Osprey Master Class - World War 2 US Army Fighter Modeling

WORLD WAR 2

US ARMY FIGHTERMODELING

JERRY SCUTTS & BRETT GREENOSPREYPUBLISHING

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WORLD WAR 2US ARMYFIGHTER

MODELING

,

J

I

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WO

Jerry Scutts & Brett Green

OSPREYPUBLISHING

Fil'Sl pubUslw:d ,n GTnl Rriwn in 2003 by

Osprey Publishin~DInS Court, Chapd \\'2);

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CONTENTS

IntrOOut.:tion __ .. 6

Chapler I: Getting starred . _.11

Chapter 2: Reference sources .

Chapter 3: Available products .

Chapter 4: Basic construction .

Om.ptcr 5: Ad\':mccd consrruction .

Chapter 6: Sp<..'Cial lcchniques .

..32

.............................................. 43

...... 57

.... 65

. 91

. 115The gallery .

Appendices

Appendix A: Useful addresses and websilcs ..

Appendix B: Sclccl bibliography .

Acknowlcdgmcnls

Index ..

................. ... 12-1-

. 125

..... 127

. 128

I

INTRODUCTION

Since bl:ginning to collect plasti(; moddairplane kits in the lalC 19S0s/carly1960s, I realize looking back that I've

wimessed the gradual growth of an entirely newhobby almost from day one. Liule did I suspect",hal a thin-winged, blue plastic Airfix Spitfirepacked into a polythcne bag "Quid k':ld to. h....-a.~ nOI too long before there were enoughmodels on the marker for indi\'iduals to stan to

specialize in World War I aircraft, the RAF, theLuftwarTe or the lJSAAF and so on. The moremodels there were, the morc this was possibleif only we'd had some decent references forthe huge range of color schemes waiting to beunearthed. A full set of Alrcraji of the Filil/mgPower" was only of limited help until WilliamGreen published Famous FIgh/us oj the StcondWorld IVar in 196L That did it - we finally hada comprehensivc O\"Cryiew of the main Alliedand Axis fightcrs. Armed additionally with ourmonthly copies of RAF Flying Rt7.Ii~JlJ and Ai,.Pittona/, wc began slowly to build up thepicture although as far as we knew (or did notknow) the dab we had then was the \"CI)' tip ofthe iceberg_

Color was virtu:ally unknown in those d:ays the "real" equivalents of the gray shades seenin monochrome photographs were not evenquoted, let' alone published in color - but thingsdid change with such milestone books as Ai,.(t"ultCdlmmJlug~ und Ma,.klngs /907-1954, This keptthe pot boiling while Airfix (plus Frog, Revell,Aurora, etc.) continued to impro\l' their kilS.Special paints formulated for use on polystJrcneplastic appeared and we began tcntati\-e1y tofinish models in the few a1tl-mati\"C schemeswe'd found in the refCTences. The finishedmodels probably weren't that good, but weenjoyed ourseh"cs.

With reb":l.rd to specialization, I simply can'tremember when aircraft with stars and barsbegan to hold my interest - maybe it was whenAirfix released their P-51D-S of the 380lhFighter Squadron, 363d Fighter Group, named"Fool's Paradise IV." 1 doubt whether we'd evenha\-e been able to find those derails then, but asilver aircraft finish ""1lS certainly a bit difTCTentto camounab'C, so maybe that was it. In anyevent, that Aim'\': kit, plus a few others., moreor less hooked me on the hobby of plasticmodeling_ As an idle mental exercise, I'm still

6 WORLD WAR 2 US ARMY FIGHTER MODELING MASTERCLASS

wondering how long it took me 10 find theahove data aoout that Mustang because fewmodel companies then shared such with theircUStOmers.

Suffice to say that in trying lO keep pall' withthe growth of an entire industr}'. albeit a smallone b)' Wall Street standards, the supportingcast has oftcn proved as fascinat-ing as the stars.Many of us have, I suspect, had our intl'TCSt inthe various wanime air forces stimulatl-d by aparticularly good and new kit, and from thisimpetus other areas (dealing with the samesubject) have beckoned, fed panicularly bybooks and films. That more or less happened to

me. the downside being lhal' less and less timecould realistically be devoted to simply buildingkits. I'm ccrtainly not alone in confronting thatdilemma.

These days, all 1 and numerous others cando is attcmpt to keep abreast of the flood ofmodels and accessories, but some fundamentalrules do not change: I trUSt therefore that thepages of this book inspire some to set aside afew hours a week to indulge thcmsch-cs in whatis after all a ycry absorbing pastime" At the timeof writing, the references, the decals, the painrsand the kits are on a different planet comparedto the pioneering days, so much so that thesubject of this book may be explored in greatdepth, at many different levels,

THE EARLY DAYS

The art of solid model airplane con.<;truction isnow much casiCT than when the hobby firstbc~r:1n to gain popularity during World War 2.Prior to then, making a model aircrafl usuallymeant building it from a range of sofrwoods,balsa being the most popular. The complet'eairframe structure was usually built and lhenfinally co\'ered in tiSS\IC Of other material.Littlc thoughl was given to the application ofauthentic markings, there being an almost totalconcentration on the aeronautical aspect andmdeed, the desire to fly the finished model_

The a\'ailability of a number of kitscontaining pre-fonned wooden parIS and knowninitially as "solids" was a step forward for thosewho had no wish to actually fling their modelinto the air ....ith the inherent risk of it beingsmashed beyond repair in the first hea\'~·landing.

.

Thos<: individuals would instcad turn their handto non-fiying model kits, thc range of whichextended to many different typ<.."S during WorldWar 2. These re,1t:hed a degr<.."C of wphisticationand induded pre-formed plastic propellers,canopy s<.."Ctions and wheels, but thc skill lewlrcquin.x! to turn out a first rate model was stillmnsiderable.

De\·elopmeDt of the industrial tcchniquewhereb)· polystyrene plastic could be injecredinto a metal mold 10 turn out pre-formed pansin grc:at number, all of them c.xaetly the same,was about to make a world of difference toone branch of the hobby of air-modeling. Fromlarge household items such as buckets and cups,the injection molding process made ir possibleto make a set of scaled components that, once:assembled :and glued together, constitutedmini:aturc :aitplanes :md \·ehieles. ::\"0 longer didthe individual need to spend time whinling andforming the correct :lirfoil shape and fuscl:agecontours out of wood, thus postponing thep:linting and finishing sugcs.

