To add my two bobs worth,I’m usually pretty uneasy about the rebuilding of fatal wrecks,whether they be Spits,Mustangs or whatever.I do feel,though,that it can be justified under certain circumstances.
Bruce made mention of feeling uneasy about rebuilding the Goodwood Spit,which is entirelly understandable.However,as I understand it,the families of those killed have given thier permission for the restoration to take place,which is not so bad. It’s also good to know that she’ll be rebuilt with the original high rear seat,and will be used to train potential customers how to fly the Spit,thus improving safety.These points,coupled with the fact that a good proportion of the original airframe will be re-used, lead me to feel that the project is worthwhile.
I’m at more of a loss to understand the rebuilds of machines like RM689 or RW382.These machines were utterly destroyed and whatever is rolled out of the workshop at the end of it will not be the original machine.Why choose the identity of a fatally crashed Spit when you can just as easily apply a different original identity to the collection of new bits?
Incidentally,can anyone fill me in on what happened to TP298? I’d not heard of her coming to grief before now :confused:

Thanks for those Shorty,nice pics.At the moment, FAST is only open on selected weekends,although the long term plan is to have quite a substantial museum open 7 days a week.I’ve got a brother who lives in Farnham just down the road from there,so I’ve passed the place a few times,but never been in.
Here’s the link to thier website,although I can’t seem to get it to work at the moment…

http://www.fasta.freeserve.co.uk/

P.S.Was the Swiss markings comment about the Hunter?She’s an F.51 (the Swiss ones were 58’s)painted in the Danish colours she served in.She used to be in storage at Kemble and then displayed at Bournemouth for a while before ending up with FAST.

“‘Squadron Airborne’ by Elleston Trevor is my No 1 1940’s RAF ficton. I have a feeling that the author’s name was only a pen-name and that he’s better known by another name! Am I right or did I imagine it????”

Sadly,Elleston Trevor died a couple of years ago.His name was given as the above in the obituary,so I presume it was his real name rather than a pen name.I don’t remember any mention of a pen name being made.
I’ve read ‘Squadron Airborne’ aswell,and yep,it’s a cracking read. I bought a first edition at a car boot sale somehwere and it had that atmospheric smell that only an old book can have,which somehow adds to the experience of reading it. 🙂

Nice pics BC,thanks for those.It’s good to see her in a decent colour scheme after some of the inaccurate and frankly pretty ridiculous looking ones she’s been dressed up in for the last 20 years or so.I’d still like to see her painted up in her ‘JM-R’ codes with the correct shade of blue at some point in the future when it’s time for that camo one to come off.
Thanks again BC. 🙂

“Ant- Great pictures mate, excellent finish. Is it a static model? What scale is it?”
Thanks for your kind comments Chris.She’s only static I’m afraid,and only in 1:72 scale at that.I’m glad you like the finish,I’m one of what seems to be a dwindling number of people who don’t use an airbrush,so your comments are particularly welcome.:)
This kit was good fun to build as I didn’t take it too seriously.The original moulds were made by Heller and go back to the 70’s,so she had everything from rasied panel lines to gaps in the wing roots you could fall into! Having said that,I only paid a couple of quid for it,so it’s good value for money and you get an accurate model of a Tempest when it’s finished (ie,when you’ve trimmed off a few achres of flash and used a good deal of filler!).I’m building the Me262 from the same company at the moment,and it’s an absolute nightmare,so SMER’s kits aren’t always as nice as this one!
If you’ve decided to go out and buy this Tempest kit,make sure you get the ‘High Tech’ version with the etched metal bits-the detail and accuracy on the small plastic parts was minimal,and metal replacements would do the world of good.They’d also help to beef up the undercarriage legs which are extremely flimsy and in need of re-enforcement if they’re going to take the weight of the model.
I look forward to seeing your R/C kit Chris,sounds impressive!:cool:

Just one more…

The correct Humrol colour for the top-surface camo grey is indeed 27 Matt SeaGrey.Insignia Red 153 is a fairly good match for the red in the roundel,but I’m not sure about the blue.I’m sure they used to do a specific ‘Roundel Blue’,but I can’t find it in any of thier listings.The closest match from the current range would probably be either 104 Oxford Blue or 25 Matt Blue.
This post gives me a good excuse to put up a piccy of my recently finsihed SMER Hawker Tempest Mk.V.Tope surface camo is Humbrol 27 along with Revell’s 68 Matt Dark Green,with Humbrol 23 Duck Egg Green spinners and rear fuselage band and Humrol 64 Matt Light Grey undersurfaces.