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Col Walter E Kurtz

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  1. Col Walter E Kurtz
    I am in accord with you Tony ! The Greatest Generation indeed. War brings out both the Best and sometimes the Worst in people. It's a pity we cannot often mobilise the same spirit to solve the problems of peacetime...
  2. Col Walter E Kurtz
    Yes Tony 20!!!! Uncle Peter was born in June 1924. I don't know about you, but i was a bit of a unfocused wastrel when i was aged 20 lol . How would i have met the challenges of this situation? i can't imagine it..
  3. Col Walter E Kurtz
    Chris, it's a very emotional process for me. The more i read, the more proud and quietly respectful i feel. I knew my uncle as simply ' Uncle Peter ', not the 20 year old fighter pilot. W/O Bill Tuck knew my uncle and spoke to Chris Thomas about the day they both forced landed. It's nearly 75 years ago these events happened and some people might think it doesn't matter any more. I feel it's my duty to tell the story. This build is part of this process of the storytelling and also helps me. It's not everyday you get the opportunity to pass on to your family, as well as a wider audience. this sort of detailed account. I'm so pleased to be able to do it! Regards, Andy
  4. Col Walter E Kurtz
    Have tonight pulled down the kindle version of Pierre Closterman's 'The Big Show'. Found quite a few mentions of my uncle - seems he flew as a Number 2 to 'PC' on at least one of his sorties. It's a good read. PC mentions my uncle by name as 'Brown' and he is a new NCO pilot. He records his first sorties ' beginners luck ' in downing a FW190 and making it back to base alive. He refers to my uncle later as "B________" I'm amazed at the pressure the pilots in '56' and the Wing were under. Flying multiple sorties each day, exhaustion, inexperience, difficult and dangerous weather. Lethal flak concentrations, flak 'traps'. He states he took out his own frustration at being stood down to a 15 min readiness on my uncle as he had dropped his parachute in a patch of oil and had not reported it. Oil rendering it possibly useless as it would destroy the silk. I get a real sense of how frightened my uncle must have been. 20 years old and thrown in to a situation of great danger.Posted to a GSU from his Tempest OTU half way through his Tempest course to replenish the frightening losses the RAF was suffering at this point. I think when he talked about it he must have said as much. I wish i could recall exactly what he said to me as a child. He had an occasional facial 'tic' even 30 plus years later. My parents said he got this in the war. We were told as children if he did this facial tic in front of us, we should repeat it back to him so he knew he was doing it and would gain 'control' again.
  5. Col Walter E Kurtz
    Bill, Some of the issues you encountered and the solutions you found are very valuable for my build. Great to see the process.Thanks for these points. Sutton Harness- noted! Cockpit copper tank- noted! dry fitting.. cockpit and wings! noted. Canopy Emergency Jettison release handle in red- invaluable! I don't think my budget can stretch to a resin nose /spinner. A brilliant build and excellent WIP . Really helpful.
  6. Col Walter E Kurtz
    i'm very impressed. I loved the fire extinguisher on the apron! Your photography is real quality. Thank you for sharing this. Regards Andy
  7. Col Walter E Kurtz
    Thanks for showing this. I'm doing the very same kit. I've chosen to do my uncle's aircraft changing it to a 56 Squadron Tempest NV728- US-X , he crash landed in April 194 but survived . . The cockpit is very nicely done indeed! Hope i can do something similar. Very impressed! Regards, Andy
  8. Col Walter E Kurtz
    Thanks for directing me to your tribute Robert. Very impressive! The models are beautiful. This has given me some inspiration on how i'll do my uncle's tribute. Regards Andy
  9. Col Walter E Kurtz
    Cockpit put together now. Will take a quick pic later and post it here! The fuselage halves are a bit 'out' in places so i will have a fair bit of work to get them to marry up without too much filler! I'm very humbled by the interest shown by everybody in this build so far. Thanks! Regards Andy
  10. Col Walter E Kurtz
    My pleasure Mark! glad you liked the Mossie! Thank you !
