America's First WW2 Ace

Spitfire IIa, P7308/XR-D, 71 "Eagle" Squadron, 27 August 1941

There were a lot of firsts with this kit.  It was my first Airfix new tooling Spitfire Mk I, my first attempt at Spitfire IFF aerials and my first 3D-Kits upgrade.  Well, I guess all that is not really very special, but I approached this build with all this specifically in mind.

Plus, I wanted to make it for the 70th anniversary of Bill Dunn's achieving a first, as the first American Ace of World War Two.  Granted, he achieved this as a member of the Eagle Squadron flying for the RAF in late August 1941.

I built this model in the Summer of 2011, completing it mid-August.

The Subject

Pilot Officer Bill Dunn joined the RAF in late 1940, after just over a year with the Canadian Army.  After completing training in April 1941, he joined 71 "Eagle" Squadron, made up of mainly American expats prior to the entry of the US in the war.  Between May and August 1941 Bill Dunn shot down 5 German aircraft to become the first American ace.  

On 27 August, while flying P7308/XR-D, Bill Dunn returned to North Weald at the end of a mission and crash landed.  His injuries were severe and after 3 months hospitalization and 3 months leave he served as an instructor pilot in Canada and then transferred to the USAAF in June 1943.  While with the 53rd Fighter Group he flew P-47's.

Ultimately Bill Dunn completed the war with 6 official kills, served with the USAAF and USAF until 1973 when he retired.  He had some very interesting assignments post-war, including flying and fighting with the Nationalist Chinese in 1947-1949.

P7308 is a Spitfire F Mk IIa, the notable difference to the Mk I is the addition of the Coffman starter, which resulted in a visible bulge on the lower right of the engine cowling.

P7308 was delivered in the Temperate Land Scheme, Dark Green/Dark Earth over Sky undersides.  It sported the standard markings of the time, Sky fuselage band and Sky spinner with Medium Sea Grey codes.  In early August 1941 it received a repaint in the new Day Fighter Scheme of Dark Green/Ocean Grey over Medium Sea Grey undersides.  The Sky band and spinner were retained and the codes are Sky.  Of note, the timing of this subject is before the yellow identification bands on the leading edge of the wings and before the National Markings were altered.

The Model

As mentioned above, this is the new Airfix tooling of the Mk Ia from 2009.  It was initially difficult to obtain here in the US and in late 2010 I finally got my first copy.  In the meantime 3D-Kits had released a Mk I/IIa update with an improved seat, stick, Rotol propellor/spinner and bulge for the IIa as well as appropriate decals.

I built the kit per the 3D-Kit modifications and decided to plan appropriately for installing the IFF aerials.  That is the only really unique aspect of this build.  I measured the distance back from the panel line representing the station aft of the radio access hatch and drilled two small holes opposite each other on the fuselage sides.  

I built the model to include paint and decals, and planned to put the canopy on very last.  For the aerials I first superglued one end in a deepened groove that is the gap between the horn balance and horizontal stabilizer.  After that had set I then threaded the wires (actually just invisible thread) through the fuselage and fished them with tweezers out through the cockpit.  After pulling them tight I applied a small drop of superglue and set it.  After fully cured I snipped the excess and then glued the canopy on.

For painting I used Humbrol enamels: The Sky (90) band on the tail went first, was masked with tape, then Ocean Grey (106) went on.  I masked using Miskit liquid frisket and then painted on the Dark Green (116).  After removing the masks to confirm no bleed-through, I remasked and sprayed the underside Medium Sea Grey (165).  I prefer Humbrol's Ocean Grey as it has that blue tinge to it, but is not an overpowering blue-gray like Tamiya XF-82 or Model Master RAF Ocean Grey.  Both of those latter colors really seem more like grayish blues, not a gray with a blue tinge.

Weather was attempted and this is yet another failure at it.  I shall persist and someday get it right.

The 3d-Kits decals went on perfectly using Micro-Sol and Set.

Thanks for reading...

