The other Tim's Airfix 1/48 Spitfire Mk1a - 66 Sqn RAF - PO Crelin 'Bogle' Bodie 7th Sept 1940

[Tim Moff]

This build was inspired by a good friend and Army colleague of 25 years + (he is actually serving, still must be in his 36th year!). He posted that PO Crelin Bodie was his childhood hero, turns out he was my mates Bob's mothers cousin. I decide to look into his story, which was quite interesting. He was a Suffolk lad, so has a local connection too.

 

He became an ace and was gazetted for the DFC on 8 Nov 1940. He has a chapter in 10 Fighter Boys by Jimmy Corbin.

 

Apparently he had a habit of belly landings....hence I plan to model Spitfire X4321 Coded LZ-F, 66 Sqn RAF, based at RAF Kenley. He belly landed the Spitfire after being damaged in a dogfight on either the 5th Sept or 7 Sept 1940, anyone who can confirm please do!

 

X4321 Ia 1085 EA MIII FF 29-8-40 8MU 30-8-40 66S ‘LZ-F’ 5-9-40 damaged by Bf109 over Norfolk force-landed P/O Bodie safe C3 7-9-40

 

Weathering will be minimal as it appears it was only about a week old!

 

 

 

 

Some date the forced landing as 7 Sept 1940.

 

 

 

 

 

Can't find any actual ref pics (probably as it only lasted a week!) , but anything I do find points to a black spinner rather than the red sometimes seen with 66 Sqn? Any advice welcomed....

 

So Port LZ - F and Std F-LZ would seem correct from other references?

 

@nimrod54 - been looking at your build as a reference, did you go for the standard Sky underneath, xtradecal seem to show a more Blue sky which I can't read?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bodie in the Battle of Britain

 

On 8th July 1940, he claimed his first kill; a Heinkel HE111. A second Heinkel followed on 19th August and two Messerschmitt ME110 the following day. He rounded off August 1940 with a hit on a Dornier DO17 on 31st.

Pilot Officer Bodie was a respected ace in the Battle of Britain, registering the destruction of the following planes.

Destroyed HE111 (2nd September)

Probable destroyed ME109 (4th September)

Damaged two ME109s (6th September)

Destroyed HE111 (11th September)

Destroyed two DO17s (15th September)

Destroyed HE111 (18th September)

Probable destroyed ME109 (24th September)

Damaged JU88 (5th October)

Destroyed ME109 (11th October)

Probable destroyed two ME109s (12th October)

Probable damaged two ME109s (12th October)

Destroyed ME109 (13th October)

Destroyed ME109 (25th October)

Destroyed ME109 (14th November)

 

 

Kit:

 

 

Has anyone used P Masks? Could only get them as others sold out...

Also have some B Scheme camo masks and various codes/serial decals to help with my RAF builds.

 

 

 

 

 

My own quick notes

 

 

 

 

 

 

He was promoted and posted a couple of times, sadly he died later in the war at RNAS Eglington (now City of Derry airport) in Northern Ireland. Again, I flew out this airport regularly when posted to Ballykelly camp in the late 90's....

 

 

 

A fatal accident in Northern Ireland

At the age of only twenty-one, Bodie was involved in a fatal incident in Northern Ireland. On 24th February 1942, his Spitfire Mk IIA P8077 spun out of control near RNAS Eglinton. By this time, Bodie was Flight Commander of B Flight. He had been practicing aerobatics over RNAS Eglinton when he lost control of the Spitfire. The plane came down near the airfield and Bodie was instantaneously killed and the aircraft was written off.

Crelin Arthur Walford Bodie’s grave is in St. Canice’s Church of Ireland Churchyard, Faughanvale, Eglinton, Co. Londonderry.

 

 

 

I plan to build this with the pilot inside, but on the ground ready to go. I will mount on some sort of surface (never done before but have the base of an old cat scratching post to use!) with some model grass surface etc....

 

I will just need to wrap it well and post it safely to Hereford for Bob, who hopefully like it!

 

Any historical/build advice etc be much appreciated!

Edited August 24, 2020 by Tim Moff

[Ozzy]

Fantastic story Tim, looking forward to your build.

[nimrod54]

4 hours ago, Tim Moff said:

@nimrod54 - been looking at your build as a reference, did you go for the standard Sky underneath, xtradecal seem to show a more Blue sky which I can't read?

 

I went with standard Sky for my build, Tim. If you check through the photos and links (particularly those provided by @Troy Smith) in the build thread you will understand the reasons for me making that choice. I decided that there was enough there to go with Sky on the underside, but in the end it is your model and you should choose what you feel is right in this case.

