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ilj

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  1. ilj
    It looks like the statement 'Bowery spitfires were painted in the Temperate Sea Scheme' is not backed up by any readily available quotable evidence for perusal. If anyone knows what the evidence is (if there is any), would it be possible to please post here a brief explanation, thank you very much in advance!
  2. ilj
    Not helpful. I take it there is no evidence available that 'Bowery spitfires were painted in the Temperate Sea Scheme', or you don't know what it is.
  3. ilj
    Not helpful. I'm going to assume that if the evidence can't be explained clearly here, you don't know what it is, or there is no evidence. You seem to be fairly knowledgeable - would it be possible for you to briefly explain what the evidence that 'Bowery spitfires were painted in the Temperate Sea Scheme' is - is it photographic? Is it written orders? Is it eyewitness accounts?
  4. ilj
    I'm not seeing this article. What specifically is the evidence?
  5. ilj
    Apologies for requesting information that may have already been posted here somewhere at some point... but, Specifically, what is the evidence that Bowery spitfires were 'painted in the Temperate Sea Scheme' (which I understand was Extra Dark Sea gray and Dark Slate Gray over Sky)? Examining b&w photographs ascribed to Bowery I see a lot of variation in appearance of the ac and nothing convincingly indicating the Temperate Sea Scheme - so what's the evidence? Is this supposed to be a factory paint job or an overpaint and if so when and where?
  6. ilj
    Brian Cauci's analysis, which largely makes sense to me, is that most b&w images of 1942 Malta spitfires show very light coloured undersurfaces, far too light to be Azure Blue. He suggests Sky but acknowledges they could also have been sky blue (i.e., some very light blue colour). So, a few 1942 images suggest Azure Blue (dark, darker than Middle Stone even), but most indicate a very light colour, and the difference is obvious. The appropriateness of a blue colour instead of the greenish Sky in the Mediterranean has been widely discussed. This commentary I find useful: "Desert Scheme (1941-45) From 2 July 1942 (AMO A.664/42) the Tropical Land Scheme gave way to the Desert Scheme which is the most well known RAF camouflage scheme for the North African and Mediterranean theaters. The Desert Scheme appears to simply have been a renaming of the Tropical Land Scheme, formalizing the topside camouflage of Dark Earth and Middle Stone that were in place before the accidental inclusion of Dark Green on AMO A.513/41 which was later corrected. A new underside color of Azure Blue(frequently referred to as Azure) was also formalized as an alternative to Sky/Sky Blue although its use probably predates the AMO. Azure Blue was based on a pre-war color (No 4) and was noticeably darker than Sky Blue, being in fact a blue-grey. In black and white photos it would be slightly darker than Middle Stone which makes it easy to distinguish compared to the lighter sky colors that preceded it." http://www.theworldwars.net/resources/resources.php?r=camo_rafww2
  7. ilj
    ^ excellent summary of Brian Cauchi's informed hypothesizing Mr. Head... technically I think the Desert Scheme was implemented later but the tropical land scheme with its dark earth and middle stone topside was very similar and no need to get bogged down in terminology. I would speculate the underpart colour was more likely sky blue than the greyish green 'Sky', while the spinner could likely have been Sky. I doubt the exact shades of blue gray overpaint or its origins will ever be known. As an exercise in speculation I modelled nine of these ac here: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/hyperscale/dusty-blue-hell-spits-malta-1942-43-mostly-canadia-t522178.html and https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/hyperscale/rcaf-spitfire-vc-malta-1942-1-32-tamiya-conversion-t524599.html
  8. ilj
    Assuming the colour photo is genuine, my guess (using parsimony) would be as follows: Early 1942 (February 15th ish) , the aircraft left the factory in the tropical land scheme (dark earth and 'middle stone' over light blue, spinner sky, no rear fuselage band) (there was no 'Desert Scheme' at this point, it hadn't been invented yet). Early 1942, BR112 allocated for shipment to Malta. April 14, 1942 BR112 transported to Malta via Wasp, Operation Calendar. Paint scheme judged inappropriate for Malta before or after loading. Spring-summer 1942 at some point, aircraft's tropical land scheme roughly overpainted with an unknown bluish gray colour (Ocean Gray, Extra Dark Sea Gray, Intermediate Blue et c.) September 9, 1942, crashed on beach on Sicily, photo taken showing largely blue-grey aircraft with minimal contrast except for a patch of middle stone on the fuselage spine. ^this model invokes the fewest overpaints, explains the absence of any trace of a Temperate Land Scheme sky fuselage band (band also not seen in carrier loading or Gibraltar images), explains the light Middle Stone patch on the fuselage spine and is consistent with a dark blue-grey spinner chipping pant to reveal sky.
  9. ilj
    The stated requirement for "duck egg blue" was clearly a statement to confuse the enemy as the colour most frequently used was in no way blue or even bluish. No doubt this saved the lives of many aircrew as their attackers held their fire as they paused to debate the true identity of the codes colour.
