Pearl Harbor 2015...Thank You All

In October I built a 1/700 scale of the USS Dale (DD-353) which was at Pearl Harbor for John Cruce USN Ret. He was aboard the ship on December 7th 1941 and was part of her crew until the end of the war. John also assisted in documenting the history of this ship in the book "Tales from a Tin Can: The USS Dale from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay" By Michael Keith Olson.

This is a 1/700 scale resin model made by Niko Models. I utilized some extra PE for ladders, doors, and railings. The ship was painted as she was in 1943 on her return from her duty in the aleutian Islands.

John will turn 100 years old next month. (yes that is the model he is holding in the picture)

To read more of John and the crew of the USS Dale: http://www.amazon.com/Tales-From-Tin-Can-Harbor/dp/0760338264

 For build pictures see: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10204954241243228.1073741831.1457024256&type=1&l=322b51420e

There were a few:

12 B17,  18 CAP SBD from Enterprise but too far away, 3 PBY's, 2 or 3 P-40's, 1 or 2 P-36's one of which was scored the first Zero kill of the war before being shot down immediately afterward, and several civilian a few of which were shat at as well.

Lewbud no worries.  

John if no one has done so by late May or early June, I will put up feelers about then.  As for Navy birds to be honest the only sorties I have heard about are the USAAC ones.  It is possible they got airborne but I am not sure.  Some reports I have seen state the Navy birds were dealt the same fate as the Marine birds at Ewa, massive destruction.

I am very grateful to all of you for joining me on this journey.  I may be the person that opens the thread but in all honesty it is all of the participants that make it a success or not.  Again thank you all.

Joe

Thanks to you Joe, for keeping alive the memory of Pearl Harbour through this annual GB. Although I wasn't able to participate, I did follow with interest and hope it long continues.

Regards

Tony

Joe, thanks for putting this together.  When does the next one start, I need to start working on the US participants.  It just occurred to me to wonder, were any USN aircraft able to get airborne?  I'll have to look in to that.

For those that will not finish by the "end date", I encourage you, please finish.  Do not let your build end up on the shelf of doom, never to be finished.  The spirit of this build is to remember, to honor those who died without knowing that they were at war.

December 7 1941, A day which will live in infamy.

The "attack" begins at approximately 7:51. At approximately 11:00 the last plane landed on the Japanese carriers. The time between is filled with death and destruction and the end of paradise. Six carriers.   Approximately 350 aircraft.  A plan designed to be just a distraction for the main thrust into the South Pacific by Japanese naval and army units. just a distraction, one designed to cripple the United States Navy so that the Japanese could move freely through the pacific.

In the end 2388 military and civilian dead. 2107 Navy and Marine as well as 233 army and 48 civilians. 1109 military and civilian wounded. 710 Navy and Marine as well as 364 Army and 35 civilians. 44 states represented, as well as the District of Columbia, Guam,  the Phillipines, and Hawaii. 16 congressional medal of honor  given as well as 51 Navy crosses, 53 silver stars, four Navy and Marine Corps medals, one Distinguished Service medal, and three bronze stars. 8 battleships sunk or heavily damaged, one minelayer sunk, two auxilliaries sunk or capsized and one heavily damaged. 169 aircraft lost, 92 Navy and 77 Army. 150 damaged, 31 Navy and 128 Army.   All this in 110 minutes of combat.

For this amount of damage the Japanese lost nine fighters, 15 dive bombers, and five torpedo planes.  One I-class submarine was lost as well as the five midget subs. the casualties; 55 airmen, 121 submarine crewmen, and nine midget sub crewmen.

These facts taken from several sources.

The attack was so quick, so sudden, many of those killed didn’t even know they were at war. even after the bombs and bullets started falling people didn’t believe that they were being attacked. one report of a young man hunting with a cousin didn’t believe there was an attack even after his cousin was killed.  After that day the Hawaiian Islands were torn from being a territory governed by a few families to becoming a true part of the United States becoming a state not long after the war.  The US Navy was forced to change from a navy of battleship groups to a Navy centered on the carrier.

Today it is said that the Arizona still weeps for her crew.

December 7 1941. Never To Be Forgotten.

Joe

Dec 7, 1941

7:40 am  183 Japanese fighters, dive bombers, level bombers, and torpedo bombers from the first wave form up after what was termed the best launch yet north of Kakhuku Point.

