ColFord

This is the old Testors Westland Lysander Mk.II from the Italeri reboxing, which I picked up second hand some years back. It includes the addition of the Eduard photo-etch interior and a some scratch building for adding some detail missing from the relatively basic kit. It was a build to fill a gap in my collection and was built around July to September last year (well before Hendie went on his epic and magnificent build of the same kit), Decals are based off the Xtradecal sheet for the centenary of No.II(AC) Squadron which included Lysander KO-O, modified to represent KO-Q. Paints are a mix of WEM and Humbrol enamels. Lysander Mk.II N1217 KO-Q was on strength with No.II(AC) Squadron in the latter half of 1940, following their return from the Battle of France. In that timeframe it was the aircraft regularly flown by P/O Wilfred Shearman with his usual gunner/observer Sgt Shaw. On 24 October 1940, this aircraft and its crew from 'A' Flight No.II(AC) Sqdn were transferred to the newly reformed No.268 Squadron, then based at Westley near Bury St Edmunds. P/O Shearman, Sgt Shaw and N1217 KO-Q would remain on the strength of No.268 Sqdn, P/O Shearman until posted out in late 1940 and N1217 until it was lost in a crash in February 1941. During its first few weeks with No.268 Sqdn, N1217 continued to operate with its 'old' No.II(AC) Sqdn codes, until it was repainted with the No.268 Sqdn 'NM' identification codes. Another to my collection of Squadron, Army-Cooperation and Tactical Reconnaissance aircraft. Enjoy.

My second completion for 2017, an out of the box build of the relatively new Airfix 1/48th B.P. Defiant Mk.I, finished in the provided markings of a Defiant used in late 1940 for trials on the suitability of the Defiant for use as an Army Co-operation aircraft by No.II(AC) Squadron at RAF Hatfield Woodhouse in South Yorkshire. The trials were conducted around the same time No.II(AC) Squadron was also given a Fairy Battle to trial its suitability as an Army Co-operation aircraft. Both types were judged by the experienced ACC pilots who had seen active service in France as in many ways being a step backwards from the Westland Lysander, particularly in the downwards view for both pilot and observer, but marginally better in relation to speed and relative manoeuvrability if compared against single seat fighters. I found this to be a relatively easy and trouble free build, especially utilising some of the points made by earlier builder and reviews here on Britmodeller - avoided possible pitfalls or issues. Main upper surface camouflage paint colours are WEM enamels, with an old, old, old Humbrol 'Sky' enamel for the underside, with a mix of Humbrol and Tamiya enamels for the detail painting. Used a set of Montex masks for the canopy and turret masking. Camo masks were self made. So another one completed for my collection of RAF Army Co-operation aircraft. I have a CA Fairy Battle in 1/48 that I am battling through to build the other aircraft trialled by No.II(AC) Squadron in late 1940. More RAF ACC and Tac/R subjects to come.

Bruce, I think it will be very difficult for you to identify which Tomahawks, if any, used by No.414 (RCAF) Squadron were fitted with the oblique camera installation. Army Co-operation Command initially set the basic objective of having as a minimum two but preferably three Tomahawk aircraft of each Squadron fitted with the oblique camera installation. However, the Air Ministry and Ministry of Aircraft Production, who were dealing with the bigger issues confronting serviceability of the Tomahawks and modifying them somewhere close to an operational standard, put a very low priority on the modification. As a result, they advised ACC any such modification would have to be done utilising ACC resources. So production of the camera installations had to be worked out and conducted by maintenance assets within ACC. Air Ministry were kind enough to arrange supply of cameras! Similar story for later ACC requirement for vertical camera installation in Tomahawks. As a result, priority was given to those Squadrons of ACC that were most likely to use the camera installations operationally or to provide support to major UK Army Commands - remember at this stage they were still considering the possibility of a 1941 German invasion of the UK. A lot of their early photo work, which supplemented that still being done using Lysanders retained by those Squadrons, was of Army camouflage, Army exercises, UK beach defences, 'home based' work not against the enemy as such. There was a lot of re-learning going on about what was required to get good, usable oblique photos from a low flying, relatively fast single seat aircraft compared to what they had been used to with Lysanders and earlier ACC aircraft. Some early operational oblique camera use was to back up visual sightings made during shipping reconnaissance sorties - photos to provide more detail and confirm what the pilot had visually sighted. (ACC pilots typically, in the early days, over estimated size and type of shipping sighted, so having photographs helped intel a lot.) So hence why Tomahawks of 2 and 26 were early Squadrons to get oblique cameras, 268 didn't get their first oblique camera equipped Tomahawk until November 1941. Once ACC knew that the Tomahawk was going to be an interim type and due to be replaced in 1942 with the N.A. Mustang, a lot of the urgency to get Tomahawks modified with camera installations disappeared. April 1942 is earliest reference I can find to arrival of vertical camera equipped Tomahawks arriving with ACC Squadrons. However, if you can find details, a serial, for a Tomahawk (or Tomahawks) retained by No.414 (RCAF) Squadron after they received their Mustangs and went operational on them, that would usually be a camera equipped Tomahawk retained to provide Photo/R capability until such time as the Mustangs were fitted with cameras. Any Tomahawk retained by an operational ACC Squadron until mid 1943 would also be a good candidate for being a Tomahawk fitted with the vertical camera installation - pre Mustang vertical camera installation design and trials being finalised and wider installation being commenced. The No.414 (RCAF) Squadron Operational Record Books might contain details if the Squadron did receive any oblique camera fitted Tomahawks, it was the type of item worthy of mention. But that may not give you the serial or Squadron aircraft id letter for the aircraft involved. I had to cross reference aircraft record cards, Squadron ORBs and pilots log books, plus got lucky with a couple of photos in a pilot's log book to be able to identify the oblique camera equipped Tomahawks used by 268. 2 & 26 lucky there are photos showing some of their oblique camera equipped Tomahawks - again had to cross reference ORBs, pilots log books to get firm identity of the camera aircraft. Regards.

