1/48 Hasegawa Spitfire Mk. V 303 Polish Squadron "Zumbach"

lawdog114

Member since
February 2012
From: Olmsted Township, Ohio

1/48 Hasegawa Spitfire Mk. V 303 Polish Squadron "Zumbach"

Posted by lawdog114 on Wednesday, February 2, 2022 1:52 AM

I'm still on a Spitfire kick at the moment. I do that sometimes. Over the last year or so I've done the new tooled Tamiya Mk. I and Eduard's new Mk.IIa Spitfire which I enjoyed to the fullest. I was perusing my stash recently and saw the old Hasegawa MK. V in there I got for a song off ebay about a decade ago. I realized I've never actually built one as I've always gravitated towards Tamiya's 90's era shake and bake Spitfire kits. I decided to give it a shot to compare to the others right out of the box.

I decided on Jan Zumbach's 303 Polish Squadron machine from May of 1942. Zumbach was a Polish pilot fighting with the RAF and has the distinction of being the first allied flier to damage the new FW 190 in combat. He finished the war with 12 kills, to include 8 during the Battle of Britain.

The Hasegawa kit certainly shows it's age (late 80's or early 90's I believe), that being quite basic in overall detail. The cockpit is also very basic compared to the others and you would have to cut out the pilot door to display it open. I had no construction issues, but I did attach the upper wings to the wing roots first to avoid gap issues notorious with old Hasegawa kits. I noted that the panel lines are quite petite as well and I was worried they wouldn't take a wash. I made the best of it by adding PE seatbelts and a set of resin 20 mm cannons I had in the stash. I used a mix of Tamiya paints for the scheme and the markings were painted on using spare Montex masks. The decals for Zumbach's machine were let over from Tamiya's Mk. V kit I built several years ago. They surprisingly performed great.

Overall, I was happy with the finished product. Surprise, it looks like a Spitfire. That said, it's doesn't quite compare to the newer ones. This one would need about 5 hours with a riveting tool, and a resin pit to even get close. It would just be easier to by the Eduard Mk.V kit. We certainly are spoiled now......... Whistling

So of course Eduard's Mk. VIII is next. Bobby Gibbe's Grey Nurse.

I was going for beat up and dirty with this one as evidenced by this photo. It would seem Zumbach made good use out of this machine. (note the heavy chipping). I think I got it close.

"Can you fly this plane and land it?...Surely you can't be serious....I am serious, and don't call me Shirley"

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Pawel

Member since
May 2009
From: Poland

Posted by Pawel on Wednesday, February 2, 2022 5:15 AM

Hello!

Lookin' good - and I'm glad to see it! Not only do I love to see something Polish on the 'net - Zumbach was a very special man who embarked on funny careers after the war. The British almost kicked him out when it turned out he actually is a Swiss citizen (but born and raised in Poland). So he went on to be a smuggler and smuggled mainly watches from Switzerland. He also fought as a flying mercenary in Africa in two separate wars. He also owned a Disco club in Paris.

He wrote a book about his life before, during and after WWII - I don't know if it's been translated to English, but it's a very good read.

They say that Donald on that Spitfire got there because of the way Zumbach tended to talk :-)

Thanks for sharing and have a nice day

Paweł

All comments and critique welcomed. Thanks for your honest opinions!

www.vietnam.net.pl

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wpwar11

Member since
January 2020
From: Maryland

Posted by wpwar11 on Wednesday, February 2, 2022 6:12 AM

I see you are getting quite good at chipping

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jeaton01

Member since
December 2002
From: Northern California

Posted by jeaton01 on Wednesday, February 2, 2022 10:35 PM

Very nice, Joe.

John

To see build logs for my models: http://goldeneramodel.com/mymodels/mymodels.html

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lawdog114

Member since
February 2012
From: Olmsted Township, Ohio

Posted by lawdog114 on Friday, February 4, 2022 9:46 PM

Pawel

Hello!

Lookin' good - and I'm glad to see it! Not only do I love to see something Polish on the 'net - Zumbach was a very special man who embarked on funny careers after the war. The British almost kicked him out when it turned out he actually is a Swiss citizen (but born and raised in Poland). So he went on to be a smuggler and smuggled mainly watches from Switzerland. He also fought as a flying mercenary in Africa in two separate wars. He also owned a Disco club in Paris.

He wrote a book about his life before, during and after WWII - I don't know if it's been translated to English, but it's a very good read.

They say that Donald on that Spitfire got there because of the way Zumbach tended to talk :-)

Thanks for sharing and have a nice day

Paweł

Thanks for the compliment and info on Zumbach. I'm going to have to read up on him a bit more. I was wondering what the significance of the duck was. Very interesting.

"Can you fly this plane and land it?...Surely you can't be serious....I am serious, and don't call me Shirley"