Grizly

Chris, your insight is greatly appreciated. Thanx for taking the time to answer. Grizly.

Shoe leather, sheep leather whatever and I can understand why the seat and harness guide in the Spitfire were lined with the stuff. I can even accept that the Typhoon gun bay doors had leather appliques to protect the ammo should it lift during turbulence and/or negative G .... but was the entire gun bay really lined with the skin of an animal and for what purpose?

Troy, while not intending to be a Doubting Thomas, what do the gear doors have to do with the gun bays??? I accept that the wheel wells and a large portion of the airframe was painted aluminum yet Airfix specified otherwise for the gun bays. Indeed, I have no quarrel with the rest of the paint instructions. I'm sure Airfix did extensive research in preparing this kit and am trying to figure out why they specified leather and green primer for the interior of the gun bay. Who knows, maybe they were clad in leather, but, if so, why?

I too have concerns about the leather colour for the gun bay interior as stipulated by the kit's instructions. I acknowledge the point that the gun bay covers were aluminum with leather appliques. The colour photo also gives the impression that portions of the doors were also painted grey/green. But, was the gun bay completely lined with leather while the bottom structure was painted a primer green and the dividing wing rib painted aluminium?

I've got over 2000 hours flying the Douglas Swept Wing Racer and, despite the perceived limitations of the old Monogram kit, I'm more than satisfied with my build. It looks like a Dak. to me. As for the 'paddle' props, Ultracast makes them.

If you look very closely at the attached picture, I believe you can just see the "cheese cutter" running from just inside of the horizontal tail end cap to a point just below the VHF mast antenna.

I too am working on a 601 Sqn P-39 and have a post below seeking information regarding IFF equipment on the P-39 and RAF P-40 Tomahawks. Essentially, I assume both aircraft types had IFFs installed but can find no information regarding antenna location. Can anybody reading this thread shed any light on the subject???

I assume that the Tomahawks that flew in the UK with the likes of 2, 26, 400, 414 and 403 Squadrons and the P-39s with the City of London squadron had IFF/SIF equipment. Does anyone have drawings or photos showing the location points of the IFF/SIF antenna on those aircraft???? I would guess the antenna cables ran from the horizontal stab to the fuselage as per the Spit, Hurricane, etc. but one can never be sure.

Great! Thanx.

Muzz, you are quite correct. I had 416 Sqn on the back of my mind regarding another project. My question does relate to 617 Sqn markings. Unfortunately, your link takes me to a picture of a GR1 in the Green/grey scheme which are readily available on line. It's the grey/grey scheme with the lightning bolt either side of the roundel that I find very ellusive.

I'm building the Revell 1/32 Tornado GR1 and would like to complete it as a 416 Squadron aircraft using the Xtradecal X006-32 decal sheet. While the instructions show the aircraft with Dark Sea and Dark Camouflage Greys and with the squadron's lighning bolt motif on either side of the fuselage roundel, I can only find photos of green/grey GR1s with the lighning bolts attached to the roundel and grey/grey aircraft with the lighning bolt motif separate and forward of the roundel. Is the Xtradecal wrong (which I doubt) or is there simply a dearth of photos of aircraft in that scheme?

I'm truly impressed with your work. With respect to Tamiya's trio of Spit kits and their Mustang, however, I must admit to being a little disappointed with some lapses in detail. I noticed that you addressed the lack of ignition wires. Another omission is the plumbing gap between the glycol header tank and the front of the engine. Tamiya could easily have addressed the latter had they simply included two elbow pipe moldings. Don't get me wrong, they are great kits but ........

I'm building a model of a late war RAF SEAC P-47D-35 (natural metal finish/extended vertical stab) and wondered what harness was installed for the pilot. Did those aircraft retain the American style harness as an expedient or were they replaced by the Sutton harness and if so which variant? I understand that much information can be found in the book by Geoff Thomas but, unfortunately, I have yet to lay my hands on a copy.

I'd love either Academy or Trumpeter to produce a model of the Barham. My father served with her in the mid thirties while she was in the Med and have his diary in which he recorded one calendar year on board starting off at Alexandria and ending up at Gibraltar.

I stand corrected. It is the Hendon aircraft, it has the spine (extended vertical stab) and is camouflaged. My question is, were any of the RAF aircraft having the extended vertical stab camouflaged?

I'm building Trumpeter's P-47D bubbletop with the extended dorsal vertical stab as a RAF SEAC aircraft. In researching the possible subjects, I stumbled on photos of the Duxford example. I understand it is a D-40. Is the camouflage colour scheme accurate for the type or were all RAF P-47D-40s left in the natural metal with an olive drab spine finish as received with RAF SEAC roundels and tail flash, black unit and aircraft markings and roundel blue wing/tail stripes added?

I happened to notice your entry regarding "No Not Now". My brother-in-law, Stewart Murphy, was the tail gunner on the aircraft. A number of years ago, I commissioned Pat McNorgan to do a painting of the aircraft for Stewart based on information provided by Stewart and photographs found. The only error (that I know of) is the grey serial number on the tail. The rest is, to the best of my knowledge, accurate. I've tried inserting a photograph of the painting but can't get this site to cooperate. I'll see if I can email you directly. Iain

I stand corrected. I took a look and you are indeed right.

Not that I know of.

Good memory. It was featured in the Nov & Dec '96 issues of Scale Models Int'l. I still have it safely on display under 'glass' away from inquisitive fingers.

Well, Obi-Jiff Kenobi, you want to see a 1/24 Airfix Spit IXc???? The following is one I built a number of years ago. Actually, most parts were sourced from Airfix's Spit, Mustang and Hurricane kits plus a smattering of other odds-and-sods from other kits topped off with a bit of scratch building. Given I could do it largely from Airfix parts, I can't see why it would be a major chore for Airfix to cobble together a Mk-IX kit.

One comment. It is my understanding that the oxygen bottle in the Mk-IX and later Spit models was not located on the starboard side immediately behind the pilot but rather further back in the tail and not visible through the cockpit transparencies.

I'd like to thank everyone for their input and the pictures. I think it is reasonable to assume, from the data presented, that the aircraft were delivered in a less than pristine standard Olive Drab finish with the USAAF markings painted out in RAF Dark Green. Conversely, the Mitchell shown with the invasion stripes has been around some time and has undergone a repaint with RAF Dark Green showing on the upper surfaces and the squadron code, EV, relocated aft of the roundel. Since I have the decals for EV*W, as shown in the photograph, I'll be applying a weathered/faded Olive Drab finish. Again many thanks.

Great pictures! As is clearly evident in the pictures, the aircraft were received with USAAC markings which were painted out while retaining the original basic OD/Gray scheme. My specific concern was with the areas where the original markings were painted out - the Techmod decal instructions specify OD while I would have thought Dark Green would have been used.

I'm currently building the Accurate Miniature B-25 Mitchell as a RAF 180 Squadron aircraft. Given that the USAAC markings were undoubtedly painted out, does anyone know whether Olive Drab was used or if the more available RAF Dark Green was used as an expedient?