Plastic construction enabled a jump to bemade to :trguably the most interesting phase

of modeling, that of choosing a (;Olor schemeand applying it. Completion of ,1 model airplane mnsequently became that much quickerand the emphasis changed completely fromwhat might well be termed "structural" to"cxterior." What went on under the skinwas now of only passing interest to the modelmaker, who began searching for nationalinsignia styles, c:amouflage pattt:rns, (;Ode lettersand personal markings applied to mark om asuccessful pilot.

J\'lodel kits of the early 1940s kept pace withaeronauric:al development, as while there wasstill some emphasis on the airplanes of World\Var I, those of the then current conflict soonbecame the core subject for the manufacturers.Allied and Axis ty)X."S predominated whileAmerican fighters were unden,.t:mdably few:the prototypes of the famous fighters of WorldWar .2 were onll' then being tested but to

pro,-ide an international balance, kits werereleased of such exotica as the Curtiss YP-37.A popular one, it remained a\llilablc for sometime as thc P-37. How many kits of the earlyCurtiss fighter do we ha\'e today;

ABOVE Tamiya's recent1/48-scale P-47D Thunderbolt isbeautifully detailed. accurate andprovides plenty of options forthe modeler. This kic representsthe current standard in a hobbythat has been developing forhalf a century.

INTRODllCTION 7

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North American

MUSTANG III1/32 Scale mEFUSELAGE U"WINGSPAN 14"

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ABOVE Revell's 1/32-!.C3.le kitsof the 1960$ were highly

desirable models in their day.Many of these kits featuredoperating control surfaces,retracting landing gear and

sliding canopies. Unfortunately,due to the requirement for

styrene hinges and rails, theseworking features often robbed

the model of finesse andimpacted on accuracy_

Kits of the 1960$ frequendysported thousands of over.;ized

rivets. Revell's 1/32-scaleP-SI BJMustang III kits certainly

fell into this category! However;a few kits from this era are still

worth building today.

EARLY MARKINGS

Along with the componcms thcmsch'cs,manufacturers orlhe early plastic kiL~ includeda set of markings [0 cover the baSIC essentials ofnational insignia and so forth, so that when theyappeared in due course, a reasonable lookingexample of the P-51, 1'-47 or P-38 could bebuilt. In some model releases, their designer~

were so demonstrably worried that the simpletask of applying national insigma via waterslidedecals (transfers) might be misinterpretedthat they scribed the outlines into the surface.Fortunatcl}~ Ihis practice did not last very long.

Early model airplane kit transfer shccts madefew concessions 10 authentic markings such aswdc letters or ro numbers and those thai \\ereincluded were seemingly chosen al r.lndom.Sheets of ehed:ers and numbers becamea'-:1ilablc, these being Iinle more than recognitionaids based on nying model decoration. And kilSof wartime fighlCTS made in America usually hadUSAF r.lther ,han USAAF national insignia so a~"ain, it is nOI hard to S(:e how far we\'c comein this TCSI>CCI alone.

WHICH SCALE?

The outline ,lccuracy of these early consl'rUCliunkits was not always all it might have been and thequcstion of scale - i.e. one model comparable

\\;th another in terms of rclati\'e dimensions was somt..timcs e\'cn dictated by the size of thebox the model came in. This made for some veryodd "ocnn:en scale" parts, ofrcn (00 small to takefull ad\-:1ntage of the subjecl. This was true oflarger alfcTaft such as bomhcrs however, thefighters being a generally more convenient sizewith whidl to work.

Once there W,1S a perceived marker, theindustry in the Uniled Stales soon occameorganized and manufacturers released mostplastic models in whal is somelimcs referred toas "quarter scale." This translated the full-sizeaircraft's dimensions 10 model components thatmeasured out al a qU:lTIer of an Inch to thefoot. This scaling could be entirely relied upon,as non-amformist models cominuc-d to appear,but in general bigger \\-:15 better in the US.Interestingly, the UK market had alreadyappreciated the undoubted ad,-antagcs ofmodels in this larger scale. The ChingfordModel Aerodrome (C~IA) was, by 19+1,offering a range of quartcr-scale solid modelswhich ineluded a P-3S, P-39 and P-H.

Equally popular W:IS the ll72~scalc range hyTruscaleofIloumemouth, L"K, \\'hich ascarly as19{() had released an Airacobra and Tomahawk.At that time of course the US Air Corps had fewother full-sizc designs of which models could bemade. That did not mean AmeriGlll fighters wen:overlooked and lacking anything more dC\'elopcd

.. WORLD WAR 2 US ARMY FIGHTER MODEUNG MASTERClASS

for service use: the P-37 had to suffice untildctails were relcasL'<! of [he IkI1 VP--{i3 and thecarly P-IOs. Dimensionally about half the sizeof a 1/+8-scale model in terms of a single~seat

fighter, each of [hese smaller kits includedpre-formL'(j wings and fuselage, metal propellers,hardwood cowlings, national insignia transfersand glue. Again there was a lad of squadronmarkings, prooobly due to wartime national

security restrictions.\Vith the war O\'er there was a temporary

re\;sion to traditional model aircraft pending

reorganization of the industry from wartime topeacctime footing. When plastic kits became3'v'3ilablc in England, there was a general swingtowards 1/72 scale, while the Americansgenerally suyed loyal to the larger scale. ThosekiLO; that crossed the Atlantic from the US alwayscarried [he penalty of a higher price, and in"pocket money" terms, the low price of abagged Airfix kit successfully created a firmbrand loyalty - despite their rebtive cruditycompared to wh:'ll came bIer. Another reasonwas that lhese kil'S successfull~ lapped into the"collector" inslincr, for Airfix, Frog and other

manufaClurcrs put out a stt':ldily increasingnumber of subjL'(;tS. With regard to singlc-scalfighters, although the finished results were quitesmall they weI"C L"Onvcniell! to build and easy toline up along a bL'<!room shelf, Additions In [hesmaller scale soon overtook the fewcr l/-l8-scalemodels Ihal appeared in those days simplybecause IhLTe were fewer of the l:lner and theywere not alwa)'s easy to obt:1in,

As rime passLxl and the product generallyimpro\"ed. model company engravers becameincreasingly aware that the necessary heavymetal molds for plastic kits were adaptable andcapable of reprodu6ng components with verTfine scale detail. On the actual plastic the workof toolmakers appeared as raised or recessedpanels, lines of rin:ts and numerous optionalpans designed 10 enable the builder to complctcone or more versions of the S:tme aircraft.

