So, how do you get an Eduard Spitfire Vb? You get the Spitfire IIb and assemble per instructions, only you might use the deHavilland prop or the later (pointed) Rotol prop, or the fishtail exhausts, or the later windscreen or blown bubble hood. They're all there in the box. Then you apply decals for a Spifire Vb and - voila! - you have the new Eduard Spitfire Vb.

A few weeks ago, I was looking for decals and ran across a 2016 release from Aviaology Decals in Canada "American Eagle Squadron Spitfire Vb's" - and there on the list of what they had was the Spitfire flown by Barry Mahon. I immediately bought the sheet, and it arrived around the same time a second kit of the Spitfire IIa/IIb arrived. Couldn't stop myself.

So who was Barry Mahon, a name you don't recognize? Well, among other things, he was the real "Cooler King" at Stalag Luft III - complete to a sweat shirt and a ball and glove. In his later Hollywood incarnation, he was a technical advisor on "The Great Escape," and McQueen's character is him, only he didn't participate in the actual escape - he'd just gotten out of the cooler after being picked up from his latest escape having walked 200 miles into Czechoslovakia and "my feet hurt too much to go again so soon."

On a personal level Barry Mahon was the guy who opened the door for me to become known for the things you know me for: my first good friend among WW2 pilots, he introduced me to his fellow members of the Eagle Squadrons, which led to long-term friendships with Steve Pisanos and Jim Goodson. In Hollywood, he optioned my first screenplay "Little Friends," for not that much but it "got me on the scoreboard" and he introduced me to my first agent. So yes, he opened the door to my life.

I'll write more about one of the most adventuresome people you never heard of before when I do a full review; it's an interesting tale. But here is his airplane, ready for a bit of weathering.

I'm also posting a photo of Barry when he was with 121 Eagle Squadron. 21 years old in 1942.

7 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Great story, Tom (@tcinla). Plus the Spitfire looks pretty awesome, too.

Finished. The Aviaeology Decals are really good - correct colors, set down well under Micro-Sol.

I thought there would be a review at M2 this Thursday but Scott's taken time off, so it will be Thursday a week on.

6 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Great looking Spit, Tom.
Decals indeed are very nice, I do like the weathering a lot.