Simon

Wooksta A few from Sturtivant's FAA Aircraft 1939-1945: P9935 - RY [ready for collection by ferry pilot] 31.8.43; RNARY [Repair Yard] Coimbatore 12.43; RNAS China Bay to 618 Sqn 5.1.44; retd RN 12.8.45; PD [papers deposited for SOC] 17.12.45 DT857 - RY 28.1.43; 810 Sqn from 12.43; to 847 Sqn ('3F') 1 or 2.44; to 810 Sqn 6.44; Left Sqn 6.44; 618 Sqn from 12.44; Retd RN 9.45; PD 17.12.45 LS568 - RY 15.1.44; 829 Sqn 3.44 - 5.44; 831 Sqn 6.44 - 7.44; RNAS China Bay, damaged port flap 14.10.44 (S/L G Adamson); to 618 Sqn 12.44; Retd RN 9.45 LS704 - RY 15.4.44; 15 MU to ATA Kirkbride 12.5.44; RNAS China Bay to 618 sqn 12.44; Retd RN 9.45; to RN Sudney 23.10.45; PD1.1.46 Regards Simon

Thanks gingerbob. I can't imagine perspex (or clear plastic) would be all that durable? Regards Simon

Hello everyone As per the title, what are the perspex covers on the outer cannon stubs on this Spitfire XIV RB140: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205126585 https://www.asisbiz.com/il2/Spitfire/Late/pages/Spitfire-XIVe-RAF-RB140-1943-web-01.html Are they covers for gun cameras? I've also seen them on RB142, RB146 and RB167. RB146: https://www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/uk/raf/spitfire2/spitfire-mk-xiv-rb146/ And what's the thing on the fin of RB146? Thanks Simon

Just an observation, but the spinners on the top black and white photo appear to be a different colour to the yellow undersides (more like the red on the tail flash, perhaps?). They also seem to be a different shape to the ones in the colour photo. They appear to be more pointed and wider a the base, unless it's just the angle. The ones in the colour photo are more 'Dornier D-217' shaped...? Of course I may be imagining all this... Simon

Aeroplane Magazine of April 2015 had a five page article about 1697 (ADLS) Flight. It has a few photos, plus a list of Hurricanes used by them, including with and without the D-Day stripes. Regards Simon

Great photo Hornet133, thanks for posting it. And thanks Claudio for the gen about 'K'. Simon

Graham Here's the Martlet image the text in the profile of Z4177 refers to: And here too: http://www.clavework-graphics.co.uk/aircraft/grumman_f4f/f4f_gb_002.html Simon

There are some photos another 803 Sqn Hurricane, Z4024 K, linked on this thread: It too has the single code letter, but has a coloured spinner (or is it just a stripe?) and has a Vokes filter. The code letter doesn't seem to be blue, and I can't see any Royal Navy titles. Links: http://images.britishpathe.com/?id=60382&num=140&size=still http://images.britishpathe.com/?id=60382&num=147&size=still http://images.britishpathe.com/?id=60382&num=134&size=still Sturtivant has: Z4024 - Hurricane I/Trop - 803 Sqn ('K') from 11.41; Accident at LG.012, Cat. R 4.12.41; Retd RAF Simon

Onwards and upwards... Decs are now on. The kit decals are really good. I was worried about the 'Keep Off' markings on the wing uppers over the radiators, as there are a few bumps and lots of rivets, but they went down really well: I did trim them out round the large bumps, and then liberally coated them Daco Products' 'strong' decal solution, which bedded them down really well. From the two photos I've managed to find of RS504, it seems to have had new codes applied, and the area beneath them repainted, so I applied a 'fresh' area of EDSG: Codes applied (my own artwork, printed by DrawDecal): Undercarriage, doors and Quickboost exhausts on too, and given a bit of dirtying: I then added the larger-style wing tanks and reinforcement plates for the rockets: I'd also started to get the cockpit glazing masked ready for painting, and was wondering why the Eduard masks weren't a very good fit, when I realised I'd bought the 'bomber' canopy masks, rather than the 'fighter' ones... So, rockets next, and then all the final fiddly bits. More soon... Simon

Many thanks for that Graham. It certainly seems an odd combination of markings, with the large outsized serial, and the use of blue for it, the code letter and ROYAL NAVY lettering. The profile certainly has an 'old school' feel - it's an actual proper painting, rather than a computer-generated illustration. Simon

Hello all I've a couple of questions about this Hurricane, if anyone can help at all. Ray Sturtivant had the following in his FAA Aircraft 1939-1945: Z4177 - Hurricane I/Trop - 803 Sqn Sidi Haneish ('Q') 8.41; bomber escort to Sidi Rezegh, probably shot down Bf109 1535, then damaged Bf109 which was attacking a Tomahawk at 7,000 ft. 1640 23.11.41 (S/L AR Astin); BF109f probable and BF109e damaged in general engagement at 7,000 ft. 10m S of Duda 0915 1.12.41 (S/L PN Charlton); EF, FL wheels-up 12m W of Mersa Matruh, Cat. R 4.2.42 (S/L GR Henderson OK); EF, FL 1m W of Mersa Martuh 11.2.41 [sic - 11.2.42?]; Retd. RAF. There are a couple of profile illustrations floating around on the interweb, including this one on the Wings Palette website: So, on to my questions: Firstly, should this have a tropical filter under the nose, being a Mk. I Trop? Secondly, where does this profile come from - I assume it's been 'borrowed' from a book? Thirdly, taking into account the maxim 'never trust a profile without a photo' - is there an actual photo it's based on which confirms the colourscheme and markings? Is that what the reference to 'page 143' is about? Thanks Simon

