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It was one of those warm August afternoons some twenty years ago. I had just arrived from my local library with a bag full of “Aeroplane Monthly” magazines. I sat at the terrace with a cup of coffee and started to read. Soon I was flying high above the South China Sea with Flt Lt Edward C. Powles en-route to photograph Yulin harbor at Hainan Island. I hardly noticed the sudden afternoon rain shower; so fascinating was the story told by Flt Lt Powles. When Airfix released their 1/48 scale Spitfire PR.XIX it was clear that I will build PS852, Powles’ favourite Spitfire. After an extensive research and build here is how she turned out. I painted my model with Humbrol 230 and a finishing coat of Humbrol 135. Because I used a paint brush, several coats were required. PS852 was built at Southampton (Shacklady & Morgan) or at Eastleigh (Spitfiresite). It was a Type 390 with pressurized cockpit and RR Griffon 66 engine. Construction Number was (possibly) 6S.594676 (Spitfirsite). On 31st of October 1944 PS852 was taken in charge by PRU Benson. It was transferred to No. 541 Squadron on January 9th, 1945 and again to No. 542 Squadron on May 8th, 1945 (Shacklady & Morgan). After that the literature gives confusing data until 1950s. I couldn’t find any information when PS852 and its’ companion PS854 were transferred to the FEAF. Powles wrote that the two PR.XIXs were made available to him on December 31st, 1950 at RAF Seletar. That gives a hint that these two Spitfires were at MBFE’s (Maintenance Base Far East) custody. In the early 1950s No. 81 Squadron had five Spitfire PR.XIXs at RAF Seletar (PS836, PS852, PS854, PS888 and PS890). According to photographs on RAF Seletar website they were painted PRU Blue overall with D –type roundels in four positions. Orders to paint all PR aircraft with PRU Blue were given in AP 2656A Vol.1 Sect. 6 para. 51 (issued in October 1944). Photographs of PS852 and PS854 confirms this camouflage. PS852 in it's original paint photographed in early 1950s at RAF Kai Tak (Copyright J.E. Steele). A close up shows Flt Lt E.C. Powles sitting in the cockpit of a Spitfire PR.XIX (PS852 or PS854). Note the original wartime stenciling below the cockpit (Copyright E.C. Powles) I used stencils from Kitsworld's decal sheet. However they had to be modified heavily (some very, very careful cutting) because they were pretty inaccurate. For example take a look at the yellow "HOOD RELEASE" text. It should read "HOOD RELEASE ON TOP" but what can you do. Some extremely careful cutting was required when I corrected the oil capacity number to 9 and airspace to 3! I also added the "12 VOLTS" marking; PS852 and PS854 were the only Spitfires at RAF Kai Tak with 12 volts system. Those Mk. 24s of No. 80 Squadron had 24 volt systems. This is my wild guess as I haven't found photographic evidence to back this up. Note also the dark grey exhaust stains that gives a hint that this aircraft has been flown at low altitudes with rich mixture setting and high power. Properly leaned and with correct cruise power set these stains should be light grey or almost white. Here is a photo of PS854. It is possible that Flt Lt Powles himself is sitting in the cockpit (Copyright E.C. Powles). As Powles wrote: "When I was sitting in the cockpit of PR.XIX, with all my safety and survival equipment and with the seat in the lowest level, there was just half an inch between the top of my tropical cloth helmet and the canopy". Note also how weathered the aircraft seems to be. Jim Kiker (see Hyperscale website for Jim's article on PR.XIX build) was lucky to interview Flt Lt Powles who told him that when he asked these two Spitfires to be repainted, no paint was available. According to Powles the other Spitfire was then painted with a mix of Roundel Blue and Post Office Red. Soon after that PRU Blue was suddenly available at RAF Kai Tak! As the Officer Commanding 81 (PR) Squadron detachment Flt Lt Powles flew 107 photo reconnaissance missions out of RAF Kai Tak. In February 1951 he was asked to photograph an airfield in mainland China. The job was a low level oblique line overlap. Powles wrote: " I was reluctant to use one of our Spitfires as they were painted PR Blue." This tells to a modeller that in February 1951 both Spitfires were still PRU blue. A new order concerning aircraft camouflage -AMO A.217/51- came into force on April 19th, 1951. According to the document all PR aircraft were to be painted with PRU Blue and Medium Sea Grey. High gloss finish was required. Two