Painting done. Decals done. Coat of clear gloss and I can begin the weathering.

Here's another photo of the captured schwimwagen, this one looks to have red hues better balanced:

If it is an American repaint, they were pretty thorough as the interior looks to be the same colour as the exterior.

regards,

Jack

Shiv, nice work, I like it.

stikpusher

Shiv, that looks great! I am glad to have helped!

Bish, seeing how the Schwimmwagen also has a white star added, I would venture that is indeed Olive Drab, but the Army Gound forces shade No. 9, not the Army Air Force Shade Dark Olive Drab 41 like on the P-38 behind it.

here are a few more photos of the same group of P-38s, apparently from the same session that I posted in another thread.

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/2/t/155189.aspx

My original thought was Pz Grey, but then realised what the date would be and realised it couldn't be.

Would the AAF;s and other ground vehicles have been painted in the army OD or the AAF OD.

 In the past, I think I have painted then in the AAF's OD, but on thinking about it, if they are painted at the factory, they would simply be painted one colour of OD.

The P-38 is looking good. Unfortunately I still haven't been able to resume my P-47 'Bolt yet. Except I may have to adjust the width of where my whites need to be push back more on the fuselage. Test taped using 5 pieces of 3/8" wide strips of tape to make finalization for the black stripes. Found out I'm 1/8" too short. At least my wings are ready to go though.

Yes, that is them, the 5" HVAR.

Is that the HVAR type rockets?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_velocity_aircraft_rocket

http://shortfinals.wordpress.com/2011/03/16/hvar-high-velocity-aircraft-rocket/

Paraphrasing from those two links, testing was completed by D-Day, but actual use did not come until July 1944 during the breakout phase.

regards,

Jack

I dont think the 5" rockets came into use before late '44 on USAAF aircraft. In summer '44 the only rockets that I recals seeing in photos being used by USAAF fighters were the triple tube bazooka type.

been looking through different sites and haven't seen any P-38's with rockets over Normandy. Did they use rockets than?

Shiv, that looks great! I am glad to have helped!

Bish, seeing how the Schwimmwagen also has a white star added, I would venture that is indeed Olive Drab, but the Army Gound forces shade No. 9, not the Army Air Force Shade Dark Olive Drab 41 like on the P-38 behind it.

here are a few more photos of the same group of P-38s, apparently from the same session that I posted in another thread.

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/2/t/155189.aspx

Thanks for all your input Stik it was very helpful. I got the stripes on my P-38 moved.

even got the yellow on the nacelles. I am doing the plane flown by Col. Howard Rau. 79th FS, 20th FG.

Stik, I guessed that was over in France, is that an OD scheme, as first I thought Pz Grey, but I wouldn't think so that late in the war.

Good news jack, should have this wrapped up soon.

Not a lightning, but here's another twin engine fighter (the P-61)  showing placement of invasion stripes:

-------------------------------------------------

Final bits arrived to make the copula machine gun  for my Sherman.  Originally I had ordered just the RB set, but it did not include a resin stock for the .50 cal Browning.  So I had to turn to Hauler, but at least now I've got the ammo box as well.    Looks like I've got a mini build in front of me:

regards,

Jack

The last picture is definatley the best.   Was watching "Band of Brothers" again the other night and noticed the invasion stripes on the C-47s were just as sloppy as seen here.

Bish

Some great info being shared here guys. I know what you all mean about making everything neat and tidy. The same goes for German camo schemes. It can be hard to get your head round the idea that they might not always be nice and perfect, but sometimes were applied with anything to hand.

Interesting second pic there Stik.

Yes, that is from summer '44 at a forward airfield with the "under new management" Kubelwagen. Great diorama inspiration there. I know that I have posted some of these photos here on other threads before, but they bear repeating for this thread- no need for perfection on the stripes in 95% of the cases. Sure the Squadron or wing leaders bird may have had some extra care put into it, but the rest...

ok, this is too funny of a find not to share...

Gamera

Ouch, that looks like one of my screw-ups! Just finished a Tamiya P-51 and then realized that I hadn't put the friggin' radiator inside that belly air scoop and there's no way to fix it now without ripping the whole darn thing apart!  

