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A hot Balti (more)


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223 Sqn RAF, 232 Bomber Wing, Western Desert Air Force, November 1942

Another one off the production line; this is the ancient Frog Martin Baltimore kit, marked to represent one of the Desert Air Force light bombers that played a key part in the pivotal 2nd Battle of El Alamein and the subsequent retreat and of Rommel's Afrika Korps, 70 years ago this week.

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The Baltimore was a development of Martin's Maryland fast bomber, taking into account the combined experience of the French and Royal Air Forces during the early part of the Battle of France. The Aircraft were originally ordered by the French but passed to the UK after the French surrender as a mix of outright purchase and lend-lease. The RAF, RAAF HAF and SAAF used them solely in the Mediterranean and north African theatres, where their high speed and agility proved a key asset.

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Baltimores saw wide action in the close air support role, from Alam-el-Halfa and El-Alamein, through the Tunisian Campaign, the invasion of Sicily and on to the Italian mainland. After WW2, the robust and lightweight Baltimore saw further service as a high speed research aircraft with the US Navy, capable of Mach 0.74 in a dive.

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This is another "waif" Frog kit that I picked up very cheaply (a few pounds) several years back as a dirty bag of anonymous bits. In fact, I first thought it was a Maryland when I bought it and had intended to finish it in Malta-based Fleet Air Arm markings. A very few (three?) Baltimores did see Royal Navy service, but there are few pictures to use as references (I only found one and it was post-war overall silver) and in any event, I felt that the aircraft ought to be in its original desert guise, as this is where it made its most important contribution to WW2.

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The Baltimore was in fact a very successful design, but it gets comparatively little attention, probably since it was not used by the USAAF. There are a couple of more modern short-run kits available nowadays, but for a very long time Frog's offering was the only one available.

First issued in 1963, the kit is very basic, representing (I think) the later Mk IV variant. Parts fit is variable; the wings and fuselage fitted very well, but the wing and tailplane to fuselage joints were very bad. Panel lines are lightly raised, but the transparencies are thick and not particularly clear, even after dipping in Klear/Future. My kit had no decals/transfers with it, so these are some generic ones from my spares box.

FredT :)

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