J\ lodds of the machinL"S that flew in lhecolors of the United States Army Air Forceswere early arrivals on the plastic modelingscene and the popularity of the "big three"(the 1)-51 Must:1ng, P-47 Thunderbolt and1'-38 Lightning) was quickly est:1blished. That

,

LEFT Old books can sometimesbe found at bargain prices. Manybooks frum earlier decades arestill valuable reference sources.All of the books pictured herewere published in the 196Os.They feature a wealth ofwartime photos, and theseimages are as relevant today asthey were when they were firstpublished. However, be awarethat research has uncovered newfacts about aircraft varianu,details and color schemes overthe years, so color profiles anddrawings in these old booksmay need verilia-tion againstmodern sources.

INTROOucnON 9

ABOVE Old blueprints andtechnical drawings are alsohelpful reference material.

this popularity has hardly ever waned is notdifficult to explain. So many of the decisive aircOmbats of the war were fought by Americanand Allied pilots flying these types and, viatheir fathers, youngsters were imbued with akeen sense of patriotism.

FIGHTER VERSATILITY

With ten air forces in the field by 1944, allof them with their fighter component, theUSAAF had, like most air arms of the fightingpowers, come to appreciate the effectivenessand economy of pursuit aircraft, those thepilots first nicknamed "pea shooters." The roleof a category of aircraft historically regarded inthe US as much less useful than bombers hadchanged radically. Very early on in World 'Var2, American fighters were adapted - and soonbuilt - to carry external ordnance, whichbrought their basic combat duty partially intothe realm of the bomher. Burgeoning numbersof single- and multi-seater fighter bombersnow demanded a comprehensive system ofmarkings schemes aimed at rapid air-to-airand "friend from foe" recognition. Differenttheaters of war saw differenl fighter markingsschemes, for instance those of Europe and thePacific regions.

As the War progressed, basic markingsschemes for American fighters developedto encompass local conditions, the variousconfigurations of the aircraft and above all, theneed for concealment on the ground andinstant recognition in the air. Each theater ofwar had its own detail requirements formarkings although there was a considerabledegree of commonality regarding paintwork,once the early-war anomalies resulting fromdiverTed contracts settled mto standardization.

These often conflicting reqUIrements ofblending into the terrain to elude the enemy andbeing recognized by pilots on the same sideresulted in a plethora of colors, code letters,numbers, bands and stripes being applied to allUS fighters in combat. Reliable and adaptablesystems soon emerged.

EUROPEAN BASIS

Arguably the most effective markings systemused on US fighters during World War 2was developed for the RAF whereby each unitwas giycn a code consisting of two letters(sometimes a letter and a number) with a thirdleller identifymg the individual "planc-insquadron." There was tar less visual confusionafter this system was adopted, but the firstAmerican fighters based in England were alsogiven an additional recognition scheme. Thuswhite nose, wing and tail bands over camouflagefinish marked out the P-47 and P-.:il, fightersthat could conceivably be confused withtheir common German adversaries, the Fw 190and Bf 109 respectively. Untold numbers ofThunderbolt and Mustang pilots probably owetheir lives to this paint scheme as they divedthrough bomber formations in pursuit of theLuftwaffe Jagdflieger. "Friendly fire" incidentscontinued to occur but the whiTe bandsminimized this risk.

Colors were used as an additional recognitionaid and so diverse did these become rhat thewhole subject of aircraft markings eventuallybecame a separate field of study, largely divorcer.!from technical development, combat operaTionsand first-hand pilot narratives. Many of thosewartime fighter color schemes, marching a welldocumented key, survived via an unprecedentedvisual and written record, so that 60 years on thepublication of still photographs and thewidespread availability of movie film footageenable the enthusiast model maker to acquire acomprehensive library of reference.

Books devoted enlirely to the subject ofwartime American fighters arc lcg-:ion, be ittheir technical development, performance, the

10 WORLD WAR 2 US ARMY FIGHTER MODELING f-MSTERCLASS

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combat record of their pilots, or the camouflageand markings the aircrafr carried. With thisgradual increase in quantity and quality ofprinted material, the model manufacturers weremade aware of what people wanted to buildas three-dimensional replicas; for rheir partthe makers had ro gamble that the enormousfinancial im'estmcnl in metal molds and indeedthe plastic raw material would be justified byhigh \'olume s:lIes.

As polystyrene plastic is a by-product of oil,its COSt is volatile. There ha\"c been periodswhen supplies of "black gold" indirectlycurtailed the production of new kit releases, orforced prices up. BUI in the main me ompUlhas more than kept pace with demand atgenerally reasonable cost. In lime, the scaleaccuracy of successive releases impro\"cd lO thepoint where today, individual kits are about astrue to the original machine as anyone is likelyto get. In a competitive world, plastic kitmanufaclUrers will of course duplicate someitems, particularly the beuer-known wartimeUS fighlers. "If it sells, it should be in ourrange," is Ihe understandable \'iew insideIhe induslry.

This fact has also driven Ihe search fordefinitive qualily, something that has onlybenefiled Ihe modeler. These days, scales thatwere pre\'iously neglected have also had newilems regularly added so lhat with a fell' nombleexceptions, a range of US fighlers can be built inall five popular scales from 1/100 10 1/24. Notquile SO popular, simply because lhe number ofkirs is so small (and rhe investmenl by thesupplier so large), is 1124 scale.

The smallest of the scales has had some realgems added to it o\·er thc years and manypeople find the tiny singk'-(.'fll,rinc fighters thatresull jus, right for ,hem. One advantage hereis if Ihe modeler wishes to portray a scenelhat includes multiple aircraft. A whole groupof i"luslangs or Thunderbolts, c\·en a (at;toryproduction line for e.>o:amplc, would suit 1/100(or I/H4) scale subjeos vcry well withOUT theneed 10 O\\'fl the equi\'2lent of a fuU-sizc hangerin which m store Ihe finished articles.

EXPANDING THE POSSIBILITIES

In parallel with Ihe increase in the number anddiversity of injection-molded construction kits,the more limited runs possible with the \"'3CUum

formed (\'2cufonn) plastic process has enablede\'en more gaps, represented by the moreobscure types or \"3rianls, to be filled. "Ibismeans Ihat if the modeler desires, sa); a 1'-39 in1/32 scale, il is possible 10 build one, provid<:dthat the undeniable e.xlra I\"ork stages dl:mandcdby this lype of kit are raken into account.