 

This link could also be useful for dates, detailing first flight date etc for X4321 - scroll down to relevant number.

http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p014.html

 

HTH. A great back story and good luck with your build mate

 

 

[MattG]

Hi Tim,

 

Nice choice and good luck with your build!  I can hopefully help with some of your questions.

 

"The Battle of Britain: Then and Now" states on 7 September 1940: 

Spitfire X4321.  Force-landed at Hawkinge following combat 12:30pm.  Pilot Officer C. A. W. Bodie unhurt.  Aircraft LZ-F damaged but repairable. 

 

There's no entry for Bodie on 5th September, so I'd say the 7th is probably right.

 

Also this link from the IWM shows 66 Squadron Spitfires viewed from the right showing "LZ-?" rather than "?-LZ", so for what it's worth I'd suggest "LZ-F" on both sides (no doubt someone else will find a photo of the codes the other way round!).

 

Matt

 

 

[Tim Moff]

 

32 minutes ago, MattG said:

Hi Tim,

 

Nice choice and good luck with your build!  I can hopefully help with some of your questions.

 

"The Battle of Britain: Then and Now" states on 7 September 1940: 

Spitfire X4321.  Force-landed at Hawkinge following combat 12:30pm.  Pilot Officer C. A. W. Bodie unhurt.  Aircraft LZ-F damaged but repairable. 

 

There's no entry for Bodie on 5th September, so I'd say the 7th is probably right.

 

Also this link from the IWM shows 66 Squadron Spitfires viewed from the right showing "LZ-?" rather than "?-LZ", so for what it's worth I'd suggest "LZ-F" on both sides (no doubt someone else will find a photo of the codes the other way round!).

 

Matt

 

 

Thanks Matt

 

Yes it’s difficult to confirm on both subjects 

This data indicates damage and force landing on 5 Sept and aircraft being SOC which I take to be struck off charge on the 7th Sept 

 

 

 

 

the link to the pic won’t work, it does not on the IWM site as well.

 

on the search engine it captions to say winter 39/49 at Duxford - so not sure if this pic is early scheme markings. Interestingly the xtradecal set in my post indicates to build as per my post.

 

 

it does look like the N of LZ-N on Stbd side here and @nimrod54 made the same error I would have made and changed it to LZ-N on both sides so I will do the same Having looked at his build and related posts/threads.

 

thanks for helping !
 

 

[theplasticsurgeon]

Excellent well resaearched project, with that personal touch. 

Wishing you well with it.

[MattG]

Hi Tim,

 

I just looked at the data and the dates seem to come after the event not before (e.g. FF 29-8-40) so I take this to mean X4321 was shot down on 7th September and SOC on 12th.  

 

Francis K. Mason also states that X4321 was shot down on 7th September:

In the "losses" section:  X4321 "Damaged by Bf109s over Norfolk and force landed; pilot unhurt".

There's also a photo of the force-landed X4231 with the caption "The Spitfire, X4321, flown by C. A. W. Bodie of 66 Sqn, which was shot down during the heavy fighting of 7th September".  

 

66 Squadron's Operations Record Book also has Bodie flying X4321 twice on that day.  I know they are sometimes incorrect but this again indicates that 7th September is more likely.

 

I hope that helps clear this up!

 

Matt

 

 

[Tim Moff]

10 minutes ago, MattG said:

Hi Tim,

 

I just looked at the data and the dates seem to come after the event not before (e.g. FF 29-8-40) so I take this to mean X4321 was shot down on 7th September and SOC on 12th.  

 

Francis K. Mason also states that X4321 was shot down on 7th September:

In the "losses" section:  X4321 "Damaged by Bf109s over Norfolk and force landed; pilot unhurt".

There's also a photo of the force-landed X4231 with the caption "The Spitfire, X4321, flown by C. A. W. Bodie of 66 Sqn, which was shot down during the heavy fighting of 7th September".  

 

66 Squadron's Operations Record Book also has Bodie flying X4321 twice on that day.  I know they are sometimes incorrect but this again indicates that 7th September is more likely.

 

I hope that helps clear this up!

 

Matt

 

 

Thanks - think that nails it given the multiple sources! Only 2 days on the Sqn before being damaged,  a week from TOS to SOS!

 

Does the pic give any valuable info?

[MattG]

11 hours ago, Tim Moff said:

Thanks - think that nails it given the multiple sources! Only 2 days on the Sqn before being damaged,  a week from TOS to SOS!

 

Does the pic give any valuable info?

That's not the shortest service history I've come across.  I think there was one Spitfire that lasted only 20-30 minutes on its squadron!

 

Here's the pic. It's not easy to see (even in the original) but it does appear to have the "B" scheme as you thought. And if you're really picky about the squadron code placement, to my eyes the "F" looks very slightly lower and closer to the roundel than on the profile you posted.  Now if only we could arrange a photo from the other side too......