Hobby Boss Spitfire Vb

EP312/D-K, Wing Commander Dereck Kain, Edku, Egypt, 1944

This is a model I completed back in April 2011.  I purchased the Hobby Boss kit not knowing the goods or others regarding accuracy, fit, detail, et cetera.  As with most Hobby Boss kits, this one had some things not quite right.  

I approached the build from the perspective of a learning experience.  My objective was to correct where possible (er, within my skills), and expand my weathering abilities just a bit.

The Subject

W/C Kain served with the RAF beginning in 1935; flying missions over France, Dunkirk and during the Battle of Britain.  He was commander of 229 Squadron over Malta and 127 Squadron in the Western Desert.  Ultimately he transferred to the RNZAF in 1944 and was Station Chief at RAF Edku, Egypt.

During his assignment in Egypt, Ju-86P high altitude reconnaissance aircraft overflew the Nile Delta region.  The RAF was routinely attempting to intercept these aircraft and heavily modified Spitfire Vb and IX were used.  Ultimately through weight reduction, drag reduction and engine performance increases one of the modified Spitfires was able to intercept and engage a Ju-86P.  This ended their reconnaissance flights as the danger was now too great.

Spitfire Vb EP312 is one of those modified aircraft.  The modifications known to have been done are:

• Aboukir tropical filter
• Engine improvements, to include separate exhaust ejector stubs
• Very smooth paint, near gloss

This particular aircraft was probably used mainly to escort the more modified Spitfire, which usually also had the radio and IFF removed, only 2x .50 caliber guns with limited ammunition, and no paint.  It was one of these, Spitfire IX MA504, that W/C Kain flew to 47,000 feet (the subject of a future build!).

The Model

As mentioned above, this kit has issues like most Hobby Boss kits in the Easy Build range.  In this case, they are:

• Poor cockpit detail (not an issue for me)
• Cockpit canopy too high in profile
• No main landing gear doors (!?)
• Prop is inaccurate for any Spitfire

I corrected the prop via the Quickboost Rotol prop and the main landing gear doors came from a donor Revell Vb kit.  I also replaced the landing gear and wheels with resin ones from my spares box (CMR Seafire III kit).  The Aboukir filter came from the Italeri Mk Vb kit, and the exhausts came from the Italeri Mk IX kit (a good source of spares).

I chose not to replace the canopy.  It turns out most of my spares didn't fit very well and looked worse than just using the kit canopy.  I even attempted a vac canopy, but that would have revealed the inadequate cockpit so I stuck with the kit.

The scheme is standard Western Desert for 1944: Temperate Land Scheme above with Azure Blue undersides.  For the pain I used Humbrol 29 for the Dark Earth, followed by Humbrol 116 for the Dark Green.   There is no real good match for Azure Blue, so I used Model Master Azure Blue but with about 10 drops of deep red added; it seems to put just the right amount of red into the Azure to give it that purple caste most out-of-the -bottle paints lack.

I used Ad Astra Masks for the D-K lettering.  I had to paint these instead of using decals because 1) no decals are available; and 2) they are non-standard.  They worked wonderfully and I'm continually looking for projects that can take advantage of these masks.

At the time of building I was not aware the subject should be so glossy.  So I attempted some weathering (which it should NOT have) and while it was okay, I knew I had to improve.

It was still an easy build, fairly quick and very enjoyable.  Will I build another Hobby Boss Spitfire?  Probably not, given I spent the equivalent of the kit in upgrades to get it acceptable, albeit not accurate.

Thanks for reading...

Unmanned

Frog Spitfire XIVe & V-1

This was purchased as the Novo kit, but as we all know it's really the old Frog molding.  The theme is "Unmanned" -- Any subject representing an unmanned vehicle, drone, remotely piloted, missile -- you get the picture.  Since I wanted this to be a Spitfire topic I decided to build this venerable kit.

The Subjects

Spitfire F Mk XIVe
Rooted in the prototype Griffon engined mark, F Mk IV, and an interim type at that, it was the most produced variant of the Griffon series of Spitfires.  Essentially, while the F Mk IV was being developed, ultimately into the F Mk XX & 22/24 series, Supermarine mated the Griffon to the F Mk VIII airframe.  Unlike the F Mk XII, the F Mk XIV had a slightly (4 inches) longer nose to house the two-stage supercharger, 5 bladed prop to harness the added power, and a broad chord fin and rudder.

