maltadefender

Oldie but a goodie - and the white is supposed to have a 'dirty' finish to it so I wouldn't worry so much about getting it minty fresh!

Thanks Mish - thought I'd surprise you by building first and then painting!

Some filling? Oh yes... and then some more! I've kept all the big trenches on the top surfaces, so that should save some time with filling and sanding. Fitting this build in with family life is proving a bit of a challenge - I've got to surrender the table for a family lunch in an hour, then we've got to walk the dog and go to a castle. I'm seeing my kids tomorrow all being well so that means the building, filling and sanding needs to be finished tonight - ideally priming too. I'll slap on the PRU blue in the morning and detail her tomorrow evening. There's a Beau in here somewhere...

She's underway! The wings had a horrible amount of flash which, once removed, has left them a bit odd-shaped and requiring pretty serious encouragement to stay together before sanding and filling... The stablilisers on the TF.X were cranked upwards at an angle rather than square like the early marks. So often sloppy fit makes getting a cranked angle almost impossible but these were perfect... unfortunately for this build. As a result some strenuous sanding, measuring, sanding again, trial fitting and weighing down the tips with paint pots has got the stabilisers about straight. I'll Milliput the resulting gaps. The fuselage comes with the cannons only etched on so that was a quick fix. I've lost a lot of the surface detail due to the shonky fit of the fuselage halves but that's not a real problem to me. I put in the camera positions by indenting with a 2mm drill bit. More to follow:

From hunting around for odds and sods in recent weeks it seems most mainstream kits are only available from retailers, and end up costing more than RRP with postage. Specialist stuff seems more expensive still... unless you take advantage of the odd Far East or Czech/Polish sellers offering discounts (either low purchase price or free postage). Individual sellers are few and far between but are still the best route to find older kits at a good price - unless they're posting them here! It really does show the value of online hobby shops, though. I almost always buy from Hannants, Wonderland or Relish - better value (almost always a reduction on RRP), affordable postage, focus on the customer and knowledge of what they're doing.

Hi Rowan, I'm using the Airfix TF.X kit and what little ability I've got to predate it to a dirty, battered Mk.I converted to PRU trim. Here's the original beast, as featured on another thread here on Beaus in Malta: And here's the kit ready to go:

Ha ha... don't tempt me! With only 25 of these Rileys made, it would probably be easier to prove than the identity of my chuffing Spit! All finished now. I 'weathered' the blackout paint a bit as it was looking a bit too much like it was supposed to be there!

Riley's now painted - she can have her tyres back in the morning. I only just remembered to add the whitewash to the extremities for the blackout!

Would you believe it, there's been some modelling going on with this build??? Well... painting and decorating anyway. The Models of Yesteryear Riley MPH arrived, it's one I've got mint and boxed somewhere in Dad's loft... With little time to dedicate to it I'm afraid I just waded in there, pulling the tyres off and getting busy with the Halfords primer... Most 1:1 Riley MPHs appear to have been painted black (either the whole car or the lower half of the coachwork) with black wheels. Given that my Dad's got an all-black MG TD with red seats and this build is all his fault, I'm transferring the colours to my Riley, courtesy of a Humbrol rattlecan. As quickly as possible!

Flushed with the success of my first successful attempt to get a build finished before the deadline, I'm game for a spot of blitzing! Thanks to Colin at the Decal Bank I've got some suitably-weathered PRU decor to apply to a Beaufighter which, with a few dobs of Milliput and a bit of luck, will go a long way to recreating 'Phoo', the Beaufighter Mk.I commandeered by 'Warby' Warburton in North Africa and flown out of Malta as the principal reconaissance aircraft on the island in 1941-42. Hose her down with a wash of PRU Blue and then beat the daylights out of her for weathering. Yummy!

After consulting with m'learned friend, Mish, I'm hereby putting out an APB for a willing volunteer to co-host this here GB. Any takers?? Please raise your paw...

I'm feeling a 'Piece of Cake' Spitfire Mk.IX coming on. If my financial prospects improve a bit then a Big Tamiya one. If not then a 1/72 Airfix!

