Jump to content

SafetyDad

Gold Member
  • Posts

    1,197
  • Joined

  • Last visited

3 Followers

About SafetyDad

  • Birthday 08/05/1960

Profile Information

  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Derwentside, NE England

Recent Profile Visitors

2,347 profile views

SafetyDad's Achievements

Very Obsessed Member

Very Obsessed Member (5/9)

1.6k

Reputation

  1. Thanks for these pictures. One point that strikes me - the nosecone appears to be light metal, where all the references I can recall stated that it was moulded plywood. SD
  2. Koster kits were towards the top of the vacform world back in the day. I remember reading Jack Walsh reviewing the A-20 in FSM in the 1980s - he was very impressed and his finished build looked excellent. I also have this Dornier (SOD I'm afraid) and the B-24 set that Troy refers to. Koster did some great p/e and white metal details - the German guns in 1/48 are still worth seeking out. Back OT - looking good Loren. Nearly there! SD
  3. The letter A should be bright green (RLM 25 Hellgrun). The last letter of the code - 'B' - shows that this aircraft belonged to the Stab. of the 1st Gruppe. Other code letters should be black. Other photos of the Fokkers in SAGr 126 show that there were no individual aircraft letters repeated above the wing, and that the upperwing Balkenkreuz was rather unusually applied - it's right at the wing tip on these aircraft. The linked photos to the FalkeEins blog appear to show the individual aircraft letter only beneath at least the port wing (I would be confident that this letter appeared under both wings, outboard of the cross). Given the small numbers of Fokkers operated by the Luftwaffe, and that these were operated within the same unit, a little generalisation from other photos is perhaps not too unreasonable. The original caption in the reference source (below) highlights the missing starboard Pratt and Whitney engine on the aircraft above, and speculates on the difficulties that the supply corps and groundcrew may have faced in obtaining another! Pics from here. Posted in accordance with UK Copyright Law for the purpose of research/discussion. SD
  4. And perhaps the ugliest conversion of a previously beautiful airframe ever... Although advocates of the Mosquito might point to that dreadful target tug version SD
  5. Piotr Forkasiewicz and Mark Postlethwaite suggest the Upkeep bombs were delivered in red primer. The bomb recovered by the Germans from Barlow's Lancaster was certainly finished in red primer. It also carried markings in white applied to the circular ends of the bomb - RA2/ 1832 and X17 on the non-fused end, plus just X17 on the end with the fuses. These were apparently applied by the Armament Officer in 617 Sq., F/O Henry 'Doc' Watson as a means of indicating live vs inert Upkeeps. Other bombs may also have been marked similarly, but details are not known The authors agree with other posters above that these bombs shoul.d have been green, but cite evidence from 617 Sq. ex-groundcrew who recall them being in red primer. There were three versions of upkeep after the original variant with the spherical wood casing - the version recovered was one of the third and final variants, with a completely smooth face (riveting having been removed from the surface contacting the water first). The authors also state that some crews had their bombs painted black to match the aircraft undersurfaces, although it is not known which crews did this. All from here: @Mark Postlethwaite is a member here, so may wish to add more? HTH SD
  6. I often find it easier to search threads here by Googling the subject and adding Britmodeller as a search descriptor. Sounds counter-intuitive I know but it might just work. SD
  7. Off precise topic here, but the loss rate for these aircraft is awful! It seems only two of these aircraft (DD798 and DD799) survived? Sobering stuff SD
  8. You really need to spend time reviewing the Wingleader Photo Archive 5 on early Lancasters. W4783 was one of the fifth production batch, manufactured between September 1942 and May 1943. The Wingleader volume has a contemporary photo of W4783. This confirms that fuselage windows were fitted and that the trailing aerial was moved to the port wing leading edge. Also early needle props and faired windscreen de icing pipes. Of course this aircraft still exists at the AWM so airframe details should be relatively easy to confirm. HTH SD
