MattG

Hi everyone, My first entry for this GB (I'm planning at least two if time permits) will be the Airfix Blenheim Mk.IV (using Eduard photo-etch and canopy masks, and an AML camouflage mask). I built one of these last year for the Battle of Britain Group Build in Bomber Command colours. This time I'll be focusing on a Coastal Command machine from the same era. I'm yet to decide on a particular aircraft to represent but almost certainly one from 53 Sqn or 59 Sqn, which undertook coastal patrols, night raids on occupied ports, and daring daytime shipping strikes. Along the way if there's interest I'll relate the details of the raids the Coastal Command aircraft participated in during the Battle of Britain. As I already have several aircraft on the go (Bf109s for another ongoing Group Build), I'll delay getting started on this one until my workbench has a bit more room - probably mid July. Thanks for looking! Matt

That looks lovely Ray! Great paint job. And I have learned something new with the white primer under yellow paint trick - I will use that on my 109! Matt

Hi all, So, as promised, some progress! It's all very much according to the instructions so far, except the trim wheel cables. The kit's instructions would have you glue the trim wheel cables to the fuselage sides. If I followed the kit's instructions I'd probably end up with dollops of glue all over the fuselage and a trim wheel cable stuck to my hand instead. Don't ask me how I know... So, when planning an alternative method, I looked at other ideas and the resin Eduard cockpit set provided some inspiration: Which turns out looking something like this when using the standard kit parts: I've also started assembling the fuselage sides and instrument panel. Colours are Sovereign Colour Coats for the Luftwaffe RLM colours where available, and Humbrol for everything else. I'll do a little subtle weathering on the cockpit tub next before moving on to the engine and maybe getting the fuselage closed up this weekend. Thanks for looking! Matt

Thanks James! I expect to have plenty to show in the next few days. Spot on Pete. Hauptmann Tietzen was Staffelkapitän of 5./JG51 (so within II Gruppe, as you say) from 29 August 1939 until 18th August 1940 when he was shot down by Hurricanes. And yes, I've read about the reference to Chamberlain in a number of places so it could well be correct. Thanks all for your replies so far - it's back to the workbench for now, and I hope to be back very soon with photos! Matt

Interesting story, it must have been cramped in that 109! Good luck with your build. Matt

Love it so far, great work on the painting! Definitely a strong resemblance to Dolfo there. I see a few of us (myself included) are building this Eduard boxing so will watch with interest. Matt

Wow! And I thought my plan to build two in this group build was ambitious. Good luck with this! I am looking forward to following! Matt

Thanks Col. The more parts of the story we can represent in this Group Build the better. The scheme I've chosen is only slightly unusual really - people in this GB have really gone to a lot of trouble to find some very unusual schemes and I can't wait to see the gallery in a few months time! Thanks, will do! I find that uncovering the back stories is half the fun. Totally agree Jes!

Hi all, I had hoped that the "Adlerangriff" Bf109E that I'd ordered would arrive in time for the Battle of Britain Group Build last year. It didn't, which means I get to build it now instead! For this entry I'm going to build the first of the two included kits mostly out of the box, which includes photo-etch and resin parts. However, being lazy, on seeing the individual exhausts I decided to order some one-piece resin ones. I also have some extra decals on order because the kit didn't come with enough I wanted to build something still from the Battle of Britain period, but different. The aircraft I'm planning to represent here was flown by the top scoring Luftwaffe pilot between 10 July and 18 August 1940 (and no, it's not Galland, Wick or Mölders!). He filed victory claims on three major Kanalkampf operations which resulted in British shipping being sunk, and on two airfield attacks including the successful attack on Croydon Aerodrome on 15 August. By then time he was shot down on 18th August 1940 he had claimed 15 victories in the Battle of Britain, to go with 7 in Spain and five in the Battle of France or in the prelude to the Battle of Britain. The aircraft in question is this one: Its pilot is Horst Tietzen, who claimed 15 victories during the Battle of Britain, until he was shot down on 18th August 1940 (now known as The Hardest Day). Decals are from the Eduard Alte Hasen sheet. I also chose this because I like the scheme - plenty of yellow tactical markings but not on the nose for a change! And lots of mottling to have fun with. Right now my bench is strewn with Messerschmitt while I start painting the interior, and I'll start adding some commentary on this in the next few days. Thanks for looking! Matt

