Johnson Posted November 18, 2022 Share Posted November 18, 2022 Airfix are offering ML214 / 5J-K flown by 126 Squadron's commander in 1944 Johnny Plagis as one of the options in their new 1/24 kit. This aircraft is much 'profiled', but there appear to be few photos of the whole plane. Here's one I found on the web; This profile is from the kit's artwork; And the kit made up from the Airfix website; (I'm not sure the 5J is in the right place if the Spitfire which Flt Lt Plagis is sitting in above is ML214). The plane is featured on the kit box; With no MUSCAT, nor the name Kay, nor his victories (but that may be to avoid having nasty symbols not allowed in some places). Here's a profile from Dr Alfred Price's book 'Late Marque Spitfire Aces 1942-45'; (low res copy for study purposes, will remove if a problem but I think I'm OK in terms of copyright law) Wikipedia seems to think it should be there; At the start of June 1944, Plagis assumed command of No. 126 (Persian Gulf) Squadron, flying Spitfire Mk IXs that had recently been moved from Malta to assist in the invasion of Normandy. Six of the squadron's planes had been purchased by the Persian Gulf Spitfire Fund, and duly named after the donating sheikdoms; Plagis's aircraft, which he chose because of the large letter "K" on its tail (echoing his sister's name), had "Muscat" painted in English and Arabic script on its side. He added to this a full rendering of "Kay" and other personal decorations.[27] I'm very tempted by this plane, not least because RAF Culmhead is in Somerset just up the road from me. Though Airfix think 126 Sqn was based at RAF Harrowbeer in Devon, oh dear, another question... So, should ML214 have MUSCAT on the fuselage? Or am I missing something obvious? Cheers, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted November 18, 2022 Share Posted November 18, 2022 Good question and on face value it would appear that Airfix have missed this, or have based their research on another photo. I believe Airfix has hired a chap by the name of Luke (Goodman?) who looks after all their paint scheme research while the well known Jonathan Mock designs their decal sheets. I’m not sure if they are / still are members of BM, however it would be interesting to hear their answer(s) to your question. Cheers.. Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshWilson Posted November 18, 2022 Share Posted November 18, 2022 Hi Gents, the layout features ML214 at three stages throughout 1944 (June, July & December). June was obviously with the full stripes but before it was flown by Plagis, July when Plagis took it over and had the Kay marking and then late in 1944 when the Muscat decal was added for a photo shoot. Interestingly, the aircraft was apparently damaged at the time of the photoshoot. 2 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted November 18, 2022 Share Posted November 18, 2022 Appreciate the reply @JoshWilson, looks like Airfix have covered all bases there. I must admit I would have been surprised if they’d missed this, so thanks for the clarification and I’m sure @Johnson can sleep happier knowing this fact. Cheers.. Dave (now thinking about getting one!) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnson Posted November 18, 2022 Author Share Posted November 18, 2022 Thanks Josh @JoshWilson. Looking closely, I can just see the MUSCAT decal underneath the Britmodeller logo (featured in the BM review of the kit). 14 minutes ago, Rabbit Leader said: I’m sure @Johnson can sleep happier knowing this fact. I certainly will now! Cheers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshWilson Posted November 18, 2022 Share Posted November 18, 2022 Just on the Culmhead/Harrowbeer issue. In June the squadron operated from Culmhead so if you want to do your local scheme then show it in full D-Day markings as per the box art. However, according to the 126 Summary of events for July they moved to Harrowbeer on the 3rd of July as the main profile represents. So plenty of choice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treker_ed Posted November 19, 2022 Share Posted November 19, 2022 When I do finally get round to building mine, I'll be doing the Harrowbeer version. I have family that live in the general area, and have had a good walk round the remaining aircraft 'e' pens that are there. The other consideration are the Kenley based versions. My wife and her family are originally from the Redhill/Reigate area of Surrey, so whilst any a/c from Redhill aerodrome would be best, this would be another fitting build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted November 19, 2022 Share Posted November 19, 2022 Does anyone know of a high res version (perhaps PDF) of the various paint schemes for this new kit? I’d be keen to read up on the small text that is difficult to read in the image above. Cheers.. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted November 19, 2022 Share Posted November 19, 2022 Thanks BK, still a little small to read, but I appreciate the link all the same. Cheers.. