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Spitfire IX, June 1944 (1/72)


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Hi all,

this is AZ's 1/72 Spitfire IXc. Not a bad kit with nice surface detail, but the next time I would try the Eduard kit. Decals came from the Kagero booklet on the Spitfire IX.

 

The model represents an aircraft of No. 340 Sqn filmed at Merston apparently on 18 June 1944 before flying to Normandy. It was piloted by Sous Chef Denys Boudard who had joined the RAF after quite a remarkable escape from France. On 29 April 1941, Boudard and a fellow conuntryman had dressed to resemble German mechanics, walked into a Luftwaffe airfield, stole a Bücker Jungmann and flew to Britain. Two pictures of this aircraft can be found in Christopher Shore's and Chris Thomas' fantastic book on the 2nd Tactical Air Force. These pictures also show that this aircraft was unusually heavily weathered by Spitfire standards, something I tried to replicate on the model.

 

Thanks for viewing and all comments welcome.

 

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I'm continually amazed at how adept loads of modellers are with 1/72 scale. I'm no longer capable, if I ever was, of anything smaller than 1/48 scale or larger. This is a really neat bit of modelling. Well done!

Paul

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What a scruffy and absolutely brilliant looking Spitfire! I love the weathering and the model looks very well constructed. The base is a nice touch that can really lift a model.

 

I have a couple of Eduard's in the stash along with a handful of Airfix various marks, a CMR 22, an old Heller Mk 5 and a couple of Special Hobby Seafires. May have to get one or two AZ at some point! I like Spits ..... 

 

Well done and thanks for sharing.

 

Terry

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I was really pleased to see this model, a cracking representation of one of my favourite subjects, but especially welcome as I was the co-author of the source book and one of my responsibilities was locating, researching and captioning the photos, and I do like to see my finds appear in three dimensions.

 

I had found a film clip in the IWM collection which was shot by the RAF FPU to celebrate Denys Boudard's return to France (he was later the first Allied pilot to land at the recaptured Carpiquet airfield - the very one he had stolen his Bucker Jungmann from 3 years earlier) and noted the film showed both sides of the same aircraft - a rare gift to the modeller with wartime aircraft.

 

However it was extra-special for me as a few years earlier I had attended the funeral of a Typhoon pilot recently recovered in Normandy.  A dozen of us, including some Typhoon pilots flew across the Channel in light aircraft, in a gale, which left me green.  An amazing day which included an alcoholic lunch and a similarly fuelled reception in Caen before we retired to our hotel.  In the bar they had the newly-launched Kronenburg 1664; our hosts insisted we gave it a thorough trial. I was just beginning to feel OK again when a jovial Frenchman burst through the door and shouted "Ah, mes amis Anglais! Champagne!!" A magnum duly appeared and was consumed but the real treat was to listen to Denys Boudard's story first hand. Unforgettable. Unlike the rest of the evening.

CT

PS They crossed the Channel in poor vis, which probably saved their lives.  Following the coast to look for an airfield, they had started on a second circuit of the Isle of Wight before they realised it was an island! They eventually landed at Christchurch; it was a Sunday and they were surprised to find the RAF were playing cricket on the airfield.

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50 minutes ago, Chris Thomas said:

I was really pleased to see this model, a cracking representation of one of my favourite subjects, but especially welcome as I was the co-author of the source book and one of my responsibilities was locating, researching and captioning the photos, and I do like to see my finds appear in three dimensions.

 

I had found a film clip in the IWM collection which was shot by the RAF FPU to celebrate Denys Boudard's return to France (he was later the first Allied pilot to land at the recaptured Carpiquet airfield - the very one he had stolen his Bucker Jungmann from 3 years earlier) and noted the film showed both sides of the same aircraft - a rare gift to the modeller with wartime aircraft.

 

However it was extra-special for me as a few years earlier I had attended the funeral of a Typhoon pilot recently recovered in Normandy.  A dozen of us, including some Typhoon pilots flew across the Channel in light aircraft, in a gale, which left me green.  An amazing day which included an alcoholic lunch and a similarly fuelled reception in Caen before we retired to our hotel.  In the bar they had the newly-launched Kronenburg 1664; our hosts insisted we gave it a thorough trial. I was just beginning to feel OK again when a jovial Frenchman burst through the door and shouted "Ah, mes amis Anglais! Champagne!!" A magnum duly appeared and was consumed but the real treat was to listen to Denys Boudard's story first hand. Unforgettable. Unlike the rest of the evening.

CT

PS They crossed the Channel in poor vis, which probably saved their lives.  Following the coast to look for an airfield, they had started on a second circuit of the Isle of Wight before they realised it was an island! They eventually landed at Christchurch; it was a Sunday and they were surprised to find the RAF were playing cricket on the airfield.

This just shows why this forum is so good ............ first we get a great model Spitfire IX, then the co-author of the reference material used in the making chips in with some great ripping yarn like this! Enjoyed that snippet Chris.

Cheers

Terry

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I forgot to mention my embarrassing error in the 2nd TAF caption which doc72 unfortunately quoted. Denys was a Sergent-chef at the time - not a "sous-chef"! You'd be more likely to find one of those in a Raymond Blanc establishment, or similar.

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Great job with the extreme weathering.  I just finished a mk. Vb recently and the reference photos I collected showed them very weathered.  Yours is extremely realistic.  Nice Job!

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