fishplanebeer
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Posts posted by fishplanebeer
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Likewise I have quite a few books on the Lancaster, the ones shown plus the Harleyford Press book and 'The Definitive Record' by Harry Holmes, both of which are pretty detailed as well, but it will take a while for me to trawl through them all so perhaps a project for when the nights are longer!
In the meantime I might drop an e-mail to the Avro Heritage Museum to see if they can come up with something more definitive from their own records as if anyone knows it should presumably be them.
Regards
Colin.
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I've done a bit more digging and apparently R5868 went in for a major service/overhaul in late 1944, which included the replacement of all 4 engines, and became available for service again with 467 squadron on the 3rd December. Interestingly ED888, the highest scoring Lanc and a B.III, went in for major servicing in March 1944 where all 4 engines were also replaced along with up-grade mods.
Those aircraft that required re-build after sustaining operational damage were sent to a facility at Bracebridge Heath and the components farmed out to various work shops and then returned to Langar for re-assembly. The aircraft's log book was sent from Bracebridge to Langar but as the components were then re-assembled as they arrived/became available the log book was often the only original part of the aircraft that eventually emerged.
Regards
Colin.
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A very good question which sadly I don't have a definitive answer to as just because something could have happened in theory is no proof that it actually did in reality. I guess I'm thinking that if say PO-S was being rebuilt and the engines available at the time were Packards would they have put her and other B.I's to one side until RR ones became available or would they have just gone ahead and fitted what they had given the pressures of war? I can't find any reference to re-builds being Mark specific as in I's went to factory X and III's went to factory Y so I'm just presuming they would have fitted the Merlins they had at the time. However it's also quite possible that these factories/facilities could have had both types of Merlin available in order to retain the original spec and integrity - umm?
I know this doesn't advance things any further but it's an interesting conundrum.
Regards
Colin.
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Sorry, just to add that I have a spare pointed rudder which I could add to the Airfix Vc to correct this particular aspect and quite happy to model an early XII with a fixed tail wheel.
Regards
Colin.
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I'd sort of assumed that using the rather good Airfix Vc and adding a new nose/engine from somewhere would have been the simplest approach, although I've no idea where such a nose could come from from unless it was from a Sword Seafire XV possibly? (using an Eduard VIII or IX would entail additional work to the underwing intakes).
As to the spinner and prop I was thinking of using the blades from the Airfix XIX and then cobbling together a spinner from Milliput etc.
BTW the plans I have are those by P B Cooke in the Argus 'Aircraft Archive Volume 1' so are these reliable or is there another set which I need to source perhaps?
Regards
Coilin.
Ps. the CMR kit and Paragon conversion set are also like hens teeth unless some kind soul has examples they no longer need?
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I think the issue is around what particular section of the aircraft retained its original identity when it went in for a major service or re-build, was it the rear fuselage with the serial number or was it the nose section which would have had its individual bomb score and any personal insignia?
I'm sure I read somewhere that it was the nose section that kept its original serial number/identity but that doesn't mean to say this is correct, however what is certainly correct is that it is extremely unlikely that an aircraft would re-emerge with all of its original major components as they would have just taken the next one available when re-building. This being the case it is perfectly possible/reasonable that a B.I could re-emerge as a B.III and vice versa.
Regards
Colin.
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Technically a Lancaster could start life as either a B.I or B.III but end up becoming the other when it went in for its major service if the engines were of the other type.
Regards
Colin.
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All the various mods/tweaks made to the Lancaster during production, such as paddle blade props and enlarged bomb aimer's blister, were done irrespective of Mark so the only way you can be sure if you are looking at a B.I or B.III is to check the serial number. The exception being some of the early production B.I's which may have had the ventral turret, no coaming around the mid-upper gun turret and a very sooty black finish.
I'm not entirely sure but I think only the B.I had the early/flatter bomb aimer blister fitted but I could be wrong?
Regards
Colin.
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I think the Xtrakit XII or the old Brigade conversion are probably the best bets but sadly neither are available at present on any platform so I'll just have to keep an eye out for one or both.
Many thanks for all the replies and suggestions.
Regards
Colin.
Ps. still can't understand why it's never been done in 72nd scale (especially Airfix given their 48th offering) if the level of interest on this forum is any indicator of potential demand
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Thank you again.
I'm sort of thinking that the answer to my original question is that there is actually no relatively easy-ish way of doing the XII in this scale for me unless I can find the Brigade XII conversion again and/or the Sword Seafire XV and Aeroclub prop, none of which are readily available.
It sounds like I still need to continue to ask Airfix to down scale their pretty good 48th scale XII, or wait for Eduard/Arma, or even KP/AZ, to deliver as I'm sure this variant of the Spitfire would be a good seller in this scale.
Regards
Colin.-
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Thank you.
I have this Airfix kit but where do I go for the new nose and prop/spinner?
The Brigade conversion is rarely available now but Airfix are soon to re-release their XVIII kit, plus their XIX is still out there on E-Bay etc.., so where can a simple/modest modeler go to make something that looks OK-ish?
Regards
Colin.
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I think the answer is that they could or could not be there depending upon when the aircraft left the factory.
If it was one that left the factory at this time with the wing painted black then yes they would be there in white, but if it was already at a squadron or MU when the change was implemented it's unlikely that they would have repainted them over the new black colour.
The good news is that either would be fine although personally I would leave them off as I think this would have been more common given the relatively short time span that this under wing colour scheme was used.
Sorry I can't be more definitive.
Regards
Colin.
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I've checked various (multiple) previous posts on this subject but they all seem to offer varying advice so can anyone please confirm the best possible way forward to constructing such a beast given that Eduard are now re-releasing their Spitfire VIII and IX kits and that my modelling skills are quite modest?
