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1:48 Spitfire MkVa Douglas Bader


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1:48 Spitfire MkVa by Airfix supporting Help for Heroes


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By Richard Spreckley


This is a planned build ready in time for a special event being held at my local aircraft museum: Tangmere, formerly RAF Tangmere and one of the most famous RAF stations during the Battle of Britain.


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On August 9th 1941Wing Commander Douglas Bader was leading the Tangmere big wing which consisted of three squadrons from Tangmere and nearby Westhampnett. On that patrol Bader was shot down and he bailed out over occupied europe and was captured. The infamy of this incident is that it is believed to have been one of his own Spitfure pilots who took the shots!


Tangmere Aviation Museum in West Sussex is holding a commerative day on Sunday the 7th August 2016 to mark this occassion and I am attending with my local model club: Aldingbourne Modellers.


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The kit by Airfix is a special edition supporting Help for Heroes. What is nice about this aircraft is it is a rare mark. Bader didnt like the new MkVb with its cannon configuration, so insisted on having a MkV fitted with the standard eight  303 guns, making ut a MkVa. It is one of thier old moulds and as such does not offer much detail in the cockpit. However the fit is excellent.


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Wanting to finish this on time the only extras purchased were a set of eduard seat belts and a resin figure of Bader. I completed some scratch building in the cockpit.


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The build went well and after a cote of vallejo surface primer and pre shading the models was speayed free hand again using my favoured paints: Vallejo model air. This was a battle hardened aircraft and from the very limited amount of photos I have found was heavily weathered. So I added depth with a post shade. Once dry and after a cote of gloss varnish the decals were added, they went down nicley, helped along with some micro sol. Weathering underneath was completed spraying various shades of sand and browns. The model was finished off with a dark wash and some mud from Tamiya pigments placed in some strategic locations.


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Hi Richard. Wow!

Are they showing the original "Reach for the Sky" film at your special event?

Very nice build. We many moan about Airfix, but lets face it some of the older moulds were really quite good and stil make and mug well today. I sometimes think we model makers have been spoilt of late, having been given so much detail and most is never seen once the model is completed or the model becomes so complecated that it almost unbuildable. I applude your build.

Remember we do this for fun.    John the Pom

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Hi Richard. Wow!

Are they showing the original "Reach for the Sky" film at your special event?

Very nice build. We many moan about Airfix, but lets face it some of the older moulds were really quite good and stil make and mug well today. I sometimes think we model makers have been spoilt of late, having been given so much detail and most is never seen once the model is completed or the model becomes so complecated that it almost unbuildable. I applude your build.

Remember we do this for fun.    John the Pom

i agree

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