Far Away Shrew

My adventures with Supermarine continue; the run of 327s, thanks to Freightdog and with the encouragement of DK Decals continues with the result that you see. The colours are those of the RAAF but the markings are those of 54 Squadron RAF, which was stationed at Darwin, with a couple of Australian squadrons, as a counter to Japanese bomber raids. The three-bladed props are those which come with the kit, as do the pair of "tropical" filters which are faired underneath the nacelles. I think the "clipped" tips give if it a slightly more pugnacious air. The only acrylic distinctive RAAF Foliage Green that I know of was produced by Lifecolor, and while I drew a blank with the model shops I tried my search engine; this led me to Amazon, which sourced a set which came from Slovakia (as my older son reminds me from time to time, time spent in reconnaisance - particularly with Firefox - is seldom wasted). The distinctive RAAF green is notably different, particularly in the line-up which is my preferred way of showing off the 327s if I take them on the road. The Freightdog kit has become more available, and there's a possibility of variations. It has an odd attraction, and will surely feature in Tony Buttler's "British Secret Projects 3" in the autumn though the undercarriage needs to look a bit more likely even if ithat in the kit based on that shown on the mock-up.

....and one more

This final Shrew (?) has taken a while, partly I've been in slowmojo mode, and partly because I decided - after reading about the period - that I really wanted to finish it in Mediterranean blues when based on Malta. You can't see the underwing bombs, but this was to be part of a flight to counter an expected invasion by high speed boats; I haven't yet worked out its unit, but after looking at Blenheim colours of the period I decided that I'd need to use Vallejo paints, from their RAF Mediterranen set. Trying two or three mixtures in a plastic palette I found a couple of those small glass jars that you can rescue from hotel breakfast tables; suitably cleaned out - especially the whiskey marmalade - a mix including about 1/6th acrylic thinners gave me a reasonable handbrushing consistency and hasn't yet evaporated or dried out. Given that coulour chips weren't available this looked like the colours I had in my head. The markings were from the set included with the Freighdog boxing. I hope there will be a second or third issue, with a few variations, preferably in the engines and vertical tail; I've enjoyed this run with its multicoloured possibilities, and the limited space the group takes up. I'd have a real task fitting seven of anything else on the same shelf!

Mind you, I've just found a Spitfire IX decal set with distinct possibilities.....21.09.18