W2718 certainly had the Supermarine gun mounts. You can see the flattened out item in my ‘pile of bits’ photo above!

……. and here is the blank canvas
(PL344 just after her first flight in the hands
of the late great Gp Capt Reg Hallam,
March 1991)

Thats the way to do it……..

Hi Paul,

Could you at least give us a vague idea of the content of the slides. Airshows, museums, airfields or projects. UK or overseas. Many thanks.

Dear JDK,

You sum it all up rather well. The Melton machine is very much a kit waiting to be finished. A staggering amount of work was put in during the early 1990’s, mainly (but by no means solely) by volunteers to produce the complete hull we now have. it would be a tragedy if it were not to be finished as an airworthy machine, that having always been the intention. There are many more original parts to be fitted and a complete set of Supermarine drawings was obtained to fabricate the missing ones such as the engine/oil tank pod. the largesttask ahead is the fabrication of the wings themselves but this is certainly not beyond the wit of man, the complex spars having been manufactured already

I hope the right buyer comes forward with the will and the wallet to finish the job.

you have probably already seen ‘The Supermarine Walrus’ by G W R Nicholl (Foulis 1966) and ‘Air Whaler’ by John Grierson (Sampson, Low Marston & Co 1949), both are essential reading.

Good luck with the book.

http://homepages.picknowl.com.au/spitfire_bl628/fuselage.htm

This takes you to BL628’s web site with some nice pics of the project, although two years ago now.

Not seen that shot before. Thanks Mark!

Total agreement with Mark 12 (as usual). The C type roundels with the thin white and yellow rings were not approved for use until 21 May 1942.

The A type roundels with the Ocean Grey camouflage is an attractive combination in my opinion but seldom seen. Peter Crosers (incomplete as yet) Spitfire V BL628 has been painted in this scheme and will look very nice when she is rolled out.