LOL, I thought I was the only one that screwed things up like this

Some great info being shared here guys. I know what you all mean about making everything neat and tidy. The same goes for German camo schemes. It can be hard to get your head round the idea that they might not always be nice and perfect, but sometimes were applied with anything to hand.

Interesting second pic there Stik.

Ouch, that looks like one of my screw-ups! Just finished a Tamiya P-51 and then realized that I hadn't put the friggin' radiator inside that belly air scoop and there's no way to fix it now without ripping the whole darn thing apart!  

greentracker98

stikpusher

Green, it is not correct. The P-38 seems to have been the exception to to 24" outboard rule. Look at the photos I posted on the last page. The innermost stripes are immediately outboard oh the engine nacelle, not 24" out.

Thanks Stik. I stopped at where I'm at in the pics. Would the stripes still be 24" (1/2")  wide though?

Looks like 24" to me...

stikpusher

Green, it is not correct. The P-38 seems to have been the exception to to 24" outboard rule. Look at the photos I posted on the last page. The innermost stripes are immediately outboard oh the engine nacelle, not 24" out.

Thanks Stik. I stopped at where I'm at in the pics. Would the stripes still be 24" (1/2")  wide though?

Green, it is not correct. The P-38 seems to have been the exception to to 24" outboard rule. Look at the photos I posted on the last page. The innermost stripes are immediately outboard oh the engine nacelle, not 24" out.

Okay , This does not look right, at least I don't think so. I taped off one wing with the width i found on wiki. When I was in college, They said we could not use Wiki. So, I'm going to do some more research on this.

okay, I'll answer my own question LOL

Marking description[edit]

Geoffrey Page, commander of 125 Wing, about to take off on a ground-attack sortie in his Supermarine Spitfire (1944). The roughly–applied nature of the invasion stripes painted on his aircraft can be seen

The stripes were five alternating black and white stripes. On single-engined aircraft each stripe was to be 18 inches (46 cm) wide, placed 6 inches (15 cm) inboard of the roundels on the wings and 18 inches (46 cm) forward of the leading edge of the tailplane on the fuselage. National markings and serial number were not to be obliterated. On twin-engined aircraft the stripes were 24 inches (61 cm) wide, placed 24 inches (61 cm) outboard of the engine nacelles on the wings, and 18 inches (46 cm) forward of the leading edge of the tailplane around the fuselage.

In most cases the stripes were painted on by the ground crews; with only a few hours notice, few of the stripes were "masked".^[1] As a result, depending on the abilities of the "erks" (RAF nickname for ground crew), the stripes were often far from neat and tidy.

stikpusher

Yikes! And I thought trying to get one more done by the end of the year was a challenge...

I hear ya Stik, Even one build takes me at the very least 2 months.

BTW Does anyone know the width of the invasion stripes for the P 38, and the P 47

Yikes! And I thought trying to get one more done by the end of the year was a challenge...

I'm thinking I might paint my next set at the wrong end of a long Saturday night :) . Seriously, I'm regretting leaving my build to the end of this GB, it would have been good to do a few more. I guess with my current rate of completion (5 in November so far), you never know, but I've got 5 more to get done by years end just to meet my GB commitments, and another one that is close enough that I just want to get it done.

Cheers

Tony

Not far from the truth Tony. As modelers we often make our kits far neater than the real deal. The stripes were painted on in a hurry by ground crews who had to paint a lot of aircraft in a short time... And in less than ideal conditions. The storm that delayed the landings was over Britain while these aircraft were being painted.

Hi Shiv,

Based on that last photo, you could brush paint them unmasked with your left foot and be pretty close to getting the lines straight enough.

It would be great to have a photo of the actual aircraft you are depicting, there must be one around or they wouldn't have used it for the kit decals. There might be some variation that saves you.

Cheers

Tony

it's good practice and it builds charecter.

I was admiring how my stripes turned outand started looking at some pictures I have and came to the same realization. Ah bummers my stripes are too far out. Looks like I have some serious repainting to do.