Charlie Hugo

Please give me alternatives Airfix (1978 release) long OOP Hasegawa (1992 release) OOP? Academy (1998 release) Tamiya 2000 release OOP? IBG (unobtainable in my country other than direct import which may or may not arrive after up to 6 months via post) Italeri at least has local importer so good chance of getting the kit, which is not bad, old yes but not bad Inflation rules

I intend too, at least two

The Fujime Ju87 D-1 has an otion for a Stab SG3 in sandgelb over 70/71. It has the short wing. You can view the instruction sheet at scalemates.com to assist you on what you may need to change on the Academy one

#23 Hasegawa Spitfire Mk V kit markings No. 145 Sqn

Two for me plus any future variants BUT its the wrong Hornet

Well it appears as if both colours are correct, High visibily orange (not neccessarily dayglo) was the original and then repainted yellow according to Airfix's page on the kit. Of course trainer yellow is in the Humbrol range. For the actaul Arntartic trips the orange would be required. Airfix Auster blog

I would not be too hasty to cut the tail down. In the SS in action series there is very little external difference between a A-20A and a A-20C drawings, There are also some cooling slots on the cowlings of the A-20A. If starting from a A-20B the nose canopy should be different. Also the cheek gun blisters are generally not present on the A-20A.

I have the 1977 Mcdonald and Janes edition and it quite clearly states that Brown never had the oppertunity to fly the Me163B under power, which the Hikoki one does say

My Eduard MkXVI kits have three left hand halves and two right, The one left hand has the acess panel moved more forward in comparison to the others which is correct for a MkXVI. Visually I cannot tell the differnce between the other parts whilst they are on the sprue but suspect the minor variation in shape netween the cowlings is what is the difference, so as I said, I suspect that Eduard are the first to provide the cowling variations although AZ have (had) a limited edition with the very early modified MkV cowling

Very possible, always thought it was Kielkraft Nah all I have are the two wings, it is more a mid blue with a touch of grey in it rather than the bright blue that I associate with Airfix' first Spitfire

I may be wrong, the wings I have are solid and moulded in blue with the roundals etched in

Having just hauled my AZ Spit XVI out I can see where you can get confused The exploded assembly drawing (to my eye) show syou to add the canon bay blister in the inner positionwhich is wrong whereas the plan view at the bottom shows it in the outer position which is correct. For a WWII version, as mentioned, the blisters iver the wheels are not to be used

Never ever got my hands on taht even when I visited Italy in the '80's/ Also never got the Kielkraft although I have bits (wiings) of an odd Spitfire that I have never been able to odentufy. Managed to get a built Hawk Spitfire Mk22/24 that I will refurbish one day. Yeah right and pigs fly as well.

Giorgio You obvoiusly have forgotton (or never had the exquisite pleasure of building it) the original Airfix Spitfire MkIX. But boy did I ever lust after one back in the day. And was thankful I could get one, even sans canopy

Spitfire MkIX to Mkxvi external differences. minor to nil, it was all to do with the engine itself and minor cowling differences. It is the so-called balloon cowling. Not sure if any kit actually has the correct cowling for a Packard Merlin fit, maybe Eduard. There is (has been) articles and discussion around the various MkIX/XVI cowlings. The issue with the windscreen is that the frame at the bottom is too large/also part of the fuselage. I would need to find my references in this regard to get the full details. Radiators, cut them off shorten them and re-attach. I think this was in an old PAM News magazine.

SAAF Spitfires in that scheme were EDSG although the harsh African sun did fade them. The Heller kit could do with a replacment of the rudder and radiators (too deep) and clunky windscreeen but a reasonably good kit, even today

Correct but the fallacy that all low back Merlin (be-it RR or Packard) are MkXVI's still continues to this day

And yet his kill list on Wikipedia shows that he achieved his 16th kill in a P-38G on July 28, 1943. He crashed (in this aircraft???) after a combat on 6th Sep and he was issued the P38H as per Osprey's aircraft of the aces. BTW in the squadron book on the 49th fighter group there is a picture of P-38H-5's (including white 73 and the tail seems to be carrying 73 on it as well but very indistinct/out of focus/over exposed, it is not attributed to any specific pilot) with the star in circle upon delivery. Unfortunately, I don't have the Schiffer books.

Looking through the Osprey Aircraft of the ACes no 120 (P-38 Lightnin g aces) it seems as if the geenral rule appears to be P38 F and G, initally with just the star in a circle. Then P38G seems to have the plain white bars adde P38H appear to be generally star in circle with white bars, and then with the added blue surround. Could not fiund and P-38H with just the blue circle and star. There is a photo of Bong with 42-66847 captioned as follows A pensive Capt Dick Bong poses with his P-38H-5 42-66847, which was issued to him as a replacement for the Lightning that he had written off on 6 September 1943. This photograph was taken at the end of the Rabaul offensive in November 1943, at which point Bong’s tally stood at 21 – he had claimed his final kills of 1943 on 5 November (two ‘Zekes’ over Rabaul) in 42-66847 Unfortunately the booms are not shown and the scoreboard has a tally of 21 kills Personally I would go with the plain white bars to the star for the earlier period although there is a possibilty that the blue border may have already been painted, and later with 21 kills add the blue border. IMO it is unlikey that 42-66847 carried the star and circle without bars. But I cnnot trace a photo showing the overall aircraft as yet.

It has to do with the main wheel setup and a blister on top of the wing. The "late" version had a different axle angle, mostly to deal with tarmac and such surfaces, whch neccisitated the blisters, Most. if not all post war IX and XVI's had this. SO if building one you should be good.

I would assume TD213 is a typo, W5581 (as she was serialed when on poles) was actually 5518

AX-B is 5503 during 1951 DB is 2 squadron markings and at the time (1951) 2 Squadron SAAF was in Korea flying Mustangs as to tying up original serial numbers to SAAF serial numbers, I been (half heartedly) trying to do so for years

The SAAF had many quote from sairforce.co.za Fighter/interceptor. Following the end of the Second World War, Britain offered it's Commonwealth air forces a gift of surplus aircraft in recognition of their role during the war. This included 80 Spitfire Mk IXs, while a further 56 Mk IXs were purchased at £2,000 each. Fifty of the older F.IXes were powered by the earlier Merlin 60 engine, while 86 were later production HF.IXe with broad-chord rudders, tear-drop canopies, Merlin 70 powerplants and 'E' type wing. Some later models had the clipped wing. SAAF serial numbers were from 5501 to 5637. Armament: Two 20mm Hispano cannon and two 0.50 in (12.7 mm) Browning machine-guns in wings, and provision for 'zero-length' rocket rails or 1,000 lb (454 kg) bombs.

What about finding a Merlin Spitfire MkXII or the Model News one (seen a couple on an auction site)

You could look at the SAM Modellers datafile on the Hurricane for guidance, but will be out of date now