Graham Boak

Go back to your first posting, enter Edit, and you can correct the title. Then you can remove your apology too. But this posting of mine will remain...

I felt the other way round, as there is stuff in the Haynes Guide that other publications miss. Whereas the SAM Guides are generally filled with familiar photos printed too small, familiar colour profiles (and not always accurate ones), with some crude drawings. Each to their own of course, and as far as making a scratch-built model I have to say that the SAM Guide would be a better choice, with many more detail photos. However use of a magnifying glass is recommended, as is a careful read of other references.

Sea Venoms and Wyverns, even Gannets, but no Seahawks.

If you are going to weather it further, remember that the Merlin leaks oil and the underside will be pretty black. Because of the position of the wheel wells this means a fairly distinctive sloping black pattern on the lower region of the wheel doors, which looks to be at a slightly odd slope because of the adjustment during retraction.

I'd have expected the best Meteor source to be Mason's old MacDonald Monograph, but this has the false armed FR 5 story. The photos in Aeromilitaria (thank you Dave) was made available from the archive of the late Jack Meaden, as there were no photographs available in Gloster archives. As well as the PR Mk 5, the brief article also includes a photo of the PR Mk.3. Amongst other things, the issue also contains a superb full page picture of the 16 Sq Lysander with two 20mm cannon.

I know of a silver Mk.22, but not sure about the spinner nor the squadron badge. The one(s) I'm thinking of had the later LA codes. PS PK613, LA-H, red spinner. Don't know about the badge. There is a suggestion that the red spinner was borrowed from 608 Sq, who painted theirs that way. Another silver one was PK603 LA-Q, silver spinner, no badge. Information care of Philip Pain, who likes modelling postwar 607 Sq aircraft. PPS The earliest arrival I have is PK613 on 3/1/49, with another arriving on 11/1/49 and 4 others on 13/1/49.

It was an orange yellow, or perhaps more accurately a chrome yellow. Lemon yellow was used for unit markings. Colour chips are available in a number of publications, including Monogram's books on USN camouflage and markings, or the more elementary Squadron Signal series. A good match would be any paint claiming to be RAF Yellow, but the specific colour is available from Colourcoats.

There's no trace of that in Spitfire the History, despite significant numbers of Mk.24s just spending their time sitting in MUs. I'm sure that one that lasted with 607 (or any other squadron for that matter) long enough to get the squadron badge painted on, would have been recorded on its movement card. However, looking this up, I did find that PK681 is recorded as spending time with the Singapore Auxiliary Air Force. I don't believe that any such thing existed: it would be the Malayan AAF if anything but a cleric error for HKAAF seems likelier. Shame, that would have been different. Some years back at Warton, one of the office clerks told of his time with the Malaysian AAF but it was all about Harvards. I'm quite sure he'd have mentioned a Spitfire! He had done a Lancaster tour and was converting to Mosquito night fighters when the war ended, and in between had what was possibly the last flight anyone had in a Botha. One needed ferrying down from Scotland - he said it was awful.

Nice picture. The codes are neither Sky nor white. With that much light shining on them they appear almost Sky Blue, which would not be impossible for an aircraft delivered early enough in 1941 or before, but I suspect that are Medium Sea Grey looking light in the sunshine. But I dunno, they could be light enough for Sky Blue, uncommon though that is on codes.

Just bought new tin of 53 last week (or thereabouts). Perfectly good stuff. It doesn't look like the tin you've got, having a wrap-round label (but same style) saying made in UK and a sticker saying Met 53 on a plain lid. Which has been true of all the recent tins of Humbrol I've bought. They did pass through a bad spell but I had enough stock to pass through it largely unscathed. I see this as a benefit of having a large number of paint tins in the stash - bound to come in useful sometime! This just-in-time approach to business may be all very well but it doesn't work in hobbies.

Look like vortex generators, installed to fix a flow problem. They are common on the wings of aircraft of that generation.

You could just stop caring about good matches, but then if you try following the manufacturers' recommendations you'll find yourself going down that route anyway. Assuming you don't want to follow this path then basically either you develop artistic abilities in mixing the colour you want from a lesser number of basic colours, or you buy a lot of tins of paint. You don't have to go overboard on this - look at the particular colours you want and check which of them are effectively duplicated in another range, already in your list. You'll almost certainly find that you don't really need all 53. Certainly don't buy them all at once: pick one kit and buy what you need for that. As you progress you'll probably find that having just one on the go at a time doesn't suit your working practices so move on to another but think carefully about what you can use from the first example. Everyone has their own favourite paint ranges so I'm not going to recommend any, other than to say the Revell one is surely good enough for a starter. If you don't like them try a few tins of something else. Try a few tins of other ranges just for the hell of learning which suits. As the saying goes, you have to speculate in order to accumulate. Even without following the "mix everything from basics" route, which I would not recommend to anyone unless they had a good colour eye and a strong artistic inclination already, you can obtain certain colours by selective mixing. If you want a very dark grey just add a little grey to a black and stir thoroughly (good for tyres). If your purple is too blue add a touch of red. In the end, however, you'll find it easier to just by a better match, thus making the chance of a good match on later touch-ups considerably easier. To be honest, a stock of 53 paints doesn't seem too extreme to me. But maybe not for four cars. PS The term "acrylic" covers a lot of different types of paint. I presume that you mean the water-based ones, because they don't smell. Other acrylics do, being very reminiscent (with good reason I suspect) of the older cellulose lacquers. But these do give superior finishes, which are very highly regarded amongst car modellers. Not being one, I suspect this is a gross simplification., and I'm about to get my knuckles rapped. PPS You don't say whether you intend using a traditional brush or an airbrush. Many of the acrylics on sale do a very poor job with a traditional brush.

Well the serial is correct for a 71 Sq example, but where's the Sky band and spinner? PS The appropriate Air Britain book simply says "To Admiralty" for the AS4xx serial Buffaloes. So the third one remains a mystery.

Some nice details in this picture - who amongst us added exhaust stains to underneath the Barracuda's wings?

I'm unconvinced by the argument that the leader of a Group on a bombing mission wouldn't be carrying bombs - there was nothing like Bomber Command's Master Bomber in use in tactical aviation, and there must be considerable doubt whether it would work anyway. He was shot down leading the attack, not holding off and guiding it. It is possible that for a pre-planned target a number of aircraft would attack with guns only to suppress flak, but a couple of well-aimed bombs would be more effective, and his wingman would surely have mentioned this anyway?