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RAF Mitchell II MQ-A FW130 226th Squadron


Roman Schilhart

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Dear fellow Britmodellers,

I am working on the new 1/72 Airfix Mitchell C/D and would like to build as RAF Mitchell II, MQ-A, from 226th Squadron, in full D-Day livery.

I have aftermarket decals from Model Alliance (2nd TAF, MA-72204) for this particular aircraft.

This decal sheet has a photograph of this machine, but questions remain:

Did MQ-A carry a small 'A' on the tail fins, and which color (red or white)?

Some sources claim the upper wing roundels were of different size (large on the left, small on the right wing) - can anyone confirm this?

Thanks in advance for your valuable help.

With greetings from Vienna,

Roman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Any artwork is only as good as the artist’s research, and some artists are more diligent than others.  The best reference is a photograph of the aeroplane (or whatever) in question.  However interpreting colours from a black and white image is not always possible, let alone easy, even when some of the colours are known.  Colour photographs are a minefield of a different feather; colours appear to change depending on ambient lighting, type of film used, how it was processed and printed and umpty-dozen other variables.  Assuming that a good image isn’t available a comprehensive written or verbal terms description is a good starting point, but cannot always accurately convey the actual colour of any given colour.  They also require the informant to have a good memory and/or ability to describe those colours and the degree of staining, fading and degradation that the paint has suffered.  We don’t know what reference(s) Jon Freeman used when producing his illustration but hopefully they were (I suspect) reliable.

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Roman, in answer to your two specific questions ...

 

Yes, it is almost certain MQ-A FW130 had a small A marked below the fin flash on both outer surfaces of the fins.  I say "almost certain" as there are two photos of this aircraft on a sorties after D-Day but the tail unit is not visible on either. However there is a third photo of MQ-A in a formation before D-Day which shows it has the small 'A' on the fin - all of 226 Sqn's Mitchells seem to feature this code letter repeat, and they are still there after D-Day.

 

The two 'D-Day plus' photos do show that the port wing had a large roundel and the starboard roundel was much smaller (same size as in the drawing above).  The larger roundel fills the space between the aileron and the de-icing strip and almost touches the D-Day stripes over the wing.  In addition there appears to be a small 'bomb log' ( a row of vertical bomb sillouhettes, probably in yellow) just below the port nose glazing. Un fortunately it is not clear enough to show detail on the photo. I will see if I can post the photos later.

 

Stever219's remarks are certainly appropriate.  As a rule of thumb, the more prolific the profile artist, the less accurate the depiction. When time is money and deadlines are pressing, in-depth research, or even diligent observation, can be casualties. Of course some are better than others.

CT

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48 minutes ago, Chris Thomas said:

Roman, in answer to your two specific questions ...

 

Yes, it is almost certain MQ-A FW130 had a small A marked below the fin flash on both outer surfaces of the fins.  I say "almost certain" as there are two photos of this aircraft on a sorties after D-Day but the tail unit is not visible on either. However there is a third photo of MQ-A in a formation before D-Day which shows it has the small 'A' on the fin - all of 226 Sqn's Mitchells seem to feature this code letter repeat, and they are still there after D-Day. 

 

The two 'D-Day plus' photos do show that the port wing had a large roundel and the starboard roundel was much smaller (same size as in the drawing above).  The larger roundel fills the space between the aileron and the de-icing strip and almost touches the D-Day stripes over the wing.  In addition there appears to be a small 'bomb log' ( a row of vertical bomb sillouhettes, probably in yellow) just below the port nose glazing. Un fortunately it is not clear enough to show detail on the photo. I will see if I can post the photos later.

 

Stever219's remarks are certainly appropriate.  As a rule of thumb, the more prolific the profile artist, the less accurate the depiction. When time is money and deadlines are pressing, in-depth research, or even diligent observation, can be casualties. Of course some are better than others.

CT

 

Thank you very much for clarification Chris.

My Model Alliance sheet has one photograph (with D-Day stripes) - only the front section, the tail fin is not visible.

This decal sheet does not include the 'A' letter and the bomb log, maybe I can find something suitable in my decal spare box.

Photographic evidence would be very welcome, thanks for your effort.

With best greetings from Vienna

Roman

 

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Can I chip in here? Rather than it being two roundels of different sizes, are we sure that the port wing is just not the US star and bar overpainted with Dark Green paint and same size RAF roundels painted over the top? This would give the impression that the roundels are different sizes. I’ve just expanded these photos on my phone and see a hint of colour / tone difference on the port wing in the right places which may suggest that similar size roundels appear on both wings. 

 

The profile included above may be right after all. Hard to say either way to be honest. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

 

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12 minutes ago, Rabbit Leader said:

Can I chip in here? Rather than it being two roundels of different sizes, are we sure that the port wing is just not the US star and bar overpainted with Dark Green paint and same size RAF roundels painted over the top? This would give the impression that the roundels are different sizes. I’ve just expanded these photos on my phone and see a hint of colour / tone difference on the port wing in the right places which may suggest that similar size roundels appear on both wings. 

 

The profile included above may be right after all. Hard to say either way to be honest. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

 

A very interesting point of view!

The Model Allicance decal sheet suggests two small roundels on the upper wings, both same size;

the left one has the overpainted US insignia shining through (lighter shade of Olive Drab).

Thank you very much Dave!

 

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46 minutes ago, Rabbit Leader said:

Can I chip in here? Rather than it being two roundels of different sizes, are we sure that the port wing is just not the US star and bar overpainted with Dark Green paint and same size RAF roundels painted over the top? This would give the impression that the roundels are different sizes. I’ve just expanded these photos on my phone and see a hint of colour / tone difference on the port wing in the right places which may suggest that similar size roundels appear on both wings. 

 

The profile included above may be right after all. Hard to say either way to be honest.

Interesting and quite seductive thought.  Let me just toss into the discussion the fact that the prescribed upper wing roundel size for Mitchells was 44", according to the old Modeldecal instructions (don't ask me where they got the info from).  The smaller roundel doesn't look any bigger than the 36" C1 fuselage roundel.  

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On 8/1/2018 at 11:41 AM, Rabbit Leader said:

Can I chip in here? Rather than it being two roundels of different sizes, are we sure that the port wing is just not the US star and bar overpainted with Dark Green paint and same size RAF roundels painted over the top? This would give the impression that the roundels are different sizes. I’ve just expanded these photos on my phone and see a hint of colour / tone difference on the port wing in the right places which may suggest that similar size roundels appear on both wings. 

 

The profile included above may be right after all. Hard to say either way to be honest. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

 

I was just about to type the same thing when I saw your post Dave! Looks like the roundels are the same but the port one is overlaying the painted out US star.

 

Cheers,

           Tony

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