The range of kil options has oc-en furtherboosted by the rise of companies spt'Cializing inconversion sets, usually of panicul3r itl."J1ls wheels, radomes, fairings., flaps and so forth designed to be incorporaled into injectionmolded kit parIS to enable an alternative earlier orlaler production variant to be produced. 1n manycases, these conversion SCtS offer more accuratereplacement parts because the specialist isseemingly able to focus more closely on aparticular area of an aircraft replica than thecommercial supplier is.

BELOW The development ofthe hobby over the past decadesallows us now to produceauthentic miniature replicas ofOUf favorite aircraft.

•

INTRODUCTION 11

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CHAPTER 1GETTING STARTED

BELOW LEFT Differentadhesives are available for

different requirements.Cy.moacrylate cement, more

commonly known as supergtue,is helpful for securing small

parts.This glue dries veryquickly, but the bond is

somewhat brittle and the fumesfrom the drying glue can fog

dear pam.Watchmakers'cement is a good alternative forbonding clear pam. It is strong

and clear when dry.There are many choices of

cement for gluing polystyreneplastic parts. The Revell

"COntacta" cement pictured isequipped with a handy needle

applicator for precise placementof the cement.

BElOVV RIGHT Sanding toolsare an essentiaJ element of the

modeling loolbox. From the left,we can see a sanding stick.. a

buffing stick and emery board.These can all be cheaply

obtained from the supermarkelor pharmacy. The needle file

permits smOOlhing of hard-toreach areas of your model, andthe sanding block is ideal when

large areas of plastic need to bere-contoured.

GeLling started on a modern kit istherefore easy and requires very littleextra financial outlay over and above

a set of paints and a few basic 1001s. Thei:mer will vary according lO the individual's tastebut me successful completion of any kit requiresa sct number of steps lO be followed beforeany gluing of partS is undertaken. These includeimmersing the entire set of errier sprues in asolution of washing up liquid in lukewann watcr.Thi.. is necessary to remm-e any traces of the"release agent" used, as the term implies, lO

slip each sprue out of the mold smoothly, withno pulling or sticking and without a film ofthin plastic known as "flash" inadvertentlyemhracing the component parts. This very thinplastic film still appears on some modem kitsbm in general it has been eliminated from theproducts of the major manufacturers, whosequality conlT()1 is generally of a high order. A thinfilm of plastic has irs uses in some an:as ofmodeling as il is strong enough to shape intoo-rra panels, lO replicate into battle damage an:asand so forth - so follow the old adage of "neverthrow anything awa)," Even the carrier sprucshave meir uses. Stretched under a fhmc thoselong straight Sl.octions of plastic have historicallybeen the source of ultra thin aerial wires oninnumerable models. The advantage is of coursethat, being plastic rather than any other matcrial,you can rely on its strength and ability to bond aswell as the kit componcnL<i.

In my experience though you need to

experiment with the plastic used by variousmanufacturers. As will be noticed whenassembling lhe kit, some plastics have a softercompound than others. The ability to "SIring"the hc:ued sprues lO thin lengths depends onthe degree of densi!}·.

When each washed sprue has dried, some ofthe partS need to be rcmm'ed from the carril.Tframe, a lask that always requires gTeat care,particularly where small, delicate comJXmenrs arcconcerned. These should not be pulled or twistedaway from the sprue as a pit may easily be made inthe smooth surface of the component which willrequire filing off or, in extreme cascs, filling andsanding down. Some kits are beller than others inthis respect: occasionally it seems that no matterhow careful ~'ou arc at scpar:ulng the parts fromthe sprues, a riny raised area remains on thecomponent and stubbornly refuses to disappear.h is therefore an area that al....1lys needs closeanention and a "damage limitation" approachright from the stan. This applies particularly tothe canopy and othcr transparent partS. Pla!t"tickirs ha\'e hiswrically been packed into plllythencbags - several bags in the case ofsome laq,ocr scalemodels - and I always uke the precaurion againsttransparencies gening scratched by lca\ing themin one of the bags. Alternatively, wrap them intissue paper. Don't let the clear parts rattlearound in the box because lhey arc prone todamage and breakage in extreme cases.

12 WORLD WAR 2 US ARMY FIGHTER MODEUNG MASTERCLAS$

•TOP LEFT Here are three. different-sizedhobby knives and two pairs of sassors.These will be some of your most frequenllyused modeling tools.

TOP RJGHT A high quality sprue cutter (onthe left of this pict\lre) will supply a cleanCut and save a great deal of time that mightotherwise be spent trimming. unding andfilling.A selection of razor saws will also findtheir Wil'/ into the modeling toolbox.

MIDDLE LEFT Different tools are requiredfor different uses. Each of there tools(pliers, tweezers and a self-closinghemostat) has a particular application.

MIDDLE RIGHT Here are some tools thatchange the surface texrure of a model:two different styles of scriber and adressmaker's pin wheel. The lauer is aninexpensive tool useful for replicatingrivet marks in plastic..

BOTTOM LEFT A pin vise is simply asmall drill that holds tiny drill bits.This isanother frequently used element of thetool kit.

BOTTOM RIGHT It will usually bene<:e55ary to fill seams or gaps on a model.A large selection of putties is available forthis purpose.The old lener opener at thetOP of the picwre is ~ed as a trowel forapplying MId smoothing putty.

GETTING STARTED 13

-

ABOVE LEFf Tape is useful inmany aspects of modeling.TheDymo tape on the left can be

used as a self-adhesive scribingguide on large kit parts. while

Tamiya Masking Tape can be usedfor preparing kits for painting"

ABOVE RIGHT No modelingrooIkit would be complete

without a selection of goodquality jnintbrushes in various

sizes. An airbrush is Vl importanttool to help achieve il realistic

finish.The airbrush pinured hereis Testor's Anek A470.