Thanks for the comments everyone, appreciated. Jonny, pilot from No.II(AC) Sqdn would be F/O Doug Reich. He was shot down on 15 June 1944. No.II(AC) Sqdn had spent a large part of their war at Sawbridgeworth, but from September 1943 they moved around a number of airfields, including some ALGs such as Funtington, getting practice at being 'mobile' in preparation for the invasion. From early 1944 they ended up with the other units in 35(Recce) Wing at Gatwick where they operated from until just before they moved via Odiham, to France in late July 1944. Hannants do an aftermarket decal sheet in 1/48th for another of No.II(AC) Sqdns Tomahawks XV-U (for Ursula) here - https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/X48163 If you want to do one of the RAF Tomahawks that is noted as having the fishtail types exhausts, the Ultracast 48071 early Mustang RAF Fishtail exhausts literally drop in with little modification - http://www.ultracast.ca/products/48/071/default.htm

The Airfix 1/48th scale P-40 Tomahawk finished in the markings of a No.II(AC) Squadron RAF, 34 Wing, Army Co-operation Command, Curtiss Tomahawk at RAF Sawbridgeworth from July 1941. Paints are Humbrol (including a very aged tinlet of Humbrol HB 5 Sky Type S used on spinner and fuselage id band), Tamiya and Model Master enamels, Ultracast pilot's seat with Sutton Harness, early P-40 wheels, tubular exhausts and propeller with spinner, Xtradecals for national markings and id code letters, the serial and name 'Suzanne' from an old Hobbycraft Tomahawk decal sheet. No major issues with the build, altho a few things I would do differently for the next one of these I have in my stash to produce a slightly tidier and easier build process. Kept relatively clean as per the photos of the subject aircraft. The earlier builds of the 1/48th Airfix P-40B posted by others here in Britmodeller helped me avoid any major pitfalls during my build. Another finished model to add to my collection of Army Co-operation and Tactical Reconnaissance aircraft. Enjoy

The BBMF in their latest Facebook photo post today have provided the clue to the next Gift Set Option....... And of the Airfix releases for 2017, count me in for the Walrus, Sea Fury, RAAF Meteor F.8, 1/48 P-51 Mustang (would very much like an accurate new mould Mustang Mk.I), maybe another of the P-40 B/C (already got two of them with one well under construction). and still hoping for a 1/48th Spitfire FR.XIVe - please Mr Airfix!!

The IWM Photo Collection Search is your friend. A quick and dirty search of the photos in the IWM Collection seems to indicate that Mitchell Mk.I (B-25B, only 3 delivered for trials? ) was camouflaged, but was not deemed acceptable for operational use, so was therefore only used for training/working up the Squadrons. Photos of Mitchell Mk.II and Mk.III, all with operational units or the usual A&AEE photos of new types under trial, show these later B-25s as being what appears to be Olive Drab over Neutral Gray. The patchiness of the OD as it weathered in B&W photos could have been misinterpreted as a camouflage pattern if the person was expecting to see a RAF bomber type in the usual RAF type scheme. But the areas of dark and light don't follow a real pattern as you would expect for a camouflage scheme, more random and consistent with areas of an airframe weathering at different rates. HTH.

A good online resource with a number of links to other available online information on the Boomerang is here: http://dbdesignbureau.buckmasterfamily.id.au/ The book recommended by Magpie22 also seems to get the 'thumbs up' from this site as it indicates they consulted with Dick Hourigan in preparing their book and drawings. HTH.

