ilj

Extra Dark Sea Gray spray gun job over tropical land scheme (dark earth and middle stone - revealed by wear at the wing root by erk's gritty feet). I copied the Eduard 1/48 bulge parts into 1/32 using Evergreen stock and a sanding stick, a bit crude. https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/hyperscale/rcaf-spitfire-vc-malta-1942-1-32-tamiya-conversion-t524599.html ilj

beautiful job - you captured the stance of that bad assed plane just right

the bumps in that YouTube video snapshot (round-ish, on the gun access panels) are not the same as the tear drop shaped bumps in the B&W pix posted above ilj

Do you like to have your spitfire model propeller spin freely (on a secure bearing)? If so, get the Tamiya kit - it has a propellor shaft that slides into a poly cap bearing in the nose spinner. The Eduard kit has no such thing, and without scratch building your own bearing, you are left pretty much to gluing the spinner-propellor on in a fixed position. ilj

I just had a look through my Alaska P-40K images, and this is what I can see re camouflage scheme - for many photos it is very difficult to discern which scheme you are looking at 42-45315 bicolour 42-45381 bicolour 42-45849 bicolour 42-45948 bicolour 42-46311 bicolour 42-46315 bicolour 42-46319 bicolour 42-9765 bicolour 42-9801 bicolour 42-9831 bicolour 42-45945 looks like bicolour (RCAF) 42-45951 looks like bicolour (RCAF) 42-45943 olive drab 42-45954 olive drab

Aren't there lots of Malta 1942 contemporary images clearly showing Spitfires with the outer .303 MGs deleted (the outer wing gun ports blanked off) and with only the outer 20mm cannon present (the inner station either blanked off or replaced with a blunt wooden bung)? This being a 2x 20mm cannon and 2x .303 MG configuration? ilj

Here's a summary of my impressions concerning Aleutian P-40s, based on photographs and John H Cloe's books about the Aleutian air campaign. first generation: P-40Es, deployed at Umnak summer 1942, moved to Adak in September these arrived in overall olive drab upper, neutral gray under (no medium green blotches) - on the vertical tail there were no complete serial numbers, only a six inch high yellow number (low) and a smaller number (high) - the larger number might correspond to the last two digits of the serial number. e.g., http://aleutianplanes.com/P-40E-Umnak.html White bars on the rudder, elevators and across the fuselage behind the cockpit were added during summer 1942 at Umnak. The famous Tiger Heads were painted on at Umnak in July likely to raise morale after the Japanese spent two days blowing up Dutch harbour in June with waves of carrier based aircraft while the USAAF were sleeping unawares. At about this point the spinners were painted yellow and these yellow noses remained pretty much standard on all USAAF (but not RCAF) P-40s through the end of the campaign. e.g., the world's most over exposed P-40 model subject: http://aleutianplanes.com/P-40E_tiger96.html These tiger markings appear in various stages of being overpainted in summer 1943 images from Adak (I am aware of at least two of these tiger head planes in bi-colour earth/green commonwealth camo) but by this time most of the active combat ac were P-40Ks. The P-40Es that appear in the Life colour images (summer 1943) with various odd paint jobs, were I believe mostly obsolete units held back at Adak while the front line airfield was then at Amchitka (P-40Ks). e.g., http://aleutianplanes.com/P-40E_1943.html second generation P-40Ks - these started arriving in September 1942 and I believe (based on the frequency of accident reports) Ks were by far the most common P-40 type deployed overall. A colour image shows one newly uncrated at Adak (bi-colour earth/green commonwealth camo, full serial number in yellow on tailplane, white tail bars). These included both 1) olive drab (with medium green blotches) over neutral gray AND 2) bi-colour earth/green commonwealth camo ac. There were lots of both schemes, few or maybe just one had the Tiger Head motif. I'm unable to disentangle which P-40K serial number blocks were OD/NG +MG blotches versus bi-colour earth/green commonwealth camo (anyone?). Canadian RCAF pilot Ken Boomer was posted to Adak and credited with shooting down an A6M2N at Kiska, apparently while flying a P-40K of uncertain camouflage colour scheme and serial number but probably with commonwealth roundels. Most P-40K images from the Aleutians are from spring-summer 1943 at Amchitka. e.g., http://aleutianplanes.com/#P-40K_Levy It is surprising difficult to discern which scheme you are looking at in some b&white photos! Several P-40Ks loaned to the RCAF (interesting schemes with roundels) appear in images from Amchitka. third generation P-40Ns - these started to arrive in summer 1943 (colour image from Adak with beat up P-40Es). None were in bi-colour earth/green commonwealth camo, but had the OD/NG scheme with the medium green blotches (no Tiger Heads). These were outnumbered by P-40Ks and I'm not sure they (Ns) actually engaged in combat at Kiska. By autumn 1943 airstrips were established at Attu (Alexai and Casco) and Shemya and these were stocked with a mix of P-40Ks and P-40Ns that flew local patrols - they did not have much to do. Beat up repainted P-40Es were retained at all bases as hack/training ac at Adak, Amchitka et c. right through to the end. For those interested in the Aleutian air campaign, John Cloe's books are excellent: Cloe, J.H. 1992. The Aleutian Warriors: A History of the 11th Air Force & Fleet Air Wing 4. Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Co. and Anchorage Chapter, Air Force Association. Cloe, J.H. 2016. Mission to the Kuriles (Little known air and naval air operations against the Japanese home islands from the Aleutian Islands). Todd Communications. Hope everyone is making the best of the situation and staying safe. ilj