Hi @vppelt68, Please add me to the list. I'm sure I can find something suitable in my stash! Matt

Please count me in for this one too - I'm hoping to add a Blenheim, a Beaufort and a Beaufighter into the mix - all Airfix 1:72, and probably all Coastal Command. I may consider converting the Beaufighter to an earlier version with the Alley Cat parts, we'll see. I'm looking forward to joining in the fun! Thanks! Matt

Hi @Col. Please put me down for a couple of 109s as well. I have the Eduard 1/48 Bf109E Adlerangriff dual combo in the stash begging to be built. Looking forward to it! Matt

I love this @Robert Stuart, great effort setting it up! One suggestion though if I may - your stats would be more readable as horizontal bar charts, especially the 3D ones. Pies are for dessert (if you're a stats nerd like me, see the link as to why). Great idea to use Google Docs too, I had a go at compiling stats for last year's Battle of Britain GB myself and probably could have built another kit instead! Matt

Glad you could join in Chris! Thanks! I really enjoyed your recent Hampden build so I was really looking forward to doing something similar myself. It will be fun! Glad you could make it Mike, plenty of room at the bar! Great, good of you to join in. Thanks! I love it too and it was an important aircraft in the early war years. Glad to have you along!

Thanks everyone for your likes and comments so far! I’ll start this instalment with a bit of history behind the aircraft I’m building: Z9322/MH-G of 51 Squadron RAF (later transferred to 77 Squadron). I’m fascinated by going through the RAF’s Operations Record Books so once I find a subject that attracts my interest (often from a particular combat or raid) I’ll often research the aircraft I’m building in the level of detail you’re about to see below to establish what else it was involved in and which other crews flew it. At the time of writing (November 2020) these are free to download from the National Archives. Some examples of these records are below. Z9322 aircraft was a Mk.V Whitley, built as a bomber to Air Ministry specification 106962/40 at Baginton near Coventry. It was delivered to the RAF between August 1941 and November 1941, and was delivered to 51 Squadron at Dishforth. 51 Squadron had operated Whitleys since February 1938 and had dropped leaflets over Germany on the very first night of the Second World War. Z9322 flew its first operational mission on 7 December 1941. Missions flown by Z9322 that month were: 7 December 1941 Bomber Command dispatched 251 aircraft against various targets. The primary target was Aachen, which was bombed by 130 aircraft in atrocious conditions – 10/10ths cloud, rain, snow and ice. Two aircraft were lost, one to a night fighter. 51 Sqn contributed fourteen aircraft, one of which aborted. Seven were part of the force attacking Aachen. Z9322 however was one of four 51 Sqn Whitleys that attacked Dunkirk. These aircraft encountered slight heavy Flak and a few searchlights. 11 December 1941 Z9322 was one of five 51 Sqn Whitleys that attacked a town believed to be Bonn. 17 December 1941 Bomber Command turned its attention to Brest, where the warships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were holed up. 51 Sqn dispatched 17 Whitleys, with an eighteenth aborting. All crews unsurprisingly reported intense Flak, and one Whitley returned damaged. 23 December 1941 51 Sqn dispatched fifteen Whitleys to attack Cologne in 9/10ths cloud. Crews reported light Flak and all returned safely. 28 December 1941 Fourteen 51 Sqn Whitleys took off to attack Emden. F/Lt Potter, flying Z9322, aborted with instrument problems. Of the thirteen other aircraft, ten reported bombing Emden, one bombed another target, one returned with its bombload and one was missing. This aircraft, Z9202, was claimed shot down by night fighter pilot Oberfeldwebel Siegfried Ney of 6./NJG 2, 10km west of Texel. The above five missions are all represented in the Operations Record Book as follows: Sources Whitley production: http://britishaviation-ptp.com/aw38.html#prodlist 51 Squadron Operations Record Books: AIR-27-491 series Bowman, Martin; Bomber Command Reflections of War – Cover of Darkness Bolten, Theo; Nachtjagd Combat Archive series Progress and Sprue Photos Now to the kit. I’ve made a little start on painting the interior but in the meantime here are some sprue shots. I note the wheels are coming off already (one wheel is loose on the sprue) – hopefully not an omen even before I start! That's all I have time for for now. I'll be back later with more operational details and maybe some progress photos. Thanks for looking! Matt

