Eduard 1:48 Spitfire Mk. 1a

[Chuuurles]

37 minutes ago, Procopius said:

Oh man, I was pretty worried when I saw those first images. I generally use tape and begging to get what I want, from decals and in life.

LOL!! 
 

yes tape was the ticket! Excuse my horrible video from this morning, but it works so well for removing Eduard carrier film. 

 

 

[janneman36]

20 minutes ago, Chuuurles said:

LOL!! 
 

yes tape was the ticket! Excuse my horrible video from this morning, but it works so well for removing Eduard carrier film. 

 

 

You have steel nerves…..😳

But well done!

 

cheers, Jan

[Chuuurles]

2 hours ago, janneman36 said:

You have steel nerves…..😳

Mostly just ignorant !  I would say normally I’am  not this aggressive, but I was all jacked up after having just escaped disaster on the opposite wing. 

[PlasticUtopia]

Lovely clear build. Nice save on the decal. i hope it turns out well as I am sure it will

[Troy Smith]

7 hours ago, Chuuurles said:

It actually ended up going great once I got a piece of the carrier film on the roundel lifted. A few pieces of carrier film remained on the roundel, I used Tamiya tape to remove these small pieces.  

That's a neat save. I was going to say don't worry about it,  who knows what Eduar used as source, but I had never ever seen a gas marking over a roundel,  and scouring photos is one of my hobbies...  

 

Note,  if you check the maintenance vids,  specifically this

 

Spitfire Mk.I maintenance film UC well colour by losethekibble, on Flickr

 

wheel well was wing underside colour.   I have seen a few bunfights on here, but no-one has posted a period photo showing the outer well not to be the wing underside colour. (apart from one I found that had a weird repaint)  and I search for images like this, somewhere on here there are a load I collated...

 

And this is R6692 after the repaint, ... from the same maintenance series

Spitfire Mk.I maintenance film Sky repaint reel 5 by losethekibble, on Flickr

 

note roundel grinning through the 'sky' paint, and the starboard leg stayed white ..... compare cowl with geardoor...

 

Hope of interest...  or use?   

 

anyway, great bit of work on the roundel

 

cheers

T 

 

 

 

 

[Cookenbacher]

Not just a save but an improvement - that roundel looks painted on!

[wmcgill]

It's a bit late now, but yes there is evidence for gas patches being applied over the wing roundels. This Mk.Ia was left on the beach after Dunkirk.

[Chuuurles]

5 hours ago, wmcgill said:

It's a bit late now, but yes there is evidence for gas patches being applied over the wing roundels. This Mk.Ia was left on the beach after Dunkirk.

Very cool, thanks for posting! 

15 hours ago, Troy Smith said:

That's a neat save. I was going to say don't worry about it,  who knows what Eduar used as source, but I had never ever seen a gas marking over a roundel,  and scouring photos is one of my hobbies...  

 

Note,  if you check the maintenance vids,  specifically this

 

Spitfire Mk.I maintenance film UC well colour by losethekibble, on Flickr

 

wheel well was wing underside colour.   I have seen a few bunfights on here, but no-one has posted a period photo showing the outer well not to be the wing underside colour. (apart from one I found that had a weird repaint)  and I search for images like this, somewhere on here there are a load I collated...

 

And this is R6692 after the repaint, ... from the same maintenance series

Spitfire Mk.I maintenance film Sky repaint reel 5 by losethekibble, on Flickr

 

note roundel grinning through the 'sky' paint, and the starboard leg stayed white ..... compare cowl with geardoor...

 

Hope of interest...  or use?   

 

anyway, great bit of work on the roundel

 

cheers

T 

 

 

 

 

Awesome! Very interesting and I love the shot you found of R6692! I wish I had spent time done some research before starting this model. However, when I started I was just trying to gain some model experience and get my mojo back. I actually knew that the wheel wells should not be silver but I was following a build on here (they also knew it was not accurate) and wanted some metallic paint spraying experience (it's something i struggle with). I am rambling but the point I am driving at is this... I will soon start another Spitfire build, the plan is to go to TOWN on it.. I am hoping you would be willing to help get that build more accurate than this one? Again, thank you for the time and effort helping me.

 

 

[AliGauld]

Nicely done with the decal problem.

You are a braver man than I.

 

 

Cheers,

Alistair

[Chuuurles]

Yesterday I painted some small pieces.

