As per the thread title it’s a replica or reproduction we are talking about. If it’s a flyer you want, starting with a ‘recovered’ aircraft (that hasn’t been covered in grease and carefully buried in a crate) might get you a dataplate and some bits of tertiary structure (‘original map-case’ kind of thing) but you would need to pretty much build new anyway
So the amount of ‘metal’ still available would be irrelevant to this, except to say that what one really needs to create a worthwhile replica is information, and in the absence of manufacturer’s drawings, old metal can be very useful.

This does point up a recent trend – listings that say ‘I think it is an ‘X’, but I cannot be sure’.. In this case the seller says “obviously it’s impossible for us to be sure of the era” – as if text books, the internet and the large pools of knowledge on it (like this one) don’t exist!

Statements like this do suggest a deliberate attempt to avoid any accusations of ‘economy with the truth’, and might be something to look out for as a general rule.

Ah! Looks like I’ll be justifying another 20 quid out of the housekeeping.

That is in fact a very good question!

Initially, for phase 1 (the costed, planned part of the project which we are undertaking right now), we are not putting anything in there except a bit of ballast. If there are funds left over I would be tempted to propose to the group that we mock up something to make the ballast resemble Peregrines, but that’s all.

The airframe is being built with a view to a phase 2 – making the aircraft ‘live’, with working ‘plumbing’, electrics etc. This will probably include some kind of engines, though our options are completely open here, and much will depend on the environment she will be displayed in. If there is the chance of wheeling her out and firing her up, then maybe jag V-12’s, maybe Gypsy Majors just to get the props turning with a vaguely correct ‘sound and smoke’ show.. or maybe, if the money is there, a couple of Kestrels for near-complete authenticity.. who knows? But this is all in the far future. Right now we are focussed on building an authentic and accurate airframe. Watch this space for announcements on that, by the way!