TOOLS

In recommending the tools needed to get a kitproject underway, the separation of parts fromthe sprue will reqUire a strong pair of rinsnips or sprue cuners to st.'yer the often tough"trees" that hold the pieces in position. TheseauachmelllS have to be fairl}' substantial, assome kitS need to be shipped haIfw"ay aroundthe world before they reach the modeler'shands. Sucked on shch"cs., not always bypeople who appreciate the delicacy of what'sinside, [hey can get damaged; so strongretaining pins are needed on cach of the sprueframes. Tin snips will easily remove the mostimportalll parts including the two fuselagehalves, the engine cowling and the wingsections in order for the modeler to makethe initial dry or "dummy run." Carefullycheck the fit of all these components, ensuringespecially that the attachment pins aligncorrectly. If they don't, an unsightly seam orstep might result when the glue is appliedwhich will laboriously ha\'e to be sanded down.If pin alignment threatens to create this fault,trim off any offending ones at this stage. Otheruseful tools are dealt with in the images andcaptions on pages 12-14,

BUILDING A P-47

Our "getting started" modeling subject will bethe p-t7 Thunderbolt, with particular referenceto Tamiya's 1/48-scale 1'-470 Thunderbolt"Razorback", modeled by Brett Grccn in theimages that accompany this chapter.

With such a \'ariety of 1'-47 kits available,across several scales, i, 's always a good idea tocheck thc wing and fuselage sections foroutline accuracy against a multi-view drawing.Plam of P-47s showing three or more views ofthe aircraft have been published in magazinesand books in great number and few modelers

will be unaware that they vary a good deal andthat the most modern plans arc nO£ necessarilythe most reliable. The answer is to use the oneyou feel best reprt:sents the full size machinein order to check the dimensions of plastickit JXlrlS ab'ilinst what is, after all, a "nat" andtherefore false representation - and indeed one.that no manufacturer ever needs to huild thereal aircraft.

I take the view that scale plans are only parIof the literature the modeler needs on WorldWar 2 aircraft and nobody should rely onehundred pcr<.-cnt on their accuracy. After all, aplan is onh another individual's interpretationof a thrcc dimensional object in one plane which of course has been drawn up, reduced insize and reproduced, a process with numerousopportunities for error.

A friend who draws scale plans for sideviews has made good usc of a computer 10

measure dimemions between known poinlson an airframe and come up with somesurprising answers. But those nf us who arc notprofessional draughtsmen or engineers maynot fully understand the close tolerancesaerodynamists ha\"e to work with - nor dowe reall)' nCl.:d to know for the purposes ofmodeling, My o\"erall advice i.~ to run your eyeover what you consider to be the most reliableplans but make a cllN: concurrent study of thebest possible quality photogl'2phs.

Read any model magazine and sooner orlaler there will be some pundit who "illinform the listening world that such and such amanufacturer's kit is two millimeters '00 shonin the fuselage. Really? What if the plan usedwas scaled down from an original drawing (asmost reproduced plans arc) and happened to beundersized by just that amount? How wouldour "expert" know that?

Dimensions can of course be checked with ascale rule or calculator - provided that thereference that quotes the figure seems right.

14 WORLD WAR 2 US ARMY FIGHTER MODEUNG MASTERCLASS

•

•

•

Fine - but now check another \xlol:, thcn athird or fourth. CJJ.anccs arc that someone willha\"c added a few eighths of an inch to thequoted oycrall length. My personal \'lew issimply to ignore any tiny discrepancy betweenkit and plan that is not glaringly obvious orthat docs not cxceed about five millimeters. itseems that few people can ever get thesequestions of dimensions tOl,llly right, for theabove reasons which arc often beyond one'scontrol. I feci that it is simply nOI wonh theeffon involved to add some tiny extension to akit, onc probably involving a good deal of work,

that few observers will even notice unless it isbrought to their attention. Oh\'iously shapematters and if an error in the Q\'crall lengthof the P-47's fuselage is a result of a poorlydefined rudder or a short nose; then someremedial work should be undertaken.

As your modeling experience builds, so ....111your "third eye" imprO\·c. This hypothcticalcombination of gray matter and optics is anaid to accuracy in reproduction and will comcinto playa grcat deal in modeling good scalcreplica of aireraft. Study of pholographs willalso reveal the finer points of design and<:onstructlon of the full-size machine, those"make or break" areas that have to be spot-onfor a model to work in its own right. Sooner orlater the common pitfall areas, those where thekit manufacturer has to pay close attention to

his own plans in order to pr<X1ucc an accuratereplica, will be quickly notiu:-d and closelych(."(;kcd before anything else.

COMMON PROBLEM AREAS FORMODElERSAll machines have lheir idiosyncrasies ofdesign, none more than aircraft so it seems. Onthe Thunderbolt there are a number of arC;lSthat can be problematic if they have beenpoorly designed as kit components or if therehas been some fault in the moldings. If ther-47 kit version is :1 "T3zorback" mudel priorto the P-47D-25, the top line and shape of thef(''3f fuscl3ge will stand OUl if il c1c;lrly lacksthe tfue sharpnC'ls ob\'1oUS in a thr(.-c-quarcerfear view of the full-size aircr:lft. If you fcclthat the Thunderboh looks bener with thecanopy open, try positioning the !cit cockpitbefore cuning it from the windscreen.Chances arc that it won't fit, and will ride ascale foot or so too high. The reason for thisdisparity is that the greenhouse canopy onpre-D-25 versions of the Thunderbolt wasvery thin. Two handles sel into the lowerframing were used hy the pilot 10 brace thel;anopy apart so that it would align in therunners on each side of the fuselage. It hadto be thin to be light enough to move easilyand align snugly with the coarning behindthe pilot's scat. Therefore, scaling it all

ABOVE Tamiya's lI48·saleP-47D Thunderbolt "Razorback",model by Brett Green. Late in2002,Tamiya released theirlI48-scale P-47D Thunderbolt.This kit features superb levels ofaccuracy. detail. engineering andoptions. It sets a new standardfor a plastic kit straight from thebox. Some modelers claim thatthis is the best 1!48,scale aircraftmodel released to date. Onething is for certain: if you wantto build a model without theexpense or complication ofafter-market accessories, but youstill wam a well-deailed replica,Tamiya's lI48-scale P-47D fiuthe bill.

GETTlNG STARTED 15

RIGHT The sprues ofTamiya's1/48-scale P-47D Thunderboltare packed in separate plastic

bags.This is important, as itprevents partS on different

sprues from rubbing togetherwhile the box is in transit, whichcould result in fine scratches and

scuffing.The sprues contain awealth of options for the kit,

including bombs, rocketIaunc:he~. different styles of drop

tanks. alternate propellers andoptional position landing naps.cowl naps and fuselage outlet.

down means that no ralorback model fuselagesection is really going 10 be narrow enough ifthe clear section is to align with it when open.

