No. 198 Squadron Hawker Typhoon Mk. 1B

Lucky13 · Feb 9, 2010

Was visiting the Spruce Bros, seems that the Hasegawa '198 Squadron' has been sold....

Seems like that Ultracast is the way to go....

Vic Balshaw · Feb 10, 2010

Jan, I trolled through some of my books today and found these.
Pic 1. Puts a new prospective on NM526 with the Sqn code 'TP' in red lettering.
The rest are just for info which I hope will be of help.

:hotsun:

Wayne Little · Feb 10, 2010

Good one for ya Jan! look forward to it!

Lucky13 · Feb 10, 2010

Great stuff and cheers guys!

ellis995 · Feb 10, 2010

looking forward to this Jan, as i was/am thinking of getting one of these birds to build

.

Airframes · Feb 10, 2010

Nice stuff there Vic. However, I'd be vaery wary of the profile showing the red code letters, and I've already mentioned this to Jan.
Although there is a slim possibility that red codes might have been carried at one time, it's doubtful. This is something that has persisted sind the 1960's, with kits, decal sheets and profiles showing the red squadron codes, a yellow individual code letter, and, in some instances, a yellow spinner. The original codes were the standard Sky examples. When the AEAF stripes were painted around the fuselage on the evening of 5th June '44, the 'TP' squadron codes were covered, and smaller white characters were painted on the fin, with the individual code letter repeated on the nose, either near the camera gun port, or above the exhausts. The fuselage code letter remained, in Sky. Some aircraft also had the individual letter, in even smaller characters, alongside the squadron code on the fin.
When the upper fuselage and wing stripes were removed, in early July '44, the 'damaged' squadron codes were re-painted in Medium Sea Grey, probably because this (light) colour was more readily available in the field than Sky. Comparison of the tonal values of the codes, in B&W pictures with that of the red of the roundel and fin flash, show that there isn't even a near match, and that the tone of the codes does match the tone of the underside colour.
Hope this clarifies things !

Lucky13 · Feb 10, 2010

As it says, no evidence has ever been found on the red code letters with No. 198 squadron in July-August '44....

198sqdn

Airframes · Feb 10, 2010

Couldn't readily find the bit you mean Jan, but no problem.
I'm guessing the mythical red (and yellow) codes probably arose from an initial misinterpretation of colours, from a B&W print, by someone at some stage, in the 1960's, when a particular profile was produced to accompany an aftermarket decal sheet in 1/72nd scale - not such a common commodity as they are nowadays (I still have a copy of the profile!). This was continued with the colours being used, IIRC, on the decal sheet for the original Monogram 1/48th scale kit, in the late 1960's and, even on the front cover of the Squadron Signal 'Typhoon Tempest in Action', these spurious colours are shown. Presumably, generations of artists assumed the original erred information and presentation was correct. But, even a cursory examination of B&W photos of this aircraft shows that there is no way the codes are red, and are, indeed, Medium Sea Grey, plus the original Sky individual letter. Where the red spinner came from is anyones guess!
It's nothing new though - for a couple of decades at least, a particular Mustang (The Millie G) was shown as being painted overall red on the upper surfaces, and a kit was even issued, by Revell in the '60's, showing this on the box art, and the decal sheet. The actual colour should have been Olive Drab !!