Hi everyone! The recently completed Battle of Britain group build has left me with a few kits in my stash that I didn't get to, so here I will present one of them. The first kit I've decided to pull out of my stash is the Armstrong-Whitworth Whitley. The kit is 1/72 Airfix, for which I've purchased Eduard's details set and masks set. I gather from other builds Eduard omitted a couple of windows so I'll have to do some extra masking (not too much I hope!). A couple of photos: Now to the subject. The particular aircraft I've decided to build is probably quite a famous one, or at least, it should be. It started life as a bomber and participated in nine bombing missions over France and Germany. Then in February 1942 it was used on a highly successful paratroop mission. After eight more bombing missions, this aircraft, along with its squadron, was transferred to Coastal Command where it hunted U-Boats in the Bay of Biscay. It even managed to spot one, although the U-Boat spotted the Whitley in time to crash-dive and escape. Quite an interesting service history then! Along the way the Whitley I'm building was flown by a number of different crews. One of its pilots was particularly well known, but it was also flown by other crews including one less-known pilot who later had a very lucky and dramatic escape in after evading six German fighters in another Whitley. I'll relate more on the story of this aircraft and its crews during the start of the build very soon! All the best, Matt

Superb Hampden, and a fitting tribute to those who participated in the raid. Matt

I would also like to second "repeat please" (this is the BoB group build after all!) Tim and Peter's comments, very well said. A huge thank you to the hosts @Stew Dapple, @Procopius, @Cookenbacher and @Enzo Matrix, it's been a lot of fun posting on here and as a relative newcomer to the hobby I've really appreciated everyone's advice, knowledge and encouragement. Also well done to all participants. The standard of modelling on here has been exceptional and I will revisit these pages countless times to be inspired by and continue learning from everyone's builds as I work my way though my stash of Battle of Britain kits! I've even picked out some great subjects for the next Battle of Britain group build already, but in the meantime see you all again in other group builds! Matt

And this is my second entry. This is an Airfix Blenheim IV bomber, completed as T1826 "GB-B" of 105 Sqn, which flew five successful raids on the invasion barges as described in my build thread, and was flown by the inspirational Sqn Ldr Gordon Key throughout much of the Battle of Britain. To the standard kit I've added Quickboost exhausts and Eduard PE (interior and in the wheel bays), and I used Eduard canopy masks and AML camouflage masks. Enjoy the pictures!

Hi all, A bit of weathering later, and we have a completed Blenheim! I have really enjoyed working on this, from my research before the GB started trawling through Operations Record Books to find out more about the "other few" to building and participating in this forum. I'm glad I have been able to pass on some tips about the Airfix Blenheim along the way which I hope others will find useful, and in turn I've learned lots from others on this forum too. Pictures are below, and I'll add these to the galley too. Comments welcome! Matt

Hi all, My first completed group build! This is the 1/48 Eduard Spitfire Mk.I "Spitfire Story" edition built using the included PE and masks, with AML camouflage masks and Xtradecal RAF letters purchased to complete this kit. It's finished in standard Sovereign Colour Coats RAF colours, plus weathering using heavily thinned Humbrol enamels and Vallejo weathering pigments. This aircraft, L1065, was flown by Sgt Alan Feary of 609 Sqn, when he shot down one of the three Ju88s that had just bombed the airfield at Middle Wallop on 14th August 1940. Build thread is here. Many thanks to the hosts and to everyone for making this such a fun experience! Matt

Hi everyone, I've made a lot of progress since the last update and I'm calling this one finished - my first completed group build! Decals went on well. I was concerned about the decals settling down over all those rivets, but copious use of Microsol sorted that out with minimal silvering - phew! Next came the weathering process. I know this aircraft was heavily weathered, but I decided to mostly err on the side of subtlety (although I did a bit more underneath where Spitfires often looked very much the worse for wear!). So, I did a panel line wash using a heavily thinned very dark grey, brushed on some Vallejo "smoke" as exhaust stains, and used a cut-down old brush and dried aluminium paint to recreate the heavily weathered wing root area. I'm quite happy with the way it turned out. A few final pics are below, and I'll add some more to the gallery in a moment. Thanks everyone for your comments and feedback throughout this build, I've certainly learned a few new things along the way. Matt