Graham, As an example, No.277 Sqdn ORB for May 1943 indicates pairs of Spitfires operating as a team with a single Defiant on a number of patrols and call outs to aircrew down in the Channel. Also lists Spitfires working with Lysander and Walrus. The Squadron at that time also had Lysanders and Walrus on its strength, split across a number of locations: Martlesham, Hawkinge, Shoreham and Gravesend. The pairings they would use would depend upon the area they were covering and number of aircrew reported in the Channel based on aircraft type. Advantage of aircraft with multi-crew, was the extra pairs of eyes to keep a watch on the aircrew in the water and a lookout for any interference by the enemy, either by the Luftwaffe or the Kreigsmarine. The Spitfires were the 'hare' and would get out to the reported location of the ditched aircrew quickest, followed by the 'tortoise' (Lysander, Defiant, Walrus), who once the Spitfires had hopefully located the ditched aircrew would get vectored to the scene. Why multiple aircraft and multiple dinghys? Dinghy drops were not always successful and multiple aircraft meant multiple attempts could be made to get a dinghy to the ditched aircrew, especially if they were only in their Mae West, or even worse, as in one instance I know, treading water in mid Channel as his Mae West had been ripped as he went over the side as he bailed out. In his case, it took two dinghy drops to get a dinghy successfully to him. In his case as well, despite a pair of ASR Spitfires arriving on scene and initially sighting him, then shortly after a flight of four Typhoons, they lost sight of him in the rough sea state. His flight leader, about to land back at base hearing that sight of the ditched pilot had been lost, returned to the scene, sighted the ditched pilot and vectored the ASR aircraft back in visual contact with him and the flight leader then returned to base to land with only a couple of gallons of fuel left in his tanks. Tac/R pilots had great eyesight! In his case the ASR Squadron ORB records that one of the ASR Spitfires made first attempt to drop a dinghy from one of its flare chutes, but this failed due to the flare chute hatch jamming. Walrus arrived on the scene, passing the flight leader on his way home for the second time, and made the dinghy drops from very low level due to the wind and sea state, taking two attempts to get dinghy to the pilot. He then had to wait for Naval vessel to do the pick-up as it was unsafe for the Walrus to land and attempt a pickup. During this rescue it is recorded that four smoke floats were dropped by the Walrus and one by the Spitfires. The ORB also notes the teamwork between the different ASR aircraft and the supporting 'top cover' Typhoons - earlier in the month other Spitfires and a Walrus attempting a pick-up of a Spitfire pilot in a similar part of the Channel were subjected to interference by FW-190s, that the top cover Spitfires in that instance saw off with losses on the enemy side. There are instances recorded in the ORBs of relays of ASR aircraft going out to ditched aircrew because the sea state precluded pick-up by the Walrus and they had to wait for a Naval vessel or RAF HSL to get out to where the ditched aircrew were. They also list area searches by the various types in conjunction with HSLs and MLs/MTBs - particularly supporting big USAAF daylight raids or early mornings after major RAF BC raids. Also if you had a multi crew aircraft and they had drifted apart in the sea, you wanted multiple options to drop dinghys if required. Looking over the ORBs of the ASR units and the published histories (and unpublished histories) the methods and aircraft used evolved over time, based on their experiences and appreciation of the strengths and weaknesses of the aircraft they had available at the time. Makes for some interesting research and reading. Regards,

From my research, reading and talking to two WW2 pilots who had to make unplanned 'swims' in the Channel and were on the receiving end of the RAF ASR services, the combination of dinghy packs, smoke floats, sea markers seem to be combinations carried and used on the various smaller RAF ASR types eg Lysander, Defiant, and to some degree Spitfire. On spotting the pilot in the water, they would drop a sea marker and observe the water current as well as making a more visible large area near the pilot as a reference point to keep him in sight. A smoke float would also often be dropped to assist in gauging wind direction and drift and also to provide a further visual reference. Using the information gained from either or both of those, the ASR aircraft would then make a dropping run with the dinghy pack. The aim was to drop the dinghy, which would inflate during its drop to the ocean, up wind and up current from the pilot so it would be carried down to where the pilot was in the water. If the dinghy dropped so that the pilot was able to get hold of and get into the dinghy, then further sea makers and/ or smoke floats would be dropped at intervals to help maintain the visual fix on the pilot, especially if the sea or visibility conditions were not good. If they missed with the first dinghy run, then further sea markers and smoke floats might be dropped to further gauge the wind and current conditions before making a second attempt at a dinghy drop. As the ASR Spitfires were most often first on the scene they would circle overhead the pilot in the water, keeping him in sight. If needed they would drop sea markers or smoke floats to help keep the pilot's location established. Once the Lysander, Defiant or Walrus was on scene, the Spitfires would climb above the other ASR aircraft and provide high cover and also given higher altitude would often act as radio relay back to the controller who might be directing an ASR launch, Lifeboat, Naval vessel or other vessel to the pilots location for pick-up. That would depend on the sea state and ability of the Walrus if it was the ASR aircraft on station to land and take-off again to make the pick-up. The ASR types might work in concert, for example the Spitfires dropping smoke floats or sea markers with the Lysander, Defiant or Walrus just doing the dinghy drops. Often, other fighter aircraft would be scrambled to provide top cover for the ASR aircraft and launches to prevent interference by the enemy. The accuracy on dinghy dropping achieved by the ASR pilots was commented on by both pilots I spoke to, the dinghy was dropped so it was carried by the wind and current literally into the waiting arms of the pilot in the water. The effects of the dye in the sea marker in staining everything they touched, including the pilot, were also remarked upon, plus extra days kept in sick quarters afterwards because he looked like he had somehow caught jaundice............. There was a good period article in Flight Magazine, July 15, 1943, pages 62-63 on ASR Spitfires. You can find the relevant pages for download on the Flight Archive site. Explains a lot about how they dropped the dinghy packs from ASR Spitfires including a photo of a dinghy pack being dropped from a Spitfire. I take it the Freightdog dinghy pack is in 1/72nd? I had a look on their site for a 1/48th version for a 1/48th ASR Defiant I want to do, but couldn't find one listed. Certainly a market opportunity there for someone to do one in 1/48th for either ASR Defiants or Lysanders.

