Manipled Mutineer Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 I am planning to make AN218 "Menace", a 112 Sqn Tomahawk IIb, as a holiday project. It is from the 2012 Battle of el Alamein gift set which Airfix did for Modelzone. The painting instructions very distinctly stipulates that the spinner is to be painted white, however most references seem to say that this squadron's aircraft had red spinners. Similarly, the one picture I have been able to track down suggests to me that the spinner is darker than the underside. http://www.scalemates.com/profiles/mate.php?id=14121&p=albums&album=19078 Does anyone know of any definitive evidence on this point? Many thanks, Anthony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFlint Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 spinner is actually Dupont's version of Dark Earth. (actually more like Light Earth???) compare it to the lighter color in the camoflage and this becomes obvious Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Millman Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 Scroll down to see photo of Tomahawks with (apparently) light coloured spinners:- http://raf-112-squadron.org/raf_112_squadron_photos_1941.html Short-lived flight colours? Yellow? There is also a different photo of 'Menace' on that page which shows a dark colour spinner - Dark Earth or red? Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Work In Progress Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 Airfix has 'form' with the gift sets for changing actual colour schemes to reduce the number of different paints they need to include in the package. I would take any Airfix gift set colour scheme with a very large pinch of salt. They would have had people doing this 112 Squadron 1/72 Mustang IV... ...with a black spinner, let's not forget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manipled Mutineer Posted July 12, 2014 Author Share Posted July 12, 2014 Thanks Nick and others. I hadn't spotted the other "Menace" photo. It is starting to feel like you pays your money and takes your choice... And I am edging towards red. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
occa Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 (edited) Compare it with the red in the sharkmouth which is very light too in this photo ... Edited July 12, 2014 by occa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck1945 Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 The DAF used red soinners as an ID feature for fighters, but I am not sure when that was implemented. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tempestfan Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 On both the Scalemates pics, the spinner looks to match the lighter camouflage colour - so wouldn't that be Mid Stone rather than DE ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Millman Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 The aircraft in those photos, esp 'Menace', appear to still be in the factory applied Temperate Land scheme as delivered. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tempestfan Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 Thanks for the clarification, I hadn't thought about that. The contrast of the lighter colour to the darker one looks more pronounced on the forward fuselage of "A" than on the tail, but that's probably some trick of the light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manipled Mutineer Posted August 5, 2014 Author Share Posted August 5, 2014 Pitot head style for Neville Bowker's 112 Sqn Tomahawk IIb, AN218? I'm currently drawing to the end of my build of the above, from the Airfix/Modelzone 2012 el Alamein anniversary gift set. The instructions are a bit ropey around the painting elements (the dubious white spinner of course being one (I went for Middle Stone in the end) and the treatment of the undercarriage legs and the wheel hubs for another) but one thing which has me particularly stumped is the pitot tube. The assembly instructions quite unmistakably state that you should use the straight US-style pitot head provided at part 24B. The painting instructions equally unmistakably show the cranked British style pitot (provided within the kit as part 25B) in situ. (Interestingly, I have just picked up the Hawk 81-A-2 (Flying Tigers) kit and it has just the same issue.) None of the Western Desert Tomahawk IIb photographs I have access to are definitive on the point and Richard Ward's drawing of sister craft AK461 seems to show it with the US-style pitot. I'd welcome views on which is correct or, even better, access to a decent photograph or colour profile of AN218, to help settle the matter. Thanks, Anthony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Millman Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 FWIW you can see the cranked pitot in the 112 Sqn photos linked above. AVG Tomahawks had the cranked pitot too. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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