Many moons ago I bought the Brigade set along with the Italeri Vb donor kit but never had the courage or skills to attempt so passed it on but is this still the best way to go or is there a better way?
Just to reiterate, my skills at 'combining' kits is not great so I'm looking for a solution which may not be the best but will deliver something that closely approximates the XII but without having to be an expert.
It would be helpful if replies referred to kits and 'extras' that are currently available as I do not have an extensive 'spares box' to fill in any gaps.
Regards
Colin.
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I used a set of Printscale decals for my 72nd scale Bf109F and generally they worked fine but do need a bit of fiddling with water and decal solution to move them into the correct position and then use the tip of a paper towel to gently soak up the excess fluid from around the edges. Once they had taken I then used a damp piece of tissue paper/kitchen towel to gently press them down into the panel lines and recesses followed by more decal solution.
My only criticism was the stencils which appeared to be slightly over scale compared with the others I had but this at least made them easier to see.
Regards
Colin.
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Sounds more than sensible to me in terms of a definition but in terms of where Hurricanes operated they were in the areas I've mentioned so not sure how this aligns with them being used by the Dutch. The Dutch did operate some P40's at the time in joint ops with the RAF in/around Sumatra and this combined force was based for a period at Palembang airstrip before it had to be evacuated.
HTH.
Regards
Colin.
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I can't find any reference to Hurricane ops in the South West Pacific, only to the Far East in India/Ceylon, Burma, Java, Sumatra and Malaya.
Regards
Colin.
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The Hurricane was used extensively in the Far East from the MK1 through to the Mk.IV as you probably know, although I'm not sure if this the same as your reference to the SWP theatre? The Aussie Hurricane you refer to is/was V7476, a tropicalised Mk., 1 according to the Francis K Mason book on the subject.
Regards
Colin.
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I think given the low res of the pic and all the known issues of interpreting b/w photos it is pretty difficult to come to any firm conclusion, at least for me, so you could well be correct here.
However although I've no real knowledge of the Malta Spitfires I'd say generally that the oleo legs and hubs look to be painted, as in not silver/aluminium/natural metal, and as to why the inner gear doors would be sky I'm not sure as they were often interior grey/green which would look very similar. Perhaps if the factory knew the aircraft was going to see service in the MTO they may have painted the inner doors and hubs a different colour to the standard for those in NW Europe in order to meet the differing camouflage spec/requirements?
Not being a Spit or Malta Spit expert in particular I'm sorry I can't ne more help but just my personal take on the pic.
A great subject though!
Regards
Colin.
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Sadly I think you are right but at the time this was far more important as the codes and information on the compass card revealed the aircraft's identity, or so they thought!
I'm not sure if these have ever seen light of day before as I've never seem them published so makes me wonder what else might still be out there just waiting to be uncovered.
It may be that the IWM, RAF Museum, RAF AHB and the local newspaper archive will also come back to me in time with even more, fingers crossed.
Regards
Colin.
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I've just received the following montage from FAST (the old RAE) which shows the official photos they took for investigative purposes. I've never seen these before so it's pretty new stuff as far as I can gather but sadly they don't resolve the enigma.
None the less I'm not sure these pics have seen light of day since 1941 so I'm quite pleased to have uncovered them.
Regards
Colin.
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According to the 4+ Tempest publication with the fitting of the one piece casting of the rear spar pick up assembly the bulges disappeared but it necessitated two small blisters under the rear pick up joints in the lower fuselage. Can't say I can see them on any of the plans I have or how noticeable they would be in 72nd scale so may not be worth worrying about, assuming they are not already there of course.
Regards
Colin.
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I've just tried the normal masking tape and it still won't make the damaged decals budge so is there a fluid that may work or is it now a case of gently sanding them off and going back 2 or 3 steps?
It's taken me quite some time to get to this stage so it's worth the effort to recover things but it's just a pain that nothing seems to make them lift. I'm now assuming some decals may 'stick' better than others and the ones that have come away completely are from Techmod where as the kit decals (Eduard) are the ones which were damaged by the Mig low tac masking sheet and are now resisting all attempts to remove them.
Regards
Colin.
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I've managed to damage the decals on my F6F-3 Hellcat by using a low tac masking sheet to cover them whilst I did some final touch ups with my airbrush hence why I hadn't applied a varnish top coat to them at this point
To my horror even though the sheet was supposed to be low tac it has managed to remove some and damage others so I now need to remove them and apply new ones but how?
I've tried warm soapy water, rubbing alcohol and even ammonia but nothing seems to work so is there a way of doing it that won't damage the underlying paint work?
Strange how some came off so easily but the others now refuse to budge and don't want to have to sand them off and be back to square one with respraying, or is this what I'm now faced with in which case it's heading for the bin!
Regards
Colin.
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I've spoken to the museum and they have confirmed that the site is not owned by the MOD so I am free to have a root around if I so wish although there would be little point I suspect as they have collected probably all the artefacts during the past 80 years. The only issue is the land owner who apparently is not very cooperative and has previously refused permission for a small plaque or memorial to be placed at the site. As such it is unlikely I'll be able to gain permission to even walk onto the field unless I'm willing to offer him a fee of some description!
Planning permission has also been granted to build on the field so at some future point it will no longer be visible and all traces of the incident will be lost, including the gap and missing trees in the hedge row which were taken out by the Heinkel as it crashed.
Regards
Colin.
Sky Blue one more time
in Aircraft WWII
Posted
Colourcoats do a pretty good rendition of Sky Blue with their ACRN24 but no idea how it relates to any FS reference.
I also have some Vallejo Sky Blue as well which looks pretty good and close to what I think the colour looked like when used briefly on spinners and tail bands in late 1940/early 1941 and they quote it as being FS35550.
HTH.
Regards
Colin.