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My father, who will be 94 in October, was an aero-mechanic with the RCAF during WWII. He was stationed in Moncton, New Brunswick in the summer of 1943 when George "Buzz" Buerling was doing his Victory bonds tour and met him briefly when he lent him a Harvard trainer to "go for a tilt". When I asked him what he was like, Dad said he seemed like a "nice-enough" fellow, but "there was something about his eyes....he had the eyes of a ....." and then he didn't say anything more. I finished his sentence by saying "a killer?" and he just nodded. You have to know my Dad, he refuses to speak poorly of anyone and has been that way his whole life. He also laments the fact that he never saw combat, or went to Europe, or as he puts it, "made any real contribution to the war". I get all over him for that but I know it bothers him. So, I want to dedicate this to my Dad and all the other veteran "erks" who kept the planes flying. Without them, we couldn't have won it.

I am building a 1/32 Hasegawa Spitfire Mk. Vb which I will do up in Malta colours. The a/c was designated T/L and was s/n EP706. According to records I have found, Buerling flew it on several ops and is said to have made his 19th-22nd kills in this aircraft. For those of you who don't know about Buzz (aka "Screwball") Buerling, he was the top Canadian ace in WWII, credited with 32 1/2 kills. Twenty-six of these came while he was stationed on Malta in the summer of 1942 and he scored them in a mere 14 days of flying. He also scored numerous "Probable" and "Damaged" while there. As they had no gun cameras, they relied solely on eye-witness accounts from other pilots as verification.

I highly recommend the book "Malta Spitfire" written by Buzz and Leslie Roberts, first published in 1943. It is an amazing first-hand account of this offbeat but extremely gifted fighter pilot and of the battle over Malta.

The obligatory boxshot...

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A representation of EP706's paint scheme...

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An actual colour shot of a Malta Spit Vb.....

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I have an Aries resin cockpit set, two Barracuda cockpit detail sets and pilot's door, as well as G-Factor Spitfire 20mm Cannons and Quickboost Spitfire Mk V Exhausts on the way. Oh yeah, and some Aircraft Conversions metal landing gear! Still looking for decals. This will be a fun build!!

Edited by Big Daddy
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Big Daddy,

Should be a good build. Looking forward to seeing the results. I have a Spitfire Mk.IXc reserved for my Buzz Buerling build... sometime in the future. - So many models so little time :)

Another great book on the Canadian Malta operations is "Hell Island" by Dan McCaffery. The story of the islands survival against great odds is a remarkable one.

Cheers to you dad and "all the other veteran "erks" who kept the planes flying." :cheers:

David

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Big Daddy,

Should be a good build. Looking forward to seeing the results. I have a Spitfire Mk.IXc reserved for my Buzz Buerling build... sometime in the future. - So many models so little time :)

Another great book on the Canadian Malta operations is "Hell Island" by Dan McCaffery. The story of the islands survival against great odds is a remarkable one.

Cheers to you dad and "all the other veteran "erks" who kept the planes flying." :cheers:

David

Thank you, David. I hope I can do it justice.

Cheers,

Don

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I'll be following this with quite some interest. That's an impressive array of AM goodies you're going to add.

I really love the colour pic of the Malta Spitfire! Is it a trick of the light, or maybe the fact the photo is quite old, or are the camouflage colours a bit different from the line drawing in your post?

Also, salutations to your father. One of the lucky surviving few from that war. And good choice of subject. Buzz Buerling is a legend among Canadian fighter pilots - you'll be happy to hear that I learned lots about him when on the CF-5 course at 419 Squadron in Cold Lake. The folks there are keeping the oral history alive, honouring our past greats.

ALF

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I'll be following this with quite some interest. That's an impressive array of AM goodies you're going to add.

I really love the colour pic of the Malta Spitfire! Is it a trick of the light, or maybe the fact the photo is quite old, or are the camouflage colours a bit different from the line drawing in your post?

Also, salutations to your father. One of the lucky surviving few from that war. And good choice of subject. Buzz Buerling is a legend among Canadian fighter pilots - you'll be happy to hear that I learned lots about him when on the CF-5 course at 419 Squadron in Cold Lake. The folks there are keeping the oral history alive, honouring our past greats.

ALF

Thanks, ALF!! I just spent about 4 hours cutting resin parts from casting blocks and sanding them. First time ever using the stuff....what a chore. :bandhead2:

Regarding the Malta Spit pic...yeah, the actual colours appear quite a bit lighter. I have read that the sun was so intense that paint faded very quickly. And, the number of colour schemes used there is a topic of much debate.

Thanks very much for your comments and interest.

Cheers,

Don

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Well, I have been madly cutting, sanding and dry-fitting of this Aries cockpit set for the last two days. What a challenge! The pilot's seat just does not want to fit. :bandhead2: :bandhead2: :bandhead2: This is supposed to be fun, right? The Aries parts definitely look very good but their instructions are terrible. Fortunately I found a link to some great pictures of a Spit Vb cockpit called "Anatomy of the Spitfire's Cockpit" and it has been extremely helpful. I guess I just have to keep sanding until it fits <sigh>

Anyway, here are some pics of the parts in question. I think I may have to leave the seat mounting bracket completely off. No big deal as you can't see it once the tub is installed.

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Here is the rest of the kit. I am adding a pilot's door and crowbar set and a throttle control and gunsight set from Barracuda.

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Wish me luck!

BD

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BD

I have a love/hate relationship with resin AM parts. They can look fantastic, but they are sometimes a real challenge, getting them to fit into the kit and even figuring out what parts to chop/sand off. All this without breaking off little fiddly bits that are what make the resin look great to begin with!

Keep your head up - the cockpit is looking nicely detailed so far.

ALF

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Thanks, Alf. This is the first time I have ever used resin. I don't think it existed when I was a kid, lol. I just have to be patient I guess and not move too fast. Thanks again for the encouraging words.

Cheers,

Don

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Patience is a virtue and working with resin my have you praying to a higher entity in order to get parts to fit and line up properly. Based on your Sabre (is that done, by the way!?) and Lancaster, I'm betting you're going to have this Spitfire looking looking like top shelf material when she's done.

Good luck Don.

Mike

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Patience is a virtue and working with resin my have you praying to a higher entity in order to get parts to fit and line up properly. Based on your Sabre (is that done, by the way!?) and Lancaster, I'm betting you're going to have this Spitfire looking looking like top shelf material when she's done.

Good luck Don.

Mike

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Mike. (I am still sanding by the way, lol.)

Sadly, the Sabre is not done yet. It is sitting next to my workbench and dropping guilty comments every time I look at it. Not sure why I am stalling so much on it. The camo is almost completely masked and I just have to spray the gray on. :bandhead2:

Thanks again for your comments and your Sword build is looking great, btw.

BD

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