more camo scheme and markings on Battle of Britain Spitfires

 

Unfortunately most Battle of Britain Spitfires carry 'standard' camo and markings that can be a little less interesting than pre-war or even post-BoB machines. R6623 from 64 Squadron was an exception. Flown by Flight Sergeant Jack Mann from RAF Kenley it is seen here in the scheme it wore on 12 August 1940 when he shot down a Bf 109 E and again the 14th when he damaged another. 

Note SH-Q's odd roundel and fin flash colours and the oddly proportioned roundel and fin flash which are also a lighter color of blue than the aircraft in the background.  The 'Q' also appears to be somewhat smaller  than the 'SH' codes. This was the 712th Spitfire built, delivered on 22 May 1940. She is very much a standard looking aircraft with the exception of the rear view mirror as noted above. Her lower surfaces were painted Sky, most likely obliterating all stencil data. This aircraft survived the Battle of Britain to eventually become an advanced trainer. and was lost in a mid-air collision in 1944.

Note that No. 64 Sqn's Spit Mk Is the squadron codes are aft of the roundel on both fuselage sides, possibly as a throwback to their brief time on Blenheims, as the squadron codes wouldn't fit ahead of the roundel. " I've even seen this carried through to some Mk Vs. I think that No. 234 Sqn did the same.." (research by Peter 'Basilisk' and Mark 'Lasermonkey').

A 64 Squadron Spitfire at Kenley during the Battle of Britain. Still from British Pathe Newsreel.

421 Flight was formed for the purpose of tracking and reporting on incoming raids approaching the UK the unit was commanded by Flight Lieutenant Charles Green, and flew out of RAF Hawkinge, Kent during November 1940. The Flight's aircraft retained the LZ code of 66 Squadron from whom it was formed, but added an additional small dash between the two letters, hence the reference to this aircraft as L-Z-I. Having originally served as part of dive testing at RAE Farnborough and then as L-Z-I as represented here, P7531 was passed to 91 Squadron in January 1941 when 421 Flight was expanded to become a full Squadron. Unfortunately only a rather poor picture exists of P7531.

Spitfire of 602 Sqn ace Pilot Officer Osgood Hanbury, who claimed a Bf 110 near Beachy Head on 15 September 1940, half a Ju 88 over Tangmere on 21 September and a 2nd Ju 88 on 30 September near Selsey-Bembridge at the controls of this machine. In December, the aircraft was passed to No 610 Squadron for a few month before becoming an OTU aircraft. It was struck off charge in January 1945. Markings featured the non-standard leading edge finish and a possible 'emblem' beneath the cockpit....my model build of this machine is here

 

54 Sqn machine KL-T was flown by Colin Gray and is shown "somewhere in Essex, 1940". The camouflage and marking scheme, along with the condition of the aircraft, date the photographs sometime between March and May 1940.

Colin Gray was a New Zealander with Grey flying as wingman to Deere and his KL-B. Both were Mk.I's with the Black/White underside markings. Gray went on to be NZ's highest scoring ace with 27 1/2 victories & only retired from the RAF in 1961.

54 Squadron Spitfire I's featured the more rounded spinner of the Rotol Constant Speed prop and bullet proof windscreens.

Also on this blog;

More on 19 Sqn Spitfires, Duxford 1938-1939

Duxford Battle of Britain airshow September 2025 - Hurricane!

some nice images of just some of the Spitfires and Hurricanes at the show courtesy of Jarek Rozanski. Now a lot of people had a wonderful time at the show and saw a number of rare visitors from Europe despite the cancellations. But an entry ticket cost £54 per person with added parking. The public days at Paris Le Bourget were just 18 euros by way of comparison. So I am grateful to Jarek and others who have posted some marvellous images from the show. And I wish that I had been there, despite the price of admission!

Airfix new tool Spitfire Tr. 9 twin seater 'DB-E' Elizabeth - Aero Legends, Headcorn, Kent

 

" Absolute genius idea by the Airfix marketing department - not only one of arguably the most popular type of aircraft in many scales that Airfix have ever produced , but now also tied in to a model that many people have been lucky enough to take a flight in , and can now build that model... Take a bow Airfix..

