Crashed Spitfire

[Robert1968]

HI all Im looking for a bit of advice, I have a lot of unfinished projects on my shelf and have decided that one of my Tamiya Spitfire 1/48 [ lost the canopy rear section ] could do with being fixed up but Im thinking along the lines of a crashed spitfire say after a hard dogfight, we never always won the battles eh??


I want to try to give it some fire damage and some battle damage but my weathering skills are still primitive to say the least but I also want advice on trying to stagger cut the wings so it looks like the wings have crashed on impact ( possibly diorama) I have many reference pics of downed spits but it's trying to recreate the crash and damage that I would like advice on


All advice welcome

 

[stona]

In a very large number of forced landings, that is where the pilot had control, the wings remained attached to the aeroplane. The Spitfire wing, as that of all WW2 fighters was a very strong structure. In crashes where the pilot had no control, or had abandoned the aeroplane, there was often little more than a smoking hole in the ground!


What did often seem to happen is that the aeroplane would break its back, though not always would the two or more parts separate. This can be simulated quite easily by cutting the fuselage in two, for a Spitfire I would suggest somewhere behind the cockpit, and then re-joining the parts using some foil. You can smooth it in with filler, but it should leave a suitably crumpled look.


Here's an example:


View attachment 102234



Incidentally the pilot, Kiwi John Caulton, survived with a typical crash landing injury, a bang on the head from his gun sight. Here he is with Hans-Joachim Jabs who shot him down. Jabs was a night fighter pilot flying his Bf 110 by day, it was April 1944. Jabs' aeroplane was also damaged and he made a wheels down emergency landing. Jabs and Caulton met again in 1972.


View attachment 102235



Jabs wrote a letter asking that Caulton be well treated and this was indeed the case.


Cheers


Steve