That´s what I said - Ray´s Skua is too beautiful...
Come on! Make it ugly

It was one ugly plane. Not perhaps as ugly as the Barracuda, and not in the same league as those wonderful Farman bombers, but ugly

Need a turreted version to make a Roc.

Moggy DCM

Moggy,

Yes the Barracuda and the Farman (Centre) 222 were ugly but I suspect my old Heller Amiot 143 is the ugliest kit I ever built - though the Heller kit of one of the Potez bombers is pretty ugly as well. Lets face it, most of the entries for the Multiplace de Combat spec were angular slab sided monstrosities from a nation one tends to associate with style.

As to the Roc, all it would need (all he says)is to shorten the canopy, transfer the Defiant turret into a widened mid fuselage, turn the wingtips back down again,delete the wing guns and add a little more dihedral to make a fair facimile but it would need a new FM I suppose as it is seriously slower than the Defiant. Of course it would be a pretty pointless aircraft as it was rubbish. If anybody has the inclination I am sure we could find the relevant info. The pics I have show some curious non standard roundels.

Cheers,

Pete

Wiki says: Although intended for carrier use, Rocs only served alongside Skuas in two land-based squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm between February 1940 and August 1941. During the Allied campaign in Norway a small contingent of Rocs travelled with 800 and 803 squadrons onboard HMS Ark Royal. Skuas and Rocs flew both fighter sweeps and bombing sorties over the English Channel during Operation Dynamo, and Operation Ariel, the evacuation of Allied forces from Dunkirk and other French ports ... What was probably the Roc's sole confirmed victory occurred on 28 May 1940 when an 806 Naval Air Squadron Roc flown by pilot Mid A. G. Day, together with two Blackburn Skuas, intercepted five Junkers Ju 88s which were attacking a convoy off Ostende in Belgium. Flying underneath the Junkers while the Skuas attacked from above, Mid Day's Roc destroyed one Ju 88 before returning safely to Detling.

So the only place it would find a home is in my Dunkirk scenario

Moggy DCM

Ok Guys,

Getting back to DAW on the RAF side we have IM's excellent 112 Squadron Tomahawks but they began to change to Kittyhawks at the end of 1941. The Hurricanes were there from 1941 onwards, but initially MkIa - the MkIIb that Mike has done are probably 1942 onwards, and the Spit MkVb/c he intends to do are mid 1942 onwards. There is a serious lack of RAF bombers for them to escort! I have researched 14 Squadron's Mk1 Marauders in the hope that Ray can produce a working model, but they did not enter service until late 1942.

I have been researching the Spits and also Marauder Mk 1 for Mike, but unless we get some Martin Marylands and Baltimores (perhaps Hampden conversions by Ray) the only RAF bomber available in any numbers for daylight raids was the Bristol Blenheim. Initially perhaps MkI, but mostly MkIV and the odd late MkV Bisley. I know there are old models of the MkI and MkIV available in various colour schemes including desert. The MkI is a bit crude, the MkIV a bit better. We seriously need to look at this aircraft if the improved DAW is to work.

If somebody can "tweak" the Blenheim MkIV bomber (fighter version optional extra)then I think we would be getting somewhere. As part of my research I have accessed the UK National Archive at Kew and can download the Squadron Operations Record Books they have on file for a modest fee (as can anybody else who is interested). The records are not complete but with a bit of luck we can get multi-skin Squadrons of Blenheim MkIV from early 1941 onwards - we just need a good model for Mike or anybody else to skin! Without a decent Blenheim MkIV all we have is RAF defending against Reggia Aeronautica/Luftwaffe which is only half the story.

Think about it.

Pete

Been away for the weekend so I haven't had any time for the DAW plane sets.

However, just before leaving I was "enhancing" the lo-res Blenheim because it really needed an upgrade when I realized that the base for the Blenheim was the old lo-res Beaufighter.

My hi-res Beaufighter is a major upgrade of the lo-res version hence it won't be too hard to convert the lo-res Blenheim using some of the bits off the Beaufighter.

Specifically the wings are a VERY close fit, especially the landing gear, which is usually a bit*h.




BTW, speaking of bit*hes, I'm SLOWLY working on the Hampden landing gear, too. At least John's given me a nice model to work on with an actual functioning rendering sequence!!!!!!!



I still think the Blenheim will be done a lot sooner though, maybe by the end of the week.

Moggy DCM

Ray,

Sounds good to me.

Pete

Hi Ray,

so you´re able to model the Bristol Blenheim offsprings from the Beaufighter 3DZ?
Concerning the Bristol Bisley, involved in the Torch/Tunisia scenario:
It is in fact a Bristol Blenheim derivative, later being re-named as Blenheim Mk V:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bristol_Blenheim.png:

Hehe, you can file this plane under "Uglybirds", too...

And of course the Beaufighters were very effective against ground forces and shipping so we need them anyway. The Blen V Bisley did join a few squadrons but mostly the ones covering Torch and coming from the west I believe.

Pete