Welkin

Scimitar and Swift - good 😃 Trumpeter? - not so sure 🤔 But then, I did succumb to their Spiteful and Seafang 🥴

What do you call a man without a spade on his head? Douglas. What do you call a man with a crane on his head? Derek. What do you call a man who’s always there when you need him? Andy. What do you call a man in a brown paper suit? Russell.

What do you call a man with a seagull on his head? Cliff.

Hi Guys Thanks for all the information - really useful. Looking at the photographs my impression is that 13th/18th used mainly the Sherman V hulls - I think that they had a mix of 75mm and Fireflies. It's not a project that I am going to be starting immediately but it's certainly given me a way forward. Martin

Thanks Guys; very useful starting point. I will try and stick to a larger scale if I can as dodgy eyes and too many thumbs make 1:72 a bit of a trial these days! Dad served with 'B' squadron 13th/18th; I am sure that his tank (he was tank commander) was a standard ARV, not a BARV - he had it until it got knocked out by a German 88mm at Mont Pincon, after which he had a replacement. I don't have details as he died many years ago when I was a teenager, so I am anticipating that I may need to do a fair bit of research before starting.

I am almost exclusively an aircraft modeller, so I know next to nothing about AFVs. However I would like to make a Sherman ARV; probably 1:35 scale; specifically the tank driven by my father when he served with the 13th/18th Hussars from D-day through to the end of the war in Europe. I suspect that nobody does this as a complete kit and that I will need to get a base kit and aftermarket set? Any advice would be welcome. Martin

Have you asked Airfix if they have one?

We seem to have come a long way from the Seafire Ib, which was the original question.

Just been reading Tony Spooner's "Warburton's War" - mentions Warburton flying Spitfire IX (EN338) to Malta in 1943.

Not so sure about the Supermarine Slough!

My head is starting to hurt! 🥴

Plus maybe the traditional NZ supplier had other things on its hands at the time and Avengers and Corsairs (and Mustangs) were more easily available from the US?

Testament to the good design and construction of the A.320 as well?

So can we sum up? - "Clean is Supreme!"

My first summer camp after I joined the A.T.C. in 1967 was to RAF Colerne where a number of historic aircraft were in storage and amongst them were two of the Avro 707s. I can't remember which ones - they were painted in HSS, as I recall. I did have some old B&W photographs, but goodness knows what has happened to those!

Great video! I notice that it appears to have a fixed tailwheel - presumably a later modification?

I don't think that they built many of these, did they? Are any still flying?

Thanks guys; that all very useful, particularly that I can download from the National Archives for free as the moment. Jerry - greetings from a fellow Devonian!

Date of Crash: 3 November 1942 Location: Cholavaram, India Aircraft Type: Vengeance I Serial Number: ? Unit: 82 Sqdn Pilot details: PO. W B BERRY Source: ORB Details: Crash landed aircraft breaking undercart - no casualties I am trying to find out information about the above aircraft, particularly the serial number, but also any other markings that it might have had, although I think that 82 Squadron maybe didn't have unit codes at that time? The information above came from rafcommands. I have AZ Models nasty 1:48 kit, part built, but I was going to throw it away until I came across this information, and I would now like to finish it in memory of the pilot. I knew Bill Berry, now sadly deceased, many years ago, when we were both working in Bahrain. He was a lovely guy - he had had an 'interesting' war - he had started as a subaltern in the HLI with the BEF in 1940; was evacuated from Dunkirk; transferred to the RAF, and ended up in Burma. I knew that he flew Thunderbolts but not with which squadron, but until I found the above I hadn't realised that he also flew the Vengeance. Any suggestions as to where that I can find out information more would be most welcome. Martin

I probably didn't express myself clearly. If an airframe was started and abandoned during construction or never flew, is it a What if or a genuine aircraft? If it was only a paper design or a mock-up, is it just a What if?

AFAIK we don't have a model of the Miles M.52; I believe that they had started construction of the prototype before some idiot from the Air Ministry cancelled it!

No mojo - build Lego! Works for me!

Personally I don't understand "What Ifs" at all. There are more aircraft and kits out there than I am ever going to have the time, money and energy to build. Not to mention that ones that I would love to have but which have never been kitted and probably never will be!

Great model and beautifully done!

I think that we would have seen the other Spitfires by now. With regard to the Tempest VI, I may as well hang on to my MDC set and buy another Tempest V to convert - it should fit OK. I am definitely waiting for their Tempest II though! Has anyone thought of doing conversions for the Tempest I, III and IV?