Experimenting with Nobi's free Spitfire IXc 1:48

[birder]

Oh, no intelligence on my part, just built a spit with similar marking, very happy to assist in yours, great aircraft.

[Leif Ohlsson]

Just as I thought I had really put the finishing touch on my three versons of the Spitfire, another issue appeared. It concerns the order of the insignia letters on the right hand fuselage side for the ZX-6 version.

Here's the problem:

Look at the first two pictures. They illustrate my FY-F version, which is the 1942 camouflage in dark green, dark sea grey, and medium sea grey. I know for sure that the orders of the letters on the right hand side is correct, both from the authoritative drawing I am using, and from photos. See also photo of ZX-O in similar camouflage, which retains the same order.

Note that the "FY"-section of the insignia, as well as the "F"-section, retains their postions on the fuselage, "FY" at the front, and "F" at the rear. No problems so far.

Now study the second two images. They illustrate ZX-6 such as Nobi in principle has modelled it (although I have made slight changes in position and shape of the letters). This positioning is in accordance with what other authoritative modellers have used (see the plastic model next to my sheet).

This is my problem: This positioning represents another principle altogether, with the "ZX" section moving to the aft on the right hand side, and the "6" moving forward. I have seen the principle represented in other cases as well, all of them (I think) on the older camouflage of dark green, dark earth, and sky.

What is correct here? I want to know, since ideally it would be much more easy to place the insignia for ZX-6 in the same way as FY-F. This is illustrated in the last image.

But I suppose this is wrong.

Any enlightenment to be had?

Leif

[looker]

FY and ZX were the squadron codes and would stay together on one side or other of the roundel. F and 6 were the identfiers for individual aircraft within the squadron and would be on the other side of the roundel. Practice varied widely and whether the squadron code came in front of or after the roundel and whether it did so on both sides of the aircraft or not can only be known for sure if you have photos of both sides of the same airframe taken at the same time. The positions were not related to the camo scheme on the aircraft. The squadrons code could be changed from time to time, for security or other reasons. The aircraft identifiers could be passed to replacement airframes.

[pahorace]

Perhaps it is already known?
http://www.spitfiresite.com/photos/h...0Mk.%20IX.html
Regards

Orazio

[Fozzy The Bear]

Very nice work Leif.

You do know that if you want to make a file available here, that you can add it to the downloads section rather than attaching it to a post. Then just add the link to it into your post.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

[Leif Ohlsson]

Thanks Julian!

Jason is working on that, helping me out - it doesn't seem to work very well right now, at least not from my place. If you want a sneak preview, go here.

The ones prepared for uploading here is even a little bit better, since at this site I can incorporate the victory marks painted below the canopy...

Eagerly waiting for that.

Leif

[Leif Ohlsson]

While we are waiting for the downloads to appear also on this site, I would like to thank you for the help and input received. The query about the placement of insignia specifically for ZX-6 resulted in some very interesting facts & rare photos over at Kartonbau.de, too. If you are interested, it is well worth reading. See this post at Kartonbau.de (entirely in English).

If you continue reading you will come upon a most interesting article in Polish magazine Lotnictwo (Flight), arguing very convincingly that Stanislaw Skalkis ZX-6 aircraft in Tunisia may have had a completely different colour scheme from the rest of the "Skalki Circus" outfit, namely the pre-1941 scheme of dark green, dark earth, and sky (underneath). The article is translated in full into English.

This article naturally made me want to attempt that colour scheme as well. I got permission to use artist Robert Grudzien's absolutely stunning paintings of the two colour schemes as part of the reworked model. These are so good, and it is such a generous offer, that I cannot but offer them also as a separate item. They are attached below, exactly as they came to me from Robert Grudzien.

Note that these beautiful paintings can very well be printed on a long sheet of paper and framed!

[Don Boose]

This has become a fascinating thread, Leif. Many thanks to Robert Grudzien for allowing his magnificent paintings to be reproduced here. And thanks to you for the link to the Kartonbau discussion, Leif. What a wealth of information!

Don

[looker]

What a wealth of information!

Unfortunately some of it none too accurate. Amongst other things the Mk V did not enter service until February 1941 with No 92 Squadron, a few months after the Battle of Britain which was fought with the Mks I and II. The Mk IX entered service in July 1942. The Mark numbers were not in full chronological order and since total Mk V production was 6,487 the 5656 Mk IX built made it the second most numerous variant of Spitfire produced. With 1,658 built the Mk VIII, the third most numerous variant, certainly should not be dismissed as a "special model".
Anyone else confused by the spitfire variants is recommended to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Spitfire_variants and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superma...iants_part_two which give a good compressed account of Spitfire variants and their service use.

[Fozzy The Bear]

Originally Posted by Leif Ohlsson

Note that these beautiful paintings can very well be printed on a long sheet of paper and framed!

WOW! those are really stunning Leif..... Please thank the artist for his generosity.

Are they originally digital (ie created using a computer) or are they traditional artwork?? looking closely at them I'm kind of thinking they were created in a computer. Such skill to have them look that real.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)