more Battle of Britain Spitfires

 

Unfortunately most Battle of Britain Spitfires carry 'standard' camo and markings that can be a little less interesting than pre-war or even post-BoB machines. R6623 from 64 Squadron was an exception. Flown by Flight Sergeant Jack Mann from RAF Kenley it is seen here in the scheme it wore on 12 August 1940 when he shot down a Bf 109 E and again the 14th when he damaged another. 

Note SH-Q's odd roundel and fin flash colours and the oddly proportioned roundel and fin flash which are also a lighter color of blue than the aircraft in the background.  The 'Q' also appears to be somewhat smaller  than the 'SH' codes. This was the 712th Spitfire built, delivered on 22 May 1940. She is very much a standard looking aircraft with the exception of the rear view mirror as noted above. Her lower surfaces were painted Sky, most likely obliterating all stencil data. This aircraft survived the Battle of Britain to eventually become an advanced trainer. and was lost in a mid-air collision in 1944.

Note that No. 64 Sqn's Spit Mk Is the squadron codes are aft of the roundel on both fuselage sides, possibly as a throwback to their brief time on Blenheims, as the squadron codes wouldn't fit ahead of the roundel. " I've even seen this carried through to some Mk Vs. I think that No. 234 Sqn did the same.." (research by Peter 'Basilisk' and Mark 'Lasermonkey').

A 64 Squadron Spitfire at Kenley during the Battle of Britain. Still from British Pathe Newsreel.

421 Flight was formed for the purpose of tracking and reporting on incoming raids approaching the UK the unit was commanded by Flight Lieutenant Charles Green, and flew out of RAF Hawkinge, Kent during November 1940. The Flight's aircraft retained the LZ code of 66 Squadron from whom it was formed, but added an additional small dash between the two letters, hence the reference to this aircraft as L-Z-I. Having originally served as part of dive testing at RAE Farnborough and then as L-Z-I as represented here, P7531 was passed to 91 Squadron in January 1941 when 421 Flight was expanded to become a full Squadron. Unfortunately only a rather poor picture exists of P7531.

Spitfire of 602 Sqn ace Pilot Officer Osgood Hanbury, who claimed a Bf 110 near Beachy Head on 15 September 1940, half a Ju 88 over Tangmere on 21 September and a 2nd Ju 88 on 30 September near Selsey-Bembridge at the controls of this machine. In December, the aircraft was passed to No 610 Squadron for a few month before becoming an OTU aircraft. It was struck off charge in January 1945. Markings featured the non-standard leading edge finish and a possible 'emblem' beneath the cockpit....my model build of this machine is here

 

54 Sqn machine KL-T was flown by Colin Gray and is shown "somewhere in Essex, 1940". The camouflage and marking scheme, along with the condition of the aircraft, date the photographs sometime between March and May 1940.

Colin Gray was a New Zealander with Grey flying as wingman to Deere and his KL-B. Both were Mk.I's with the Black/White underside markings. Gray went on to be NZ's highest scoring ace with 27 1/2 victories & only retired from the RAF in 1961.

54 Squadron Spitfire I's featured the more rounded spinner of the Rotol Constant Speed prop and bullet proof windscreens.

Model Day 2025 at the Kent Battle of Britain museum, September 13-14

a few photos of the display tables at the Hawkinge Battle of Britain museum model show that was held this weekend. Clubs exhibiting included East Kent Scale Modellers, Gravesham Model club and Shepway Military Modelling. Only the Shepway club were there on both days. Last time time I attended at Hawkinge was 2022. Highlights were Steve's Das Werk Sdkfz 251 in 1/16th and Ian's Tamiya F-4 in 32nd on the 'Silver surfers' table. I'll post some close-ups of the models in my next post..

from the Battle of Britain museum's own page; 

 "... We are pleased to report that the first day of the Autumn Model Show at the Kent Battle of Britain Museum Trust at Hawkinge (www.kbobm.org) on Saturday 13th September 2025 was a great success and despite the awful weather! The event was organised by our own in-house Model Club, the Shepway Military Model Society, (thank you lads and particularly Adrian Smith) and were joined by members of the East Kent Scale Modellers Club, Gravesham Modelling Club and Silver Surfers. They were all set up in the Stuart-Buttle and Lord Dowding Memorial Hangars and displayed a wide range of brilliant painted and created military aircraft, vehicles ad. Today, Sunday 14th September 2025 the Shepway Military Model Society were joined by our good friends from the Southeast Tanks Scale Model Club. This was the third season for the Model Show which the Shepway Military Modelling Club have organised on our behalf and from November 2023 this model club have been basing themselves from the Museum and using the No. 25 Squadron Mess and Tea Rooms to hold their monthly meetings in. What promises to be an excellent partnership between the Museum, Modelling Club, Museum Shop (which carries a large stock of Airfix and Eduard kits) and the No. 25 Squadron Mess and Tea Rooms..."

 

Duxford Battle of Britain airshow September 2025 - Hurricane!

some nice images of just some of the Spitfires and Hurricanes at the show courtesy of Jarek Rozanski. Now a lot of people had a wonderful time at the show and saw a number of rare visitors from Europe despite the cancellations. But an entry ticket cost £54 per person with added parking. The public days at Paris Le Bourget were just 18 euros by way of comparison. So I am grateful to Jarek and others who have posted some marvellous images from the show. And I wish that I had been there, despite the price of admission!

