Aces Group Build

I finished up the decals today without any trouble. I am letting a couple sit with MicroSol and I will seal them in tomorrow. Not too much left to do and it will be complete.

Thank for looking,

BK

Looks great Brandon

Well Gents, 

I'm calling this bird done. I managed to get the Flory washes down. I used black for the panel lines and I used grime on the surfaces to fade the tone a bit. I also used fishing line and a permanent marker to install the antenna and followed it all up with a coat of flat clear to seal in the weathering. I had planned to use some pastels but once I got this far i decided to stop as I felt I might over weather it if I went any further.

This was a quick build overall and didn't come out too bad. Not perfect, it has it's flaws for sure, but not bad. I'm pleased with it. It is a hanger and therefore doesn't get the close scrutiny that my parked birds get so I can live with some defects.

Here are the final shots. They are not fabulous as this is a hanger and hard to shoot since it doesn't have anything to stand on. Hope you enjoy.

BK

It's always pleasing to see an aircraft in flight, and yours is looking good, Brandon.  Nice work.

Looks Great BK - I'll use the 1st pic for the finish page, unless you want a different one.

GT,

I'll get a better shot of it today and get that posted up. The blue back ground and poor lighting just aren't doing it for me. I'll get better lighting and a white backdrop for a better image.

BK

BrandonK

GT,

I'll get a better shot of it today and get that posted up. The blue back ground and poor lighting just aren't doing it for me. I'll get better lighting and a white backdrop for a better image.

BK

ok not a problem

OK GT,

Use this one. The color looks good and you can't see the wires holding it. 

DONE Yea that looks better

Its been a while since I've updated on the Spitfire, and that has bit me in the but. Most of my WIP pics (putting together the airframe and filling) were deleted before I got them on Photobucket. So I'll show where she is now.



I primered it with Krylone flat white. Colors were Tamiya XF-19 light gray for the undersides, and on top I used MM dark earth. Now trying to decide what to use for Foliage green was a crap shoot. I settled on MM dark green (FS 34092.) While certainly in the neighborhood, I feel it is alittle to "spingy green." Oh well, live and learn.

Here she is with a Hurricane I painted the same evening.

Both nice looking RAF birds, ajd.

I agree with CMK

Well unfortunatly, with a mix of all the humidity we've had lately and trying a new method of gloss coating, I think I have ruined the Spit. The finish was pebbly, which caused me to use more coats than normal. The result is the panel lines are pretty much gone, and I am still not certain if the finish is good for decals. So instead of risking giid decals on a questionable finish, I think I will just start a new project..

I'm thinking maybe a P-38 or something VVS. Opinions?

That's really disappointing, ajd.  Sorry to hear this.  I've had it happen too--where something fouls up at the very last of the build.

What's VVS?

Ajd,

I completely understand how you feel when that happens. I had the same type of issue when I first painted my P-51, Big Beautiful Doll. Something went wrong and it trashed the finish. I almost tossed it in the garbage. But I decided to make it a challenge and I went ahead and sanded of off, which removed ALL the panel lines from the kit. I grabbed a better kit as reference and re-scribed the entire kit and added more detail than it came with. The end result took a long time, I mean a long time, but it is a far better model now than when I first painted it. So, before you junk it, perhaps it's just another challenge.

But, I would love to see a P-38 too, good luck with whatever you decide.

BK

Check, Voyenno-Vozdushnye Sily translates to Military Air Forces, and was the air force of the Soviet Union. More specific, I would be doing WWII VVS.

Brandon, I have no intentions of trashing the sucker, I'm just not comfortable using my nice decals on it, which takes it out of the running for an aces build.

I'd be leery of that myself AJ

I think doing another P 38 is just the ticket here.

I'm going to do Robin Olds P 38 Scat 2

along with Lydia  Litviak's Yak 1b

Let me now of any changes any one wants to make

Greentracker, I was considering either Elliot Summer's or Marion Kirby's Lightning, and I may still end up doing one of those. But I feel like there needs to be a Soviet ace or two for this build. There were hundreds upon hundreds of VVS aces (which to my understanding, to get a confirmed "kill" in the VVS, the wreckage of the airplane shot down had to be found and recorded, so there could have been MANY more Soviet aces) and to not have at least one of them represented here would be a shame.

