ajd3530
Airman
Username : ajd3530
First name : Alex
Category : Novice
Scale : 1/48
Manufacturer / Model : Tamiya Spitfire Mk. Vb (Trop)
Extras : Superscale #48-826
The kit is from a bundle of bagged Tamiya/Hasegawa/Academy kits I won on EBay a few years ago for super cheap. I'll be building it straight up, aside from the SuperScale decals, and possibly some homemade harnesses.
The subject will be a Mk. Vb/c?? (More on that in a bit) from the 31st FG, 309 FS WZ*B depicted in Superscale "American Spitfire" release #48-826
At first glance, one would think the obvious choice from this sheet would be the straight up menacing shark mouth option from the 307th FS. But the 309th option has the unique scheme of RAF green and a color that is very specifically NOT stated as mid-stone, simply called brown. Now this option is from very late '43 when the 31st FG was flying out of Pomigliano, a captured Regia Aeronautica facality near Naples. With that in mind, I believe it isn't a stretch of the imagination that the "brown" color is some sort of Italian color leftover from the previous tenants.
There are a few theories I have about the abnormal paint scheme:
1. The month of October in 1943, to my understanding, was extremely wet in the Naples region, so I don't believe it is too much of a stretch that with the large rainfall totals, the vegetation had became very lush and green, therefore a departure from the dark earth/mid stone scheme was advantageous.
2. The only photo documentation I have Of this particular aircraft is of it tipping on its nose during rollout in early '43 while in Algeria. So during its rebuild, maybe a new scheme was painted on.
3. The 31st FG began to reequip with Mk. VIII and Mk. IX spitfires in late spring of '43. The Mk. Vbs they had been using were first assigned to them in June '42. So by December of '43, the Mk. Vs that remainded had seen nearly a year and half of combat, in quite rough condition of Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Malta, and Sicily. So possibly, it just needed new paint.
4. Irregular paint schemes on American aircraft in Italy weren't unheard of, like this P-40F from early '44.
And the the whole Mk. V b or c debate. The Tamiya kit is obviously a B. The decal instructions say that the aircraft are Cs. But in the stencil diagram, it shows a mashup of features from both B and C wings. And also, the 309th FG was originally equipped in June 1942 with Mk. Vbs, and then started recieving Mk. IXs in May/June of 1943. And I haven't been able to find anything saying that their original Mk. Vbs were ever replaced with C wing versions. So, maybe Superscale just got that part wrong?
Any which way, I'm going to depict this model as an interestingly painted Mk. Vb from December 1943, near Naples.
First name : Alex
Category : Novice
Scale : 1/48
Manufacturer / Model : Tamiya Spitfire Mk. Vb (Trop)
Extras : Superscale #48-826
The kit is from a bundle of bagged Tamiya/Hasegawa/Academy kits I won on EBay a few years ago for super cheap. I'll be building it straight up, aside from the SuperScale decals, and possibly some homemade harnesses.
The subject will be a Mk. Vb/c?? (More on that in a bit) from the 31st FG, 309 FS WZ*B depicted in Superscale "American Spitfire" release #48-826
At first glance, one would think the obvious choice from this sheet would be the straight up menacing shark mouth option from the 307th FS. But the 309th option has the unique scheme of RAF green and a color that is very specifically NOT stated as mid-stone, simply called brown. Now this option is from very late '43 when the 31st FG was flying out of Pomigliano, a captured Regia Aeronautica facality near Naples. With that in mind, I believe it isn't a stretch of the imagination that the "brown" color is some sort of Italian color leftover from the previous tenants.
There are a few theories I have about the abnormal paint scheme:
1. The month of October in 1943, to my understanding, was extremely wet in the Naples region, so I don't believe it is too much of a stretch that with the large rainfall totals, the vegetation had became very lush and green, therefore a departure from the dark earth/mid stone scheme was advantageous.
2. The only photo documentation I have Of this particular aircraft is of it tipping on its nose during rollout in early '43 while in Algeria. So during its rebuild, maybe a new scheme was painted on.
3. The 31st FG began to reequip with Mk. VIII and Mk. IX spitfires in late spring of '43. The Mk. Vbs they had been using were first assigned to them in June '42. So by December of '43, the Mk. Vs that remainded had seen nearly a year and half of combat, in quite rough condition of Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Malta, and Sicily. So possibly, it just needed new paint.
4. Irregular paint schemes on American aircraft in Italy weren't unheard of, like this P-40F from early '44.
And the the whole Mk. V b or c debate. The Tamiya kit is obviously a B. The decal instructions say that the aircraft are Cs. But in the stencil diagram, it shows a mashup of features from both B and C wings. And also, the 309th FG was originally equipped in June 1942 with Mk. Vbs, and then started recieving Mk. IXs in May/June of 1943. And I haven't been able to find anything saying that their original Mk. Vbs were ever replaced with C wing versions. So, maybe Superscale just got that part wrong?
Any which way, I'm going to depict this model as an interestingly painted Mk. Vb from December 1943, near Naples.
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