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Classic Wings Magazine WWII Naval Aviation Research Pacific Luftwaffe Resource Center
When Hollywood Ruled The Skies - Volumes 1 through 4 by Bruce Oriss


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PostPosted: Thu Jun 15, 2023 2:34 pm 
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So in my never ending quest to fix and repair down trodden and incomplete 21st Century 1/18th scale aircraft toy / models, I started to look around my workspace for my next project. Not that I don't already have enough half finished projects! At the beginning of 2023, I moved into my first house. Coming from a cramped apartment, I was excited to have an entire basement to spread out in. This also allowed me to gather up my collection of 1/18th scale aircraft and finally display them all in the same place. Some needed some minor repairs here and there, and others needed a bit more. But eventually I had everyone of my models hung up and on display. Except one... A Mk.1 Spitfire "The Borough of Lambeth" PS083 NKK. It had its original box BUT it was not in mint condition by any means. If it was, then I would have probably sold her off since I already have one on display.

One prop was already broken off, with another to follow shortly after, with the third still hanging on. Upon closer inspection all three had been broken off at one point and crudely glued back on. I was also missing one exhaust stack, and the radiator box from underneath the wing. One landing gear also had been broken off and was already drilled and pinned, but not glued yet. A think brown glue had been used at some point to try and glue the entire model together, but it looked rather crude. SO I realized, we weren't dealing with a mint, in the box model. The thing had been been taken out, played with, broken, fixed, parts lost, and eventually put back in the box. So I wasnt going to feel bad repairing the old girl and giving her a new lease on life as a custom painted model.

By this point I had (with some assistance from my father) redone four 1/18 models:
    F4U-1A Kepford "29": repainted as F4U-1D (All Glossy Sea Blue) to represent the CASC'S FG-1D Corsair when completed.
    F4U-1A Kepford "29": repainted as F4U-1A (Tri Tone / Factory Fresh) Corsair to represent all of the Corsairs from the Vought factory here
    P-47D Eagleston: repaired / modified / repainted as P-47N (CTANG Thunderbolt)
    P-51D Old Crow: repaired / modified / repainted as P-51D (118th TRS Black Lightening)

With these four I saw a pattern emerging. All of them were related back to Connecticut aviation. Similar to what I had already been doing with building various aircraft models of the museum in 1/144th, 1/72nd and 1/48th scale. So 1/18th scale seems like natural progression. So with that in mind, I thought about what scheme should I repaint this Spitfire into that pertains to Connecticut? And only one answer came to mind: Andrew Mamedoff.


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Andrew Mamedoff
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Born in Warsaw, Russian Empire, in 1911. His father Lev Mamedoff was an officer in the Special Corps of Gendarmes of the Russian Empire stationed in Poland. Mamedoff's family fled Russia after the Civil War, and lived in Europe for a short time. After Vonsiatsky had settled in Thompson, Connecticut, he convinced his wife to buy a neighboring farm for his sister's family. In Thompson, Mamedoff attended Tourtellotte Memorial High School. He later enrolled in Bryant University. He had learned to fly in the US and even had his own plane with which he performed at airshows. Mamedoff initially went to Europe to fight on the side of Finland against the Soviet Union, but hostilities had ceased before he arrived. In 1941 Mamedoff married an English woman, Alys Laird "Penny" Mamedoff at Epping. He became the first American to take a war bride during World War II.

Mamedoff and his friends and fellow Americans Eugene Tobin and Vernon Keogh were among 32 pilots recruited by American soldier of fortune Charles Sweeny to join the French Air Force. However, by the time they reached France, Germany had already invaded the country. The trio made their way to England and joined the Royal Air Force in 1940. After converting to the Spitfire, Mamedoff was posted to RAF Middle Wallop and joined No. 609 Squadron on 8 August 1940. He was member of A Flight. On 24 August he took off at 16.10 as tail-end charlie. He was severely shot up by Me 109 and crashed at Tapnell Farm, near Freshwater flying in L1082. He was posted to RAF Kirton in Lindsey in Lincolnshire on 18 September 1940 and was a founding member of the No. 71 'Eagle' Squadron along with Art Donahue, Eugene Tobin and Vernon Keogh. He was posted to RAF Duxford in August 1941 to another "Eagle Squadron", No. 133 Squadron as a flight commander. On 8 October 1941, Mamedoff was flying with 133 Squadron on a standard transit flight from Fowlmere Airfield to RAF Eglinton in Northern Ireland in his Hurricane Z3781. The wreckage of his plane was found near Maughold on the Isle of Man and it is thought that he crashed due to poor weather conditions. His body was later recovered for burial at Brookwood Military Cemetery in Surrey.