To quote from an earlier inquiry I responded to here on Britmodeller: "ahhhhh, Malcolm Hoods on RAF Alison Mustangs. I think I have answered this in a previous thread here at Britmodeller and also a couple of times over at Hyperscale. Basically. Mustang Mk.I - NO. Mustang Mk.IA - evidence a very limited number of aircraft, a handful in late 1944 into early 1945. A Mk.IA airframe was used for the design and acceptance trials for the modification. For the Mk.IA not a widespread modification and where AM and Hobbycraft get their Malcolm Hooded 'N' FD465 with D-Day stripes with No.168 Squadron is a joke. Firstly No.168 Squadron did not have Mustang Mk.IA by D-Day, they had reverted back to Mk.Is in January 1944 like the other Squadrons in 34 (Recce) Wing. And the RAF records for FD465 indicate it was not with 168 or operational. Don't get me started on FD472 'M' with D-Day stripes, as it too left 168 in January 1944 and was with 268 from then until SOC in late 1944. FD472 may be slightly unique in having scored a credited kill against a FW-190, without firing its guns in the engagement. Photos of Mk.IAs still serving early 1945, still generally show the standard hoods. Mustang Mk.IIs started out with the standard hood, but by late 1944 were being either fitted with the Malcolm Hood before issue to No.268 Sqdn (No.II(AC) Sqdn was relinquishing them by then as they converted to Spitfire FR.XIVEs) or were modified when they next went in for major servicing or repairs. So by early 1945, the majority were fitted with the Malcolm Hood. There was the odd one that had not been in for major servicing still with the old hood by March-April 1945, but they were the exception, not the rule." If you search "RAF Mustang" here on Britmodeller there are a number of threads covering the RAF Allison Mustangs including quite a few copies of original photos and extracts from technical documents on the type. Biggest/longest of the threads here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/44133-a-few-mustang-mki-questions/&/topic/44133-a-few-mustang-mki-questions/?hl=allison

Previous thread on this topic here:

If you want this in much, much better quality, then it is available on DVD from the IWM. They have a series of DVDs "The Royal Air Force at War" broken down by various years, which includes newsreels, service training films and the RAF's wartime in service newsreel "The Gen". Has the advantage that when you freeze frame on large screen tv at home, picture quality is way better than this youtube feed. Includes much footage showing great detail of many different aircraft types. For your information, the low level Mustang Mk.I strafing run shown only in part in this clip - DVD contains much more - was filmed at RAF Snailwell on 20 November 1942 and was of Mustang Mk.Is of No.268 Squadron RAF. The low level shoot up of old trucks and buses used as strafing practice targets, was filmed by British Paramount News. Mustang 'N' which features in this footage, was flown by W/C A F Anderson DFC DSO and a second Mustang Mk.I which also featured in the full low level strafing footage that was filmed was flown by S/L W E V Malins DFC. If you want to see Army Co-operation Command/2TAF Mustangs flying very, very, low, then I can suggest two wartime films for footage, "The Way Ahead" shows them during Army exercises, and "For Those in Peril" has them substituting for German fighters attacking RAF ASR launches. Again DVDs of both available - freeze frame again is great for seeing how low can you go. Regards,

Alternative is to go the Belcher Bits Harvard Mk.I which appears to be significantly more accurate than the MDC conversion, altho somewhat more expensive. In the Belcher Bits conversion it is all the relevant conversion bits plus the Occidental T6 for all the detail bits. http://www.belcherbits.com/lines/kits/bk9.htm

The previous Eduard Profi Pack Lysander III kit #8083 did include the photo etch for the bomb carriers and resin bombs, but did not include parts or decals for the SD variants of the Lysander. If you check the instructions and images for #8083 on the Eduard website you will see the difference between that release and the latest one in terms of contents and options.

