1945 GB

I've got a couple of other Spits in the stash so I decided to use the clipped wing – I made a XVI to say I did so, although the differences are almost invisible. As noted before, the problem I set myself for this build was to try out Golden High Flow paints, and they worked better than hoped – splendid product that should be considered by anyone that prefers water based acrylics. I mixed my own colors but had good Vallejo samples to guide and they worked fine.

Since the last post I've finished the aircraft. As noted earlier, overall this was a good build. Did run into some bad news farther along though. The kit only supplied a Malcom hood canopy – the teardrop would have been really neat. Worse, it came in three pieces that would really only work if assembled closed. That explains why the pilot's door engraved and not a separate piece. Cheap I think. At least that vindicated my cavalier attitude toward the cockpit because no one will see it. It also ruined my attempt at a perfect canopy – never quite achieved. This one was close. (One thing you don't do if you want a perfect canopy is use macro mode on the camera – the frame looks very clean from three feet away.) First, the canopy fit was a little dodgy, and I was using Mico's clear part cement – which was fine, but just a tad got on the inside on the rear without notice. Small mar, but ticked me off. I've been using Alclad's “Glosscoat” on clear parts and it kicks rear of Pledge and the pieces were shinny as day. Still looks decent. Revell neglected to put a little hole where the front frames meet for the rear view mirror. It was too evident to skip, so I had to drill a hole into parts connected with white glue – very tricky, but worked. Revell also didn't put a whole in the front of the fuselage for the prop connection to go, so I ended up eyeballing my own. That also worked but bad engineering. But the decals were Italian and went on perfectly – no small thing because there were a lot of them.

Weathering this kit was actually very challenging. I'm coming off a weathering orgy applied a Tamiya A6M2 Kamikaze, and didn't want anything like that. However, I wanted to emulate a plane that had been in service for a few months. This meant very little chipping (a bit on the prop, panels that would be removed for ammo or engine service and the wing where the pilot would climb in/out). However, an aircraft in service would be far from pristine. (Even a new one would have had several hours of check flights – enough for a 1400HP engine to spew oil around.) Any RAF fighter would have been stationed outside, and Euro weather not sweet during the winter and early spring. So I'm thinking some fading and certainly dirt/grime build up – but within limits. I found the middle of the road approach harder than emulating a plane factory fresh or badly beat up. I decided to try out the new series of Flory Washes. I put them over a satin/gloss finish after decals. Underneath I slobbered on the “Grime” color, and pulled most of it off – did decent panel lines – maybe a bit overdone, but that's my hang-up. (Personally, given scale effect, I'm not sure how well one sees minor panel lines from 50 feet away on an airplane – I'd say not much. Your mileage may vary.) The wash leaves a little clay on, so if you go after it again, it's a grainy finish and more will stick. So I laid some down with an airbrush and paper towel roughly in accordance with airflow – but never perfect. Nature is the enemy precise patterns. So here's what I came up with:

I was pleased with that. The upside was tougher. The gray used on the fuselage is considerably darker than on the bottom. That meant the washes could over darken it without care. I built it up slowly – decent panel lines and a slight darkening – which I did want. (On major panel lines I used a very sharp black Verithin pencil if clogged by wash: very effective.)Then I used pigments to fade both gray and green here and there on surfaces that got sun (again, no precision). I also very carefully tried to lighten the fabric control surfaces – it's hard to see on the photos but come to my house and it's about right. (That's another subject I haven't really figured out. I look at a buckets of photos. Many show a clear but subtle difference on the fabric surfaces. But it's not usually dramatic, so a different shade of paint doesn't really work. You could skip it – many do – but I think it would show especially with a worn matte finish found in wartime. Cost me a couple of hours, for not much purpose.) What happened was that the dark green (with a bit of khaki) started to lose the clear distinction with the dark gray. That was really what I wanted.

