I thought that my
collection of post war 1/48th British aircraft should have a Chipmunk in it so
purchased the Aeroclub kit a while ago. However on a trip to the Royal Thai Air
Force Museum at Bangkok Airport I found 2 Chipmunks and was inspired to build
one up in Thai markings. The Thai's used several schemes from Black and White to Silver
to Red and White. I choose the latter scheme to give some colour to the
collection and its 'similar' to the RAF scheme. The Royal Thai Air Force were
big Chipmunk users and operated them for many years. At least a dozen survive
with the 2 in the Royal Thai Air Force Museum at Bangkok Airport and another 3
at a semi private collection called Tango. There is also a local version with a
Horizontal Lycoming Engine, a slightly wider nose and a few other mods.
The kit was built
almost out of the box with a bit more detail added to the cockpit and the flap
actuators added to the lower wing. Paints from Xtracolour, Roundels came
from the Siam Scale Spitfire sheet, stencils from the kit and serials from the
spares box. Construction was a doddle and it was probably the easiest Aeroclub
job to date. I've only ever seen one other built up which is a shame as its a
lovely kit of a lovely aircraft.
Click on
images below to see larger images
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So that's how a not
so British aircraft in a not so British scheme ended up in a collection of
British Aircraft.
Colin
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