Building the new 1:48th Airfix Jaguar - back to the build (part 4)

Returning to the Jag, but not before I've watched this video - embedded here with youtube's 'embed' code -  a complete 'modellers guide' posted by Airfix. And added some more of my own pictures here. 'Walkaround' tour by ex-Jaguar mechanic and modeller Cpl. Jones who delivers an excellent commentary highlighting some of the areas of interest on the kit with advice on how to model/paint them...

Taking an Airfix Starter set on my hols - Airfix Land Rover Series 1 pick-up in 1:43

 

" this Starter Set 'Land Rover Series 1' from Airfix is a high-quality vehicle model kit specifically designed for beginners. With a scale of 1:43, this model offers a detailed replica of the classic Land Rover Series 1. The kit consists of 39 individual parts made from durable plastic. The unpainted version allows model builders to express their creativity and customise the vehicle according to their own ideas.." 

Something to build when on holiday. Just requires a minimum of tools, glue etc. This is the long wheel-base Land Rover - there is a neat conversion to the short wheel-base on youtube. I added some extra detail in the cab - a couple of levers and a gear stick. There is a decal for the instrument panel. Curiously the kit has no exhaust pipe which ordinarily would run along the underside of the vehicle of course - too long and fragile for the intended 'market' according to Luke (who is now ex-Airfix, having moved to Revell). Having said that I found the build a little tricky in places with fit being very tight. I added wing mirrors from sprue and wire and off-set the driving wheels. I painted my Land Rover with a Halfords Grey Primer rattle can and then spent a couple of hours applying various effects with oils - pin washes, filters and streaking. I also used some MiG pigments to represent 'dust' but was much less happy with these effects. You can buy this kit for less than tenner and can literally build it anywhere. Go for it!

Building the 1/72nd Dora Wings Fairey Delta 2 (finished)

 

Reasonably pleased with this one. Not often you get the chance to paint an aircraft purple (to paraphrase Cliff Clifford) - and pose it in 'droop-snoot' mode and flaps down. It did take a few attempts to mix a mauve shade -albeit a little pale perhaps -that came reasonably close to the photo of the real aircraft. I used Humbrol enamels in magenta and royal blue with some light grey. This is WG 774, the World record speed holder, as it was painted for a late 1950s Farnborough air Show ( 1958 IIRC). Much of the type's flight testing was done in the south of France and obviously 'inspired' the designers at Dassault!

A couple of  points to watch out for;

- don't bother cutting off the nose probe to avoid breaking it off...you'll just snap it right off again as soon as you stick it back on. Either that or drop the model on the floor. In the end I broke the nose probe three times! Take care. Needless to say I didn't bother with the etch vanes, but then they weren't always mounted. Check your refs.

-  the fit of the intakes is a little 'unclear' from the instructions (stages 7 and 8)  Note the 'vanes' on the inner face should be visible from the front. See the image (bottom) of the Cosford machine.  

- panel lines are so shallow they won't hold much of a 'wash'

- note the landing gear stance, especially the forward gear strut. It angles slightly backwards. It is possible to hold the gear leg in the aperture at this 'new' angle while it dries. Use super glue and fit the small strut (part E4, build stage 11) once the main leg is located solidly. Check reference photos here

This video screen grab (above) shows that I have failed to correctly mask the canopy! There is a small glazed panel above the pilot's head, also just visible in the view below. No, I've just forgotten to take the mask off before taking a few pics - one of the reasons why posting pics of your models is good! Helps you to spot your mistakes! The anti-glare decal for the nose as supplied in the kit is far too large for this machine, so here I've cut it down. Note the fuselage-mounted  air intakes are just about large enough to be opened up with a small pin-drill. I should also really replace the rather 'blade-like' antennae on the nose which were more like whip aerials..

The Fairey Delta 2 was a British supersonic research aircraft produced by the Fairey Aviation Company. It was not an RAF aircraft despite the roundels. On 6 October 1954, the Delta 2 flew its maiden flight with Fairey test pilot Peter Twiss at the controls.  Just two aircraft would be produced. The Fairey Delta 2 was the first jet aircraft to exceed 1000 mph in level flight, flying faster than the sun moves across the sky - the text on the nose of WG 774 reads " Fairey Delta 2 holder of World absolute speed record." The French largely copied the design when creating the Mirage series of fighter aircraft.

 

Building the Dora Wings Fairey Delta 2 (part 1)

 

It is nearly two years since the 72nd scale Dora wings Fairey Delta was released and here are a few pics of the build underway. It really is a straight forward kit and assembles easily and quickly. There is some work to do on tidying up the fuselage seams but nothing too onerous and I like the provision of a wing 'spar' to aid location and fit of the wings. There is some jet fan and cockpit detail - but almost none of it will be visible. In his build review for the Key 'Model World' site Chris Clifford attempts to fit an after-market Martin-Baker Mk 3 resin seat in the cockpit - which is not possible. He concludes that the cockpit looks 'undersized' on the model. Of course it was on the real aircraft too. The cockpit was very small and cramped and had been to some extent 'miniaturised' including ejection seat and instrumentation as explained by Barrie Hygate in his 'British Experimental Jet Aircraft' book! Click to expand the images..