null_null981707818191 Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 As the Battle of Britain officially started 80 years ago today, I thought I'd post some pictures of my build of a couple of Airfix 1/72nd scale aircraft, modelled as they were in Summer 1940. First of all, here they are together:/media/tinymce_upload/185947a87a0b07460a4c2484d1520b86.jpgSo looking at them in turn, the Spitfire was modelled as KL-B P9398 as flown in 64 Squadron by Al Deere from Hornchurch (although during the BoB, Manston was frequently used). His 'Kiwi' motif was self-printed, and the other decals were a mixture of those that came with the kit and some from Hannants. For the record, Al Deere finished the war with 22 confirmed victories. /media/tinymce_upload/e8ed58c7c8c2bc04cea01e9887304c2a.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/1bbc0406b1061cee576fffa86ad55e0b.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/0cf7580cae018c8cdd2b95cd0c0b16f6.jpgThe Hurricane is shown as that flown by Dennis Noble. It is P3179 FT-Y of 43 Squadron based at Tangmere. It's also the airframe that has subsequently been discovered and excavated and can now be seen in the Tangmere Museum. Sadly, Dennis Noble was shot down and killed on 30th August whilst intercepting a raid by Heinkel 111s./media/tinymce_upload/ea5dd4d3d5aab924967f8a589daeff8d.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/65f477cd023accb01f0250999f4b27af.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/5a9fefaf72837087f290090672510d1c.jpgI'm sure that with the next two months being an extended anniversary, we'll see lots about the BoB in the media, and it was a fitting tribute that this morning's news covered the funeral cortege of Dame Vera Lynn, and also a very moving flypast tribute by two Spitfires.As already mentioned, these two models are largely OOB 1/72 scale. Seatbelts are made from painted masking tape, and I've kept the canopies open to show a bit more detail, enhanced by using a razor saw to have both aircraft with the doors open. Both were brush painted using Vallejo Air acrylics. And I might just post a few more of my BoB models over the coming weeks - but I hope you like these two to start with - shown lastly from a slightly different angle./media/tinymce_upload/a1116e8147e37257fa23230c8ada2bdd.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliverdee Posted July 13, 2020 Share Posted July 13, 2020 Great looking builds and nice to post a tribute...thank goodness we had such courageous people. I would think the Battle of Britain has kept Airfix in business since its inception... I know I've built more Hurricanes & Spitfires than anything else with at least 99% in the B o B dark earth & green scheme! ... when film cameras were popular at air shows I remember it being said that for every pass made by a Spitfire, Kodak made half a million squid... (or some great sum of money).. great stuff .. I like the kiwi you created .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter s Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 They're great builds! I'm hoping to have my entire battle of britain line up finished very soon. I found a relative who died flying a hurricane towards the end of the battle when doing a bit of reading.http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/Forrester.htmHe was my grans brother in law so not a close relative but it was a strange feeling finding the name and putting a photo to it. Generally our family were VERY lucky. Lots of close run things but very few killed in action. Cliverdee is right! I don't want to know how much I've spent just on airfix spits and hurricanes 😛 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dominic Thomas Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 I like the subjects and I like the way you have built them into a credible diorama. I’m looking forward to more of your BoB collection.A couple of notes on the markings.The Kiwi marking looks very good. I think that Almark produced an option for Al Deere’s aircraft including the Kiwi. Not sure it’s any better than yours, so well done.The shade of red on the Hurricane national markings looks too bright to me. I had a similar issue with a 17 Sqn Hurricane from Aviaeology. But the good news is that they include an addendum sheet with darker, flatter red. Imagine my frustration when I added the red to the fin flash on one side of the fin, then added the other ‘new’ red bits only to find one side of the fin had lost it’s new red segment. The house has been turned upside down, and I still can’t find it. Not sure I have the confidence to share the build now !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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