Okay, So some others can see the answer to the question re WR-Z as per Michael J F Bowyer in Airfix Magazine in 1976, based off first hand observation of the subject aircraft. 241 Sqn Mustang Mk1_zpszxapksyc by Colin Ford, on Flickr And here is one I prepared earlier on AG500 NM-N of No.268 Squadron RAF AG5001 by Colin Ford, on Flickr AG5002 by Colin Ford, on Flickr And a couple of other Mustang Mk.I builds: P2030131 by Colin Ford, on Flickr P2250291 by Colin Ford, on Flickr PA030085 by Colin Ford, on Flickr Have a few more, just need to take better photos. Regards,

Hi Troy, PM sent with lo-res copies of the Airfix Magazine articles of interest, which will answer a number of your questions including re W-RZ in early TLS. The bottom profile of RZ-W in its later green & greys scheme does reflect how it appeared later in its life and photos of it in that scheme have been printed in a number of publications. A couple of those profiles I cringe at, especially the one with the Merlin radiator intake..... AG500 NM-N is based off material I provided to another member of the P51SIG. That is based off film footage taken of that aircraft held in the collection of the IWM and stills/individual frames printed from that film, as well as other photos from various sources in my collection. Those photos and film still so far have only been included in the latest update of the No.268 Squadron History that I self-publish and has had only limited distribution - I need to send updated copies to the IWM and RAFM. Likely they may be used in "the book". Of note, despite the description given with the card model, the Mustang used by W/C Anderson on that October 1942 sortie into Germany was a different aircraft in the later DFS C&M by then. Addition: On the 'other' side the N is again back with the roundel with the squadron codes NM up under the cockpit - so code placement is similar both sides. Ultracast do a number of 'goodies' for early Mustangs. The instructions for their Mk.I conversion does include a diagram showing the panel lines for the Mk.I. It has meant in the conversions I have done from the AM P-51/Mustang Mk.I kit filling and rescribing the wing top panels and changing the case & link ejection ports on the wing bottom. They also do nice sets of early Mustang tubular and RAF fishtail exhausts, early Curtiss Electric narrow blade prop blades 10' 9" diameter type, as well as wheels with various tread types including early Smooth, radial, block, etc. The details vary depending on your subject aircraft and its serial. So for example, if doing an early AG serial Mustang Mk.I, the AM wing does not include the gun camera window and gun camera access hatch as shown in the diagram above. In the late AL, AM AP serial Mk.Is, the gun camera was moved to under the nose, between the nose guns. Also, no underwing id lights on any of the RAF Allison engined Mustangs, if doing an AG serial Mk.I the deflector immediately in front of the underfuselage radiator intake remains, needs to be removed for later Mk.Is and for the Mk.IA. Need to add seat back armour plate - details & dimensions given in one of my earlier threads on early Mustangs here on Britmodeller (the really long one), as well as a few other things to look for covered in that and a couple of other early Mustang threads I have contributed to here on the forum. They can be found using the forum search function. Also includes some information on Mustang Mk.IA and Mk.II in RAF service and specifics. Found the l-o-n-g thread with the early Mustang detail: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/44133-a-few-mustang-mki-questions/?hl=allison Hopefully that works. Regards,

Hi Michael, Finally able to respond to your post. I wanted to check some things in my files and was also conferring with a fellow researcher who is very much a specialist on RAF Mustangs. Both of us have not found any references in available official RAF/AM documentation or information shared with us by ex-early Mustang aircrew or groundcrew to the removal of the wing mounted 0.50 Browning HMG from Mustang Mk.I aircraft in other than a limited few aircraft used for trials purposes – as indicated in my earlier post. The official RAF records, including the Operational Record Books for No.309 (Polish) Squadron make no reference to any modification to the armament of the Mustang Mk.1s operated by that Squadron. The NA-73 and the NA-83 all had the same armament, being US manufactured and supplied Browning 0.50 HMGs and Browning 0.30 MGs. The armament was a part of ‘package’ supplied with the aircraft by NAA. Again no reference in documentation or information shared about any conversion of the Mustang Mk1s armament to British 0.303 Browning MG variants. Such a conversion would not have been a simple process due to the differences in cartridge size and the ancillaries including ammunition feeds associated with the two MG types, so if a conversion were undertaken, it would have been covered by modification documentation and testing of the modification for operational service acceptance. Such a conversion is not covered in modification documentation or trials/testing documentation/reports. The supply of US manufactured armament continued through the NA-91 (Mustang Mk.IA) and NA-99 (Mustang Mk.II) deliveries. In fact, the issues with the US manufactured 20mm Hispano cannon and US supplied 20mm ammunition was such that the RAF removed in that instance all the US manufactured and supplied cannon and replaced them with UK manufactured cannon and also made significant modifications to the cannon mounts to improve their reliability and robustness for operational service use. Attached diagrams from the RAF AP technical manuals or US TO technical manuals show differences in the upper wing armament and ammo access doors for the NA-73 & NA-83 (same) and NA-91 and NA-99. Of note, NAA part numbers on armament and ammo access doors on NA-73 and NA-83 are the same. Mustang Mk1 AG Wing_zpswcs8tpyk by Colin Ford, on Flickr P51 Mk1A WIng_zps006zrekf by Colin Ford, on Flickr P51A Wing_zps3cbge3ok by Colin Ford, on Flickr Hope the above is of assistance to you. John, in relation to your question about the timing of the new book(s) – could be more than one volume given quantity of material to be covered - about Mustangs in RAF Service, in talking with one of the authors they are hoping for a late 2017 to early 2018 publication date. That being if nothing crops up between now and then to delay their plans for finalisation and publication of the work. Regards,

