Sunday, November 13, 2011

Silver Primer

Besides visting some old airplanes, Mr. Knights forced me at X-Acto point to mask a Spitfire canopy. Fearing for my life, I did as requested. Returning home I had no choice but to throw some paint at the model. Picking up an old spray can of Tamiya AS-12, I started to spray only to find that there was very little paint left in the can. Spatter city. In the light of a new day, it isn't that bad. How about we call it a primer coat? A little Micromesh and I should be back in business. But this time, I'll load some Alclad in the airbrush...

Btw, this is the recent Airfix 1/72 Spitfire Mk. I that will be done up as a RCAF PR bird.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Louisville Aviation Sights

I spent last weekend in Louisville, Kentucky visiting the esteemed Mr. Knights. Here are a few of the aviation sights.

This sad old Lockheed 18 (N119J) is sitting derelict at Bowman Field.


A short trip across the border to Indiana found us at Clark County Airport. Sadly Vintage Fighters was closed, but we were able to see this strange Sabre. This is a CAC CA-27 Sabre, but it is painted up as FJ-3 Fury BuNo. 136049. Kinda odd.




Wednesday, November 2, 2011

No. 441 (RCAF) Squadron 1944-1945


Title: No. 441 (RCAF) Squadron 1944-1945
Author: Phil H. Listemann
Publisher: Philedition

Subtitled RAF, Dominion, & Allied Squadrons at War: Study, History, and Statistics, this 18 page privately published booklet does what it says on the cover. You get a short history of 441 Squadron, a quick history lesson on RCAF Article XV squadrons, and then the rest is tables, listings, photos, and profile drawings. The tables list such items as awards, flight and squadron commanders, bases of operations, sorties per month, a victory list, aircraft lost on ops, aircraft lost in accidents, serials and codes, squadron pilots, and a roll of honor. Four pages of photos include both aircraft and pilots and the booklet closes with five Spitfire and a Mustang III side views.

The data included is neat and well presented. Sadly the photos are indifferently printed and repeated from Larry Milberry's Fighter Squadron: From Hurricanes To Hornets, with credit of course. The profiles are well done and printed. While this book suffers in comparison to the history provided in Fighter Squadron, it has a much more narrow focus and provides some data that the Milberry's book does not. Therefore, it works both as an introduction to 441 Squadron and as a more statistic focused supplement to Fighter Squadron.