1/72 scale? This one? https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/X72158?result-token=6XEAA

Hello again, time for a long-overdue update... I've had a few minor issues to sort out, one of which was down to my own stupidity (), and other which took a while to sort out. () Firstly, in my infinited wisdom, I thought it would be a good idea to paint the various main elements separately, before gluing the lot together. The fit of the Tamiya kit is so good, I thought I'd get away with it. So, engines, wings and tail planes pre-shaded and sky'd: And spot the (non) deliberate mistake - I seem to have two starboard horizontal tails. I'd even marked them P and S on the clips holding them. Easily sorted, and fortunately before I've done the dark grey uppers... Engines and wings were united, and another slight issue cropped up - the fit of the upper trailing egde of the wing to the upper part of the nacelle on both port and starboard wings wasn't great, and took a fair amount of filling and sanding to get corrected. It almost got the best of me, but I heroically struggled on... So, once that was sorted the wing uppers had a mixed coat of MSG and EDSG added to make it looked a bit weather-worn: The fuselage was also painted, then the wings and tailplanes glued in position, and trussed up like a Christmas turkey: And here we are at the moment: Some minor filling along the tailplane to fuselage and wing to fuselage joints needed, but fit is pretty good. The other thing that had me scratching my head was how to paint the spinners. RS504 had black spinners with very small white circles on the front. I tried masking tape, but that was a right faff-on, and I considered white decals but the curve is too sharp to get them to bed down. I then came up with the idea of painting the white tips, then masking them off with short section of plastic tube, with the inside whittled and sanded down to a very thin edge so it gets a nice snug fit, and held in place with Blu Tack: It worked pretty well, and I'm happy with the results: So, all the major painting and construction done. Next up decalling, I think, then some further weathering for the airframe before adding the underwing gubbins, the undercart and all the other bits and bobs... More soon, Simon

I've had three alerts for this thread at 12.17, 12.33 and 12.50 as I subscribe to The rumourmonger section - what's going on there...? Simon

Back with another quick update. I'd been struggling to get my head around the arrangement of the two-tier rockets and their rails, plus the wing reinforment strips, so on the off-chance I dropped an e-mail to Aviaeology. I was pleased to get a very helpful reply from Terry Higgins there, who's working on some updates for Mosquitos, including sets of rocket rails in various scales to be released later this year: https://www.aviaeology.com/store/p186/AES72001.html The long and short of it, as I now understand it, is that 'my' Mosquito had just the forward reinforcement plates, and that the pairs of two-tier rails are essentially the same, rather than the rear mounting stub on the inner rail being staggered backwars slightly to follow the shape of the rear of the wing, as the 'regular' four rocket rails do. So, with that knowledge gained, I've started to assemble the rocket rails. Firstly, I've test-fitted the reinforcement plates (and filled-in the rear hole for the inner rocket rails): These are the outer rocket rails from the kit, painted up, and four 'spare' rockets for the lower ones: Next up I had the amend the 'inner' rocket rails so the mounting stubs were the same as the outer ones: Two of the spare rocket rails supplied the new rear stubs, positioned as per the outer rails. And here are the four rails and eight rockets all done, and weathered a bit (the two 'new' ones at the top): More test fitting, and I think they'll be okay: I've also had a go at making the 'pigtail' leads for the rockets: Done by dipping the ends of strips of thin Plastruct 0.3mm plastic rod into acrylic paint three or four times, letting it dry, and then repeating until you a blob of built-up paint on the end. They look okay for 1/72 leads, hopefully. Overall I'm pretty pleased at the rockets. I've made a start on the guards that sit between the inner rocket rail and the 100 gallon drop tank, and once the wings are painted up I'll see how they work in conjunction with the tanks and rockets. Hopefully I can finally start putting the engines and wings together, and finish off the fuselage... More soon Simon

Amen to that. Wonder how this will impact on sales of the Airfix Beaufort...will people want to wait for the ICM kit?