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bozothenutter Posted November 19, 2022 Share Posted November 19, 2022 Is it just me, or does the 'Kay' and kill mark decal look oversize? Something wrong with the '5J' as well, upper half of the '5' seems too tall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phoenix44 Posted November 19, 2022 Share Posted November 19, 2022 Nitpicking but I'd agree that the "5" is not quite right in the instructions. It appears to be nearer the front and the top part of the curved lower part is almost on the panel line in that photo. There's no crowbar either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnson Posted November 19, 2022 Author Share Posted November 19, 2022 These are the Fundekals instructions for Johnny Plagis' ML214 / 5J-K. They confirm much of the above discussion; Fundekal sets are incredibly well researched and this set is no exception. If you want to model this plane downloading the .pdf instructions is a probably a good idea. Fundekals allow free downloading of their instructions but this set is no longer available on the Fundekals website. But I found a copy here; https://www.ultracast.ca/Fundekals-48-A07-Spitfire-Mk-IXc-ML214-Plagis-p/fun_48_a07.htm And they still have decals available for 1/48 modellers! Cheers, 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avro683 Posted November 19, 2022 Share Posted November 19, 2022 2 hours ago, Phoenix44 said: Nitpicking but I'd agree that the "5" is not quite right in the instructions. It appears to be nearer the front and the top part of the curved lower part is almost on the panel line in that photo. There's no crowbar either. That’s an easy fix. Leave off the crowbar and move the transfer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted November 29, 2022 Share Posted November 29, 2022 On 19/11/2022 at 13:45, Johnson said: These are the Fundekals instructions for Johnny Plagis' ML214 / 5J-K. They confirm much of the above discussion; Fundekal sets are incredibly well researched and this set is no exception. If you want to model this plane downloading the .pdf instructions is a probably a good idea. Fundekals allow free downloading of their instructions but this set is no longer available on the Fundekals website. But I found a copy here; https://www.ultracast.ca/Fundekals-48-A07-Spitfire-Mk-IXc-ML214-Plagis-p/fun_48_a07.htm And they still have decals available for 1/48 modellers! Cheers, We have had to remove your picture due to a copyright complaint from Jennings Heilig of fundekals 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stringbag Posted November 29, 2022 Share Posted November 29, 2022 1 hour ago, Julien said: We have had to remove your picture due to a copyright complaint from Jennings Heilig of fundekals There's a surprise. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnson Posted November 30, 2022 Author Share Posted November 30, 2022 11 hours ago, Julien said: We have had to remove your picture due to a copyright complaint from Jennings Heilig of fundekals I thought a low res copy would be OK seeing as their instructions are freely available to download, but I was wrong. Sorry for any hassle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted November 30, 2022 Share Posted November 30, 2022 2 hours ago, Johnson said: I thought a low res copy would be OK seeing as their instructions are freely available to download, but I was wrong. Sorry for any hassle. Don’t worry we are not blaming you, you only posted up what was freely available else where on the internet. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomBigStu Posted November 30, 2022 Share Posted November 30, 2022 (edited) I've used a fundekals image in a one of my builds threads guess I should got and remove it? @Julien Edited November 30, 2022 by PhantomBigStu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted November 30, 2022 Share Posted November 30, 2022 1 minute ago, PhantomBigStu said: I've used a fundekals image in a one of my builds threads guess I should got and remove it? @Julien Up to you mate, we have had no complaints, and if you bought them for your build then I can see no reason you can’t use them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomBigStu Posted November 30, 2022 Share Posted November 30, 2022 As I hadn’t purchased the decals and was using them image as I guide as to what I was going to build before the thread took a totally different direction I’ve removed it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted November 30, 2022 Share Posted November 30, 2022 38 minutes ago, PhantomBigStu said: As I hadn’t purchased the decals and was using them image as I guide as to what I was going to build before the thread took a totally different direction I’ve removed it Cheers mate, whatever you want on this one. No "fun" from Fundekals here! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg B Posted November 30, 2022 Share Posted November 30, 2022 19 hours ago, stringbag said: There's a surprise. Well not really; not including his multiple reappearances here under sock puppet accounts, this is funnily enough, his very last post on the forum as Jennings Heilig before he was banned for removing copyright details on an image he posted on BM and then arguing with the mods about it. It of course helps prove three things: For him, irony is obviously something horseshoes are made out of. Double standards are evidently better than none. No matter how much you polish it, and sprinkle glitter around in other forums in an attempt to obfuscate your behaviour and true character; underneath, it’s still the same raw material. 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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