"bomber" Spit!

[T. van Vuuren]

Look at what this Spit is "loaded" with under the wings.Not realy standard RAF ordenance for the time LOL!

Theuns

View attachment 25778

 

[stona]

Nice piccy Theuns. Vital supplies these! There were other delivery systems.

It was probably all done for propaganda purposes,what a waste of beer.

Cheers

Steve

 

[T. van Vuuren]

Well, atleast the droptank had slightly better aerodynamis than the barrels!

T

 

[T. van Vuuren]

Steve, what is the dark liquid running down from the LE of the spit on the invation stripe??? There shouldn't be any oil there.

T

 

[Centurion3RTR]

Spitfire MJ329, modification XXX was undertaken as a propaganda exercise, although i bet the berrels would have been welcomed by the troops on the Continent.

John

 

[stona]

Steve, what is the dark liquid running down from the LE of the spit on the invation stripe??? There shouldn't be any oil there.T

Looks to me as if the upper stripes have been painted out (as they were ordered to be) rather messily. I reckon that's dark green paint running over the leading edge. They won't win any competitions with that paint job lol.

Cheers

Steve

 

[T. van Vuuren]

I recon you are correct.It seems that the RAF had the same "lack of following standards" as the Lufftwaffe as per our 262 thread! Why would it have run as badly as that, were they sprayed on or done with a brush by the loks of that???

Theuns

 

[stona]

Well if it is paint (I'm only guessing) it must have been brushed on over the stripes. I don't think that the aircraft would have gone back to the MU for removal of such a tactical marking,rather it would have been done by the squadron. I claim no expertise in such matters RAF but it would seem to be common sense,how could literally thousands of aircraft have been sent back to MUs for such a "touch up"?

My friend and P-47 expert Nigel Julian has shown me pictures of P-47s whose stripes have been very crudely overpainted using olive drab paint somewhat at odds with the rest of the scheme.

I think that they were following orders,just not making a very neat job of it!

Cheers

Steve

 

[T. van Vuuren]

This would actually make a nice "talking point" on the ICM 1/48 RAF Spit Mk9 I want to build.The paint on the upper fuse and wings would then have a mix of soft edge sprayed and hard edge brushed cammo with runs under the wings!

Boy I can see the comments now " amature modler, doesn't have a clue how to paint!"

Theuns

 

[Ian M]

I read some place that the Keg bomber was used to ferry beer over the channel to the boys in France. Sounds like a sound enough idea to me.

As to why put it into a bomb? Got me there, An iron bomb would survive being droped into the fray, a bit better than a wooden keg though.....

Ian M

 

[Centurion3RTR]

Found some more info out on this,

Spitfire 70

"One of the most widely publicised of the unusual stores carried by the Mk IX was 'Modification XXX', comprising of two full beer berrels attached to bomb carriers under the wings. MJ329 was so modified to carry beer to the troops in France during 1944, while a second aircraft used a modified drop tank. While the combat effectiveness of the modification is unrecorded (although its propaganda value is obvious), it is presumed to have had a mildly debilitating effect on some of the Allied troops around 24 hours after the aircraft touched down on the Continent"

So it looks like these two Spits in the photos would of flown together, and someone has got to model them.

Have fun, John

 

[Gern]

I reckon those photos have been re-touched before publication. Where's the straw running from the barrel to the cockpit?

Gern

 

[Fenlander]

All this talk of sloppy painting gives me hope. Maybe my model painting is close to the real thing after all lol

 

[Centurion3RTR]

It's not all the talk of sloppy painting Graham, it's the "BEER" :beer:

Have fun, John

 

[stona]

Here's a detail of the barrel fixing for anyone who wants to model this.

Cheers

Steve

 

[T. van Vuuren]

Hey Steve, I wonder how these barrels woul look slung under a 1/32 Tamiya Spitty ? (wink)

Theuns

 

[stona]

One of the aircraft involved in this stunt was Johnson's JE*J sadly not EN398,which I am doing, but a later machine (MK392?).

Cheers

Steve