7::49  The commander of the attack Cmdr Fuchida signals "to" meaning charge to the other aircraft.  The flight breaks up to begin attack runs.  

7:53 to 8:00  Aircraft from the six carriers begin attacks on NAS Pearl Harbor (Ford Island), Hickam Field, Ewa Marine Air Corps Station, Bellows Field, Wheeler Field, Kaneohe Naval Air Station, and naval vessels and stations located in Pearl Harbor.

8:00 to 9:00 B-17C's and B-17E's arrive from the US mainland and are attacked while trying to land at various fields.  

9:00 2 P-40's piloted by 2Lt Whiteman and Lt Bishop are shot down after getting airborne.

9:05  Four p-36"s led by 1Lt Sanders take flight, moments later another P-36  piloted by 2Lt Moore takes off.  He joins up with 2Lt Brown from Haleiwa Field

11:00 Cmdr Fuchida makes his final flight over the destruction.  He leaves the area when he confirms he is the last plane to leave.

This is but a brief timeline for the attack.  There are thousands of other moments that occur.  The information here has been recapped from multiple sources.

Joe

Every year I am humbled and honored by the very talented builders that join me in this build.  Thank you to all for joining me in the journey.

Now with that I am going to say that there will be no new entries allowed for this year.  I just feel that there would not be enough time left to allow for the build.

Joe

Well done, Scott.  Nice Zero.  It's too bad we can't line up all the Zero's built for this GB for a group picture for FightnJoe.

Thanks FJ for your reply and hosting this GB

I built this kit right out of the box, Lt Commander Shigeru Itaya, December 7-8, 1941.  It is now complete.

Scott my apology.  I meant to reply to this earlier.

I will have to take a pic or two of the interior of the dive brakes.  To me they were about the biggest negative of the build.  I was not happy with the way they were positioned nor was I happy with the way they look.  They do not quite fit in, they do not touch the flaps at all points.  I will however try to get a pic or two.  I used enamels for most of the build, Model Master Acrylic Yellow Zinc Chromate was the only acrylic I used.

Joe

Joe, your SBD is very very nice, I'll be looking for more pictures.  Hope you get it published!

Gtreat looking job B1.  Be proud!

Both stunning a sobering B1.  Beautiful job.  

As for the Stearman, show me information it was there and you are good to go.  

Joe

Nice, B1.  Bet Joe might allow the Stearman, too, there must have been one in the islands on that day.

Sweet job B1

Well I am calling her done, The Gold Medals Models PE really helped this kit out alot, but was also a pain in the butt to deal with. I am pretty happy with how it turned out.

I love the faded, washed look Joe.  I would like to try the process you did to paint my AM kit when I get around to building it.   Could you get a shot of the inside of the dive brakes?  I'm have been curious how those go on in the split position.  I goofed mine up on a SBD-5 I built.   Were you using acrylics or enamels?Scott

Here is my entry into the build.

Accurate Miniatures 1/48 SBD-1 from the set "Marines at Pearl Harbor".

Just a teaser as this has been submitted to a magazine and has been accepted.

All comments, critiques, and criticism are encouraged.

Joe

It looks good to me Scott.  

Joe

My updated pictures.  How on earth did I make such a simple paint job get so complicated.  Had to fix a crack that developed just front of the cockpit.

Hmm seems to happen to us all doesn't it?

Joe

Painted the Zero last night but found out I used the wrong thinner.  ARRGH!  It ended up running and dried high gloss.  Nothing I cannot correct with a light wet sand and a flat topcoat after I apply the decals.  It did bleed the mask on my canopy, I was going to use the open one,  so I might end up having to used the closed one instead.  I'd post  a pic but I feel a little shamed for not reading my thinner bottle before mixing. 

Both look very good.  Looking forward to the next updates.

Joe

Coming along great Joe and B One.  I hope to get some updated pics uploaded tonight of my Zero.  I actually got it pretty much together and started pre-shading it.  Then an o-ring blew out on my airbrush and I had to order a new one today.  Hopfully it will get here by the weekend so I can paint it.

Here is where I am at now

Looking good so far joe, As for the Penny she is almost complete, I am installing the railings and fixing all the photo etch that I knock off trying to build her. Her is how she sits at the moment.