As seen on the Airfix stand at the Hailsham show earlier this month along with some pictures taken by Ben Lavender, Aero Legends volunteer and East Kent Modeller, of the two Tr.9s operated by Aero Legends from Headcorn airfield in Kent with 'Parky' Parkinson, Aero Legends senior Spitfire pilot signing one of Ben's photographs. Incidentally 'DB-E' Elizabeth does not feature on the Airfix decal sheet apparently but will be available soon as a decal option (Xtradecal IIRC) A single click to view full screen..

Aero Legends Battle of Britain air display, Headcorn aerodrome, Kent, 25-27 June

 

Went to an air display this weekend - something we might have taken for granted up until 15 months ago, now seems rather exotic. The crowds were out in force at Headcorn - in fact you have to wonder how Aero Legends manage to do this - putting on a 3-day event -when everybody else cancels. Shame about the weather on the Friday; especially as it forced the Red Arrows to 'curtail' their display - it was very grey and drizzled intermittently throughout the day. Saturday was much better, with warm and sunny conditions. There were still plenty of highlights - five Spits and a Buchon in formation, nine Spitfires and a Hurricane on the flight line, two C-47s airborne alongside a B-17, the aerobatics of a Bucker Jungmann and the magnificent finale as 10 Spitfires (yes, 10!!) were scrambled one after the other to chase a marauding Bf 109 attacking the aerodrome. (Buchon). On the Saturday Sqn Leader Mike 'disco' Discombe at the controls of the BBMF Spitfire XVI (TE 311) absolutely stole the show with a magnificent exhibition of display flying. Photos courtesy of myself and friends - Sonja Bailey, Ashley Paine, Martin Davenport..(Below; Alison Jane Miles photo..)

Jay Geer images of the Buchon caught by the Spit and Mike Discombe in the BBMF Mk XV (taken on the Saturday of the show..)

Two more from Jay Geer!

Ashley Paine G-IRTY and Harvard

here's 39 minutes of video footage by 'Bannistator' - a little shaky but didn't detract from my enjoyment! Otherwise click forward to minute 35 and the massed Spitfire finale!

 

new 1:32nd scale Revell Spitfire IXc - build review (4)

 we have had a bit of a torrid time here in the UK with a week of +30 C temps in Kent - far too hot for modelling. Fortunately we are close to the sea so the breeze has helped a little, but even that got hot! Not much progress on the Spitfire, but at least it has some paint on it. The first 32nd build on this blog ..and to be honest it is hard work - every flaw, whether mine or the kit's - magnified. Picked up a cheap copy of Brendon Deere's beautiful book 'Spitfire - return to flight' at the Kent Battle of Britain museum in Hawkinge, so now thinking of finishing the model in the colours of Al Deere's PV 270 and doing my own painted-on markings, especially as the kit decals are so poor. (the codes are green!). We'll see..

new 1:32nd scale Revell Spitfire IXc - build review in-box first look (3)

Another sunny day in the garden on the south coast of England. Starting to look like a Spitfire. Getting the wings on was a real pain though - much fettling and filing and then a bit of filling - taking care not to 'flatten' out the dihedral which to be honest isn't great in the first place. Note that the post-war wheel bulges molded into the kit upper wings have been filed smooth as they were not present on wartime Spits.

The wheels on this Mk.IX are much better than those on the earlier Revell MK II on which this kit is obviously based. Note that this new Mk.IX kit has a new fuselage, propeller, wing and rudder parts included as well as an extra radiator. The windscreen is new and fits well, see previous post. The horizontal tail planes are the originals and need to be cut down to fit the later style elevators. There is a 'pointy' rudder in the box and a clipped wing option too. The view of the lower surfaces below shows that the radiator baths are just 'scabbed' onto the underside of the wing with no attempt to make the proper intake and outlet. Consequently the radiator matrix is around half depth and is not subdivided to include the oil cooler part. But then this is almost a quarter of the price of the Tamiya kit or in this case - a fifth!

Go here to see the finished model