I had already built his aircraft in 1/48th scale for another display in the museum. And now it was time to make a 1/18th scale version.
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I had found various profile images with notable differences with the markings for this aircraft. Some show a white spinner while others show it black. I decided to keep the white spinner that was already on the model for the time being.

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So this is pretty much what I started with. The canopy was masked, and I began masking the brown so I could paint the green, and cover the markings. My goal was to try and match the colors exactly, so I wouldn't have to repaint the ENTIRE model. I soon realized that it would be near impossible. I also masked the rondels and fin flash to retain them for the finished model. I used the same method in the P-47 and P-51 to alot of success.

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Once I realized I was going to have to repaint ALL of the Green and Brown, I settled into the long tedious process of cutting out the shapes needed to mask the edges of one color, then make sure you crimp down the tape and push it into any recesses or panel lines. I would then fill in the rest of that color with cheaper tape. Leaving only the color that was being repainted exposed. I soon realized I should have been clear coating each color, so I wouldn't have to go back and do touch ups! :evil: I was successful at mixing the underside gull gray color and was able to cover the "K" that was underneath the spinner.

Eventually we got to something like this:

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Having access to a vinyl printer / plotter has its perks! I designed and printed out markings for this Spit in 1/18th scale. Originally I was going to use the revers of the letters as a mask, and paint the letters onto the model. But in the end, I chickened out and decided to just place the letters themselves on. I took a wooden toothpick stick and pressed the letter into every panel line so they adhered better to the fuselage. I printed up on clear decal sheets the number and kill markings. I also had done the replacement "A" that is supposed to go underneath the spinner, but my decal was offset on the printing run and didn't get onto the paper, so I'll have to eventually go back and make a new one, or find one that already exists. After that, I clear coated the entire fuselage.

I asked the old man if he would be interested in trying to use our fancy little vacuform machine and see if he could make a decent copy of the existing exhaust stack. I think he was more then up to the challenge! He pulled a good example and filled it with putty, sanded, painted, and it was good to go!

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I drilled, pinned and inserted the two loose props back into the hub. The last thing I did (fuselage wise) was to paint a moustache onto the pilot, to make him resemble Mamedoff a bit more. Once the entire model is assembled, I might run a wire line for added realism, but otherwise.

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With the fuselage done, I looked to the wings. The horizontal stabs were the easiest. Repainted the two different colors, flat clear coat, and we were done. Though one might get a touch up. I repaired the one landing gear and glued it into place BUT it is still longer then the unbroken one, so I might go back and rebreak it in order to fix the height issue. I am currently in the process of repainting the brown and green to match the fuselage. The last big hurdle! I've already painted the brown, clear coated it, and am now slowly masking the brown and rondels in order to shoot the green. I will then have to probably do some touch up work with the underside sky gull gray color.

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When I first started this project I decided to tackle the biggest obstacle first, making a new radiator. I had an original to use as reference, and decided to make it out of styrene. And somehow it still came out with the wrong dimensions!

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After repainting the radiator to match the original color much more closely, I decided I would still be able to use the new radiator. But only after I get the wings on permanently. Thanks for checking out my build / repaint process on this new 1/18th project for me! The next post should be the plane completed and in one piece!

Stay Tuned...

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Christopher Soltis

Dedicated to the preservation and education of The Sikorsky Memorial Airport

CASC Blog Page: http://ctair-space.blogspot.com/
Warbird Wear: https://www.redbubble.com/people/warbirdwear/shop

Chicks Dig Warbirds.......right?


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PostPosted: Mon Jun 19, 2023 9:11 am 
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Got it done and brought it down to the museum for father's day, where my father and I were hanging out, talking with visitors, and making sure no one ran out onto the runway! Thanks for looking.

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_________________
Keep Em' Flying,
Christopher Soltis

Dedicated to the preservation and education of The Sikorsky Memorial Airport

CASC Blog Page: http://ctair-space.blogspot.com/
Warbird Wear: https://www.redbubble.com/people/warbirdwear/shop

Chicks Dig Warbirds.......right?


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PostPosted: Tue Jun 20, 2023 2:48 pm 
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Looking good Chris... :wink:

Phil

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PostPosted: Thu Jun 22, 2023 8:03 pm 
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Excellent work Chris! I enjoyed watching your transformations of the other 1/18 planes too.

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