Seawinder's post is excellent and a concise summary. The only thing I would add is that some 'wires' were not for e.g., HF radio communication per se but were IFF-related hardware. For example, in 1942, many Spitfire Vs had wires running from the fuselage roundel to the leading edge of the tip of the horizontal tailplanes - these were IFF devices. These were quickly discontinued and replaced with much more compact external masts et c. as the IFF technology advanced. ilj

My experience is that a 'neutral gray' model paint based on the US colour chip, or Tamiya XF-53 neutral gray out of the bottle, are far darker than what shows in contemporary images of P-38EFG Lightnings 1942-43. If you put this on your P-38, its going to look very odd compared to period photos. Simple solution - just lighten your 'neutral gray' with a lot of white to achieve a tone that is more similar to reality. My interpretation of the photos is that it should resemble something like the darkness of the 'MAP Sky Gray' chip in the above post. ilj

I assume you are working on a Hasegawa 1/48 Typhoon. If it is a bubble top, almost nothing of the cockpit interior is visible through the top opening, which is about 0.5" wide by 0.75" long. Considering this, the Hasegawa cockpit detail is pretty adequate. The one thing missing from the kit plastic that is noticeable if looked for is the compass (mounts to the bottom of the instrument panel. This is easily scratchbuildable. I replaced the seats with Ultracast items, which have moulded on seatbelts which are easy to paint and really pop with an appropriate oil wash. ilj

obviously, 'sea camouflaged' could refer to any colour scheme appropriate for deployment to a remote island with mostly over-water action expected - for example: blue it constantly amazes me how some people jump to conclusions based on no evidence at all e.g., is there any evidence at all indicating that distinctive Temperate Sea Scheme? nope 'common inference' and 'believed to be' are not part of a rational hypothetico-deductive process speculate away, but we simply do not know, based on the proffered text ilj

the image(s) of the spitfire Vc BR112 X of Claude Weaver 185 Squadron Hal Far, crash landed on the beach at Scoglitti, Sicily 9 September 1942, clearly show an IFF wire running from the roundel to the tailplane

To obtain a usable propellor for my SH model, I ordered and have received a 'Frog' origin 1/72 Fairey Barracuda kit. The diameter of the Frog kits's 4-bladed prop (with some flash) is 51.5 mm, which translated into 'actual size' is 12' 2" 51.5 x 72 = 3708 mm = 12.1654' = 12' 2" The actual size of the prop is 11' 8.5", so the kit prop is scale 5.5" too large (about 104% of correct size). The diameter to aim for is 49.6 mm, a difference of -1.9 mm from the Frog prop - I think with the flash removed and a little careful sanding to adjust this to the characteristic Rotol sabre tipped shape I'll have a usable prop image showing the two props

The problem is not that the nose weight is causing excessive pressure on the nose gear when the kit is sitting by itself normally. It is when the model is handled and placed un-carefully on a surface on its main gear and swings down onto the nose gear - the momentum (added by the nose weight) then breaks off that very slender styrene part close to the nose wheel. In my experience, being somewhat clumsy, the metal nose gear solves this issue.

