Vol 2 All the Spitfire questions here

[opus999]

2 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Note the gun covers in this photo … There was a discussion here awhile back about these. The two views are either its fresh camouflage paint or red paint on the covers. 

Hmm... Interesting.  I saw that they looked different.  Airfix gives you some standard red patches.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

1 hour ago, opus999 said:

Hmm... Interesting.  I saw that they looked different.  Airfix gives you some standard red patches.

I was referrering to the gun bay covers on top of the wing.

 

[opus999]

1 hour ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

I was referrering to the gun bay covers on top of the wing.

 

Oh! So you were!  Sorry, I have a one-track mind on this topic right now.     Interesting that Airfix noted this on their painting/decal instructions as text, but didn't provide a schematic so I wasn't quite sure what they were talking about.  And here with me past the painting stage.  I believe this photo is of the same squadron as my subject.

There is that leading edge too....  Airfix noted that as well, but didn't provide a schematic. 😕 

[opus999]

There are those leading edges too.  Airfix noted those as well, but didn't provide a schematic.  😕 

[opus999]

Boy, when I look at the shade of gray on those covers, it sure seems to match the red tips on the horizontal stabilizers. It seems weird though to have big red boxes on the wings, but on the other hand, they have bright orange roundels.... 

 

And those leading edges?  Are they yellow?  white?  the underside blue?  I'm sure no one really knows and I'm not sure what color I would use.  Arg.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

2 hours ago, opus999 said:

Boy, when I look at the shade of gray on those covers, it sure seems to match the red tips on the horizontal stabilizers. It seems weird though to have big red boxes on the wings, but on the other hand, they have bright orange roundels.... 

 

And those leading edges?  Are they yellow?  white?  the underside blue?  I'm sure no one really knows and I'm not sure what color I would use.  Arg.

This is one conversation about the leading edge color. 
 

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235091634-saaf-spitfire-vc-wrap-around-colour-on-wing-leading-edge/

 

[Graham Boak]

The covers are likely to be fresh out of stores when these aircraft were fitted with 4 cannon on Malta, as I believe was stated elsewhere.  These however could be survivors from early Malta deliveries including Dark Mediterranean Blue.  I would suggest red primer rather than the roundel Red, but we can't tell from  the photo.

[Dave Fleming]

I had a minor involvement in the discussion regarding these cannon covers when the kit decals were being designed, and whilst the consensus was they were 'probably' red, the decal artist didn't think there was enough evidence to say that on the sheet.

[malpaso]

On my model of this aircraft (KP kit with old Airfix Vc decals) I went for fresh dark brown cannon covers and azure doped MG patches.  Which I thought could be what appears in the photos?

[Giorgio N]

On 3/5/2022 at 1:49 AM, opus999 said:

There are those leading edges too.  Airfix noted those as well, but didn't provide a schematic.  😕 

 

Leading edges could well be yellow, a colour often seen on the leading edges of MTO Spitfires (although IIRC it was not officially required).

See for example these two pictures:

 

http://magazine.ipmsnsw.com/33-1/ahmwa/P029334.jpg

 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Collaboration_Between_Royal_Air_Force_Spitfires_and_the_Eighth_Army_during_the_Tunisian_Campaign%2C_Spring_1943_TR1019.jpg

 

Interestingly in both pictures the patches on the MG ports are not in red...

[Dave Fleming]

1 hour ago, Giorgio N said:

 

Leading edges could well be yellow, a colour often seen on the leading edges of MTO Spitfires (although IIRC it was not officially required).

See for example these two pictures:

 

http://magazine.ipmsnsw.com/33-1/ahmwa/P029334.jpg

 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Collaboration_Between_Royal_Air_Force_Spitfires_and_the_Eighth_Army_during_the_Tunisian_Campaign%2C_Spring_1943_TR1019.jpg

 

Interestingly in both pictures the patches on the MG ports are not in red...

