Interesting Spitfire IX

[John1]

In my quest for what will be my next build, I've been thinking about the Tamiya Spit IX.   Problem is that I'm just not a fan of the standard Ocean Grey / Dark Green or the standard Desert scheme.   While surfing the net, I came across this Spitfire, based in Italy in 1944:

I think that might be a good subject.   Only question is on the finish.   Some references show all over NMF (or painted silver, I have no idea):

 

While others show NMF with a couple of panels in original paintwork.

Of the two options, I really like this version.   The nose panels really make for an off-beat appearance which is something I really enjoy replicating.   Does anyone have info on UF-Q?  Thoughts on which version is correct (although it's quite possible that the aircraft was 100% NMF and those camo panels were added later to replace the damage originals, so both profiles could be accurate).   Also, anyone have the "backstory" on why this aircraft would have had it's original camo stripped off?
 

Any thoughts on this are most welcome.   Also, any info on the Techmod decal sheet above (quality, availability, etc) would be quite useful. 

[Shoggz]

John, I must admit I was hoping you’d turn your attention to one of Tamiya’s Spits after your magnificent Mossie!

 

MJ250 in its hybrid NMF/camouflage guise as above is one of the marking options you get in the current Revell Mk.IX offering. I built it using other aftermarket alternatives, so I probably have these markings in my spares box. If I do, you would be welcome to them!

[GrahamF]

It's definitely painted over silver.

The camo you can see is where the paint has worn off, about this time in the war they were painting over with silver, some Tempest 5's had the same treatment.

Graham 

Edited November 28, 2020 by GrahamF

[dennismcc]

Here is an article on the subject from Britmodeller it also contains a link to another story on the same subject.

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234958500-spitfire-mj250-upper-camo-or-not/

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[GrahamF]

I'm unconvinced by the camo being left on theory, if you actually look at the photo of the line of demarcation at the back of the fuel tank its not following the split line plus at the front of the top cowling it appears to be silver. I think that being painted silver which is un-lacquered is very suseptical to fuel and oil. 

[Royboy]

Could also be a replacement cowling?

I've wondered about this one myself.

Interesting subject though!

[John1]

Thanks for the info guys.  It’s a tough call but I’m leaning towards the panels being left in their original colors, if nothing else than for the fact that they would have needed something to act as an anti-glare panel and the easiest solution would be to simply leave those components painted.  I’d still love to know why the squadron would have invested all that time and effort to strip off the paint from this aircraft.  Very late war, maybe, but supposedly the picture above was taken in 44.  Makes no sense. 
 

A few other questions - I saw a model of this aircraft and it had clipped wingtips. Any idea if this is correct?   Also, does the Tamiya kit come with the centerline bomb rack and the British style 500 lb bomb?

 

Regards,

 

John

Edited November 29, 2020 by John1

[alaninaustria]

I just finished building this exact Spit scheme - I do subscribe to the theory that they left the forward upper cowling in camouflage. The reason I believe this is as follows: as a pilot, you would not want a silver or natural metal finish ahead of the windscreen because of the problem of glare/reflection from the Sun’s rays and ambient light. That is why so many aircraft, both civilian and military have a dark color applied to the forward area. Just my thoughts on the matter...

Go for it, it’s a great scheme to complete,

Cheers

Alan

[alaninaustria]

7 hours ago, John1 said:

Thanks for the info guys... I’d still love to know why the squadron would have invested all that time and effort to strip off the paint from this aircraft...

A few other questions - I saw a model of this aircraft and it had clipped wingtips. Any idea if this is correct?  

Hi John, 

My take on that was because this aircraft operated along the eastern seaboard of Italy along the Adriadic coastline. Sometimes, in certain lighting conditions silver aircraft reflect as much light as the surface of the sea, making the natural metal or painted silver upper surface a good natural camouflage. The aircraft also flew ground support missions inland and perhaps the overall scheme was a bit of a dissimilar and disruptive scheme that suited the terrain well? Just a thought.  
I have seen photos of this aircraft showing clipped wingtips. I built this aircraft a few years ago using the Revell kit, so memory is a bit fuzzy - but, I believe there are only a couple of photos in existence of this specific aircraft.

 

Happy modeling!

Cheers

Alan

Edited November 29, 2020 by alaninaustria

[GrahamF]

 

[John1]

Thanks for all the helpful information guys.   Graham - that's a very interesting picture you posted.   My only question would be when it was taken?   As I understand it, the RAF started doing this either very late in the war or early post-war.  

 

Still would really like to get some info on whether UF-Q had clipped wings or not.    I know nothing at Spitfires.   Would the serial number allow this question to be answered?  

[John1]

22 hours ago, Shoggz said:

John, I must admit I was hoping you’d turn your attention to one of Tamiya’s Spits after your magnificent Mossie!

 

MJ250 in its hybrid NMF/camouflage guise as above is one of the marking options you get in the current Revell Mk.IX offering. I built it using other aftermarket alternatives, so I probably have these markings in my spares box. If I do, you would be welcome to them!

I'm pretty excited about this.   I've been getting a bit stressed as my Mossie build winds down because I don't have anything in the queue.   This fulfills all of my criteria for a build - an attractive aircraft, a unique, "odd-ball" paint scheme, a base kit that is of high quality but still allows for multiple upgrades and a subject that forces me to push my limits from a modeling perspective.   In this case, it will be replicating a weathered NMF.   I've never done this before (my Korean War F-51D was painted overall aluminum) so this is going to be interesting for sure.   

 

Shoggz - thank you very much for the gracious offer but I've ordered the Techmod decals above from Hannants.   Whilst on this subject, does anyone have first hand knowledge of these decals?   Just curious how the rate from a quality standpoint. 

[Kagemusha]

Regards bomb rack, Derek B produced an excellent rendition, you could ask if he has any left, there is one in the HobbyBoss V kits if that fails. It looks like it has the wing tip light fairing, so full span, and for bombs, finally the codes look like they're red, as per this profile;

 

[John1]

25 minutes ago, Kagemusha said:

Regards bomb rack, Derek B produced an excellent rendition, you could ask if he has any left, there is one in the HobbyBoss V kits if that fails. It looks like it has the wing tip light fairing, so full span, and for bombs, finally the codes look like they're red, as per this profile;

 

Thanks very much!   Regarding the codes - all of the other profiles I've seen show them in black, as do the Techmod and Revel decals.  I'll have to dive into this further.   Out of curiosity, anyone know of any other aftermarket decal sets that offer UF-Q with red codes?

 

Regards,

 

John

[Kagemusha]

You could ask someone to make you some masks, the Eduard 1/48 kit had both black and red codes, different aircraft, but...

 

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