different paint schemes were introduced. Powles photographed the Yulin harbor on May 22nd, 1951. He asked the ground crew to clean PS852 carefully. After a flight time of 3 hours 30 minutes Powles made a Dead Stick Landing back at RAF Kai Tak. Another Dead Stick Landing followed on August 27th, when Powles photographed Haikou harbor. By the end of January 1952 Powles had completed 63 photographic reconnaissance missions and 36 high altitude weather observation flights. On February 5th, 1952 Powles made his best known mission. He climbed to 51.500 ft with PS852 and was forced to made an emergency descent from that altitude. It took three minutes(!) to reach the altitude of 3000 ft! During the dive Powles was flying at M 0,96! PS852 was given a thorough check and was declared airworthy by the end of the month. Powles took this shot of PS854 flying at 1800 ft near Aberdeen fishing village in Hong Kong using the Spitfires oblique camera (the Fiducials are visible in the original print). The pilot of PS854 was Sgt Ken Walker. According to Flt Lt Powles: "...shortly after PS854 was repainted". Sgt Walker arrived RAF Kai Tak in September 1952. So PS854 was repainted in early autumn 1952. The question is: when was PS852 repainted? "Flight" magazine's photographer Norman Macmillan photographed PS852 and PS854 sometime between February 22nd and March 4th, 1953 at RAF Kai Tak. These pictures were published in "Flight" magazine in colour on May 29th, 1953. Another one showing just PS852 but taken at the same time: For comparison here is my PS890 of No. 81 Squadron in MSG/PRU Blue scheme. PS852 and PS854 had also fuselage sides and spinners painted with MSG. Powles confirmed to Jim Kiker that PS852 was painted with PRU Blue and MSG with red and white spinner when he flew his record breaking high altitude mission on February 5th, 1952. Two questions arise: 1. Was the spinner later again repainted with MSG? 2. Red and white spinner was the mark of HKAAF, why would No.81 Squadron had used it? On December 18th, 1952 AMO A.685/52 came into force. It stated that all PR aircraft must be painted with High Speed Silver overall. Flt Lt Powles' "Tour" in the Far East was complete a few days before Macmillan pictured the two camouflaged Spitfires at RAF Kai Tak. So Powles never flew a silver coloured PS852 or PS854. In the end the two Spitfires were painted with HSS with red/white spinners and transferred to Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force on March 23rd, 1954 (PS852) and on August 6th, 1954 (PS854). Here is PS852 in it's last paintwork: A detail shot showing the propeller: The most common Jablo propeller had it's blades made of compressed "Jablo Wood". These blades were marked with pink discs containing numeric information about the blades. Airfix gives yellow discs which were for the rare blades made out of birch(?) tree. Do not use those manufacturer's winged logos either as they were not used in the 1940s or 1950s. The blade leading edges were mostly reinforced with brass plates so do not use aluminium paint to mark wear unless you are certain about the propeller type used in your particular Spitfire. Note also that Griffon rotated counter clockwise when viewed from the cockpit. I am not sure about the underwing serials. According to the photographs they were rather small but I can't tell when they were painted on. PS854 carried them at least after repaint in the fall of 1952. Here is a photo of PS854 for comparison: Some modellers think that the serials were white but I think they were painted with gloss black. If they were white then also the last digit should be visible. Some versions of this photo suggests that the spinner was white. The spinners of the three other Spitfires at RAF Seletar were painted white just before their retirement from service. The original "wartime"serials on the fuselage are interesting also: the last digits sat higher than the first ones. Take another look at this photo. This close up shows the corrected rocker cover bulges, some added hatches and landing gear down indicators. If you use Kitsworld's stencils remember that the fuel grade was 100/130 octane, not the fuel amount. So my Dear Fellow Modeller You've read so far. Thank You for your time and hope to see you again! Best Regards, Antti

Nothing special, just an in between build whilst waiting for paint to dry on the Skyraider. But a finished build is a finished build.. Subtly weathered with paynes grey oil, flory models dark dirt and black wash and some shades of mig pigment for the exhaust streaking..