Friday 7th October 2022
The latest model is finished.
I have said before that I prefer to have some affinity with each new model chosen.
For this Hawker Tempest the initial choice arose from it being featured by Genesis Models' step by step build on You Tube which I wanted to follow in order to learn some new techniques. It also adds to my 1/48 scale personal air force of WW2 aircraft.
The Tempest was a high performance mid and low level fighter and attack aircraft developed and uprated from the Hawker Typhoon.
The kit specified several options but my interest was most sparked by this NV 994 flown by one of the most celebrated WW2 pilots, Squadron Leader Pierre Clostermann during his time with Number Three Squadron in Fraserburgh, Germany in 1945.
Clostermann was French and flew with several different outfits during the war, his story is quite interesting before, during and after WW2, and worth a little read on Wikipedia HERE
I wonder if the red spinner was specified by Pierre?
The Three Squadron logo is depicted on the rudder and readable on the decal:
Tertius primus erit.
= The Third shall be first
I read Clostermann's The Big Show soon after it was published and reckoned it to be one of the best-written war memoirs ever written. Touching tellingly on the accumulated mental strains of going up into the unknown, day after day.
ReplyDeleteBut don't take my word for it. Nobel laureate and author of many very demanding books about the US's Deep South, William Faulkner, described it as "the finest aviation book to come out of WW2". But why would Faulkner feel qualified to make such a judgement? Then I remembered:, a comparatively recent movie about pre-war aviation races in the US, name now forgotten, said to be based on a Faulkner work. But from which novel or short story? I wasn't able to find out.
Wiki did, however, provide one partial explanation. Faulkner signed up with the Canadian Air Force in WW1, although never flew in combat. As I recall he was never in the best of health.
I feel sure The Big Show would still be worth reading. The paperback was notable for including a most dramatic photo of Clostermann just returned from what pilots used to call a sortie. He's handsome but here his face is as close to being that of a dead guy as is possible. Shot through with fatigue, drained not just of all expression but seemingly drained of blood. The Big Show was printed and re-printed in millions, I'm just about to see if ABE Books has a copy.
Just ordered it through ABE from a bookseller in Rossendell (dale?). Cost £1.37, plus P&P, but I suspect it lacks the famous photo. To ensure getting that you have, I think, to be prepared to fork out £158.
ReplyDeleteThat looks a beauty. Is your hangar becoming rather full?
ReplyDeleteI told you that story of retrieving a Triumph TR2 from the back of a packed aircraft hangar.
RR - I binge read all the WW2 books at the time including this one I think, but memory has dimmed. I too have ordered a copy via Abe.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I have now decided to tackle the Lysander which has been on the shelf for ages after I decided it was a bit too advanced, but I am well on the way. The tough part will be masking the canopy which looks like a large greenhouse from Kew Gardens.
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BC - You are correct. I will have to revert to your suggestion a while back and start hanging them from the ceiling. I do not recall the TR2 story. You have am inexhaustible supply of anecdotes and they are rarely repeated.
That's rather lovely - you must have quite a collection now. Thanks for putting up the link to Pierre Clostermann's story, it makes for interesting reading.
ReplyDeleteJJ - Yes uit I'm missing the most important Lancaster bomber for my WW2 collection. The trouble is that if you choose a larger scale it is huge and if you settle for 1/72 it is fiddly but I suspect I will eventually do one from the many kits available.
ReplyDelete