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Well started my build for a very good friend. His cousin flew F6's in WWII and became an "Ace in a day" So, I'm building this for him in honor of his cousin...Ofcourse it will be painted to represent his plane. Any way, here is the cockpit so far...still some work to do on it.
Wow. That is a rare feat. Whom is his cousin? Too personal?
Eric
His cousin was Henry E. Mitchell Jr. He flew with VBF-17 and was KIA with 6 kills.
Here is more info: March 21, 1945:Lieutenant Junior Grade Henry E. Mitchell became an Ace when he shot down five Betty twin engine bombers that were part of a sortie attacking the squadron's task force. Henry was later killed in action on April 3, 1945. For his action on March 21, LTJG Henry Mitchell was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross.
A nice tribute & a good start with the pit.
Regards, Rick
What a great inspiration for a build.
Is this the Hobby Boss kit?
On the Bench: 1/32 Trumpeter P-47 | 1/32 Hasegawa Bf 109G | 1/144 Eduard MiG-21MF x2
On Deck: 1/350 HMS Dreadnought
Blog/Completed Builds: doogsmodels.com
DoogsATX What a great inspiration for a build. Is this the Hobby Boss kit?
Yes it is.
Ok, need some help...I just got a copy of the log book page that has Mitchells flight where downed the 5 betties...The aircraft he flew for that mission was #71932...I'm not familiar with Navy markings...Would that mean the number on the side and tail of the plane would be 32?
No.
The 71932 is the USN Bureau number that would be marked in 1 inch numbers on the vertical tail along with the same size letters reading "NAVY."
Larger numbers were used to designate the aircraft within the squadrons.
A pilot would be assigned to aircraft #... using the squadron number. He would log his time using the bureau number.
Mike
"Grumman on a Navy Airplane is like Sterling on Silver."
ok thanks Mike...According to his log book he flew a differnt plane every mission. I had read that only the squadron commanders had their own plane...everyone else took whatever was assigned for that mision....Do you know of any way to cross reference the bureau number to the squadron number?
Bobby
BTW, Has anyone else built this kit? I was test fitting the cowling and it just plain don't fit...I have sanded and sanded to where the air intake is paper thin and still no fit...running out of ideas.
Sorry to hear the build's going poorly. Kermit built this kit (I believe - it was a HB F6F Hellcat...) in the Alleycats GB. May want to check there for further info.
Or just buy the Eduard F6F-5
What a very nice tribute my friend..!! The office is really looking good..!! I myself have not built this particular kit but maybe again do some dry fitting and mark where it does not fit correctly,
Then with a medium to fine sand paper and some TLC, start to sand those areas and every once in a while dry fit to see where you stand.!!
Looking forward to seeing this thread...
Flaps up,
Rangers Lead The Way
If you would listen to everybody about the inaccuracies, most of the kits on your shelf would not have been built Too Close For Guns, Switching To Finger
Do you know of any way to cross reference the bureau number to the squadron number?
Just a SWAG (Scientific Wild-Azz Guess) on my part, but I'd venture to say, "Not likely", since (usually) any destroyed or scrapped aircraft would give up the Admin number in favor of bird it was replaced with... Even if a pilot flew say, "03" all the time, but was shot down or ditched three times, the logs would reflect the BuNo as destroyed, but "03" would always be waiting... Also, if a unit on say, the same carrier was to receive an aircraft from another unit, the receiving unit's number would be assigned to the aircraft...
I've seen several photos of Navy aircraft with remnants or traces of previous admin numbers under the "new" ones...
Thanks for the input guys...I really appreciate it. Finally got the cowling to work! WOOT!! Dressing up the seems now, but that isn't too bad. Other than that one stumbling block everything is going together nicely. Pictures to come.
Bob,
Hammer's reply is correct. At the time your subject aircraft was flying, USN aircraft squadron numbers were used just to id individual a/c.
Prior to the war and into the early days, USN aircraft were very specifically marked. Numbers and colors would indentify the squadron, type of a/c and it's position within the squadron formation. Wartime made the markings impractical.
Thanks Mike...
My buddy is currently pooring though the family photos trying to see if maybe there is one of him standing near the plane he used the day of his flight.
Would love to see some of them war time pix.. A def inite post..!! And I am glad that the cowling came to its senses lol..
Here you are Mike. Not really wartime yet but still interesting stuff. I gotta say, eventhough he was KIA, he musta been a hell of a pilot. Notice in the one pic he has 2 DFC's
First...The engine. Got the ignition wires in
Mitchells Log Book
Wings and awards
Primed and pre-shaded...Wings are not glued yet. She's comming along
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