Different modellers seem to have different experiences. The very fragile and spindly styrene nose gear on my Monogram B-25J broke off before the model was even finished, so I extracted it. I replaced it with the white metal part. Subsequently, I used the cast white metal nose gear parts on my two AM B-25s, D&G and I am glad I did. These are working very well with no sagging or snapping off. The styrene main gear legs seem to work just fine for me so they were not replaced with metal. P-38s (Hasegawa and Tamiya) are another example of models I think benefit from metal nose gear. ilj

Yes, the metal gear legs are a good idea - the nose gear on B-25s is delicate - I've included metal gear in my B-25 models and glad I did.

I agree with Steve - the Accurate Miniatures items are easy to build. They also have marvellous fine surface detail that is as good as anything coming out today from e.g., Eduard/Tamiya). The engine cowling openings can be fixed in five minutes with a sanding stick. Minor fit problems with the main canopy clear parts and engine cowlings - some careful adjustment before applying cement is all that's needed on that. ilj http://aleutianplanes.com/B-25C_slug.html

Yes, I had to do that too, but that was a minor modification compared to getting the cockpit part to fit between those sidewalls (issue was identical in three of the Classic Airframes issued Vc 'Yankee spitfires' #4152 and one Special Hobby Vc 48051 'Malta defenders'). Alternately, you could sand off parts of the instrument panel and behind the seat bulkheads, but I chose the groove approach. It is like these cockpit parts were made by a team working on a different kit, that's how off it was on mine.

Remember ahead of time, the Special Hobby Vc cockpit parts absolutely do not fit in between those sidewalls without modification. I used a Dremel mounted small circular saw to cut grooves in the sidewalls (after they were glued in place) to accept the cockpit assembly and they had to be quite deep to work, so be prepared (I built four of these). Good luck! ilj

some more observations (walking on thin ice, so might as well dance)... check your references for the fuselage roundel type displayed - contemporary photos of 1942 Malta spits show variation from the early A1 (broad yellow border and small red dot X3 BR126) to another A1/2 (narrower yellow border and small dot TD BR130) to the later C1 type (very narrow yellow border, large red dot TL EP706) dull red spinners (cf. Desert scheme) - these seem to appear on Malta ac more in 1943, 1942 not so much (likely exceptions) - some 1942 Malta spit spinners seem to be black, blackish, some other dark overpaint (one of the Malta blue or blue gray overpaint colours, e.g., X BR112) (b&w images not very helpful!) 'azure blue' - this seems to occur as a possible underparts colour on Malta spits more 1943 onwards (appears as a dark gray in b&w images), images of 1942 ac seem to show many with much lighter coloured undersurfaces (appears as whitish or very light gray in b&w images) that could have been 'sky blue' (light greyish blue, my preference) or Sky. Exception XP EP606 photo shows a dark undersurface colour possibly 'azure blue'. ilj

two observations: the 249 squadron (Buzz's) ac with the T codes may have had these codes in light grey paint not yellow frequent Malta Vc spit configuration: 20 mm cannons in the outer positions only (inner cannon port replaced with a protruding bung or just flush), outer mgs deleted - when the inner cannons were retained the outers always seem to be replaced with the bungs (also frequently seen in Malta Vcs) - ac with deleted outer or inner cannons often retained the full sized wide bulge on the upper wing bay access

my 1/48 scale Malta spits here: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/hyperscale/dusty-blue-hell-spits-malta-1942-43-mostly-canadia-t522178.html ^includes three ac supposedly flown by Buzz, a Vb and two Vcs, colour schemes extremely speculative ilj

To my eyes, Tamiya's XF-53 Neutral Gray is quite dark out of the bottle when compared with contemporary images of most USAAF ac - consequently I add about 10% of XF-2 flat white which looks pretty good even after a top application of Testor's Dullcoat.