Depending on the desired scale, the modelerhas to chose either to til a canopy from anotherkit that is slightly oversized (they all \'ary to somedegree) or mold one ill material thin enough 10

sit far enough down to rest on the sliding railand generally line up squarely when located in

the open position. The only otht.-r option is tolaboriously pare down the plastic behind thel"OCkpit until i[ will 3lttpr the den section that

is supplied with the kit.The chord and shape of [he rudder has also

presenred a few challenges to Thunderbolt kitsin the past, as ha\-e areas such as the alignmentof the eight blast tubes of the wing machineguns, the o\-erall shape of the cowling, the size

RIGHT It is even moreimportant that the dear

parts are packed separatelyas they are far more

susceptible (0 scratching.

16 WORlD WAR 2 US ARMY FIGHTER MODEUNG MASTERCLASS

lEFT Before the p<lru areremoved from the sprue, it issensible to paint some of theimerior details. Elementsincluding the cockpit, wheelwells, undercarriage doors ilndthe inside of flaps and the cowlwere first sprayed black. This"shadow COat" is followed by theappropriate interior color forthe particular componenc.. Inthe case of the P-'47D, the most

likely color for the cockpit is

Dull Dark Green and theremainder of the interior wouldbe painted Zinc ChromatePrimer.

and shape of the fuselage turbo waste gates., Ihecowl naps and [he canop~.

Taking [hcse check poinn; in no panicularorder, the chord and outline shape of [herudder should be ehecled ab"3ins[ phoLOs andplans. As is ,wll known, all eight machinc gunsshould oc sct in a horizontal line and no[ followIhe dihedral angle of the wing:; the turboshould be wcll defined, with the [\\"0 smallexhaust doors aft of Ihe cowling sining proudof [he fusclage; all cowl naps should also bethin enough for [he scale :md preferably no[nil in :I "wide-Dpen" position, and [he largeventral exhaust ports should be the correct sizeand shape.

A common scale problem on Thunderboltkits is that the waste pIes lur the turbochargeron each side ofthe center fuselage arc often toothick if the mm·eable doors arc molded open.Ll"cn if they come as separate irems rheyshould he to seale thickness.

You'll also need LO ehl.:ek whelher or nO( themain landing gear doors are in their correct [hreesccLions" On older kits, Ihey mighr well bemolded:ls one piece [hal has to occut info mree_That tiny door section at the rop of each oleo legs(.'CfIlS to throw manufaClurcrs, who oftcn mold itas a protuberance at the top of the "straight"Sl..'Ction of the doors. In extTt..'ITle cases I\"c knownkits to ignore Lhese tiny doors completely andmerely engra,-e their outline on [he outsidef.1c..'C of [he main door_ Although these ircms are"cry small, without thc..-m Ihe 1>-47's unusual(;.\"[cnding oleo \muld have lx'Cn cXlx)SC(i to moredust :llld grit ~ and once YOll know the doorsshould he separa1e sections, yOUl' conscience willcrcate a need 10 reproduce them.

As with all World War 2 fighters, the forwardrake of the undercarriage and the toc-in of the

wh!.:cls of rhe P-17 need careful auention:certain Idts are seemingly designed to make thisalignment more diflicul[ to aehie\'e but if youfeel they ha'"e it wrong, mod~-me loca[ing pins- or do your own [hing!

Other areas of P-+7 kits mat need scrutinyinclude the shell case exit doors in the \\ ins:undersides, how well the dl'tail of the auaehed(or separate) main wing racks for drop lanksand bombs has been aehievc..-d, and of course,the outline shape of the cockpit canopy, nOtforgetting the unique shape of the windscrc..'enon the early model rawrbacks.

Ain..Taft details can look remarkably dilTert.'Tl1from certain camera angk-s, and with the P-.J.7the upper line of 1he forward fuselage willappear to vary considerably. This optical illusionhas led kit manufacTurers something of a danceinsofar as designing the bl-St way to attach lhecowling to the fuselage and "mold thc dip" thatalways appeared where the fuselage curveddownwards to meet the cowl flaps. The war thenaps arc molded in the kit often has a bearing onatturacy of owline. Various approaches ha\·ebeen adopted by kit manufacturers 10 artlch theCO'I\-Iing and the engine components, but [heyusually comprise a straight join in,'oh ingccml'Ilting Ihe circumference of the cowling.

Undcrncalh, the Thunderbolt (dependingon the sub-type) can appear differenr as wellquite poI-bellied in some 'lews and regularlycurn:d in others, Some machines from theP-f7C-5 did indeed have an extrn "keel" sectionto enable sttengthened belly tank/bombshackles to be fitted. There was a distinci bulgeon the undcrside as a result. Em the troublewith that kind of modification is that iT miseslhe following quesTion. were all suh-typessimilar in outline from that point on? If the

GETIlNG STARTED 17

RIGHT Next, major parts areremoved from the kit sprues

using sprue cutters. These canbe used to make a clean cut

close to the plastic part.minimizing later "clean-up."

answer is a qualified no., it docs nOl 3ctually helpthe modeler much. Comparing the kit p3ns 10as many photos as possible is the only W3Y 10decide if the plastic matches the met3!.

CONSTRUCTION TIMESo, having washed all the parts on the spruesand thoroughly scrutinized what came OUIof the box, and assuming that the 1'-47 kilyou arc building is accurate enough not torequire major surgery with a file or scalpel,construction of the main sub-assemblies canproceed. Dy this stage you will have cut off thetwO fuselage halves and the wing to see howthey match up.

It goes without saying that you alsQ need tocheck that the horizontal tailplancs 3re readyfor assembly thc right way up. This is becausethey may h3\'e previously oc-cn detached andsub-assembled. In case you have done thispreparatory ,"ork but neglected to check if thetrim tabs and any prominent mass balances arewhere they should be., consulr the instructions,which should male this clear. The samegoes for trim tabs on the ailerons and thewings. I"'e seen numerous references to thefact that kit manufacturers have lert these onthe kit when they were in fact omined from agiven sub-type.. And of course the opposite isalso true, so knowledge of the sub-IYpe ofaircraft you're working with is quite important.These arc annoying details to find oul lalerwhen painting a trim tab that your particularvariant did not in fact ha\'c!

