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Spitfire Vb, F/Lt Les 'Buck' Casson


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This is my Spitfire Vb built from the Hobbyboss kit, I know many complain about it for a few reasons, but to me it looks like a Spitfire...…...and that's good enough for me lol! Its was built out of the box and MRP paints were used. 

Hope you like it, but here is a bit about the man in the machine first.

Squadron Leader 'Buck' Casson, who has died aged 88, escaped from France in May 1940 to fly Spitfires over south-eastern England during the Battle of Britain; later he was a flight commander in Wing Commander Douglas Bader's "Tangmere Wing" before being shot down over northern France in August 1941.

Casson was one of the original three trainee pilots to join the newly formed 616 (South Yorkshire) Auxiliary Air Force Squadron at Doncaster in early 1939. Training at weekends and during the annual summer camps, he qualified as a pilot in early 1940 before being sent to France as a reinforcement to 501 Squadron. But, before he could join them, the train on which he was travelling was bombed outside Amiens and he lost all his belongings. Casson managed to escape by boat back to England from Cherbourg.

After a brief spell flying Hurricanes with 79 Squadron at Biggin Hill, he rejoined 616 at Leconfield, Yorkshire, just as the Battle of Britain gathered momentum. At lunchtime on August 15, the fighter squadrons based in north-east England were scrambled to face the Luftwaffe's most concentrated attack against industrial targets in Scotland and the north of England.

Casson flew one of the 12 Spitfires which met the enemy as they crossed the Yorkshire coast. Within minutes, 616 Squadron had accounted for six of the unescorted bombers, with similar results achieved by other northern-based squadrons. A few days later, 616 flew south to Kenley where the squadron was involved in some of the fiercest fighting of the battle as part of Air Vice-Marshal Keith Park's No 11 Group.

Once 616 became fully operational again in early 1941, it was transferred and came under the command of the new Wing Leader, the legless pilot Douglas Bader, at Tangmere. The squadron boasted a glittering array of outstanding pilots, including "Johnnie" Johnson and "Cocky" Dundas. With his steadying and mature influence, allied to the experience gained during the hectic summer days of 1940, Casson became a section leader. On May 5, he shared in the destruction of a Junkers 88, but was hit by return fire, and was forced to bale out over Chichester harbour.

On August 9, the "Bader" Wing took off for another sweep over France. During a hectic fight in which German fighters surprised them from above, Bader was shot down, and the Wing was forced to scatter. Casson had accounted for an Me 109 when he went to the aid of a lone Spitfire, but before he could join up he was engaged by a German fighter. Cannon shells damaged his aircraft's engine, forcing him to crash near St Omer, where he was captured. Shortly after his arrival at Stalag Luft III at Sagan, it was announced that Casson had been awarded the DFC. (The Telegraph)

 

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28 minutes ago, Sturmovik said:

How did you get the lower wing roundels to conform to all that raised detail?

Microsol and Microset solutions, it's quite surprising at times how good these products are at get decals to conform to some very odd surfaces.

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