And today I made a snap decision to flat coat the model. If I'am going to add exhaust/gun smoke I will be doing it with oil paints I suppose..

I would assume it needs a few more flat coats. 

[Ngantek]

It's looking so clean and sharp, I'd personally be tempted not to take the flat too far. The eggshell you have now looks really nice! Of course it all depends how weathered you want it to look. I continue to be deeply envious of how you're able to keep it so neat!

[Chuuurles]

16 minutes ago, Ngantek said:

It's looking so clean and sharp, I'd personally be tempted not to take the flat too far. The eggshell you have now looks really nice! Of course it all depends how weathered you want it to look. I continue to be deeply envious of how you're able to keep it so neat!

First off thanks! I'am very sloppy in the rest of my life so this is a welcome compliment! 

 

SOO..if you are saying the flat coat is kinda done.. does this mean... I can remove the canopy masks finally!?? I was not planning to go very far with weathing b/c i do not know how, and do not want to push my luck. Removing that yellow patch messed up some of my gun patches, which meant i had to puncture all of them.. so i guess i have to simulate a bit of gun/engine smoke. 

[Troy Smith]

On 07/06/2022 at 16:21, Chuuurles said:

Awesome! Very interesting and I love the shot you found of R6692!

It's a screenshot.  R6692 is the Spitfire being examined in all the training films I linked.   

On 07/06/2022 at 16:21, Chuuurles said:

I wish I had spent time done some research before starting this model.

It's a rabbit hole...  Personally I like research,  and have spent a lof of time on here and other sites, so have run through a lot of information, and what is overall the best overall idea of 'facts' available.    There is a lot of information on here,  and that is a bit of a problem,  which is the finding the bits that are relevant.

In case you don't know, the site search is not very good,  but adding britmodeller into a google search term works well.      If you don't get an answer from that, ask,  but make your question specific as possible in the thread heading,  and add in what you might have already found. this can really help. 

On 07/06/2022 at 16:21, Chuuurles said:

However, when I started I was just trying to gain some model experience and get my mojo back. I actually knew that the wheel wells should not be silver but I was following a build on here (they also knew it was not accurate) and wanted some metallic paint spraying experience (it's something i struggle with).

No problem.  Just passing on information.   

On 07/06/2022 at 16:21, Chuuurles said:

I am rambling but the point I am driving at is this... I will soon start another Spitfire build, the plan is to go to TOWN on it.. I am hoping you would be willing to help get that build more accurate than this one? Again, thank you for the time and effort helping me.

Re the big Tamiya Spitfire,  I suggest reading this, as it has a lot of pointers and detail notes

One suggestion if you want really researched build,  look for an airframe that is well documented,  and then try to pin down the fine details.

If there is a less well documented subject that has a personal connection,   you get into 'best guess' territory,  but we have a pretty good 'hive mind' on Spitfire herel

cheers

T

[Chuuurles]

1 hour ago, Troy Smith said:

It's a screenshot.  R6692 is the Spitfire being examined in all the training films I linked.   

It's a rabbit hole...  Personally I like research,  and have spent a lof of time on here and other sites, so have run through a lot of information, and what is overall the best overall idea of 'facts' available.    There is a lot of information on here,  and that is a bit of a problem,  which is the finding the bits that are relevant.

In case you don't know, the site search is not very good,  but adding britmodeller into a google search term works well.      If you don't get an answer from that, ask,  but make your question specific as possible in the thread heading,  and add in what you might have already found. this can really help. 

No problem.  Just passing on information.   

Re the big Tamiya Spitfire,  I suggest reading this, as it has a lot of pointers and detail notes

One suggestion if you want really researched build,  look for an airframe that is well documented,  and then try to pin down the fine details.

If there is a less well documented subject that has a personal connection,   you get into 'best guess' territory,  but we have a pretty good 'hive mind' on Spitfire herel

cheers

T

Very very great full for this ! 
 

Exciting times over here

 

 

 

 

[Chuuurles]

Another quick update with the canopy masks off.

 

[Procopius]

It looks so, so good. Wish my builds came out this well.

[AliGauld]

Looking really good and 

 

Cheers,

Alistair

[Chuuurles]

On 6/8/2022 at 11:05 PM, Procopius said:

It looks so, so good. Wish my builds came out this well.

 

On 6/9/2022 at 5:20 AM, AliGauld said:

Looking really good and 

 

Cheers,

Alistair

 

Too kind, this is the friendliest online community I have ever participated in.

