Thanks, guys. I'm anxious to get the camo started to see how it will look over the pre-shading. Today it's too cool to be out on the patio shooting paint so I may have to wait a couple of days before applying color. In the meantime I should probably clean my airbrush.

Frank: I like the pre-shading too. Looking forward to the final results. 

fotofrank

Spitfire Mk VIII update: Sprayed the MM enamel primer the other day. Today I did some pre-shading. Since these Spitfires operated in North Africa and Italy I'm sure the paint was pretty well sun bleached. I dusted the upper surfaces with Tamiya Flat White thinned 4/1. Then I preshaded the panel lines with Tamiya Rubber Black. I hope the color difference shows up well under the two-color desert camouflage.

 

Harold

Spitfire Mk VIII update: Sprayed the MM enamel primer the other day. Today I did some pre-shading. Since these Spitfires operated in North Africa and Italy I'm sure the paint was pretty well sun bleached. I dusted the upper surfaces with Tamiya Flat White thinned 4/1. Then I preshaded the panel lines with Tamiya Rubber Black. I hope the color difference shows up well under the two-color desert camouflage.

jgeratic

Wish it were that straight forward, but working backwards from his last mission, was able to find several entries for the month of November 1944.  See beginning with file no. 4 listed here (after clicking 'preview an image of this record'):

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8389809

October and September, Schopp is not on any of the 153 Sqn roster lists.  This might mean he was indeed with another squadron before November '44, but which one?   That is a lot of fighter units to consider, even if you take out the auxiliary ones.

regards,

Jack

 

Harold

Wish it were that straight forward, but working backwards from his last mission, was able to find several entries for the month of November 1944.  See beginning with file no. 4 listed here (after clicking 'preview an image of this record'):

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8389809

October and September, Schopp is not on any of the 153 Sqn roster lists.  This might mean he was indeed with another squadron before November '44, but which one?   That is a lot of fighter units to consider, even if you take out the auxiliary ones.

regards,

Jack

jgeratic

It's easily possible he was a fighter pilot with another squadron during the period before transferring to bombers.  In 1940,  Canada had the lone fighter squadron operational as no.1 RCAF Squadron (Hurricane).  But Canadian pilots were also posted to many RAF Squadrons.

In March 1941, no.1 RCAF become number 401.  Henceforth, all RCAF fighter squadrons were numbered in the 4XX range.  Canadians though, would contiue to fill rosters of RAF squadrons as well, some even becoming squadron leaders of RAF units.

But 153 Squadron is interesting because they began the war as a fighter unit, flying Defiants, followed by Bristol Beaufighter types.  Is it not possible your uncle was stationed with this unit right from the start?

 

regards,

Jack

 

It appears 153 Squadron had Defiant, Beaufighter, Hurricane and Spitfire planes before they transitioned to Lancaster bombers. Thank you Jack, you very possibly have solved a bit of missing history for my family.

Harold

It's easily possible he was a fighter pilot with another squadron during the period before transferring to bombers.  In 1940,  Canada had the lone fighter squadron operational as no.1 RCAF Squadron (Hurricane).  But Canadian pilots were also posted to many RAF Squadrons.

In March 1941, no.1 RCAF become number 401.  Henceforth, all RCAF fighter squadrons were numbered in the 4XX range.  Canadians though, would contiue to fill rosters of RAF squadrons as well, some even becoming squadron leaders of RAF units.

But 153 Squadron is interesting because they began the war as a fighter unit, flying Defiants, followed by Bristol Beaufighter types.  Is it not possible your uncle was stationed with this unit right from the start?

regards,

Jack

jgeratic

An RCAF pilot's badge, now that would explain the curve visible along the bottom.

On a whim, I thought of trying to find a serial for an aircraft flown by your uncle, but the online diares for 242 Squadron have no listing for Schopp during the first six months of 1941?

 

regards,

Jack

 

Below is a link to some additional information about his location prior to 1944; however, it is not 100% accurate. Uncle Harold was born in 1918, was trained as a pilot in Canada and arrived in England or the U.K. in late 1940 or early 1941. He was a Flight Sergeant Pilot as evident by his picture and age at time of enlistment. We know he was not killed in Germany; he was killed in a mid-air collision over Leon, France returning from Ulm, German. He was not living in the U.S. at the time of enlistment, he was living in Canada with his Uncle Poole's family in Nova Scotia.

http://www.inportercounty.org/Data/Military/WWIIList/SchoppHaroldHarrison.html

Harold

An RCAF pilot's badge, now that would explain the curve visible along the bottom.

On a whim, I thought of trying to find a serial for an aircraft flown by your uncle, but the online diares for 242 Squadron have no listing for Schopp during the first six months of 1941?

regards,

Jack

Ye, that does look like a crown above the wings, and its hard to tell, but i think i can make out the C behind the RAF.

So your Uncle must have been based at RAF Coltishall in 1940 i take it.

Frank: Looks good!!! 

Harold: Interesting story about your uncle's service- thanks for sharing with us. No idea about the underside colour- it all confuses me.  

jgeratic

Hello Harold, yes I do believe I can make out the crown part of the badge in your uncle's photo, though it seems a bit different style.   I find it difficult to make out the RAF logo surrounded by the wreath?

Concerning the paint colour of the spinner and fuselage band, as mandated these should be the same as the undersides - Sky Type S.  Past threads on the subject over at Britmodeller has the hivemind in a bit of debate as to what they are seeing in photographs.   The spinner was suppose to have been pre-painted at the facility where they were made, before shipping off to aircraft manufacturing plants.  Fuselage bands were also painted at aircraft assembly, before delivering to squadrons.

regards,

Jack

 

Regarding my Uncle's wings. After I posted a picture of him I realized that he never left the Royal Canadian Air Force. His service number changed when he was commissioned to Flying Officer, but he was always in the Royal Canadian Air Force as evident by his casualty notice.

