Ayovan Posted September 17 Share Posted September 17 (edited) I had originally wanted to do this build for the Out Of Africa GB, but...got shot down! . George Beurling was Canada's top scoring ace of WWII with 32 victories. 27 of those were achieved over Malta in just 14 days I'll use the Hobby Boss Mk Vb trop kit with a fair amount of AM to depict one of Beurling's spitfires from Malta in 1942. Edited September 18 by Ayovan Isar 30/07, MikeMaben, LSP_Kevin and 12 others 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Palimaka Posted September 17 Share Posted September 17 Good choice, looking forward to this build. Richard Mark P and Ayovan 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loic Posted September 18 Share Posted September 18 (edited) Welcome to the GB ! That’s a nice choice indeed. Can’t wait to see you start! Edited September 18 by Loic Ayovan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennismcc Posted September 18 Share Posted September 18 Nice choice, I built two of those a while ago and enjoyed the process, the HPH detail set is really good. Cheers Dennis Ayovan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayovan Posted September 18 Author Share Posted September 18 13 hours ago, dennismcc said: Nice choice, I built two of those a while ago and enjoyed the process, the HPH detail set is really good. Cheers Dennis The kit does look nice, even though it's still on the sprues. The HPH set has a few parts in it that look interesting enough, but I was more interested in it for the canopy and windscreen mostly. Actually I think you pointed that out to me a while back Dennis. Thanks for the tip. dennismcc 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayovan Posted September 18 Author Share Posted September 18 (edited) This profile shows a "C" wing, but everything I can find on EP706 says it was a "B" wing. Edited September 19 by Ayovan Mark P, Phantom2, Uncarina and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradG Posted September 19 Share Posted September 19 Ihave the same kit and was thinking about getting the HPH replacements parts, as you say, mainly for the internally armoured windscreen etc. Ayovan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark P Posted September 19 Share Posted September 19 (edited) Beurlings aircraft lacked a padded headrest as photos indicate. That small detail incorporated into the profile. Nice! Mark Proulx Edited September 19 by Mark P Ayovan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark P Posted September 19 Share Posted September 19 Looking forward to the inevitable discussion abut the colors of Malta Spitfires! Mark Proulx dennismcc and Ayovan 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayovan Posted September 19 Author Share Posted September 19 (edited) 1 hour ago, Mark P said: Looking forward to the inevitable discussion abut the colors of Malta Spitfires! Mark Proulx For EP706 I've seen profiles for the topside in desert camouflage of dark earth/middlestone with azure blue underside, and also overall topside in dark sea grey with azure blue underside. Im looking for dates of these 2 color schemes, as I suspect it's time relevant. I found a date showing desert camo of September 1942, but have not found anything indicating when the dark sea grey was applied. Edited September 19 by Ayovan Gazzas and Uncarina 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayovan Posted 7 hours ago Author Share Posted 7 hours ago On Brit modellers there is a post that lead me to Colour Conundrum Compendium no.1 by Paul Lucas. I found the book at Sprue Bros. and have it ordered. From the Brit Modeller post and what other have quoted from the book, EP706 was delivered to Malta aboard HMS Furious, for Operation Bellows (July 29-August 11 1942). Lucas sights 2 eyewitnesses as to those planes being painted in factory applied desert camouflage while aboard HMS Furious. I have more homework to do, but I think this seems to be a fairly good indication of the colors for EP706 in the time frame I want to depict it in. Andy Gazzas 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayovan Posted 6 hours ago Author Share Posted 6 hours ago On 9/19/2023 at 7:51 AM, Mark P said: Beurlings aircraft lacked a padded headrest as photos indicate. That small detail incorporated into the profile. Nice! Mark Proulx Where did you find photos? I have only found a couple photos of the airplane, but they are from an angle and distance that I can't see the cockpit. That would be an interesting detail to see. Gazzas 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dpgsbody55 Posted 3 hours ago Share Posted 3 hours ago If I may, I've checked a couple of my books. According to the Morgan/Shacklady tome on the Spitfire, almost all EP series planes were F Mk.Vb equipped with a Merlin 46, and this includes EP706. Brian Cauchi's book on Malta Spitfires also states that EP706 was a Mk.Vb. Perhaps the greatest difficulty with this build is to identify the correct colours. Malta Spitfires are a minefield. Most left England in the standard desert scheme of dark earth, middle stone top camo and azure blue undersides. This was hated on the Malta front as it stood out far too much. Many were repainted on the way out to Malta, having the middle stone areas overpainted in what is most likely US intermediate blue. Some were also completely painted topside with this colour. These were the planes brought out on US carriers. Later planes may have had the same areas overpainted in extra dark sea grey. You could probably write a book on this subject alone, and thankfully Brian Cauchi has. I would treat any profile of this plane being depicted in dark earth/middle stone camo with great suspicion. It probably left Britain with that colour scheme, but is likely to have been repainted either in transit or on arrival ion Malta. Mr Cauchi's book shows a profile of a similar 249 squadron Mk.Vb painted overall dark Mediterranean blue with azure undersides. In the absence of anything else, I'd go with that. Hope I haven't muddied the waters. Michael Ayovan and Gazzas 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayovan Posted 3 hours ago Author Share Posted 3 hours ago 5 minutes ago, Dpgsbody55 said: If I may, I've checked a couple of my books. According to the Morgan/Shacklady tome on the Spitfire, almost all EP series planes were F Mk.Vb equipped with a Merlin 46, and this includes EP706. Brian Cauchi's book on Malta Spitfires also states that EP706 was a Mk.Vb. Perhaps the greatest difficulty with this build is to identify the correct colours. Malta Spitfires are a minefield. Most left England in the standard desert scheme of dark earth, middle stone top camo and azure blue undersides. This was hated on the Malta front as it stood out far too much. Many were repainted on the way out to Malta, having the middle stone areas overpainted in what is most likely US intermediate blue. Some were also completely painted topside with this colour. These were the planes brought out on US carriers. Later planes may have had the same areas overpainted in extra dark sea grey. You could probably write a book on this subject alone, and thankfully Brian Cauchi has. I would treat any profile of this plane being depicted in dark earth/middle stone camo with great suspicion. It probably left Britain with that colour scheme, but is likely to have been repainted either in transit or on arrival ion Malta. Mr Cauchi's book shows a profile of a similar 249 squadron Mk.Vb painted overall dark Mediterranean blue with azure undersides. In the absence of anything else, I'd go with that. Hope I haven't muddied the waters. Michael Muddied the waters? Oh no... I can see clearly now. Gazzas 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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