 

Going through personal things and have not been able to model much. I have managed to cross a few small items off the list though (really want to avoid "2 weeks later"). I sprayed some Tamiya burnt iron on the exhusts after doing a deep dive into some of @Troy Smith's work. I like the result and might just add some lighter exhaust stains to the two rear outlets. A few weeks ago I knocked the rudder off, which snapped the locating pins. Yesterday i decided to fix it, again thanks to Troy for documenting his technique of drilling out new holes and making some  pins ( i used gun barrels). Also painted and fit the gas cap as well as the aerial mast. I tried to attach the Gucci string for aerial wire but my hands were too shakey... 

 

Seems like I also attached the door to the fuselage..

 

I went to the art supply store the other day and bought some black and burnt umber oil paints.. Might try and do some exhaust stains and gun smoke (tried gun smoke with a lead pencil last night and it looked horrible)

 

edit:  did not escape the dreaded 2 week warning… 

[Chuuurles]

Got a little shout out for Britmodeller at the start of Nigel’s latest video 😛 

 

 

[bigbadbadge]

Spitfire is looking sweet  great work 

Chris

[Troy Smith]

5 hours ago, Chuuurles said:

might just add some lighter exhaust stains to the two rear outlets.

try artist pastels,  an earth colours set is handy as long as it has black and white as well   

5 hours ago, Chuuurles said:

I went to the art supply store the other day and bought some black and burnt umber oil paints..

Get some white, and Paynes Grey is also useful. (it's a kinda dark purple grey) 

You referred to my Hurricane, I made a 'dirty grey' using burnt umber, white and little black., with lighter fuel as a solvent.    I used this as panel line

this shows the grey better, but is prior to a matt varnish

and overall wash,  you can wash off the excess with a brush dipped in clean LF, you won't remove all of it, and it should stay in engraved detail,  but it gives subtle modulation to the surface.  

 

after

 

A neat mix of Burnt umber and black is good for oil,  you only need a little, then streak with a brush damped in LF.

like this, you can just see it glistens they way oil does.

 

5 hours ago, Chuuurles said:

Might try and do some exhaust stains and gun smoke (tried gun smoke with a lead pencil last night and it looked horrible)

Pastels are good for this,  note, I suggest doing exhaust and oil after the final matt coat, as this retains different sheens, exhaust deposits are sooty, very matt, even the pale grey brown ones, it rubs off very easily, and oil is a but shiny.  Not that easy to photograph, but is visible in person.

 

maybe seen here

 

 

pastel dust won't come off easily,  I found a controllable way to apply it is get a palette, and some very fine sandpaper,  sand pastels you are using, and you can brush the dust of the abrasive with a small stiff brush,  into the pallete, and the add lighter fuel, apply with an old fine brush,  in the case above, dabbed on in the pattern you want.  Its very dark, and then the LF flashes off.   IIRC i did a dark grey, and then a lighter slightly brown grey.

 

I got up close and personal with a Hurricane exhaust deposit, the pilot said mind you don't get that on your clothes as it rubs off very easily...  it's a sticky soft dust up close...   This close....

 

For gun stains, go easy, just a little goes a long way,  as do all the techniques I mention.  

 

something like this is reasonable,  mostly from the ejector slots,

 

from

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234913393-gunsmoke-stains-on-spitfire-leading-edges/#elControls_1004220_menu

and not dirty great black streaks

The Battle of Britain film has a lot to answer for....  

 

The linked thread also which also has this

"Aircraft had a strict regime of servicing intervals, which started at around 24 hours flying time. In combat mode, a Spitfire's endurance was about 45 minutes, 2 hours at cruise, and they didn't fire their guns on every sortie. Even if they did, it was the armourer's job to "pull through" (i.e. clean and lubricate) every barrel, as well as replenishing the ammunition. Any small fragments, caught in the rifling, would have been removed by the pull-through cloths (2" x 4" if my memory's correct,) and there were usually three per gun, first to clean, second to lubricate, third to remove any excess oil from no.2.

He also had to fit the covers on the guns (or leading edges mid-BoB,) and any attendant residue would not have helped, so should have been wiped away from inside the gun tunnels. According to an ICI inspector it was common practice to wipe surfaces with petrol-soaked cloths, and there isn't much that can stand up to that sort of treatment.