Therefore his wings would be slightly different than those of an RAF pilot as shown below.

Hello Harold, yes I do believe I can make out the crown part of the badge in your uncle's photo, though it seems a bit different style.   I find it difficult to make out the RAF logo surrounded by the wreath?

Concerning the paint colour of the spinner and fuselage band, as mandated these should be the same as the undersides - Sky Type S.  Past threads on the subject over at Britmodeller has the hivemind in a bit of debate as to what they are seeing in photographs.   The spinner was suppose to have been pre-painted at the facility where they were made, before shipping off to aircraft manufacturing plants.  Fuselage bands were also painted at aircraft assembly, before delivering to squadrons.

regards,

Jack

jgeratic

Bader's Spitfire P7966 definitely should have the Sky Type S undersides.  Now the spinner and fuselage band should be this same paint, but it's not the first time I've seen model instruction/artwork suggesting a lighter blue. 

Could be just fresh paint or lighting creating the difference between undersides and band colours.  Will do some further searches about this ...

 

regards,

Jack

 

Harold

Bader's Spitfire P7966 definitely should have the Sky Type S undersides.  Now the spinner and fuselage band should be this same paint, but it's not the first time I've seen model instruction/artwork suggesting a lighter blue. 

Could be just fresh paint or lighting creating the difference between undersides and band colours.  Will do some further searches about this ...

regards,

Jack

jgeratic

Hello Harold, just your luck you chose the RAF period of 1940 when the underside colour scheme went through a number of changes.   This is a good primer here:

https://boxartden.com/reference/gallery/index.php/Camouflage-Markings/Supermarine-Spitfire

Basically, during the first week of June, a new underside colour was issued, known as Sky Type S.   Prior to this, it was the half night(black) and white scheme.  

There was a shortage of this new paint, so fighter squadrons began applying different colours that may have been considered acceptable matches.  Some mixed their own paints, or acquiring paints that looked similar - or by way of verbal expression seemed to match by description like "duck egg blue".   By end of August or early September 1940, it's considered the majority of fighters sported the proper paint.

 

So which squadron and time frame are you looking at?

 

regards,

Jack

 

Harold

Hello Harold, just your luck you chose the RAF period of 1940 when the underside colour scheme went through a number of changes.   This is a good primer here:

https://boxartden.com/reference/gallery/index.php/Camouflage-Markings/Supermarine-Spitfire

Basically, during the first week of June, a new underside colour was issued, known as Sky Type S.   Prior to this, it was the half night(black) and white scheme.  

There was a shortage of this new paint, so fighter squadrons began applying different colours that may have been considered acceptable matches.  Some mixed their own paints, or acquiring paints that looked similar - or by way of verbal expression seemed to match by description like "duck egg blue".   By end of August or early September 1940, it's considered the majority of fighters sported the proper paint.

So which squadron and time frame are you looking at?

regards,

Jack

I am having difficulty identifying some of the Vallejo colors to use on my Spitfire Mk-IIa. I was able to identify the Dark Earth Brown and Dark Green, but the two shades of light blue have me confused.

The first picture below is from my Eduards instruction booklet that shows what color to use for the band of light blue at the rear of the fuselage. It is 'Light Bluegreen, H417, C117 and MMP 051' The other light blue color is used underneath the wings and fuselage. It is 'Sky, H74, C368, MMP 080'.

I am not familiar with Eduards color codes, can someone help me identify the correct Vallejo match for the two light blue colors?

Below is the color chart from my Vallejo paint set. It has two options for underneath the wings and fuselage. Either 'Eau Nil "D.E. Green" or Duck Egg Blue'. Duck Egg Blue is Vallejo #71.404, and it is only available in their paint set. I have Vallejo #71.302 Sky Type S which looks similar, but I am not sure it is the same as Duck Egg Blue.

Looking good frank.

Having nice weather this week so time to paint. Shot primer on the Spit Mk VIII this morning and all the various fiddley parts as well. Used Model Master gray enamel primer thinned 2/1. It'll sit for a day before I do some pre-shading then on to the BoB camouflage.

Bobby: That's some fine lookin' work!!! Kudos sir!!!

John: I know the feeling there. The F-51D I did for John 3:16's Korean War GB I'd cemented the wings together and THEN noticed I needed to drill out the rocket mounting holes from the inside. So I carefully pried them back apart. Thankfully they only broke at one point.

Bish: Thanks! Will take that under consideration. Piers already corrected me on the date, I'm getting more and more horrible about remembering dates for stuff... (sigh).

Good looking build Bobbie! The Spit has such great lines, Don't care for the cliped wing version though.

John, I've never done that before  That happened with my Swordfish build. I spent hours and lost much hair trying to get the IP set through the nose 

Thats was lucky John, at least you only had to remove a small piece.

Nicely done Bobby, and first to finish. Thats a good looking build there, and nice to seeing you trying out a base. Cheers mate.

I'm in a holding pattern with the Wellesley until the resin engine and the vac canopy set arrive, but I was looking in the box and saw that the instrument panel was still in it.  Well, that's good because it's better than it being lost, but I had already glued the fuselage together.  So I had to do what you see in the picture below.  It's all back together now, but sheesh...

Thank you guys!  This was a fun kit to build.  It had a few fit issues but nothing bad and the sheme was fun to do.  Here it is all finished!  Bish....thank you so much for hosting yet another great GB!  I look forward to doing the Mess. GB next!  I leave the final pic for posting up to you sir.  Enjoy!

Nice looking spitfire and the prop looks better then mine too

Coming on nicely there Bobby, you have made quick work of that.