I have alot of WWII Soviet aircraft in the stash. To the dog of a kit Hobbycraft La-7, to the AM Yak-1b, lots of ICM Yaks, and even a few of the beautifully made (if not a tad over-engineered) Zvezda La-5s. So I have actually been spending the the entire afternoon/evening trying to narrowdown the field. Not an easy task. I've got it narrowed down to eother an ICM Yak-9T made from a Yak-9DD (the ICM Yak-9 family are all packaged with the same 4 sprues,) an Eduard weekend edition Yak-3, or an ICM Yak-7B. Considering I just recieved a box of 3 of the Yak-7Bs today in the mail, that is the front runner at the moment. Might wait for the Squadron Yak fighters in action book to get here first though.

AJ - Let me know what you decide on.

I agree with the VVS Soviet Aces being represented here. I also think that women aces should be represented as well.

I've never heard of any other country (beside Russia) having girl fighter pilots in WW2. Were there any?

Ken:  I have to change the ace and plane for my build here.  I found out that "Sailor" Malan's Spitfire was equipped with an early-style canopy, and not the bulged variety that comes with the kit.

So--my new choice of Ace is Constantine Pegge, from 610 Squadron.

Here's a little bio I pulled off the net.  Apparently, he was also credited with shooting down eight German planes in a single day, during the Battle of Britain.

F/O C O J Pegge

Constantine Oliver Joseph Pegge was born in Slough, Middlesex in 1914. He joined the RAF on a short service commission in August 1938. He arrived at 6 OTU, Sutton Bridge on 27th May 1940 and after converting to Spitfires joined 610 Squadron at Gravesend on 16th June. On 8th July Pegge claimed a Me109 destroyed, on 12th August two more and on the 18th a Me109 destroyed and a He111 damaged. On the return to Biggin Hill his Spitfire, R6694, was damaged by a Me109 and then further damaged by running into a bomb crater on landing. Pegge was unhurt.

On 24th August he probably destroyed a Me109, claimed another destroyed on the 28th and a He111 on the 30th. He was awarded the DFC (gazetted 22nd October 1940).

During his service with 610 at Acklington the following incident was recorded by Sgt. HD Denchfield:

"On 7th October our flight commander Joe Pegge led us off in a tight formation flying along the beaches and hopping over the dunes, heading towards Berwick. Suddenly he said, "Listen to this, you two". I looked across and he was holding a book in his right hand and flying with his left at just 100 feet. He was reading excerpts from the raunchy Kama Sutra and still managed to get over the dunes. When he was returning from honeymoon by train three of us decided to welcome him in our Spitfires, criss-crossing over the tops of the carriages at about 50 feet and in our boyish enthusiasm forgetting about telephone poles. He told us we were silly sods who had put his bride off flying for ever".

In January 1941 Pegge was presented with a silver tray by Welwyn Garden City. The reason for this is not recorded but the family understand that it was for shooting down a Heinkel 111 which was attacking Welwyn.

On 18th May 1941 he left 610 to take up an instructor post at 57 OTU Hawarden as flying instructor. Promotion to Flight Lieutenant followed on 3rd September 1941 along with a move to 56 OTU Sutton Bridge. He commanded 610 Squadron from December 1941 until February 1942, when he was posted overseas.

On 9th June Pegge was given command of 127 Squadron in the Western Desert. He destroyed a Me109 on 8th July and two Ju87’s on 2nd September. He left the squadron in April 1943 and returned to the UK.

In September 1944 Pegge went to 126 Squadron at Bradwell Bay as a supernumerary Squadron Leader. He took command of 131 Squadron at Friston in October and led it until June 1945. He was then posted to command 607 Squadron in Burma, which he did until its disbandment at Mingaladon on 19th August 1945. Pegge was awarded a Bar to the DFC (gazetted 29th January 1946).

Staying on in the RAF post-war, Pegge was granted substantive promotion to Squadron Leader with effect from August 1947 and he was granted a permanent commission on 22nd June 1948. On 11th January 1949 he was one of the surviving Battle veterans that attended the unveiling of the Battle of Britain memorial window at the Rolls Royce Works Derby.

Pegge was killed on 9th May 1950 whilst flying in Meteor F4 VT234 of the Central Fighter Establishment, West Raynham. The aircraft flew into the Wash when descending in mist and fog whilst Pegge was flying as No.2 to a course pilot.

He was buried in East Raynham Churchyard on 16th June 1950.

And some model progress.

Sources I've found on the 'net suggest that 610 Squadron Spitfires were painted Sky Blue on the undersides--apparently a confusion with Sky, Type S as it was introduced in June/July of 1940.  I have some of this from Colourcoats--and I hope the new owner will find some retailers here in the US of A.

I masked the canopy with a combination of masking tape strips and Micro Mask liquid.  Installed it and painted it with MM's RAF Interior Green.