 

I've seen dope patches in a variety of colours, especially over seas - Grey Green was another

 

The leading edge on the first photo is interesting too

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Hello everyone … Looking for some answers to some questions. Im doing four Spitfire builds simultaneously. Two of the builds  are from the Med. Theatre, one Malta the other Desert Air Force. Im not looking for colors or anything like that but need answers to propeller questions and slipper tanks ? 
     First question: GL*J BR329 flown by Johnny Plagis of 185 Squadron or GL*W BR387 flown by John Yarra. What kind of prop/spinner did they have, and would they use slipper tanks operationally or only during transfer to Malta ?

    Second question: 92 Squadron QJ*Q EP401 Flown by John Waddy. Would they ever have used a slipper tank or no ? Of course any help is gratefully acknowledged and Thanks given in advance ? 
 

Dennis

[72modeler]

On 4/7/2022 at 3:52 AM, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Hello everyone … Looking for some answers to some questions. Im doing four Spitfire builds simultaneously. Two of the builds  are from the Med. Theatre, one Malta the other Desert Air Force. Im not looking for colors or anything like that but need answers to propeller questions and slipper tanks ? 
     First question: GL*J BR329 flown by Johnny Plagis of 185 Squadron or GL*W BR387 flown by John Yarra. What kind of prop/spinner did they have, and would they use slipper tanks operationally or only during transfer to Malta ?

    Second question: 92 Squadron QJ*Q EP401 Flown by John Waddy. Would they ever have used a slipper tank or no ? Of course any help is gratefully acknowledged and Thanks given in advance ? 
 

Dennis

Dennis,

 

Pretty sure both EP401 and BR329 had Rotol props with Jablo blades and the long, pointed spinner. See the link below for text and photos. Also pretty sure that both Spits had the fittings for a slipper tank, but I didn't locate any photos that showed them carrying one; guess it would depend upon the range required for a given sortie. There were a couple of discussions/RFI's on these two Spitfires ere on BM- you could look for them. Betting @tonyoth as built one or both, but for some reason, I can't seem to flag his user ID so he will see this- weird, as I can pull up everybody else! (Russian hackers?)

Mike

 

https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/EP401

 

 

 

[fishplanebeer]

I've asked this in another post but had no specific answer so can anyone please explain why the PR.XI and all similar 2-stage Merlin marks had an antenna aerial but the PR.X did not given that it carried the same/similar radio equipment?

 

Hopefully there is a Spitfire expert out there who may know the answer.

 

Regards

Colin.

[stevehnz]

On 4/10/2022 at 6:48 AM, 72modeler said:

Betting @tonyoth as built one or both, but for some reason, I can't seem to flag his user ID so he will see this- weird, as I can pull up everybody else! (Russian hackers?)

Not Russian Hackers Mike, Tony appears to had trod on someones bunions, something on this thread, I know it is something Tony feels passionately about whereas most of us can live & let live, hopefully it'll only be a temporary departure. (please)

Steve

[alt-92]

On 4/9/2022 at 8:48 PM, 72modeler said:

(Russian hackers?)

I'd just leave the trailing h off in his username. No need to go full paranoid mode

[Fukuryu]

3 hours ago, stevehnz said:

Not Russian Hackers Mike, Tony appears to had trod on someones bunions, something on this thread, I know it is something Tony feels passionately about whereas most of us can live & let live, hopefully it'll only be a temporary departure. (please)

Steve

 

32 minutes ago, alt-92 said:

I'd just leave the trailing h off in his username. No need to go full paranoid mode

 

Not paranoid, but this is indeed a sad, sad day, at least for me:

 

Goodbye, Tony O'Toole. I will miss you on this forum. 

Edited April 12, 2022 by Fukuryu

[fishplanebeer]

What's happened to Tony or is it not possible to say?

 

Regards

Colin.

[PhantomBigStu]

21 minutes ago, fishplanebeer said:

What's happened to Tony or is it not possible to say?

 

Regards

Colin.

Don’t know exactly what happened and don’t want to speculate but it appears he took offence to a builder referring to Falkland’s by its Spanish name, understandable given it’s the 40th anniversary of the invasion and I believe Tony knew people who lost their lives during the war but this a no politics forum would extract the ire of the mods. Probably more to the story. 

[fishplanebeer]

I know the forum has a strict policy when it comes to anything political, which I agree with, but it is very sad if this is the case as even us modellers cannot not attempt or should pretend to live in splendid isolation and ignore salient external factors which can be a matter of life and death in the real world.