If (big "if") an airframe saw combat, and fired its guns, using up all of its 15 seconds-worth of ammo, it might go in for a "24 hour check" after only 32 sorties, which, at the height of the Battle, could be 8-10 days (assuming that the aircraft suffered no damage, or a frightened pilot didn't pull so many Gs that he wrinkled the wings' surfaces by more 1/10", in which case the wings had to be replaced.) It's very unlikely that an airframe would have left a servicing bay in the same condition in which it entered; "Chiefy" would have had a fit."

 

Aircraft are not tanks, they work better when clean, and the stains above got cleaned off regularly.    During high pressure operations, they wouldn't but when a fuller service came up, which was frequent. 

You do see images of remoable panels that seem to have been cleaned but has left them darker... like this

 

and, you know what, here's a film of the same Sq, 66 Sq, probably from the same press visit.., link to time of some gun stains from the leading egde.

 

It's an interesting little bit of film,   

 

There are other ways of doing stains and washes, these have worked for me,  I was happy with the results, so I try to explain how they are achieved.   

 

You can also use the ground pastels/LF for doing dust on tires, or inside cockpits.   I use it on armour builds.  

 

I really really suggest trying any of the above out on something else first if you want to give any a go,  old model,  or even a old toy,  anything you can play with.   

I didn't when doing the Hurricane above,  but that was all about just getting on with the build and finishing it and working through various ideas in the process., but is was a cheap kit and didn't particularly matter.   

 

Your model, as long as you are happy with the end result. 

 

HTH

T   

 

 

[Chuuurles]

On 6/20/2022 at 5:35 PM, Troy Smith said:

try artist pastels,  an earth colours set is handy as long as it has black and white as well   

Get some white, and Paynes Grey is also useful. (it's a kinda dark purple grey) 

You referred to my Hurricane, I made a 'dirty grey' using burnt umber, white and little black., with lighter fuel as a solvent.    I used this as panel line

this shows the grey better, but is prior to a matt varnish

and overall wash,  you can wash off the excess with a brush dipped in clean LF, you won't remove all of it, and it should stay in engraved detail,  but it gives subtle modulation to the surface.  

 

after

 

A neat mix of Burnt umber and black is good for oil,  you only need a little, then streak with a brush damped in LF.

like this, you can just see it glistens they way oil does.

 

Pastels are good for this,  note, I suggest doing exhaust and oil after the final matt coat, as this retains different sheens, exhaust deposits are sooty, very matt, even the pale grey brown ones, it rubs off very easily, and oil is a but shiny.  Not that easy to photograph, but is visible in person.

 

maybe seen here

 

 

pastel dust won't come off easily,  I found a controllable way to apply it is get a palette, and some very fine sandpaper,  sand pastels you are using, and you can brush the dust of the abrasive with a small stiff brush,  into the pallete, and the add lighter fuel, apply with an old fine brush,  in the case above, dabbed on in the pattern you want.  Its very dark, and then the LF flashes off.   IIRC i did a dark grey, and then a lighter slightly brown grey.

 

I got up close and personal with a Hurricane exhaust deposit, the pilot said mind you don't get that on your clothes as it rubs off very easily...  it's a sticky soft dust up close...   This close....

 

For gun stains, go easy, just a little goes a long way,  as do all the techniques I mention.  

 

something like this is reasonable,  mostly from the ejector slots,

 

from

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234913393-gunsmoke-stains-on-spitfire-leading-edges/#elControls_1004220_menu

and not dirty great black streaks

The Battle of Britain film has a lot to answer for....  

 

The linked thread also which also has this

"Aircraft had a strict regime of servicing intervals, which started at around 24 hours flying time. In combat mode, a Spitfire's endurance was about 45 minutes, 2 hours at cruise, and they didn't fire their guns on every sortie. Even if they did, it was the armourer's job to "pull through" (i.e. clean and lubricate) every barrel, as well as replenishing the ammunition. Any small fragments, caught in the rifling, would have been removed by the pull-through cloths (2" x 4" if my memory's correct,) and there were usually three per gun, first to clean, second to lubricate, third to remove any excess oil from no.2.

He also had to fit the covers on the guns (or leading edges mid-BoB,) and any attendant residue would not have helped, so should have been wiped away from inside the gun tunnels. According to an ICI inspector it was common practice to wipe surfaces with petrol-soaked cloths, and there isn't much that can stand up to that sort of treatment.

