint during a major overhaul. It was also possible that only some areas were repainted during these factory overhauls. As you said, different alloys were used for construction and they then received surface finishes accordingly. Cheers, Antti

Stunning work with the cockpit Anthony! Really life-like. And those small add-ons look great. There is one interesting detail about the floor boards. The grey paint is usually well worn revealing the YZC under coat. Some photos of British Phantoms show that the rear cockpit floor had wine red base coat instead of YZC. My theory is that a new (or non standard) floor panel was attached in planes with dual controls. Do you have more information about this? Cheers, Antti

Thank you MeneMene My main scribing tools are rather simple: an Exacto knife with a blade number 16 and a jeweler's screwdriver with a sharpened tip (you can also create handy chisels of these). Most of the time I scribe freehand and when I use guides, they can be anything from Dymo-tape to Tamiya modeling templates. The thing is to start gently and then gradually add pressure. Normally the edges of the scribed panel lines have to be cleaned several times before the final touch-up with MEK (Methyl ethyl ketone) is done. Work quickly with MEK as it is a very strong solvent. When I started my build it was clear that the wing leading edges were bad and needed some work. As the project progressed I noticed the problems with the clear parts and wing chord. The problem with the clear parts was so obvious that it had to be dealt with. I guess no one will notice whether you fix the wing chord or not. Cheers, Antti

Hello Wardog, for what I've seen, Hoops is right. Unpainted metal. Cheers, Antti

Hello MeneMene, the cockpit glazing is the most visible fault. The clear parts are some 1,5 mm too tall. You can see it by looking at the door windows. Remove 1,5 millimeters from the canopy and side windows. Then add 1,5 millimeters on top of the cockpit side walls to keep the side profile correct. Like this: Another easy problem to fix is the air foil shape. The leading edge is far too blunt and needs to be rounded. I'd say that it is wise to fill the leading edges with Milliput or styrene strips and then start to sand. The wing-fuselage joint is rounded (or "soft"), but that is easily fixed by careful sanding. The wing chord is some three millimeters too short. Because of that all surface details on the rear fuselage sides are wrongly located. After some head scratching I decided that I will live with the wrong wing chord. Surface detailing isn't very accurate and the wing under surface detailing is mostly wrong for a P-39Q. I re-scribed all panel lines. Here's my model. All details, measurements and colour observation were made from the Airacobra shown in the walkaround Tbolt referred to. Cheers, Antti

Hello MeneMene, I built the Weekend Edition and there wasn't any weight provided. Probably it is available only in Profi Packs. The NLG bay is very narrow and once you have the gear leg installed, there isn't much visible. The kit gives you the axle that runs the gear box. The gun barrel sits higher inside the nose and IIRC isn't visible through the NLG bay. The NLG bay interior is painted overall with ZCY in the real plane although it looks "greenish" on some of the photos in the walkaround mentioned above. The NLG bay door inner surfaces are painted with dark olive green and ZCY is visible through the round lightening holes. Here is the correct Olive Green observed on that particular Airacobra: I mixed Humbrol Enamels to create a proper match. This same olive green is used for all interiors and landing gear parts. For the ZCY I used Humbrol 81 straight out of the tin. You can add some brown into it to create slightly more duller colour. A view directly below showing the NLG bay roof: Are you going to correct any of the kit's faults or just building OOB with some added details? Cheers, Antti