Additionally, like the two-stage Merlins, the F Mk XIV required larger radiator baths to house the intercooler as well as the oil cooler and radiators.  The retractible tail wheel was standard.

Initially built with the "c" wing of 2x 20mm cannon and 4x .303 guns, the F Mk XIVe had the strengthened wing supporting 2x 20mm cannon and 2x .50 guns.

The Frog F Mk XIVe represents serial RM619/AP*D; 130 Squadron RAF flying anti "Diver" missions against the V-1 buzz bombs in October, 1944.  My references indicate 130 Squadron may have flown an anti-Diver mission or two, but by October Divers were rare and 130 was mainly focused on ground-attack missions as part of 2 TAF.

V-1
The V-1 Buzz Bomb is essentially the world's first cruise missile.  While designed by Germany as a vengeance weapon against Great Britain, more specifically London, its use began in June 1944 and lasted until the launch sites and launch aircraft were overrun by Allied forces in October.  Over 9,500 V-1's were launched against London during this time.  Another 2,500 were launched against Antwerp between October 1944 and March 1945, when the last launch site was captured.

There are a few V-1's in museums and I've looked over them, from a distance of course.  These are very basic, but they worked.  The good news is the Allies were able to counter the threat through effective anti-aircraft, fighter interceptions and even mis-information.

The Models

Spitfire F Mk XIVe
What can I say?  Frog 1960's detail in Novo quality.  It "looks like" a Spitfire, but there are details that are not right.  And the Novo molding is not crisp and has lots of sink holes and flash.  The clear parts were neither clear, nor parts (they were just opaque blobs).

I did NOT correct this kit.  So what's wrong?

• Fuselage too narrow.  Only by about 1-1.5 millimeters, but it's obvious.
• No gull wing at trailing edge fuselage merger.  
• The wing fairing trails too far aft of the trailing edge of the wing; it has a noticeable "shelf".
• Rocker fairings are too small, and too square.
• Cockpit is just a ledge for a pilot's seat, and the bulkheads are solid.
• The wings appear too thin.
• The radiator baths are too shallow.
• Decals off register and printed too dark; they are both oversized and undersized for the model.

Additionally, the whole model "looks" too small, it may be 1/75 scale.  I compared it in plan form and yes, it's short in both span (~6 inches) and length (4 inches).  

Having ignored all that, I just built this OOB and enjoyed it.  I wanted to put it on the included stand as well, so I used the molded wheel/covers which hid the lack of detail in the wells.

Because the clear parts were not usable, I scrounged my Spitfire spares box and found an Academy canopy.  It was much too wide, and too tall, but with some careful sanding I was able to get it to fit.  It doesn't look unacceptable, given the other noticeable flaws with the kit.

Paint was Tamiya acrylics all the way, applied over a primer coat of ValSpar primer from my local hardware store.  XF-3 Yellow and XF-21 Sky were applied first, then masked.  I then sprayed XF-82 Ocean Gray [sic] overall.  Using maskol fluid I masked the Ocean Grey and sprayed XF-81 Dark Green.  Finally, I masked and sprayed XF-83 Medium Sea Gray [sic].  Overall it looks okay, however I feel the XF-82 is too blue for Ocean Grey, but I wanted to stick with the Tamiya combination for this build.

V-1
The V-1 looks great!  It looks exactly like those I've seen in museums and while I didn't measure it and don't have any plans, it looks like a V-1 and will probably be the only one I ever make.

Only 4 parts so it went together very quickly.  I used Testors Acryl RLM 71/RLM 65, which is what all the museum examples seem to be painted.  I have no idea if that's right or wrong as all the period photos I could find are dark over light.

Summary

I'll never make these kits again.  I have too many very nice F Mk XIV kits to want to attempt the Frog one and I have no real reason to make another V-1.  I may create a new stand for the V-1 so it will complement my V-2...and dispose of the Frog/Novo F Mk XIVe.

Thanks for reading...