rossm

Forgive me if I'm being stupid but fabric from a (plywood) Mosquito????

I haven't, I'm new to this area of modelling so don't know much about how to research it. I got the Flight articles on the opening of Plymouth airport and the air race before the archive went offline and that was it until the last few weeks when I got the Putnam civil aircraft and racers books. Another thing on my to-do list is to go into Plymouth museum and maybe try the local papers although I suspect their records will have gone in the Blitz. Is Arthur easy to contact?

You've done better than I did, I only found one photo but it looked as if it could be what you've just described and would heve been my guess. Thanks for the additional support. My kit should be on the way from Dekno but I'll have to see if Arctic decals can print the silver fuselage registration for me.

Not that I can find.

The Putnam book "Aircraft of the RAF" states 100 of the L-5 - the Sentinel in RAF service - were delivered to the RAF and used mainly by 194 Squadron for casevac in Burma from january 1945.

The best way to search BM is to use Google and include Britmodeller as a search term with the topic you want to find

I thought it must be something like that, I sent him some photos to help with the drawings some years ago but he'd already had some health issues back then. I imagine they're not top of his priority list so we'll have to be patient.

Any update on this please?

Fitting a Gipsy Moth wing to the enlarged Putnam plan suggests cutting off the wingtips and reversing them front to back will be close enough so I'll need to lengthen and widen the fuselage and make new tail surfaces and that "should" result in something resembling an Arrow.

Two quick questions please - Did this have the slots on the upper wing? The photos I can find hint at "yes" but they're not that clear. Are there any modifications other than the headrest for the rear cockpit? Hopefully this was a reasonably well documented example but my references for the era are sparse.

That sounds like the sort of thing I hoped was possible but if I'm lucky it may be possible to use the Moth wings and add a bit at the tips, still need to enlarge the plans to check the chord. Seems like silver with a blue fuselage was the standard factory finish?

If I can get some bones to modify I'll be happy to give it a go but my only attempt at scratch building a wing ended up in the bin.

I'm wondering if I can hack one out of a Gipsy Moth and no more than one other kit - the one I'm planning is G-ABOB which had a Gipsy engine. I'll have to scale up the putnam drawings to 1/72 and do some comparisons to kits.

Does anyone have good drawings of the Spartan Arrow please? I've found some in the Putnam volume on Saunders and Saro aircraft (Spartan were closely linked to them) but they are quite small and need to be enlarged. Also the usual colours for the Arrow - most photos of Arrows and other Spartan biplanes seem to show overall silver or white with a dark fuselage? I know it's an obscure aircraft so any help appreciated.

Forgot to put the wheels down?

The Devon Air Race took place on 24th July 1937, starting and finishing at Plymouth (Roborough). There was a two page article in Flight magazine but it didn't give any registrations. I've tracked them down for most of the entrants but 2 or 3 escape me:- So can anyone help please with registrations for the two Eagles and one Whitney Straight? Next, and more difficult is modelling them - I'm ok with the Mew Gull, Comper Swift and 504N but I don't know colours for the others. I know it's unlikely the information is out there for all of them. There are 1/72 kits for Mew Gull (conversion), Comper Swift, Avro 504N (conversion), Swallow (conversion of Klemm L25), DH.60M, and Eagle but are there any for Whitney Straight, J-2 Cub or Spartan Arrow? The Dart Kitten and TK.2 were one-offs so I'm pretty sure there wouldn't be for those. Although it will take me years I'd like to build as many as I can so any help would be appreciated.

I've been through my Mosquito references and the book @Troy Smith mentions as well as its sister volume "Confound and Destroy" by the same author. The book states "very few of 100 Group's aircraft carried the full rcognition aid". I haven't found a photo of an 85 squadron NFXIX but I think the probability is they did not carry the stripes, even when assigned to anti-V1 operations. I'm now waiting for someone to post a photo showing they did!

Best photo I can find, note the additional small intakes at the rear of the intake you are interested in. If you follow the link you can enlarge to almost full screen size. AIRCRAFT OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE 1939-1945: BRISTOL BEAUFIGHTER.. © IWM (CH 2736) IWM Non Commercial License

Also there is the same photo in Air Enthusiast No.18 in a 16 page feature on Estonian Air power 1918-45. There is no mention of the Anson in the text apart from in a table of aircraft used.

All there is in the Air Britain Anson File is the same photo, a brief note and a profile drawing with the note it was overall silver with polished metal cowlings. Although I don't think it means for certain that it was next on the production line the allocated serial was next to three unarmed aircraft for Finland so a very slight nudge to support it being unarmed.

If you search for it on amazon.com or abebooks.com or even the dreaded eBay then you might find one? It's 96 pages and bound so it won't lay flat so not easy to scan, sorry.

Do you have this book? There is a drawing of the pattern and stencils etc for a Mk.III. Also some aircraft photographed from both sides - probably during acceptance trials. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Auster-History-Aircraft-British-Military/dp/0954560566/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2G1CCB7QORIFP&keywords=auster+ketley&qid=1672781147&s=books&sprefix=auster+ketley%2Cstripbooks%2C76&sr=1-1

1938 initial production Hannants still has modeldecal 102 in stock as well

Modeldecal is the right answer - their set 102 has 1/72 scale A1 roundels in 63, 64, 66.5, 77, 84 and 100 inches. I seem to have 3 of these sheets and I doubt I'll ever use more than 2 so PM me and we'll work something out. Alternatively someone has a sheet on fleabay.

There's a photo in the Warpaint where they appear to be fitted and one in the "Typhoon and Tempest Story" where they don't. @Chris Thomas will know for sure.