  11. Col Walter E Kurtz
    This is what i hope to do later this year!. There are some interesting and possibly very fruitful enquiries afoot as we speak! I certainly couldn't have imagined what was already available back in October when i embarked on this research. I only talked once when i was about 8 or 10 years old to uncle Peter about his wartime experiences. Regards, Andy
  12. Col Walter E Kurtz
    Hello Mark. Pleased you will follow this build indeed! Thank you I found the Hataka paints to spray well. This recent RFI i did was a mix of Hataka and Tamiya acrylics. I used blue tack to mask the lines on the cammo. I shook the Hataka bottles very well and then had the bottle in my pocket for at least 15 mins before spraying to get the paint to a state where is was not too viscous.. more agitation and add a couple of drops of AK acrylic thinners.1:20 approx Worked ok on the Mossie. Certainly i could get some very crisp lines with careful spraying. I also used mainly Hataka paints on my Revell B-17 "Little Miss Mischief" - this required some exacting masking! 6 colours on the tail alone! Again my experience was that the Hataka paints were good! I'm spraying at 25lbs using a 0.4 H&S Duo airbrush. Hope this helps? Regards, Andy
  13. Col Walter E Kurtz
    Absolutely agree Adrian. I wonder what my uncle would think? so greatfull for everyone's info and interest. Regards Andy
  14. Col Walter E Kurtz
    It's a great story Robert. I will write it up as a proper narrative later in the year. It's a personal story and has so much excitement inherent in it. I don't need to colour it in any way. It's all there. Regards Andy
  15. Col Walter E Kurtz
    I'm gob-smacked as we say Alt! Have had so much relevant information passed to me. I've uncovered a wealth of verified info. It promises to be very personal to me but also to give pleasure and interest to other BM members. ! Regards Andy
  16. Col Walter E Kurtz
    Granted Sir! It will be my pleasure CC!
  17. Col Walter E Kurtz
    Thank you Mark. I've not had a chance to see this book yet. Sounds like i should try and track one down. This is new information and i'm very grateful for you bringing it to my attention. I'm almost 100% certain It is my uncle Sgt Peter Corin Brown as mentioned. There was another Brown who joined after my uncle was POW and after Pierre C had left 56 Sqn. My uncle flew a sortie from B.80 Volkel on 3/4/45 ( His last during hostilities ) in NV 728 code US-X and Pierre Clostermann flew the same sortie in EJ 536 code US-W. I have the Squadrons Operations Book from the National Archives at Kew. In the records Pierre C often went 'hunting' alone after starting a sortie in concert with other squadron pilots. A sort of Free French version of Adolf Galland ( who found his own successes following the same method) He was certainly very successful in this free hunting method he often adopted. I'ts quite nice to know my uncle flew with such an outstanding 'Ace'. I'm pleased you want to follow this project. It's a remarkable story. Real Boys Own stuff tempered by the grim realities of the final phase of the war in Europe. Thank You, Kind Regards Andy
  18. Col Walter E Kurtz
    Yes Chris.We have had a lot of contact and he's a new member of the family to welcome and get up to speed. ! He's a nice guy indeed!
  19. Col Walter E Kurtz
    Thanks Andy. I'm at work presently but i will reply to you later today, in detail. Happily my uncle survived his crash and taken POW was returned to the squadron after VE Day. He died in 1984 well before his time. Regards Andy
  20. Col Walter E Kurtz
    Thanks for your kind appreciation. A couple of figures sets it off nicely , usually i don't put them in but glad i did ! Cheers Andy
  21. Col Walter E Kurtz
    Most kind of you to say so Ron. ! Cheers Andy
  22. Col Walter E Kurtz
    Thank you very much Steve. I like the RAF Hunsdon site and it's very local to me so often go there ( not sadly recently due to lockdown!). Glad to pay tribute to and acknowledge the RNZAF connection too! I took your advice about natural light pics and think it shows the model off to it's best advantage! The memorial there is very moving and has the prop from a crashed Mossie on top of it. This MM417 / EG-T has quite a history in respect of kit manufacturers choosing it as an option so i understand. Wellsprop did this kit a couple of years ago and i was inspired to try and do as good a job as he did! Kind Regards Andy
  23. Col Walter E Kurtz
    I think the kit was about £23 .. what's not to like! It goes together almost snap fit. A pleasure to build! The Hataka paints were lovely to use too. Look forward to your one if you choose to build it! Cheers!
  24. Col Walter E Kurtz
    Thank you Sir! Notice you are in Celle. My uncle was stationed there in WW2 flying RAF Tempest Vs in 56 (Punjab)Squadron and i think later 16 Squadron. I'm currently doing a 1:32 build of one of his Tempest V aircraft he flew , he force landed in it and was presumed killed. Natural light pics do add something to the realism i agree. Cheers for the positive comments. Much appreciated! Regards Andy
  25. Col Walter E Kurtz
    Yes.. i'm undecided often about should i put a crew in or not. I think pilot painting is an art in itself! This pair of retrobates turned out well though. Thanks so much for the positive comments! Glad you enjoyed it! Regards Andy
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