 

[Graham Boak]

There was a photo in, I think, one of Alfred Price's Spitfire at War books, showing a Spitfire with a hole in its fuselage, so new that it had no unit or individual code painted on.  I suspect that this is the one you're thinking of.

[Tim Moff]

11 hours ago, MattG said:

That's not the shortest service history I've come across.  I think there was one Spitfire that lasted only 20-30 minutes on its squadron!

 

Here's the pic. It's not easy to see (even in the original) but it does appear to have the "B" scheme as you thought. And if you're really picky about the squadron code placement, to my eyes the "F" looks very slightly lower and closer to the roundel than on the profile you posted.  Now if only we could arrange a photo from the other side too......

 

Thanks 

 

that’s really helpful - good point red the sqn code positioning  spinner land for ma black as well. Also very clean ! What is that type of canopy referred to as - blown canopy ? 
 

Edited July 8, 2020 by Tim Moff

[Stew Dapple]

6 minutes ago, Graham Boak said:

There was a photo in, I think, one of Alfred Price's Spitfire at War books, showing a Spitfire with a hole in its fuselage, so new that it had no unit or individual code painted on.  I suspect that this is the one you're thinking of.

You're right Graham, it was X4110 flown (albeit briefly) by Flight Lieutenant Dunlop Urie of 602 Squadron on 18th August.

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

[Graham Boak]

I'd describe that as the flat-sided canopy with the raised top.

[Tim Moff]

9 hours ago, Graham Boak said:

I'd describe that as the flat-sided canopy with the raised top.

Hopefully the correct one is in the kit! Thanks.

[Tim Moff]

Got some time in the garage over the weekend, primed and paint some of the cockpit.

 

 

 

 

 

Hopefully get it closed up soon.

 

[Tim Moff]

bit more done 
 

[Jabba]

A good start.

[Tim Moff]

Some more work on the cockpit area, just need to finish off with the cross bar etc....

 

Even got Crelin's Pilot Officer ring rank on his tunic and a splodge of white under that as he apparently always wore a white crevat over a scruffy white 'fighter boy pullover' ....

 

 

 

 

Test fit of the top cover shows some filling will be needed. Airfix still insist on the sprue gate moulding onto the actual part where it joins another part, meaning a bit of surgery etc means that the fit is affected....

 

 

 

Not long til the main fuse join.

Edited July 31, 2020 by Tim Moff

[Ozzy]

Nice figure painting Tim,

[Tim Moff]

As with my other builds, just too hot to get in the garage - this one is close to being closed up, but need to aircrush some bits and its just too hot.

 

So masking canopies in as cool a room as possible!

 

[Tim Moff]

moving on with this Spit.

 

causing a few problems for wise, no doubt my own errors and making!

 

nottom of the cockpit seems to inhibit the wing connection so have had to scrape it down whilst dry fitting.

 

Bit of filler around the front end, again some fit issues - will just try to make what I can with it !

 

 

 

 

[Jabba]

It maybe a bit of a struggle, but it is coming together.

[Tim Moff]

On 7/7/2020 at 9:52 PM, Tim Moff said:

Thanks 

 

that’s really helpful - good point red the sqn code positioning  spinner land for ma black as well. Also very clean ! What is that type of canopy referred to as - blown canopy ? 
 

 

On 7/7/2020 at 9:28 PM, MattG said:

That's not the shortest service history I've come across.  I think there was one Spitfire that lasted only 20-30 minutes on its squadron!

 

Here's the pic. It's not easy to see (even in the original) but it does appear to have the "B" scheme as you thought. And if you're really picky about the squadron code placement, to my eyes the "F" looks very slightly lower and closer to the roundel than on the profile you posted.  Now if only we could arrange a photo from the other side too......

 

Can I just ask some advice - if the pic here showing the blunt rotol spinner or the pointy one ? Also are the gun covers still on? There looks to be Something there ? 

[Tim Moff]

I’m thinking of transferring the subject to the Tamiya new tool that was recently sent to me - I’m not as happy with this build as I’d like to be as it’s a gift for a friend - will see where it goes and see how it looks....

 

I’m looking at other subjects - was thinking 54 Sqn and Sgt George Richard Collett who was KIA flying R6708 KL-S on 22/08/1940.  
 

I’ve not covered a SNCO pilot (bit silly being an ex SNCO myself 🤣) - so that would be an option.
 

 

[Dave Swindell]

2 hours ago, Tim Moff said:

if the pic here showing the blunt rotol spinner or the pointy one ?

It's not a Rotol, it's a De Havilland variable pitch.