If (big "if") an airframe saw combat, and fired its guns, using up all of its 15 seconds-worth of ammo, it might go in for a "24 hour check" after only 32 sorties, which, at the height of the Battle, could be 8-10 days (assuming that the aircraft suffered no damage, or a frightened pilot didn't pull so many Gs that he wrinkled the wings' surfaces by more 1/10", in which case the wings had to be replaced.) It's very unlikely that an airframe would have left a servicing bay in the same condition in which it entered; "Chiefy" would have had a fit."

 

Aircraft are not tanks, they work better when clean, and the stains above got cleaned off regularly.    During high pressure operations, they wouldn't but when a fuller service came up, which was frequent. 

You do see images of remoable panels that seem to have been cleaned but has left them darker... like this

 

and, you know what, here's a film of the same Sq, 66 Sq, probably from the same press visit.., link to time of some gun stains from the leading egde.

 

It's an interesting little bit of film,   

 

There are other ways of doing stains and washes, these have worked for me,  I was happy with the results, so I try to explain how they are achieved.   

 

You can also use the ground pastels/LF for doing dust on tires, or inside cockpits.   I use it on armour builds.  

 

I really really suggest trying any of the above out on something else first if you want to give any a go,  old model,  or even a old toy,  anything you can play with.   

I didn't when doing the Hurricane above,  but that was all about just getting on with the build and finishing it and working through various ideas in the process., but is was a cheap kit and didn't particularly matter.   

 

Your model, as long as you are happy with the end result. 

 

HTH

T   

 

 

I feel guilty about the amount of effort you put into these posts but I really do appreciate it. I have read your last entry about 5x. Getting to inspect that 1/1 Hurricane up close must have been so cool. 
 

I went a little crazy on the pastels today at the model shop, got some repeat colours but nice to have a variety in stock. 

For this build, which I need finish.. I plan to just add some white pastel to the exhaust and then go for a freshly washed look. I bought a mule so I’ll be experimenting for the next build. The artistic side of weathering is something I am not at all comfortable with and I don’t want to ruin this model trying to bite off more than I can chew 😛 

[Chuuurles]

Earlier today I got the aerial wire attached. A few weeks ago I broke the piece that the wire attaches to, so I just glued it to the top of the rudder. Hardly visible in the photo and maybe too thin for scale but in real life it looks decent. 

Hands were feeling good today! 

[Troy Smith]

1 hour ago, Chuuurles said:

I went a little crazy on the pastels today at the model shop, got some repeat colours but nice to have a variety in stock. 

OK, no idea about actual modelling pastels,  I just a cheap set of earth colour chalk pastels.....    

 

I note the oils are 'aqua oils' , I don't know how they will behave,  a search says they 

" Duo-Aqua Oil is an artist quality watermixable oil paint made with water-soluble linseed oil. It has all of the handling characteristics of traditional oil paints but can be thinned or cleaned up with just water. These paints have a uniform drying time, and will hold brushmarks and dry to a lustrous sheen like traditional oils."

 

which is interesting, and may produce some interesting effects thinned with water?   Problem with water is surface tension, you can use surfactants to reduce this (plain dish soap will work) ... best things is just to have a play and see what works.

No idea if the lighter fuel (the stuff for Zippos)  will work with this or not, I presume it will.  

When I talk about oil paint, it's that,  standard artist oils.   As I mention in the Hurricane build, some date back to 1973.....  

 

I posted this in another thread, but maybe of use,  it's cut and paste so 

comment

"I would think you would look for a carrier which dries slowly so it has time to wick into all the nooks and crannies? Also something with low surface tension so it is moved around by capillary action... just my thoughts."

reply - 

because lighter fuel is so thin,  it  goes into every nook and cranny very fast, and has a very low surface tension,   the drying speed is a help, as you can work fast, plus if you use a brush with clean LF, you can reactivate, push around/remove excess.     

 

anything waterbased willl have some kind of surface tension unless you add something to lower it, and takes longer to dry. I don't know that hydrocarbon based solvents really have surface tension, this being another of the odd properties* of water,  I think surface tension is the result of weak Hydrogen bonding. 

 

*Chemically water is a bit odd, it's a polar molecule, so is charged, and has weak attraction due to Hydrogen bonding, and from the Van Der Wals forces will push the molecules apart,  which is why water is densest at 4 deg C, and so the solid form of water, ice, is less dense.... which is a very odd property,  there are few compounds who solid form is less dense than the liquid....   I digress,  but since it's so basic to everyone, you don't think it's properties are unusual...