There's that great Eddie Izzard sketch when he went to America and tried to get his head around the language differences. His verdict was that while Americans write 'Thru' and we write 'Through' that's because the British can't help but cheat at Scrabble. Nevertheless we say 'herbs' when an American says 'erbs'... "because there's a ing 'h' in it!"

How about 10 February to 10 May 2012? This would encompass the 70th Anniversaries of several key points in the siege of Malta. The first six months of 1942 were the bleakest of the three-year siege in which, despite often foul weather in January-March, there was only one spell of 24 hours when there were no air raids after the Luftwaffe, having returned to Sicily from the Eastern Front in December 1941, launched a renewed round-the-clock campaign. 7 March - Operation SPOTTER - first resupply of fighters to Malta since the previous November delivers 15 Spitfires to augment a total of 8 serviceable Hurricanes against 530 German and 360 Italian aircraft. 21 March - Operation PICKET - nine more Spitfires arrive to bolster dwindling numbers of Hurricanes and Spitfires 25 March - Operation MG1 - supply convoy valiantly runs the gauntlet to resupply Malta, although all but 5,000 tons of the 26,000 tons dispatched are lost, together with all four merchantmen and two destroyers 29 March - Operation PICKET 2 - seven more Spitfires delivered to Malta 14 April - U-class submarine HMS Upholder lost with all hands, having sunk 128,353 tonnes of shipping – 53,648 more than any other submarine in the campaign 15 April - Malta is awarded the George Cross by HRH King George VI 20 April - Operation CALENDAR - First action in the European theatre by the US Navy as USS Wasp flies off 48 Spitfires to Malta 22 April - Luftwaffe destroys/renders unserviceable all but three Hurricanes and seven Spitfires 28 April - Malta has been subjected to 11,819 Axis sorties in the previous month: 6,557 tonnes of bombs. Total tonnage of bombs dropped in March and April 1942 is twice that dropped on London during the 'Blitz'. 30 April - Malta's anti-aircraft gunners shoot down their 102nd enemy aircraft of the month 9 May - Operation BOWERY - USS Wasp and HMS Eagle launch 64 Spitfires to Malta 10 May - RAF Spitfires begin to turn the tide of the air war with 63 Axis aircraft shot down or damaged. Following the scale of interest shown in this GB I'd really love to see it opened up to all vehicles, troops and civilians participating in the battle, whether in the air, on land or at sea. Although the finish date reflects the 70th Anniversary of the turning of the tide in the air war, it would probably be best to allow entries to represent anything participating in the battle from June 11 1940 (the declaration of war by Mussolini and first bombing raid on Malta) to August 15 1942 (Operation PEDESTAL and the breaking of the Siege of Malta). I'm more than happy to co-host. What say you, gang?

Having failed with my 1/48 and 1/72 'Skyorama' for Jumbo Gracie's Hurricane after giving up on the frankly awful Revell 1/72 Messerschmitt, I've decided to make a diorama for this one. Again I'll use different scales. In this case the 1/32 Spitfire DW-K will go near Tamiya's 1/48 DW-O on a picture frame in which I'm going to mount a section of grass mat from my slot car track. Also from the slot car track will come a set of 1/32 metal RAF pilot figures, a dispersal hut, a gramophone, chairs and of course a dog (it was supposed to have been Goodwood but never got that far!) I've also bought a Matchbox 'Models of Yesteryear' Riley MPH to tart up and put in place as the kind of transport befitting a young RAuxAF officer. Hopefully the effect will end up something like these lovely shots of 610 at Hawkinge in July 1940: Sprue shots of the Tami Spit follow...

You remember Gert Frobe in Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines? "Zere iss nossing a Cherman officer cannot do." Looks like it wasn't a fun job, however!

Has anyone else stood there looking at the alignment on this kit and thought that Airfix took the soubriquet 'Banana Jet' a bit too seriously? I think that the port engine nacelles are just about in alignment, but the rest of her is going to need about 29 clamps and three different adhesives before we get to the stage of filling and sanding!!

I'm glad to see someone's going to get a bit of combat action into this GB! Looking forward to progress Enzo

And the mystery Mk1a N3029, which was on strength at Biggin Hill in July as DW-K but evidently came from and went back to 66 Squadron. Fortunately the crew chief from the aircraft Sgt. Heaps (LAC Heaps in 1940) is still alive... I'm hoping he can throw some light on it!

