Eduard 1/48 Spitfire Mk. VIII

Eduard 1/48 Spitfire Mk. VIII by modeler Travis Spuhler and presented/reviewed at the January 10, 2024, meeting of the Tacoma Green Dragons, International Plastic Modelers' Society (IPMS). Apologies for the crappy camera work. Still learning the Go Pro.

[PNGeo]

Very nice build but a few erroneous remarks made. That Spitfire was flown by Wing Commander Robert "Bobby" GIbbes of the Royal Australian Air Force. Gibbes commanded 80 Wing and his rank allowed him to have personalised markings on his aircraft, thus the RG-V: RG were is initials and he always carried the letter V as a good luck charm - the P-40s that he flew in North Africa with 3 Squadron RAAF were always coded CV-V. The RAAF was not part of the RAF; nor was this aircraft. Secondly, the RAAF did not operate in the Burmese theatre. The RAF SEAC National markings are similar to the RAAF markings but with a pale blue roundel centre; not white. RAAF 80 Wing operated in the SWPA, notably around the Morotai area. Lastly, "Chenault's group" (American Volunteer Group, or AVG, aka "Flying Tigers" did not invent the shark mouth marking. They adopted it from the RAF P-40s that were at war with Germany and Italy in North Africa before the AVG was formed. Apparently, Chenault had seen newsreel footage of RAF P-40s and liked the look of the shark mouth, so applied it to AVG aircraft.