  10. ilj
    The spinner colour was sky (a.k.a., Sky type S') factory applied. The bluish gray overpaint was heavily chipped, revealing it. IMHO
  11. ilj
    I just got my mail package containing the SH 1/72 Barracuda and examining the plastic, it is apparent that the propellor is drastically undersized. The diameter of the kits's 4-bladed prop, assembled on the hub with the spinner on, is 43.7 mm, which translated into 'actual size' is 10' 4" 43.7 x 72 = 3146.4 mm = 10.3228' = 10' 4" The actual size of the prop is 11' 8.5", so the kit prop is scale 1' 4.5" too small (about 88% of correct size). I can't see any way to fix this with the supplied plastic.
  12. ilj
    The Special Hobby 1/72 Fairey Barracuda kit looks pretty excellent, except for the propellor which looks undersized to me. Is this just me? Opinions? https://www.specialhobby.info/2016/12/sh72306-fairey-barracuda-172-built-model.html
  13. ilj
    thank you!
  14. ilj
    Does anyone know the diameter of the 4-bladed propellor of the Fairey Barracuda Mk. II? I'm asking because the kit prop for the Special Hobby SH72306 production looks a little short-bladed to my eye and I am considering a correction. thank you ilj
  15. ilj
    Related to these Malta spitfire colours questions... is there any evidence for Malta 1942 spitfire Vs having the 'FAA temperate sea scheme' (dark slate grey and extra dark sea gray over sky, or thereabouts)? if yes, what is this evidence?
  16. ilj
    ^this is noticeable looking at spinners in contemporary images of Malta aircraft 1942-43 - a few show the pointy spinner illustrated above, even more show at least two types of slightly bunter units.
  17. ilj
    Unfortunately, Eduard has not included anything resembling the 'DeHavilland wide blade metal hydromatic propellor with 455409 blades' in their new Spitfire V production - they do include a skinny 55409 prop. Fortunately, the Ultracast part looks really good for the 455409 to my eye. ilj
  18. ilj
    THANKS - you've answered my question. So, the propellor in question is a DeHavilland manufactured metal item with a wider blade 455409 than their earlier 55409 thinner model. I suppose Ultracast should consider changing their label to 'DeHavilland wide blade metal hydromatic propellor with 455409 blades'. Hope you don't mind if I quote you over on Hyperscale - plane talking. cheers, ilj
  19. ilj
  20. ilj
    yes those posts are mine - there definitely was a second broader bladed metal prop on the go there - I'm asking what the correct name and manufacturer of this propellor is - Ultracast have the shape bang on but refer to it as a wide blade metal Rotol (not to be confused with an earlier metal Rotol associated with a blunt spinner)
  21. ilj
    Here is the Ultracast propellor they refer to as 'Ultracast 48114 - Supermarine Spitfire Mk V Rotol Metal Wide Blade Prop & Spinner (fits Tamiya & Hasegawa kits)' https://www.ultracast.ca/product-p/ult48114.htm https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Ftimesofmalta.com%2Farticles%2Fview%2Frevisiting-a-1942-spitfire-crash-in-qormi.867430&psig=AOvVaw0jsDyRy_BlXtpPD1HzvY95&ust=1627731591542000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAgQjRxqFwoTCNj_p_PaivICFQAAAAAdAAAAABAf This is definitely a distinct propellor type that appears in images of most Malta Spitfire Vs in the 1942-43 period - it is broader than the skinny De Havilland type (that also appears in a few images in that time/place.
  22. ilj
    What is the correct name for the broader-bladed metal propellors on Spitfire Vbs and Vcs deployed at Malta in 1942? There seem to be three sorts showing in the contemporary 1942-43 images: a skinny metal one (DeHavilland), a broader bladed metal one (referred to as 'Rotol wide blade metal' by Ultracast) and a triangular wooden one (Rotol, rare there). I just flipped through Brian Cauchi's Malta spitfire book and did a propellor type count for individual aircraft (ones in which the blade shape clearly visible). Results: Rotol wooden propellor 1 (p. 101) De Havilland narrow blade metal 12 (e.g., p. 93 top) 'wide blade metal Rotol' 48 (e.g., p. 93 bottom, there is confusion about the name of this prop, but its shape is distinctive) Is this (last one^) the 'Hydromatic' prop mentioned by Cauchi? I though 'hydromatic' was a propellor mechanism not a specific type. What company manufactured it? ilj
  23. ilj
    Hi, I am aware of two other aircraft projects with the Aleutian campaign as the theme and with web pages: Gemeinschaftsdiorama "Alëuten" (includes dioramas - concluded in 2006) http://www.modellbaufreunde.ch/Dio_Aleut.htm and my project 'Aleutian planes' (ongoing): http://www.mun.ca/serg/Aleutian_planes.html hope you find some of the work to be inspirational! Ian
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