And Troy, going back to your original request, surprisingly another good resource on the early RAF Allison engined Mustangs is the Michael J F Bowyer "Army-Air Colours 1937-1945" in Airfix Magazine from late 1975 to mid 1976. Includes a lot of his original observations of c&m on the type as it entered RAF service, including his eye witness interpretation of the colours compared to standard RAF c&m schemes on other UK built RAF types. Regards,

The NA-83 armament, other than the introduction of required modifications identified from the NA-73 series - primarily beefed up gun mounts, improved case and link ejection chutes and some changes to the gun heater arrangements - remained the same. A lot of these changes were to fix the jamming and other issues identified in the NA-73 series and made the armament more reliable and reduced the jamming issued encountered before the armament of the AG series aircraft were retrofitted with the required modifications - embodied in the larger program of modifications to fix the various issues found with the first batch. In fact, they continued to have more issues with the nose mounted -.50 Browning HMGs, mainly related to the synchroniser gear that allowed them to fire through the propeller arc, but fixing those mainly came down to a few simple modifications and dedicated regular maintenance of a couple of key components of the synchroniser gear. The operational Mustang Mk.1s used by the RAF Squadrons, retained the full armament of the two 0.50 Browning HMGs under the nose plus the two 0.50 Browning HMGs and four 0.30 Browning MGs. In fact, it was possible for the pilot to select wing guns (0.50 and 0.30) only, or wing and nose (0.50) guns combined. The Merlin conversion, being a non operational aircraft, being used to trial the Merlin conversion is certainly not typical of the configuration of operational aircraft. Similarly there are photos of Mustang Mk.Is of the NA-73 and NA-83 series being used by A&AEE for various trials which have the nose guns removed and have all but one of the wing 0.30 Browning HMGs removed, but they are not typical because they are being used on trials. May I refer you to photographs held in the IWM collection. (My notes in italics) C5810 - Oblique low-level aerial photograph taken by one of three North American Mustang Mark Is of No. 268 Squadron RAF flying on a ground attack sortie over Holland. A Mustang dives over a canal, leaving a trail of smoke from its machine guns as it attacks a railway train 50 miles east of the Zuyder Zee. Aircraft is AM131 W flown by F/L Bird RAFVR. Note all wing guns are firing. This photo was taken on 4 February 1943. CH10679 - Badly damaged North American Mustang Mark I, AM104 'L', of No. 268 Squadron RAF, on the ground at Odiham, Hampshire, after returning from a sortie over the Rouen area. The pilot, Flying Officer A R Hill of Norwich, was met by heavy anti-aircraft fire while attacking barges on a canal. Despite losing the rudder controls and the hydraulic system, Hill, brought the aircraft back for a successful landing. AM104 was repaired and later flew with Nos. 414 and 430 Squadrons RCAF before it was again damaged by flak, near Venlo, Holland, on 21 October 1944, and was finally struck off charge. Photo taken 13 July 1943 on what was one of the last sorties flown by No.268 Squadron using the Mustang Mk.I before they transitioned to the Mustang Mk.IA. You can see the gun smoke staining under the wing, including from the wing mounted 0.50. I have other photos of that aircraft following that sortie in my collection, taken from the originals in F/O Hill's pilot's log book. As you will note from my signature block, I am the historian of an RAF Squadron that flew all three types of the Allison engined Mustang in operational service during WW2 and in fact they were the longest continual user of the Allison engined Mustangs in RAF service. So they used the Mark 1 with aircraft from all serial groups, the Mk.IA and the Mk.II. I have therefore had the opportunity to get first hand from the Squadron pilots, and from a number of the groundcrew, including armourers, riggers and fitters, levels of detailed information on the Allison Mustangs and their operational use by the RAF. Also given a number of those personnel also served with other RAF Squadrons that flew the Allison engined Mustangs, the information of what was happening in other Squadrons is there as well. The material gathered from them has included documentation and many original photographs of operational Allison engined Mustangs - some fairly rare photos of the type I have provided to various researchers/authors including a number used in the 2TAF series of books by Shores & Thomas. Also years of research from original primary source documentation, Air Ministry, MAP and RAF files held in the UK National Archives and RAF Museum, records from other archives around the world in the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, France, Netherlands and Germany (surprisingly German wartime technical appreciations of downed RAF Mustangs contain a lot of interesting information and perspectives on the type) means that I have a pretty good idea on the details of this particular subject and aircraft type. Add to that interaction with other dedicated researchers whose primary area of research is the NAA Mustang in all its variants, I have pretty firm evidence of what armament was carried operationally by all Allison Mustangs in RAF service. AND the clincher is, in the combat reports filed by pilots of Allison engined Mustangs in RAF service, including NA-83s, record the ammunition expenditure from each of the guns fired and for the Mustang Mk.1 will often break it down as expenditure from wing guns - by type and expenditure from nose guns and if wing guns only were used or wing AND nose guns were used. They uniformly show all wing guns used - 0.50 and 0.30. There is a lot of erroneous material out there about Allison engined Mustangs as used by the RAF, unfortunately a lot of errors made by earlier authors/researchers from the 1960s and 1970s when access to a lot of material was still restricted and assumptions were made, has led to errors being repeated in newer publications. That then gets repeated as "the truth" and unfortunately it then gets further corrupted and as a result a lot of misconceptions are out there. There are a couple of researcher/authors currently working on what should be the definitive history of the NAA Mustang in RAF Service, which will have a specific and particular emphasis on the Allison engined versions and it will be a revelation to many in terms of the facts and the detail that has not been covered by many earlier publications. Regards,

