Mighty 8th GB 1-Nov-2010 - 31-Oct-2011

It took a little while, but I've finished up Don Gentile's "Donnie Boy" from the 336 Squadron of the 4th fighter Group.  It is the Tamiya version of the P-47 Razorback.  As I mentioned in an in-progress post, the Tamiya kit, to no one's surprise, was a dream to build.  I used very little aftermarket, Eduard seat harness and a few cockpit placards.  I scratchbuilt hydraulic lines and the engine wiring harness.  Kit details like blast tubes, sway bars, gear covers, engine cylinders are excellent and assemble very well.  Paint is Model Master OD and Neutral Grey.

I did cut out and reposition the rudder and elevators to add a little visual interest.

I sat "Donnie Boy" with Red Norley's "Red Dog" another 8th Air Force 4th Fighter Group P-47 that I built in Hans Von Hammer's "Before they were Aces" Group Build earlier this year.

I used Aeromaster 48-389 for the main markings and kit stencils. this process will inspire me to ask for a little debate in another thread on decal quality.  As you can see, I like to dirty em up. I preshaded panel lines, used raw umber washes and dry pastels for exhaust and gun stains and general grime.  There is always room for improvement, but there is also a time to stop futzing and set it on a shelf.  It looks pretty good there.  Rick.

Rick - wow, that's a great looking Razorback! I can only hope my second attempt at Hairless Joe comes out this nice.

I did spot some slight silvering on the stencil just above the port wing (first shot), but other than that, flawless!

Rick:  magnificent, stunning Thunderbolts.  The Luftwaffe will tremble.

Sweet!  That will be a tough act to follow.  I laid the OD paint on my Jug today.  Tomorrow I'll mask and paint the white. 

That is a nice pair of jugs.  Hopefully my builds will look half as good.  I might have some pics of my Marauder interior by next week,  this scratch building takes a lot longer than I thought plus I have been working on my B-24 a little.  I just cannot stay focussed on one thing for too long. 

Little J

That is a nice pair of jugs.  

LMFAO do you wanna re phrase that.

Glad you have been able to get started. Be nice to see some pics. have you decided on a unit for your B-24, or did i miss a post.

hehe, nice pair of jugs, hehe thats funny. (sorry my immature child comes to the fore sometimes)

This ones up next for me when i finish my bearcat.

I head home for Christmas break tomorrow so I'm gonna start the P-47 and then continue to putz around with the Fort

I am still undecided which group I will do for my B-24.  I am leaning towards " Suzy Q "  of the 67th BS 44th BG.  I would like to depicted a Ploesti  survivor  from the 44th but my nose art options are pretty much limited because not many returned from that mission.   I love the R.A.F. identification marks for the tail, I think they call them fin flashes.  So it will definitely be from the 44th, 93rd, or 389th, I just  cannot make up my mind : /

I got a kick out of this... It's on a Soviet P-39 in a Finland museum. Thought I'd share.

One sweet smelling Airacobra

Not sure how it happened but I went to the LHS today to get some glue and ended up leaving with a Mustang, so I guess I will have a 3rd build after all, Bish.  It's Tamiya's 1/48 P-51D and will be dressed up as Lt. Donald Vulgamore's yellow nosed bird "Jasper Joker II" of the 361st FG.....I'll have to get to back to ya on the squadron and location.

jbrady

I got a kick out of this... It's on a Soviet P-39 in a Finland museum. Thought I'd share.

One sweet smelling Airacobra

In Soviet Russia, aromatic suitable for YOU!

redraider56

Not sure how it happened but I went to the LHS today to get some glue and ended up leaving with a Mustang, so I guess I will have a 3rd build after all, Bish.  It's Tamiya's 1/48 P-51D and will be dressed up as Lt. Donald Vulgamore's yellow nosed bird "Jasper Joker II" of the 361st FG.....I'll have to get to back to ya on the squadron and location.

 

Funny how that happens isn't it.

If its before Sept 44 its Bottisham, if its after its Little Walden.  I couldn't find that aircraft on the Little friends site.

Red, you said this would be your third build, i only had you down for one. Which one am i missing.