  9. In addition any modifications initiated didn't necessarily occur neatly at a given serial number. The Wingleader books have a very thought-provoking picture of the late Lancaster production line showing forward fuselages with their cabin transparencies. These show the introduction of the taller, very late war astrodome. The thought-provoking bit is that of the fuselages visible in the shot about a third have the later tall astrodome. BUT these fuselages are randomly sprinkled along the production line, with other airframes fitted with the older astrodomes, between them. Assuming they would have received (or already had received) their serial numbers sequentially, then that would mean that this particular change can't be tied down to a single airframe, but only to the start and end of this production batch. SD
  10. I wonder if the caption is there purely to differentiate for the reader between the long- and short- fuselaged variants of the 210? The preceding section of pictures in the book is captioned as 'Short Fuselaged 210s'. And there were quite a few in service operationally. HTH SD
  11. Here is a more detailed review of the differences between the Me 210 and 410 according to Petrick and Stocker Engines: Early examples at least (if not all) Me 210s were fitted with DB 601F engines - the 410 with DB 603s. The external panel on the engine nacelle might be the way to differentiate between this differing engine fit, with DB 601 fitted aircraft having this, but the later aircraft omitting it. Ed, your subject seems to have been upgraded from the early to the later engines. Wings: Petrick and Stocker state that leading edge slats were added to the 210 wings. The Squadron Signal book goes further, and describes how the taper of the outboard wing panels was reduced, with the 5 degree sweep designed into the 210 being eliminated on the aircraft fitted with slats. Petrick doesn't seem to mention this change. The In Action book also states that ailerons and radiator flaps were redesigned, but doesn't elaborate with pics or drawings. Tailplane: Petrick et al describe the change to internally balanced elevators for the 410. Both references agree on the extension to the fuselage - this is visible in contemporary photos. So the modelling issues seem to centre on the fuselage length, adding slats to the wings and deleting the viewing panel for the engine instruments for the 410. If your aircraft already has the longer fuselage, then the remaining changes seem minor (at least to me). One final point - I can't see the addition of the leading edge slats to the post-crash version of 2N+DD - can anyone? SD
  12. OK Ed, here we go... This aircraft actually features on two pages of the book, with before- and after-crash pics. Before - note the large 2N Geschwader code, no mortars and no white tail. Also the telescopic gunsight projecting through the windscreen. and after repair - note the white tailplane now (with a very ragged paint dividing line) and very pale mortar tubes. Also the caption describing the changes to the engine nacelles. Source is Messerschmitt 210 / Messerschmitt 410 An illustrated Production History. I have intentionally allowed the pictures to be distorted to discourage further reproduction. Uploaded for the purpose of discussion in accordance with UK Copyright Law. You will notice the caption at top of the first picture describing this as a 'Long Fuselage 210'. It would seem that work to fit a fuselage extension was worthwhile in terms of time and money to allow these aircraft to be used operationally and fly somewhat more safely. My personal suspicion (with no evidence whatsoever!) is that wing refitting and adjustment was never undertaken as that would mean essentially rebuilding the entire airframe. I'll see if the book offers any more insight. SD Footnote added later: Lots of mottling on the fuselage it seems?
  13. Look up at Mark Proulx’s post above about Jerry Crandall and his interview with one of the German paint specialists. Adhesion of paint to the underlying surface was a problem with some paint being used at the time . Without primer earlier paint flaked or peeled away from the aircraft. In this situation primer paint was essential. SD
  14. The North African campaign ended in May 1943, with the surrender of Axis forces after the loss of Tunisia. The caption for the Erla picture (could be wrong I'm happy to concede, although a check with the batches of Wk Nrs would validate the date) suggests the photo was taken some months later. Always good to consider all possibilities though SD
  15. I agree with you that the colour could certainly be blue-grey. I think you have a clever idea by proposing that weight saving might be the reason for Erla continuing to use a primer. There must have been a justification for primer still being applied at this time. SD
×
×
  • Create New...