Fantastic, thank you so much. Weathering's still a bit of a black art to me (well, off-white anyway) but that certainly helps with placement!

Here she is at last...

Another beaut! Can't wait for the hat-trick!

Thanks Mish, I'm adding zips and things (and hopefully not gilding the lily), meanwhile a little more of the history... From April 1940 until the Germans unleashed ‘Fall Gelb’, the invasion of France, Belgium and the Netherlands on May 10, 610 Squadron was based at RAF Prestwick, Scotland. It was immediately pulled south to Biggin Hill on May 10, joining the incumbent 32 Squadron, whose Hurricanes were heavily engaged in patrols off the Belgian coast. The squadron notched up its first recorded ‘kill’ on May 21, when it hit what was believed to have been a Junkers 88 some five miles north of Boulogne. In fact it was a Blenheim, one of two lost by 18 Squadron that day. L9185 was lost at sea but her crew – Pilot Officer V. Rees, Sergeant N.V. Pusey and LAC K.E. Murray were rescued from the sea and returned to their unit. As the situation in France worsened, 32 and 610 Squadrons were transferred out of Biggin in readiness to defend the troops at Dunkirk, with 32 Squadron transferring to RAF Wittering on 26 May and 610 moved to Gravesend where it was immediately put to work. Its first action from Gravesend came the same day, encountering a Heinkel He111 with 40 escorting Bf110s. The squadron claimed three 110s and the Heinkel but lost two of its aircraft: L1016 – Flying Officer Albert Rupert John Medcalf missing (age 26) N3284 – Sergeant William Thomas Medway killed (age unknown) The squadron’s next major encounter came two days later – and it was a disaster. Encountering a strong force of Bf109s over Dunkirk, four aircraft were lost with their pilots. These were: Unknown – Squadron Leader Alexander Lumsden ‘Bonzo’ Franks, killed (age 32) L1000 – Flying Officer Gerald Malcolm Theodore Kerr, missing (age 30) N3289 – Flying Officer John Kerr Wilson, missing (age 32) L1062 – Sergeant Peter Douglas Jenkins, missing (age 20) The last day of May brought 610 Squadron back over Dunkirk, and again they took a mauling at the hands of the Bf109s. Another two aircraft were lost, one pilot killed and the other rescued from the sea by one of the ‘little ships’ as they fought desperately to pull British and French troops off the beaches. N3274 – Flying Officer Graham Tim Lambert Chambers, missing (age unknown) Unknown – Flying Officer G. Keighley, wounded By the time that the evacuation of Dunkirk was completed, it was clear that 610 Squadron had been changed forever. Almost half of the original squadron members were killed, missing or wounded – although they did put in a healthy number of claims in return. A new C.O. was brought in to replace ‘Bonzo’ Franks, this being Squadron Leader Andrew Thomas ‘Big Bill’ Smith, together with replacement pilots including some drawn from 25, 41, 66 and 72 Squadrons. New aircraft would also have been desperately needed and by my reckoning it must have been at this point that N3029 was added to 610 Squadron from 66 Squadron – perhaps with one of the pilots who were transferred there, namely Sergeant W.J. Corbin or Sergeant C.R. Parsons. The Battle of Dunkirk was over and now the Battle of the Channel was underway. Although many squadrons suffered heavy losses attempting to protect the convoys moving between British ports in June-July 1940, 610 was not one of them. While still extremely busy flying out of Gravesend, Hawkinge and Biggin Hill only two casualties were recorded, these being Sergeant Ronald William Haines, who crashed on take-off on June 29 and the mysterious Pilot Officer Arthur Lionel Boultbee Raven, shot down off Dover on 8 July in L1075 – mysterious because he appears and disappears from various ‘official’ sources to the point where one hardly knows whether he existed at all! So much for the preliminaries, on to the Battle of Britain, if we're talking in terms of the official 'start date' of July 10... and some more building and painting!

I'll be in for this one

As luck would have it, I was passing by Biggin Hill last week. Here are the gate guardians at the Chapel...