I didn't want a dead flat finish. So that caused a little adventure. I mixed Vallejo satin and matte varnish and airbrushed it on the top. (I left the bottom alone – the Flory wash finish was just right.) The effect was fine, but the finish a little grainy. I tried sanding it with very fine sponges, but that didn't really do the trick. Fortunately after applying a coat of Tamiya rattle can satin finish, everything looked fine, but a tad too bright. So I gave it a very light coat of Testors matte rattle can, and got it between matte and satin. That was fine.

Anyway, I can't really make any excuses here. It was a little tough to photograph (I enhanced a couple) but you can get a pretty good idea of what it looks like – especially on the details. But the kit pretty much reflected what I wanted, so anything wrong (minus the usual bits of driver error) comes from my imagination and not my materials or execution.

I should say something about the RAF in late war. The UK did an utterly spectacular job producing a whole lot of aircraft – including heavy bombers – with an economy that wasn't ideally geared for it. (Not to mention naval, infantry and vehicle building.) The malaise that gripped Brit designers after WWI was shattered by Mitchell and Camm in the mid-30s. (The Bolton Defiant? Really?) And the aircraft coming from the UK were a splendid lot – Hurricane, Beaufighter, Mosquito, Lancaster and of course the Spitfire. Minus the 262, the best of the British aircraft matched the best of the LW (the late war high altitude Spitfires matched up very well with Doras they might encounter – which was rare. They surpassed any 109.) Their best planes could accommodate numerous updates and stay at or near the top. And let's not forget that the P-51 was RAF-US private company project done with little help from the USAAF.

And it usually showed in the sky. The “Few” created a real life epic. Rommel learned to hate the thought of the Desert AF. No German unit that engaged the Spit IX enjoyed it. Whatever you think of Harris, the Lancasters dropped an amazing load of bombs. There were bad moments. Churchill's odd attempt to keep air presence over the French channel coast in 41-42 led to ugly encounters between Spit Vs and early 190s. (Those flights and early Bomber Command raids kept most FWs out of the Russian Front for nearly a year.) But between 1940 and mid-44 it became painfully obvious that the RAF was not spared a design defect that afflicted every European air force, and harmed the USAAF until 8^th AF decided bombers couldn't defend themselves. (Utterly astounding that many fighters weren't fitted for drop tanks until well into the war.) The role of long range escort had simply been missed. In practice this meant that the RAF, with its wonderful planes and pilots, largely missed out on history's greatest air battle – the struggle for Germany's skies that raged from January 44 until September or so 1944. That was the moment for the great 8^th AF P-51 groups that cut the LW to shreds. Had late model Spits been able to get to that battle the LW would have died sooner. (And it died. Germany had a lot of planes until 1945, but the pilots were rookies ready for the slaughter – literally. There were the great aces but we killed most of them too.)

The RAF had a splendid renaissance after D-Day. There were fighter strips in Normandy even before Cobra – after July every LW strip the allies captured had new owners. Many were flying Typhoons, Tempests and late model Spits. The farther the advance the more RAF fighters could take part in festivities over Germany. But most of the RAF single engine birds were part of the 2^nd Tactical AF which meant every plane with a roundel was shooting up German ground targets. (All US fighters got into that act, including P-51s which may not have been bright.) The result was that while making the European landscape for anything that moved in German colors, RAF fighter squadrons were beginning to build their kill totals again – at least until the LW more or less quit flying in the West in early 45. A specialty for allied planes was to fly standing patrols over any airbase large enough to accommodate LW jets. The 262 caused near panic for a few weeks, but it didn't take long before jets in the air grew scarce. BTW: as the war came down the clipped wing became common. It was originally put on the SpitV to aid its roll rate – an important factor at altitudes under about 18,000 feet. It also allowed in later Spit IXs an increased fuel load. Some of the late model Spits had outstanding high altitude performance, but the war for most planes went down in altitude after Normandy. (Ground support why the Red AF always favored low altitude performers like the LA5 even though their “King” Cobras and Migs had good high alt performance.)

The RAF certainly earned its supper – and the gratitude of the free world – during WWII, and it ended on a decided “up note.” Spitfire XIVs were a part of it.

Pics below.

Eric