 

I don't wish to be banned myself so I will choose my words carefully but in the current climate I have chosen not to purchase anything of Russian origin and indeed Asda have stopped selling Cif cleaning agent for this very reason, so I am not alone and I'm not aware that Asda have received any criticism or been banned in any way in the UK. This is  absolutely my personal choice and I'm not advocating that anyone else should do the same as we are all free to make our own decisions but none the less I have taken note of a very high profile modelling retailer who has not adopted this approach so I will no longer be their customer and will look elsewhere from now on.

 

Regards

Colin.

Edited April 12, 2022 by fishplanebeer

[Paul H]

Apologies if this isn't the right place...

 

I'm trying to track down the markings for a particular Spitfire.  I know the serial number, and squadron code, however is there a way to find out which letter was used after the two squadron code letters?  The aircraft in question was destroyed only a few days after it was commissioned, so I have been unable to find any photographs, and the various data I have been able to find only lists the squadron and the serial number.

 

Many thanks!

[Ray_W]

21 minutes ago, Paul H said:

Apologies if this isn't the right place...

 

I'm trying to track down the markings for a particular Spitfire.  I know the serial number, and squadron code, however is there a way to find out which letter was used after the two squadron code letters?  The aircraft in question was destroyed only a few days after it was commissioned, so I have been unable to find any photographs, and the various data I have been able to find only lists the squadron and the serial number.

 

Many thanks!

 

Quickest way is to post the information you do know right here. Usually the answers will come back fairly quickly. 

[Troy Smith]

32 minutes ago, Paul H said:

I'm trying to track down the markings for a particular Spitfire.  I know the serial number, and squadron code, however is there a way to find out which letter was used after the two squadron code letters?  The aircraft in question was destroyed only a few days after it was commissioned, so I have been unable to find any photographs, and the various data I have been able to find only lists the squadron and the serial number.

There maybe not.  ORB and such like often list either the serial, or individual letter, rarely both.

 

I have a couple of local area projects that have stalled on precisely this problem.  No individual letter.   Everything else I an make a educated guess at, and even have photos on said planes earlier and later on... 

 

But, with any question like this on here,  make a separate threads, and make the question clear from the thread title, Spitfire X from XX sq, Serial X1234, lost 194x,  looking for individual letter. is how I'd approach it.

If nothing else you may get information how other aircraft looked at the time, which can vary, especially ion say how the squadron code looked, and it's running order.

 

There are other places which may know, specialist aircraft history sites.    After that you can decide what you wish to do, leave off the letter, or guess or use something that means something to you.

 

HTH

[Magpie22]

On 4/12/2022 at 6:05 PM, Fukuryu said:

 

 

Not paranoid, but this is indeed a sad, sad day, at least for me:

 

Goodbye, Tony O'Toole. I will miss you on this forum. 

 

Tony's friends can find him at his Facebook account:

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1466729883775310

 

Join me, and others, who have joined him there to get our regular dose of O'Toole's Restorative Medication. Couldn't survive without it. Britmodeller's loss will be our gain. 😀

 

Peter Malone

 

[M20gull]

On 07/04/2022 at 09:52, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

  Second question: 92 Squadron QJ*Q EP401 Flown by John Waddy. Would they ever have used a slipper tank or no ? Of course any help is gratefully acknowledged and Thanks given in advance ? 
 

Dennis

On 09/04/2022 at 19:48, 72modeler said:

Dennis,

 

Also pretty sure that both Spits had the fittings for a slipper tank, but I didn't locate any photos that showed them carrying one; guess it would depend upon the range required for a given sortie. There were a couple of discussions/RFI's on these two Spitfires ere on BM- you could look for them. Betting @tonyoth as built one or both, but for some reason, I can't seem to flag his user ID so he will see this- weird, as I can pull up everybody else! (Russian hackers?)

Mike

A quick scan through the Operation Record Books is not much help.  Waddy used EP401 on three ops, two of them successful.  There is no mention of tanks during his period with 92 other than one for another pilot who had trouble on a ferry flight with "overload tanks".  The ops were 90, 75 and 95 minutes long, I have no idea whether that warrants a slipper tank.