Painted the prop black, then masked the blades for the yellow tips.  But first I applied some white to back up the yellow.

Not much for progress, but it's going forward a little at a time!

As an afterthought, here's the plane.

Ken,

Sorry I haven't started on anything yet. I am in the middle of house packing for a move and ALL my kits are packed. I an really jonesin here. I can't wait to dig into that Fokker DR1. I still need to acquirer some decals for the Macchi and I will probably just buy a new Tamiya kit  for the "Moonbeam McSwine" 1/32 P-51. I am just not happy with that Hase kit.

Steve

CMK - looks like a great plan. I'll get you changed in a bit

Steve - not a problem Good luck on the move 

I always hated moving, but afterwards it was nice for the change of scenery 

Cut out masks today and applied them.

Then painted with Dark Green.  The Dark Earth and DG are from the old WEM Colourcoats paint.

CM,

I love the colors on that Spit. NICE!!!

Thanks, Brandon.  The Colourcoats RAF colo(u)rs are nice.  They are slightly different than MM's interpretation of them.

The bottom two have come out a little on the light side.  In normal viewing, the Dark Earth is more true to the first photo.

Would like to join in with an easy build, the Hasegawa P51D "American Aces" (1:48, #0979). I actually have two of these, will be building them at the same time, the other one for the "Mustang GB". Just OOB, nothing fancy, just a straight build as I unpack all my hobby stuff as I have relatively recently moved to a new house. I am not a "figure" guy, but this GB gives me the opportunity to try them figs. I have an old box of Hasegawa's WW2 pilot figure set, will pick one and give it a try.

For this GB, I will use the markings for Glenn Eagleston 353FS/354FG:

acepilots.com/.../eagleston.html

"Among the outstanding pilots of the 354th that winter were Glenn Eagleston and Jim Howard. On January 5, 1944, the 354th was covering bomber withdrawal from Kiel when they engaged a gaggle of Luftwaffe fighters. Flying at 23,000 feet, Eagleston caught an Fw 190 with a short burst, at 45 degrees of deflection. The e/a dove away steeply and Eagleston pursued. Both planes accelerated rapidly; the the German went into a violent, unrecoverable spin. Crashing into the ground, the Focke Wulf became Eagleston's first victory - which he might not even have hit with his machine gun fire. On the Kiel mission of Jan. 5, the Group claimed 18 enemy aircraft. Eagleston flew escort missions regularly that winter, and his score climbed: an ME-110 on Jan. 30, single ME-110's on both Feb. 21 and 22, and a Bf-109 on March 6, making him an ace."

Nose art & markings for his mount, the "Feeble Eagle":

Here is my contribution to the GB.  It's the Airfix Spitfire in 1/72.  The pilot figure is from Revell's RAF pilots set.

The plane and figure represent Pilot Officer C.O.J. Pegge, flying with 610 Squadron on 18 August, 1940--"the hardest day" in the Battle of Britain, because of the high rate of losses sustained by both the RAF and the Luftwaffe.

Originally, I planned the plane to be marked as DW-E, which is illustrated in Osprey's Spitfire Aces book.  However, according to the 610 Squadron website, PO Pegge was flying DW-F (R6694) that day.

Alfred Price's book The Hardest Day notes that 610 Squadron was unable to penetrate the Luftwaffe fighter screen that day, and could not reach the Heinkel 111 bombers dispatched to attack the airfield at Biggin Hill.

Pegge's DW-F was hit by fire from Me-109's, and when he landed, Pegge ran the aircraft into a bomb crater.  The plane was damaged but repaired.  Pegge was uninjured either by the enemy or the accident.

I used WEM's Colourcoats paint on the kit.  Sky Blue No. 1 was used on the undersurfaces since research indicates this is what 610 Squadron used instead of Sky, Type S, when transitioning from the former black/white undersides.

I used a dark blue pin wash on the undersides and a black pinwash over the topsides.  I didn't do any other weathering.

The Airfix kit decals were used throughout, except for the squadron codes.  These came from an old Modeldecal sheet.  Apparently this is now being produced by Xtradecal.

It was a challenge getting the "DW" to fit on the rear fuselage, behind the roundel.  I couldn't find any photos of DW-F, but photos of other 610 Squadron planes show that the letters were indeed placed there.

First up, then. some more photos of the plane.

Now, the plane with PO Pegge standing on the wing.

The Airfix kit really is a little jewel, and in most places goes together very well.

Thanks for hosting the GB, Ken.  It gave me the opportunity to do another Spitfire.

Your Welcome CMK, Any certain photo you want for the front page? If so, Let me know. I'll get it posted tonight