Question Regarding Decals

Thanks gentlemen. Should I be getting the 24 inch (1/48th scale) codes decal sheets?  

I don't have my Hurricane book on me (At work) but yes it does not have squadron codes, just the U.S. insignia on the fuselage.  As for the Spit having larger roundels I was aware of that and pretty sure I have spares if needed. The Spitfire will be a MK IX. The gentlemen I am honoring flew over 50 planes in the FAA and RAF in his career but operationally flew the following:

Wildcat/Martlet

Fulmar

Sea Hurricane

Spitfire MK IX

Hurricane MK IIC

Hellcat MK II  and PR.

I'm looking forward to all these special builds.

Thanks for the help and if you have any more advice I am a listening.

Interesting subject! Now I remember reading that US insignia was applied to FAA aircraft in Operation Torch in the hopes that the French would be less likely to fire upon US aircraft as opposed to British aircraft. The memory of the Royal Navy firing upon the French fleet after the armistice in summer of 1940 was still pretty strong.

Standard practice was just to apply white stars over the RAF/FAA roundels, so if you can find Torch yellow bordered US insignia that matches the size of the roundels, use them. I am pretty sure that both Super Scale and Yellow Wings both make sheets of the yellow border Torch US stars that have various sizes.

The first problem I see is the squadron codes, as the combination of two letters represents a specific squadron, and there were no mixed squadrons of Hurricanes and Spitfires.  If historical accuracy is not important to you, then it's your call.

Roundel sizes did vary, but they followed a size chart, along with specific locations, and it was not allowed to encroach onto the control surfaces whatsoever.

I think the fuselage and underside wing roundels should fit, but on the upper wings the Spitfire usually carried much larger roundels than the Hurricane as the latter had a much narrower wing chord.  If it is the Tamiya Spitfire Mk.I you are considering, I do believe the kit includes two sizes of upper wing roundels, so you should be ok there.

regards,

Jack

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edit,

so scratch the spiel about codes, as that particular Hurricane did not sport any?  Also, my suggested Spitfire kit won't do either as you want the later style roundels with thin yellow outlines.

SP, I have done a ton of research due to I'm going to do multiple commemorative builds. One is a Sea Hurricane from 880 squadron FAA that flew from HMS Biter during Operation Torch. I have a color drawing of the aircraft in a Hurricane book. I'm going to buy a couple of sheets of RAF code letters / Numbers so to have all the bases covered. The Hurricanes of this squadron were adorned with American insignia. The round star with a the small yellow border, no bars. This insignia I can get in a Spitfire kit. So I was wondering if the size would be acceptable.   Why we're at it do you know of a rattle can paint that will replicate Extra Dark Sea Gray?  Tamiya does not make it as far as i can tell. Thanks for anything you can impart.   

That depends, some units used oversized squadron codes and roundels, while others did not. The fin flashes were different for the two types, and each aircraft sported their own variations. Only aircraft serial numbers/letters were uniform between the two types.

Look at the squadrons your interested in modeling for photos of the two types and see if the roundels and codes differ in size and style.