Search the Community

The nights are drawing so time to start on the next 609(WR)Sqn build. This time it’s a Roland (Bee) Beamont’s Typhoon. I’ve made a Brengun Typhoon before, they’re nicely detailed and fit together ok with a bit of care and tidying up. There’s a bit of AM, not sure I’ll use it all. Thinking about getting the saw out and opening up the car door. Current RFI of the 609(WR) Sqn build is here:

I had an idea not too long ago to build a reasonable representation of all the aircraft 609(WR) squadron flew. The squadron was formed in 1936 and disbanded as a flying squadron in 1957 so the list isn’t so daunting. I will do some WIP treads and continue to add to this thread as builds are completed. finally sorted some pictures so will add the last ear builds. All builds are 1/72 Current status This is the current plan, with those completed in green.

This one has a bit of a story behind it... Back in the mists of the nineties, a small, skinny boy was rapidly developing an aircraft obsession following trips to Cosford in '96 and being mesmerised by howling, fast jets, the majesty of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, and miles and miles of C-130s stretching into the heat haze (the nipper's first airshow, RIAT '97). Come December 1998 he decided that as he was nearly nine, it was about time he tried that modelling thing grownups did, so he pestered his father (who was by now wondering what the heck he had done) to buy him the Airfix Spitfire I for Christmas. Said father ended up doing nearly all the modelling, even patiently splicing it back together once the lad had established that it couldn't really be made to glide across the room. Built OOB of course, with the kit markings as N3277 AZ-H. About ten years (and 45 or so 1/72nd scale models of British aircraft) later, the small skinny boy had become a large, lanky teenager, and was by now aware of the existence of recessed panel lines, vacform canopies and aftermarket decals. He was also an avid reader of Fly For Your Life and First Light, and so stripped the rather dated model back to bare plastic, rescribed and refinished it using a Xtradecal sheet as N3249/QJ-P of 92 Squadron. However, when an angsty university student (with dodgy lungs from years of painting enamels in an inadequately-ventilated bedroom) joined Britmodeller as "Vulcanicity" a couple of years after that, his skills increased rapidly by exposure to such a wealth of talent and information. Whole new avenues of ideas and skills opened up, and it became obvious that the somewhat Heath Robinson paint stripping and rescribing (using a pencil sharpener blade as a scraper and a Swiss army knife as a scriber) wasn't going to cut it. Neither was the spinner cobbled together from the damaged original and a chunk of Mosquito spinner and crudely filed down to size, the rough approximations of the destroyed undercarriage legs, or the claggy matt varnish coat. Then the new tool Airfix kit came out and was built (twice, the first one being Vulcanicity's debut on BM), the old model was pushed out to grass. Like a real aircraft left to rot, it looked progressively shabbier and bits started to fall off. Which brings us to the sorry 22-year old relic languishing on my shelf. The skinny kid is now a slightly less skinny ecological consultant with a PhD, surprisingly tolerant partner, mortgage, cat, goldfish, chickens, and approaching 110 aircraft completed. The model was less up together than its owner: frankly, it was a wreck held together largely with sentiment (if it had been anything other than my first ever model it would have been in the bin a while back) . Stripping it down again (with Tesco cleaning fluid this time!) revealed the scale of the job: not a straight panel line in sight, disintegrating trailing edge of the wing roots, a massive crack separating the wings into two (and not in't' right place neither!) and small parts more or less all unusable. Luckily I came armed, and thanks to Pavla, CMK and Quickboost I had a veritable panoply of resin. Coupled with a raid on the Eduard Mk IX in the stash, some more Xtradecals, and lot of scratchbuilding (including much of the cockpit which was inserted from underneath, as following the wing crack I couldn't face splitting the fuselage halves) I managed to turn out (I think) a passable model of R6691 as flown by Frank Howell of 609 Squadron RAuxAF from Middle Wallop in the momentous summer of 1940. The only original parts from the 1998 model are the fuselage (minus rudder), wings, the seat (much modified) and the bottom part of the tailwheel! Hope you like my belated tribute to the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Britain - I do, which is as well as I don't think the old Spit would survive another rebuild...

Got this earlier this morning from an ex-BAE executive who apprenticed at Hawkers postwar and whose father worked there in WW2. Sir John is crazy about all things Hawker, especially the Tiffie, Tempest, and Hunter. He thought I would enjoy seeing this, and I think many of you will, too. Somebody needs to write a book about all the brave expatriate aircrew who fought in the RAF...brave men, all. Film footage via You Tube. (No bonus points for the mis-identified Tempests!) Mike