18 WORLD WAR 2 US ARMY FIGHTER MODEUNG fMSTERClASS

THE CUTTING EDGEPrevious mention of a scalpel brings us toanother essential item III our tool kiL Any formof sharp knife will suffice to cut what is osuallyrelatively soft plastic, mducling those thathave snarroffhlades. Those by Swann Morton,sold with a range of different-shaped blades,arc probably the most versatile. 1 find a lOAblade [0 be the most useful for trimmingplastic components, as it is not too long torisk breakage. Also, the blade remains sharpenough to enable repeated trimming orscraping lightly along a SL'am to remove aglue bubble without any surface scralching, ashappcns when using the "wet and dry" sandingmethod. Those annoying hairline scams thatcan appear on upper and lower wing surfaceswhen gluing - no how matter how carefulyou've been during the dry runs - can easily beremovcd by a scalpel held at an angle to theoffending joint.

Also, I ill\'ariably usc Swann Morton bladesas drills.. Gently rotated, the pointed blades areideal for making that c.xtra locating hole oropening out a gun trough. Provided that duerestraint is c:.:erciscd (the blades otherwisebeing liable to snap in half or at least lose ,heirtip) such work can be completed without resortto an electric drill. Patience, that suprememodeling :lid, applies. A round flIe can be usedto clean up thc machine-gun port, Inlake orwhatever area you need to drill oU[. On 1'-·47s a\\ ing root camera port may need to be added ifthe kit does nOl indicate it.

,,

"Wet and dry" sandp:lpcr is lL'iUally sold insheets varying in surface roughness, \\;th theworking side in black with a plain backing. It isone of those time-tested modeling aids that isinvaluable for a whole rangc of sanding from'·cry light to heavy duty. Repc3t usage ....;11result in a \·ery smooth surface that remainsidcal for very light sanding of canopy edges andso forth. Any hea\'y sanding is bcst carried outwith a sheet of wei and dry attachcd to a firmbase and onto which considerable prc.<;sure maybe applied.

If scratches on the plastic surface persistdespite liberal use of wet and dry, a proprietarymetal polish product sUl..:h as Duraglit Silyowill add that final sheen. The subsequent coat(s)of paint should cover the surface abrasions.,particularly when applied by airbrush. Carenceds to be taken when using: :my abrasivehowever worn it might be as there is a risk ofrcmm·ing the paint undcr that authemic sheenyou're trying to achieve. Scratches on canopysections are particularly :lnnoying but polishingwith ordinary toothpaste can restorc darit~'.

FILLERSIn e."treme cases., where a (:oat or two of paintwill clearly not cO\·er gaps or surfacc abrasions.,model filler or what is generally termed "bodypuny" should be used. My personal choice isGreen Putty, an American product that hasbeen on the market for many years hut hassince been joined by similar products producedelsewhere. Even the best-fitting kits mayrequire a Liny spot of putty, particularly if themold maker has been a little over cnthusiasticwith extracting component parts from thelocating pins inside the mold. This actionsometimes leaves a sink mark or dimple or twoon the plastic surfacc, which should be filled.Kever use too much, as the rubbing downprocess may itself create supplementaryindentations, which also need filling! All suchpUllies intended for usc with polystyreneplasric are pliable as they comc out of thetube and remain so for as long as they need10 be induced into gaps.. Left to harden ofTo\'emight, the)' can then be smoothed ofTto thepoint where any unsightly join line is all butinvisible.

Having gone through thc above initialstages., lhe modeler should havc all the mainsub assemblies trimmed and ready for stickinglOgelher and the fuselage sections cleanedup ready for mating. Don't forget to lightlyroughen the butt joint edges to improveadhesion. Then comes the question of paintingthe interior of thc Thundcrbolt's cockpit.

Fortunately the P-47 had quite a crowdedcrew position and with Ihe seat, armor plate,instrument panel, gun sight and controlcolumn in situ, few of the details on thefuselage sidewalls ean readily be seen, duemainly to the cun-arure of the fuselage at thatpoin!. This means that a black "shadow coat"followed by base coat of Dull Dark Green, withsome structural part... painted in zinc chromateand black can be all that is needed_

VARIED SHADESThere were se\'cral shades of prolectivechromate paint used on CSAAF aircraft, mostof them varying from yellow to a liverish green.These days most model paint manufacturersinclude a chromate green as part of their rangcand the shade chosen will be one of the first

ABOVE The P-'17D propellerassembly is broken down in aunique fashion that accur.llelyrepresents the join between thefront and rear of the hub, andalso guarantees the COf'l'ect pitchfor the propeller blades.Thislittle assembly was prepared byp;linting the hub silver. followedby a wash of black oil paint to

highlight bolt detail.Thepropeller blades were thenpainted black with yellow tips.

LEFT The P-47D enginecomprises only eight parts butthe detail is very good indeed.Careful detail painting and an oilwash maximized the detail onthe plastic parts.

GETTING STARTED 19

paints to hc applied to the mode!. Areassuch as the tailwheel and mainwheel wellsand the edges of the undercarriage doors whichon P-47s, \\·ere often quitc visible as a chromeyello\\·;orange shadc, nced to he so treated.

Some P-47 kits extend to a canvas dust hootaround the tailwheel oleo and this may need to

be painted at this stage, along with the tworetaining rods that kcep the tailwheel doorsopen. Simulatcd on some kits, these rods maybe added as separate items if the modeler sowishes. The cockpit console and sidewalls alsoneed painting at this stage, as do the seat and allareas of the cockpit visible through the canopy.

l\tlost fighter models require thc cockpitdetail to be completed at an early stage, as thissub-assembly will be trapped hy the fuselagehalves when they arc glued. Some items suchas a separate headrcst and radio sets that arclocated aft of the pilot's scat may be left untillater. As a considerable degree of handling ofthe model lies ahead, you don't need flimsyparts that arc liable to come lose snapping offand perhaps being lost forever.

]0 sum up, the less you rcally necd to addbefore the aircraft has its fuselage and perhapswings assembled, the better.

WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS?By studying the accompanying instructionsheet, the modeler will now havc a good ideaof how the kit has been broken down for caseof assembly and the number of stages this willtake.