Here I go again. A number of the very early AG serialled Mustang Mk.1s delivered to RAF Squadrons in early to mid-1942, were delivered in the original NAA factory scheme, which was a NAA approximation of the Temperate Land Scheme. So Dark Green, Dark Earth and Sky lots of discussion about exactly what their interpretation of Sky was - some say a sky grey, others a greyer tone of sky but NAA had access to US manufactured paints that were very close to the official Air Ministry/MAP/RAF standards for what we know and accept as Sky. Depending on when delivered and to which unit, some still had the NAA Dark Earth spinner, others had the spinner repainted in black, others had the spinner repainted in Sky. Some of the very earliest did not have the sky band around the rear fuselage, some did. The unit and individual aircraft id letters were in most instances for these early issue Mustangs is Medium Grey NOT Sky (as always best to refer to photos of subject aircraft if possible to confirm). If you look at the originals of the photos of early Mustangs with the DFS, and Sky tail band or Sky spinner, the aircraft Squadron codes and aircraft id letter are tonally different in most instances. More limited examples of those using Sky codes, often units that received their initial batch of Mustangs later, so AM/RAF directions on c&m being issued firming up by then. Examples of early Mustang Mk1.s in the TLS scheme are: AG522 SY-L No.613 (City of Manchester) Squadron, Ringway mid-1942. TLS, DE spinner, Sky rear fuselage band, later type national markings with narrow white band and narrow yellow band around fuselage roundel, yellow wing leading edge from outer wing MG to wingtip. Has 'Panda Bear' head both sides of nose and also individual aircraft letter on nose - due to rear position of fuselage roundel. AG645 RZ-W No.241 Squadron RAF, Bottisham, April 1942, TLS no Sky rear fuselage band, early style national markings with wide white and yellow segments, black spinner, has squadron codes ahead of roundel in a 'block' RZ immediately ahead of roundel, W at rear of cockpit - due to original NAA as supplied roundel being well back on fuselage so code would not fit between roundel and tail plane. AG366 RM-T No.26 Squadron, Duxford, June 1942, TLS, Sky rear fuselage band, Sky spinner, RM ahead of fuselage roundel, T aft of roundel (crammed in) early style national markings. AG500 NM-N No.268 Squadron RAF, Snailwell, May 1942, TLS, Sky rear fuselage band, Sky spinner, early style national markings, yellow wing leading edge stripe from outboard MG to wingtip, aircraft id letter N immediately ahead of fuselage roundel each side, Squadron codes NM as block under cockpit rear letter each side under the rear quarter window - smaller size so as to fit. The available evidence is that many of these TLS camouflaged early AG serialled Mustangs were issued to Squadrons before being fully modified for operational use in order to facilitate conversion of the Squadrons from Tomahawks and Lysanders onto the Mustang as a priority. There was a backlog in the supply of certain components from manufacturers of items required to bring the aircraft as being delivered fully up to operational status. So a number of not fully modified aircraft were issued to Squadrons - primarily those in the TLS scheme. As modification kits became available, these aircraft were then replaced by fully modified aircraft, which included repainting into DFS, modification of national markings to the relevant type including correct sizes and locations (especially relocating the fuselage roundel further forward to accommodate the Sky id band and aircraft id letters) and the non modified aircraft were drawn back to MUs to be brought up to the latest operational and modification specification. That would then include a strip and repaint into the DFS scheme and correct national markings for that time. As set out in one of my earlier threads, as delivered by NAA, the later Mk.IA and Mk.II mustangs were finished in a US equivalent TLS scheme, however, upon delivery to the UK, reassembly, as a part of the process of preparing them for issue to Squadrons, they were brought up to operational status, which entailed a number of modifications, and they were stripped and repainted in a standardised DFS scheme, complete with correct sized and placed national markings and other required markings. It was a number of the earlier Mustang Mk.1s who went through the 'mixed' grey or ocean grey repaint process earlier, and as they then went back to MUs for regular scheduled maintenance or for later required modifications, they would be stripped and repainted into a standardised DFS scheme and correct national markings - type, size and placement. Also the second Mustang Mk.1 batch, AL/AM/AP serialled aircraft had exactly the same armament as the AG serialled aircraft. HTH, regards,