A quick update. First off, I'd like to wish everyone a (slightly belated) Happy New Year. Let's hope 2021 can do a better job that its predecessor... So, on to the progress report: I've done the replacement bulkheads for the undercarriage bays, both front and rear. and added a couple of small bits and bobs: I've also added some cabling to the UC bay roofs as well, just to make it a bit less plain: And here's the engine nacelle and wing together: There are a few other bits inside there that could be added, but by the time the undercarriage is in situ, it'll be crowded enough. I've started work on the underwing armament too. I'll be doing it with the distinctive 'double-deck' rockets fitted to Coastal Command Mossies around this time, plus the larger 100 gallons wing tanks. I've bought a pair of Freightdog Models' rather nice resin tanks: https://www.freightdogmodels.co.uk/freightdog-1-72-mosquito-200-gal-slipper-tanks.html and have started on constructing (re-constructing?) the rockets from those supplied in the kit. I'm using the two pairs of outer rocket rails, plus another pair of rockets attached under them using the two inner sets as donors. Fortunately the rocket bodies are almost exactly the same diameter as Evergreen 222 rod, which makes life a little easier. Here's one of the outer rockets, and a length of rod with the rocket fins attached, and one of the inner ones under that ready to section up: Cutting done, and test fitting the components: And the four pairs done and primed, with some extra length added to the bottom of the rear brackets of the upper rockets: They're a bit wonky in places, but not too bad. And a test to see if they work okay together: Starting to look the part, and will look better when painted, hopefully. I'm working on the rocket guards and wing re-inforcement plates at the moment, and pondering the best way to put them together... More soon... Simon

For what it's worth, I used the Aeroclub nacelles with Freightdog wheels and intakes plus the Quickboost 'saxophone' exhausts on my build back in 2013: Simon

Hello again So, Chrimbo over and done with, and a chance to get back to the workbench (well, the Ikea table in the spare bedroom...). I've added the other Gee box to the cockpit rear deck, and I think the cockpit is now pretty much all done. I've also done the main undercart, pretty much out of the box, except for some Brengun 'weighted' wheels to replace the Tamiya ones: I've also made a start on the engine nacelles. First up I thought I'd open up the intakess, so they were drilled out and the filed: It's not perfect, but I do have the Eduard etch set which has some mesh guards for the intakes which should hide any untidiness. The undercarriage bays are okay, but could benefit from some extra bits and bobs adding. At the rear of the undercarriage bay there's a small curved section that Tamiya haven't included, so I made a couple of them: from plastic sheet: And at the front of the bay there's an unsightly gap which needs sorting: I'm making some replacement bulkheads, so out come the kit's ones: I'm still fiddling them into submission, so will update when they've given up and done what they're told... Simon

Yes, they're ejector pin marks (injection molding pin holes). They're just about hidden by everything once it's all closed up, so I chickened out of filling them... Simon

Hello everyone I've been busy with this for a couple of weeks, and have finally got round to uploading some photos onto Flickr, so here's the start of a Work in Progress thread. I'm doing Tamiya's rather nice 1/72 Mosquito VI, as RS504 DM-Z of 248 Squadron, and another aircraft with a local connection to the North East of England. RS504 became a quite famous Mossie in May 1945, when flown by F/Lt Gerald Yeates, with his Navigator being Thomas Cecil Scott, who hailed from Newcastle-upon-Tyne. From the 248 Sqn ORB: May 4th 1945 ORB Form 541: Airborne Banff, armed 8 x 25 lb A.P. .R.P., in company with 32 other Mosquitos of the Banff Strike Wing. During attack on ‘F’ [ex-Dutch Gunboat] Z/248 struck top of mast which became lodged in the nose of a/c together with the ships pennant; boat door was ripped off and nose of a/c smashed in, but a/c landed base safely with mast and pennant still in place. On the flight back another Mosquito took a photo of the damaged RS604, which has featured in several books and magazines, and there's a photo taken after it had landed safely back at base here: https://twitter.com/andydbird/status/1213112113117454336 I'm doing it in 'undamaged' state - I'm thinking of maybe doing the 'damaged' version with the 1/48 Tamiya Mosquito at some stage...but I think I will need a bank loan for all that resin (bomb bay and cannons, nose gun bay, engine). Anyway, here's what's been going on so far... The Tamiya kit is already nicely detailed, and (so far) fits like a very well-fitting thing, but I've bought a couple of aftermarket bits and pieces, including the Quickboost pilot and navigator seats which are a bit of an improvement on the kit parts: So, starting with the cockpit, I've added a few odds and ends to the space behind the Navigator's seat. Some cabling, plus the flares stored under the seat: and here's the painted seat, plus a fire extinguisher, in place: Some extra gubbins on the cockpit walls: And the Gee box, to go behind the pilot's seat: Luckily I had a spare etched Gee from a Lancaster. It fits in, just about, behind the seat: I've got a few more bits to add to the rear deck (the other Gee box plus some cables), plus the instrument panel. Unfortunately Eduard don't currently do a colour etch for the Tamiya Mossie, but Yahu do a very nice one: So, a steady start, but plenty still to do... Simon

I think that the edge of door (and its hinges), which opened inwards and to the rear?

I asked about this on the RAF Commands Forum earlier this year. After bit of further digging, I came across this entry in an American manual which may be useful: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=fNgo8nPrLOEC&pg=PA196&lpg=PA196&dq="Holt+Wing+Tip+Flare"&source=bl&ots=fDTA8zz9tO&sig=ACfU3U1ZFn72pqWQFAiV9oygXbqd6_c-Cw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjSuomcmo3oAhU9WhUIHS1YANEQ6AEwDXoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q="Holt Wing Tip Flare"&f=false Simon

I've got this photo, if it's any help: Simon

Many thanks for posting, much appreciated. Did you see the finished model here? Simon