Ok I did a little digging and was able to find the stuff Bish......376th FS, 361st FG at Little Walden in 1945

I have the B-24, P-47, and now the P-51......maybe before when I said I wasn't gonna be doing the B-24 right away you thought I wasnt gonna do it?  I still plan on doing all 3

Nevermind, it seems your missing the P-47 which is weird cuz it was listed before.....in case you need the stuff again, it's from the 56th FG at Halesworth

redraider56

Nevermind, it seems your missing the P-47 which is weird cuz it was listed before.....in case you need the stuff again, it's from the 56th FG at Halesworth

I know what happened.  When Bish added me to the roster, he missed a line of text and inserted my name between your two aircraft.  Have a look at the first page; I'm listed as having your P-47.  Simple to fix.

Don

Thanks Don, well spotted. Its sorted now. Actaully i was just trying to spread the builds around

Just finishing up a large and complicated build for another GB, so I chose a simple and (hopefully) straightforward kit for this GB.  An old Monogram P-51D kit comprising all of 43 parts;

Markings supplied with the kit are for Detroit Miss, 375th FS in the 361st FG.  But the kit decals have yellowed a bit and look to be about three city blocks thick anyway, so I chose to build one of the Bodney Bastards, Goliath flown by Lt. Kurt M. "Waldo" Waldron.

Here's a look at the sprues; detail is not on par with more recent kits but still looks pretty nice.  Some of the parts appear to have some blemishes, but they do not seem to mar the surface finish and will likely not need correction.

The challenge with this kit is that it will be my first attempt at a NMF.  Will probably go with Alclad  metallics, but I'll check the NMH GB to look at other options before making the final decision. 

Don

Can anyone tell me if they see a white stripe on the landing gear door in this photo.

I've seen two different artist's rendering of this airplane one shows the recognition stripe on the top of the wing only, the other shows it on both the top and the bottom. For the life of me, I cannot tell if there is a white stripe in the shadowed area of the wheel well door.

Yes its there, it kind of looks like the sun shining on it, but its the white stripe.

Sure looks like a stripe to me.  I looked on an old P-51 I have that is a paint test bed now and it had a black theater stripe on each wing and the stripe on the gear door is in roughly the same area as in the picture above

Thanks... I couldn't tell if it was the neutral grey of the bottom surface or a whte stripe.

Red: The stripe on this particular airplane is white with no outline.

This rendering

shows the stripe. It's from a page chronicling the pilot's activities. The rendering on the Kit's World sheet, where I got the markings, shows the stripe on the upper side only. Naturally the decal sheet soesn't include references that I can track down.

Jbrady--Sorry to be so tardy but thanks for the detailed info on weathering OD.  I am trying a variation on my B-24D but I am using Tamiya acryly thinned with laquer thinner.  It is what I know best.

Doogs--Excelletm work on the 47s.  That is a nice pair.

Here are some WIP pics of the Hasegawa B-24D "Princess" in 1:72.  I still have to fade the OD on the top side.  The pics are of the wing undersides which are basically finished and the tail and dorsal turrets.  The Eduard mask was excettlent for the turrets.

jbrady

Can anyone tell me if they see a white stripe on the landing gear door in this photo.

I've seen two different artist's rendering of this airplane one shows the recognition stripe on the top of the wing only, the other shows it on both the top and the bottom. For the life of me, I cannot tell if there is a white stripe in the shadowed area of the wheel well door. 

jbrady, looks like a stripe to me.  In this photo, the angle of the sun throws shadows to the front of the aircraft (look at the shadow of the horizontal stab, and the location of the shadow for the wing itself).  Given that, the wheel well door is completely in shadow, so the lighter area must be a lighter paint.  So stripe the top and bottom of the wing.

Don

Don: Good call on the sun angle. What I decided to do was follow 4th Group's practice of striping both the top and bottom of the wing... seemed logical... I think we got it right.

Yep, deffo looks like a stripe to me as well.

Clebode  B-24 is looking good. How did you find the build. I have just finished one of their new J kits and also have this D in the stash. I did think about painting the wings before fitting but decided against it. Your weathering certainly looks better than mine.