I was waiting until someone just HAD to go down that rabbit hole. Hopefully this link will work to get those interested to a very long discussion with both facts and opinions on A-36 and use of 'Apache' or 'Invader' rather than 'Mustang' on another well known site. http://www.network54.com/Forum/149674/message/1442164484/HARD+PROOF+that+the+A-36+was+named+Mustang%2C+not+Apache A topic which always makes for fun reading. If the linky thing does not work, thread dated from 13 September 2015 and currently sits around page 156 of the other site plane forum.

Hi Simon For a RAF Mustang Mk.IA or Mk.II or 99.9% of Mustang Mk.Is, definitely no spade grip, just the NAA supplied 'pistol' grip at the top. For a very, very limited number of RAF Mustang Mk.Is, the modification of replacing the NAA 'pistol' grip with the 'ring' grip off the top of a RAF Harvard was done for a couple of senior Squadron commanders very early on. I've covered that off on a number of the other earlier posts. On the decal front, I would suggest looking at some of the generic RAF national markings in the Xtradecal range, for the fuselage roundels, underwing roundels and fin flash they were 'stock' sizes, for the upperwing roundel something off one of the Xtradecal sheets for the RAF Mustang III should be right size - also may be source of other markings/stencils. Altho available photography does not show many servicing stencils on the Mk.I, Mk.IA and Mk.II Mustangs. I've found all the Xtradecals I have used to be pretty good. For the 8" black serials, Xtradecal or Ventura generics. Regards,

Hi Simon, The Hobbycraft kit you describe in the Operation Torch boxing is of a 'straight' North American P-51 Mustang not a P-51A. The P-51 equates to the Mustang Mk.IA in RAF service, and the P-51A equates to the Mustang Mk.II in RAF service, both were used in the Tac/R role during WW2 by the RAF. The following thread here on Britmodeller has a lot of material on RAF Allison engined Mustangs and will point you to some information that may help your build. http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/44133-a-few-mustang-mki-questions/?hl=%20accurate%20%20miniatures%20%20mustang That thread and discussion also has links to other sites with information, including photos of the F24 camera installation in Mustang Mk.IA aircraft, other builds, specific details and so on. A further search for a number of other previous threads to discussions in the WWII forum will find a number of discussions on specifics of RAF Allison Mustangs. Some specifics in relation to your original post. For a Mustang Mk.IA, stick with the framed canopy, Malcolm hoods on Mustang Mk.IAs were very rare in deed. I think in one of those posts, I did post a photo of the cockpit layout in the Mustang Mk.1 from the RAF pilot's manual - layout in Mk.1 and Mk.IA were 99% the same. Camera installation - IWM has photos on line in their collection, one of the posts in the thread linked above gives the photo references to search on. RAF Mustangs were fitted with Sutton harnesses, British radios, British F.24 cameras, and the cannon were reworked with British manufactured Hispano replacing the original US supplied one along with a range of other RAF specific modifications. A particular point of the RAF cannon installation was the lack of the external recoil spring - recoil spring was contained within the housing at the front of the wing, and no underwing id lights. By the time the cameras were being installed into the bulk of RAF Tac/R Mustangs by October 1943, it was a standardised fit, to a set design and specification. There were a couple of variants of the camera rig for specific use, including a two camera rig which had oblique F24s 'back to back' behind the cockpit to allow photos out either side in a single photo pass. And then there were a couple of variants of the vertical camera installation in the rear fuselage on some RAF Mustang Mk.IAs and many Mk.IIs. The quarterlight perpsex had an oval cutout that often had a metal reinforcing plate around it for strengthening - IWM photos show more. Feature missed by many is the camera control box, same Type 35 camera control box as fitted to PR Spitfires, but in this case mounted onto a bracket on the 'floor' or the cockpit, to one side and to the rear of the base of the control column. Dig around and find those earlier posts and you will find a lot of information in them to help you with your build. Some earlier posts include detail of cockpit side panels, but have added this photo of Mustang Mk.I instrument panel - 99% same as for Mk.IA. Early Mustang Panel_zpskn2n9jfc by Colin Ford, on Flickr Regards,

Thanks for the comments everyone. Yes the Trumpy Sea Fury does have some issues, but it does look like a Sea Fury, it does have some nice features and was a relatively hassle free build to get my modelling mojo back after a rather model making unfriendly 'down under' winter. And 'The Stig' kit does come with the wingfold option, choice of folded or unfolded.