Seafire Mk.1b

Here is my take on a pair of Dunkeswell Seafires. 

Between 1943-45 Dunkeswell was home to the US Navy. Flying PB4Y Liberators against U-Boats in the North Atlantic, their main threat was from the patrolling Ju-88 fighters. To prepare the pilots and gunners in fending off fighters, six Seafires were assigned to Dunkeswell to provide what was called “fighter affiliation” training. 

Seafires MA996 and MB263 were two of the fighter affiliation aircraft at Dunkeswell in 1944. Both arrived after serving on aircraft carriers in support of ‘Operation Avalanche’, the 1943 Allied amphibious landings at Salerno, Italy. 

I started these builds with the objective of providing a Seafire to the Dunkeswell Airfield WW2 Museum. I’ve ended up with 2 models as I first thought I’d use Airfix’s Spitfire - the Mk.Vc being the original source aircraft - for the Seafire, but then, on a visit to Hannants in Lowestoft, I chanced upon a rare Czech Kovozávody (KP) Seafire kit which I felt would be an even better match.

Although both went together well, I felt I could have built the Airfix one blindfolded while Kovozávody’s reminded me of kits I’ve built from another Czech provider, AZ Models; unnumbered sprue, no locating pins and poor decals. While I won’t be rushing back to KP any time soon, it is great that such companies exist providing such unusual kits. 

The build was the easy bit, the challenge was what camouflage to finish them in. The photos I had of the aircraft only helped confirm they were finished in a pattern similar to RAF fighters of the period. Uncovering a copy of the book “British Aviation Colours of WWII - Official Camouflage, colours and Markings of RAF Aircraft, 1939-45” made up my mind, TSS (temperate sea scheme) it would be. 

So, following an unsuccessful attempt to mix my own colours, I sought out a set of Vallejo’s FAA colours which included the all important dark slate grey and extra dark sea grey that TSS demanded. That dark slate grey is the most unusual colour I’ve ever encountered, no wonder I had issues coming up with my own version! For the decals I used a combination of the Airfix roundels, Kovozavody’s lines and markings and more roundels and lettering from my spares box. 

Seafire MA996, the Kovozávody kit, will head to join the aircraft models on display at Dunkeswell, while the Airfix kit, Seafire MB263, will fit in nicely with my existing Spitfire and Seafire collection.

B-24 Liberator & Ju88

My 1:144 scale B-24 Liberator & Ju88 kits are built for another Dunkeswell diorama.

This one will be set on  4th September 1943 when six Ju-88 of 13/KG40 intercepted VB-103’s Lt James H Alexander’s B-24 ‘G’ B-7 “Impatient Virgin” off the Spanish coast. 

B-24 Liberator v Ju-88 diorama at Dunkeswell 

4th September 1943

VPB103: Lt. James H Alexander intercepted by 6 Ju-88s. 

During an antisubmarine patrol from Dunkeswell, Lt James H Alexander and crew were intercepted by six Ju-88 C fighters over the Bay of Biscay. During the attack, Alexander’s gunners shot down one of the Ju-88s flown by Lt Gerhard Blankenberg and crippled three others. His B-24 Liberator, numbered B-17 “G” and named Impatient Virgin was, however, damaged and unable to return to Dunkeswell. With flying instruments rendered inoperative and her four engines badly damaged, despite a painful head wound, Alexander effected a safe landing at sea.

Successfully abandoning the aircraft, he and his crew rode out a severe storm in a rubber life raft for 36 hours before being rescued by a passing Spanish fishing vessel. 

After a month recuperating, they were all repatriated back to England.

Lt James H Alexander was awarded the Navy Cross, his co-pilot and navigator the Distinguished Flying Cross and his crew the Air Medal. 

Sadly, on 3rd December 1943, Alexander, like so many of his fellow airmen, was to die in a training accident, at the age of just 23 years old.  

He has a cenotaph in Memorial Park Cemetery, Sioux City, USA

Models To Dunkeswell

I packed up my B-24 US Navy Liberators and U-Boats this morning for the short trip to their new home at the Dunkeswell Memorial Museum / Dunkeswell Airfield WW2

I’m so pleased these can be put to such a great educational use, rather than gather dust in my loft or display cabinet! I highly recommend a visit to Dunkeswell should you ever be down this way. 

https://www.southwestairfields.co.uk

B24 D Liberator

My latest US Navy Dunkeswell B24-D Liberator is complete. 

This is Minicraft’s 1:72 scale kit in the colours of B-13 ‘N' Berlin Express of VB-103 piloted by Lt. Chet Rief and Bruce Higgenbothem, and was one of the first Navy Liberators to arrive at Dunkeswell, Devon in 1943. 

US Navy Liberators went through a variety of camouflage schemes during World War II and Berlin Express can be seen here sporting the early tri-color camouflage scheme. 

Unfortunately Berlin Express had a short operational history, crashing on 3 December 1943.

 

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The kit 

Brand: Minicraft Model Kits
Title: Consolidated-Vultee USAF B-24D Liberator
Number: 11612
Scale: 1:72
Type: Full kit
Released: 1998 | Rebox

Type II U-Boat

 My Type II U-Boat U20 is now complete. 

U20 was commissioned in February 1936 saw service first in the North Sea prior to being transferred to the Black Sea. In an attempt to avoid an overwhelming British presence around Gibraltar and throughout the Mediterranean U20 was broken into sections to be transported along the Danube to the Romanian port of Galați. She was then re-assembled at the Galați shipyard and sent to her new home in the Black Sea to serve with the 30th U-boat Flotilla against Russian shipping. 

She met her end, scuttled on 10 September 1944, in the Black Sea off the coast of Turkey. 

This 1:144 scale Type II is my second Revell U-Boat, the first being the 1:350 scale Type VII, both of which have been really nice to build, with what I think is some quality moulding and detail. I’m looking to use this in a B-24 Liberator diorama, so I’ve added a bit of poetic licence in applying an Atlantic colour scheme.

Type VII C U-Boat

My Type VII C U-Boat is now complete. This is U-96 as it was when it fought in the Atlantic between 1940-43. It met its end when it was sunk on 30 March 1945 at Wilhelmshaven by bombs during US air raid. 

During autumn 1941, war correspondent Lothar-Günther Buchheim joined U-96 for her seventh patrol. This experience was the basis for his 1973 bestselling novel Das Boot, which was adapted into the 1981 Oscar-nominated film.

The kit is Revell’s 1:350 scale which has some lovely detail considering its small size. I now need to decide if to use this or its 1:144 scale cousin in my B-24 Liberator diorama.

B24 J Liberator

 Just completed the first of a series of B-24 Liberators which flew from Dunkeswell, Devon, during WW2. 

This is US Navy B24 J Liberator B-6 “T” of VB-105, 1944-45. 

B-6 “T” was one of a few J-model Navy Liberators to retain the Emerson nose turret and a “high hat” upper turret. Note also the sea-blue replacement rudders. This aircraft was flown back to the US after the war. 

The model kit used in this build is the 1975 release of Airfix’s 1:72 B-24J Liberator with  generic decals from my stash. I scratch built the radar bubble replacing the belly gun turret and used Vallejo Air paints of White and US Navy Sea Blue to create, I hope, a passable likeness.

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The Kit

Brand:  Airfix
Title:   B-24J Liberator
Number:  05006-3
Scale:  1:72
Type:  Full kit
Released:  1975 | Rebox (Changed decals)