Wonderful job so far with both the Hampden, which is really looking the part, and the story of the raid. I now have a Valom Hampden in the stash - I'll probably do mine as one of the other aircraft from the same raid just to be different! Cheers, Matt

Hi all, Decals are on, so I can reveal the identity of the second Blenheim. It's T1826/GB-B of 105 Squadron. This aircraft flew throughout the Battle of Britain and seems to have been Sqn Ldr Gordon Key's favoured aircraft for a period of time during the Battle of the Barges, although other pilots also flew this aircraft. 105 Squadron's ORB records T1826 as completing eleven bombing missions during this time period, including five against the invasion ports of Ostend (18/9/1940), Dunkirk (20/9/1940 and 21/9/1940), Calais (24/9/1940) and Boulogne (30/9/1940). It also completed harassment raids on German occupied airfields in August 1940, and went on to attack other targets in France and Germany in 1941, including Brest, Hamburg, Bremen and Wilhelmshaven. Group Captain Gordon Key, OBE, DFC was born in Devon on 1/1/1914 and saw action in the air at both the beginning and the end of the Second World War. He was an reportedly a "much admired pilot and an inspirational leader". In May 1940 Key was a flight commander in 105 Squadron, flying obsolete Fairey Battles from Villeneuve, when the German Blitzkrieg struck France and the Low Countries. Like other Battle squadrons, most of 105 Sqn's aircraft were destroyed in attempts to prevent the Wehrmacht's attack; however Key survived and appears to have played an instrumental role in preventing 105 Sqn from being merged into other units. The squadron was re-equipped with Blenheims in June 1940, and Key led raids on targets including German gun emplacements at Cap Gris Nez, the invasion ports, the Krupps armament works at Essen and on the Focke-Wulf aircraft factory at Bremen. The last two proved eventful: on the Essen mission, Key overshot the runway in poor weather conditions and chased the flying control van "clean off the airfield and into the boundary hedge!" (See the photo below, which comes from the excellent book "Battle-Axe Blenheims, by Stuart R. Scott). On the Bremen flight, Key's gunner (Sgt Foster) shot down a shadowing fighter in a "shower of sparks". For his efforts Key was mentioned in dispatches and in March 1941 awarded the DFC. Later, Key was promoted to Wing Commander and commanded 18 Sqn (also flying Blenheims) from April 1941. Four months later Key was rested from operations and was appointed staff officer to Air Chief Marshal Sir Wilfred Freeman for two years, but Key really wanted to return to active duty. Eventually Key was posted to Burma and commanded 910 Wing, flying Thunderbolts. After the war Key commanded 45 Sqn (Beaufighters and Buckmasters) in Ceylon (Sri Lanka); RAF Upwood (1956); and RAF Persian Gulf (1959-60). His final RAF appointments included JIGSAW (the Joint Inter-Service Group for the Study of All-Out Warfare). He died on 29th October 2008, aged 94. So, here's an overall view with the decals freshly applied. This shows T1826 just before the Battle of the Barges, when the undersurfaces would have been repainted night black. The codes are from Xtradecals "Battle for Malta" sheet (and a spare "B" from an unknown sheet that happened to look exactly the same!) and the serial was made from individual letters from other spare sheets. These were small and fiddly but went on really quite straight (surprisingly so!) with the assistance of Microsol. That's all for now, while I pop back to the workbench to do more decalling on my Spitfire! Matt

Hi all, Although I had some brand new Humbrol paints ready to go, I decided to delay this build somewhat and order some Sovereign paints to try these out as per @Merlin's advice. I'm very glad I did. I was never happy with the Humbrol 30 that Airfix advertise as RAF dark green (Humbrol 116 seems closer but wasn't available from any of my usual sources at the time). I'm not normally too worried about getting the colours exactly right as I know there was a fair bit of variation, but Sovereign dark green in particular looks so much better. So here's where I'm up to - all painted and gloss coated. I'm now ready for a big session of decalling, weathering and matt coating (I'll be doing the Blenheim at the same time) today and tomorrow. Thanks for looking! Matt