HAC's Spitfire Vb BM597 has emerged from the paint shop wearing a temporary Malta scheme as part of the Merlins Over Malta project -
http://www.merlinsovermalta.com
Quote:
For the duration of the project BM597 will depict a Spitfire V wearing the codes U-2 that was to join 603 Squadron. When the aircraft were put aboard the USS Wasp they were wearing standard camouflage schemes but on the deck of an aircraft carrier sailing through the Mediterranean these camouflage patterns offered no protection. The solution was to paint the top surfaces of the aircraft blue. Paint was taken from the stores and applied to the aircraft. There is no definitive colour match because paint was mixed and watered down to ensure there was enough to go around.
- Taken from
http://www.merlinsovermalta.com/aircraft
You can own a corgi model set of the Merlins Over Malta Spitfire and Hurricane. Look here for details -
http://www.merlinsovermalta.com/shop/corgi/
The pre-production models
Glenn