 

 

"does it affect the underlying paint at all?"

 

I have put it over plain old Vallejo Model color, which is not the most durable of paints, though I brush it.    It should not really affect underlying paint unless you really scrub it.

It really really volatile, in the temps at the moment it will flash off in 30 seconds,  so open the window.   You are only going to use a tiny amount anyway.

 

I use it with artist oil paint, but you could use enamel I think.  A can lighter fuel is cheap, and it's handy stuff to have about the house, removes labels, a degreaser,   its basically 'light petrol' or Naptha,  a low molecular weight saturated hydrocarbon,  it's  mostly  Hexane , which is a 6 carbon molecule,  petrol is about 8 carbon (hence Octane)   White Spirit and and Parrafin/Kerosene is 12-15,  diesel is 25-30, and tar 45-50,  methane (natural gas) is 1 carbon,  Butane, the gas lighter fuel is 4 carbon, but they are all saturated hydrocarbons. 

The bigger the molecule, the less volatile.

I mentions this as it explains why it's so volatile, nothing to stop you mixing it with white spirit if you want a thicker wash,  for example....

 

The washes behave differently on matt to gloss, 

this is a figure, oil/LF wash over vallejo

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235072084-132-airfix-paratrooper-officer/

 

and here 

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235095700-matchbox-176-morris-c8-mk-ii-17pdr-gun-willys-jeep-set/

 

note the dust weathering is done using pastel chalk,  also applied using lighter fuel,  it's great for getting that 'dust settled into the corners' effect. 

Also good for exhaust deposits.

I also use neat oils, and then use a brush damped in LF to streak and remove,  which is great for doing oil leaks. 

 

The last two I do OVER the final varnish, Do this over the final matt coat, as this keeps the dead flat of the exhaust deposit

from 

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235073488-spitfire-pr-xix-airfix-72nd-as-i-thought-it-would-be-easy/

 

the chemistry stuff is again, if you understand what things are, and behave and why, you can think of way to use them...

 

1 hour ago, Chuuurles said:

I feel guilty about the amount of effort you put into these posts but I really do appreciate it.

I'm flattered,  I'm just trying to show some techniques I have found that work for me, and are simple and cheap.  And the info is from years on here, I know where to find these relevant pics and post, and an understanding of what occurred and why in real thing can really help with trying to create a miniature,  and I think is interesting in it's right as well  

1 hour ago, Chuuurles said:

I have read your last entry about 5x. Getting to inspect that 1/1 Hurricane up close must have been so cool. 

Yeah, the Hurricane was, well,  a very unexpected treat.   In 2004  there was a small airshow at Chailey,  the main event was sat and sun, but we were doing the bar, and the manager said get out there on the friday,  for the press day. 

I got a lift with the boss, and there were maybe 50 people there all told, a lot setting up, so none of the usual barriers,  but they were flying in some planes,  first was Ray Hanna in MH434, who did a very low pass, ( I have a photo)   and 'the 'black and the blue"  the black hurricane and the blue Spitfire  PR XI.

 

When the Hurricane landed, I was walking up and started chatting excitedly top the pilot "of this is a Canadian MXII , IIB equivalent in the markings of Ian Gleed .."  you get the idea,  and he goes, do want too look in the cockpit....    hence climbing up ....I did ask if i could get in, but wasn't surprised with a no (not easy to get in, and you don't want some clown treading on something important which is very easy to do in a Huricane)  but it was... first, it has just stopped,  it reeked of petrol, oil, hot metal,  which was audibly cooling down,  closest I have ever been then or since to a warbird...

 

A it later they needed to move the Hurricane and Spitfire, so I was on six who got to push on the wing leading edge ...  and help put the covers on...

 

I also met, and talked with a then 86 yr old Polish Sq Ldr,  who  was a pre war flyer,  at Deblin in 1936, and flying a PZL-7 when the Germans invaded.... that really was jaw dropping...

 

Oh, if you have not seen it....  re Ray Hanna, and low passes...  

warning...some swearing so NSFW.... but  one that never ceases to amuse....

https://youtu.be/4iOoiEbtf2w

 

cheers

T

[Chuuurles]

"OK, no idea about actual modelling pastels,  I just a cheap set of earth colour chalk pastels....."

 

I basically completely died inside when I read this ☠️  lol  . I drove all over the place picking those up. You never once referred to modelling pastels but for some reason in my head, thats what i needed..