I find that kit instructions always need amodicum of personal interpretation at certainstages of construction although famillarity withthe aircraft type will soon enable much of theassemhly to be completed without constantreference to them. In recent years manufacturershave almost dispensed with the cost oftranslating instructions into six-plus languagesand instead have reverted to illustrations. Thismeans that anyone from Yorktown to Yokahamais theoretically able to assemble the kit with theminimum of trouble - certainly not bccause aword (or ten) cannot be understood. In fact kitdesign for American single-engine fightermodels follows much the same pattern and fewpeople should run imo difficulties in assemblinga Thunderbolt. On the other hand, the variousstages have to be elearly understood to ensurethat the sheet does not suggest, for example, thatthe assembly of the main landing gear is nottackled too early. It is well known that alignmentof a kit's wings and tailplane against the \'erticalis vital: if the dihedral angle is 100 steep, thelanding gear oleos will im·ariably be too high andthe wheel toe-in (or out) will sutTer. Verticalalignment of the mainwheels also needs to becarefully done, so the landing gear assemblyshould ideally to be completed althe same time.

Should the kit instructions suggest earlyattachment of the gear, ignore them. Applyingadhesive to all three undercarriage legs mUSIwait until the wing angle has been obtainedsatisfactorily, otherwise even the best modelrisks !rJining a few scale degrees of dihedral on

RIGHT The Tamiya kit'sinstrument panel is quite good. It

features blank instruments andoffers the option of either

painting the dials or applying adecal over the top of the wholepanel. Instead, I decided to applyindividual instrument decals foreach of the dials after punching

them from Tamiya's kit decalsheet.A Waldron micro Punch

and Die was used for thisprecision task.


LEFT The individual decals weresealed with a spot of floor waxto reinforce the impression of agla.ss lens in front of eachinstrument. The detail on theTamiya P-47D kit's sidewallslooks great too. Detail in silver,white. red and even semi-glossblack (over the flat black b.lisecoat) was picked OtJt with a finepaintbrush_

(

one wing compared \\-ith the opposite sidewhile the adhesin' that fixes them in positiondrics OUI. Cnsighdy gaps rna} also appear atthe wing rooLS and require use of filler andsandpaper to eliminate them. But if basicprecautions are raken, the dr)-run fitting ofpans should result in a near perf(."(;t marryingup all round.

Wing (Q fuselage joints oftcn pose problemsin alignmelH, as do OIhcr major wmponentsthat arc molded separately tu onc another onthe sprue. There can be few things moreirksome than to ha\'e a wing- jUt forward of theroot fillet section and overhang at the trailingedge. What to do? Tn extrcme cases the onlyremedy is to employ filk... to build up the fillubefore the wing halvcs an.: joined to it. Then,using ample adhesi\'e, aim to obt:Jin as firm abond as possible before S3nding the offendingioim down after the wing is att:Jchcd. I lowmuch work you'll ha\e 10 do depends on thedesign of the kit in qucstion, but the butt jointis still commonly used on models of P-4-7s andsingle-engine aircraft of similar configuration.

ADDING MORE DETAILShould you now be a little impatienl to completeyour Thunderboh and add the finishing touches,rhere is no reason why time nt.w be spenlon adding extra detail to the cockpit area.Today, most good kits, induding the excellentT;lmiya one shown in thc photographs thataccompany this chapter, come with all that thenlOl.leler needs to give the rC(luired depth to

this area, including dCl'als to be attached to a

plastic section representing the instrumentpanel. Cockpit sidewalls, with lheir \':Iriousinstruments, boxe:i and IC'lTfS, are im-ariablymolded in relief :md need only careful painlingand rna} be a little additional d~- brush wear andtear, 10 bring them out. Paint the inside asaccurately as possible. both from your rcfcrcot.'CSand the kit inSlructions.

It is of course entirely an individu.al ehoi(.'(:how much :additional work [Q put into thccockpit interior. For example, do you wantmerely 10 pick out the scat harness with paint,or add your own hom a multi-media accessorykil, such as the Eduard one shown in thejlholOgraph on p:age 22i [laving decidedwhclher or nOI to h:ave the finished model withan open or closed hood section will oftcndetermine Ihe .answer. In the elosed position,howe\ er e!<,'ar the transparent sections of therazorback "greenhouse" are, there \\-ill be somedistortion. The degrec ofdelail \-isible throughlhe bubbletop CJ,nopy of a P---17D is also limitt.'<!due to the brace mt."(:hanism behind the Jlilot'sseal, the hc:adrcst and in all \'ersions, thenOlable eu!\-ature of rhe fuselage al that point.

II should be stressed ar this junelure thaIthe foregoing is intended for the enlhusiasticbeginner to do as the chapter heading s.ays - to

gel Slarted. NOl for a moment would I suggcsIthat the highly skilled builder who also intendsto enter his model in a competition would wanlLO skimp the cockpit, particularly bearing inmind th:1( event judges invariahly carry pentorches to probe the model's innards to seeexactly holl' mut:h has been put in - or left off.

GffilNG STARTED 21

ABOVE The only extra itemdestined for the P-47D kit was aharness from Eduard's set No. 49

00 I: Seatbelts USAF & USNWWII.These photo-etched belts

have been pre-painted and aremicroscopically detailed.

Building a model straight out of the box,using only what is provided by the manufacturerwithout any modification, has been legitimizedby the International Plastic :\lodeling Society asa competition cla.ss in its own right: there couldhardly be better proof of how high a standardtoday's kits have reached, such as the TamiyaP-47D shown. Above all, modeling should be anenjoyable, absorbing pastime, not a stress-riddensearch to acquire every accessory on the market.Like football, which was once only a game,model making can become a high cost, angstridden, reputation-risking business. Don't everlet that happen to you!

AIR OR PAINTBRUSH'There a.re still many modelers who have neverquite mastered the art of spraying models withan airbrush, and who get along with the timehonored hand-held brush. I suspect howeverthat such individuals are in the minority,particularly if there is a penchant for the largerscale kit. An airbrush is almost essential for

covering relatively large areas of plastic withpaint, although 1 note that the number of coatsnecessary for complete, in-depth coverage canbe quite high, and the time it takes is notinsubstantial either.

Having been totally in the hands of asuccession of inueasmgly beat-up Badger andAztec airbrushes in recent years, I've come to

know my place. 1 spray how the brush wantsto most of the time but holJ the option ofreplacing the thing if it flatly refuses to complyafter repeated deamng and bathing in thinners.Stripping the brush nght down to give il athorough clean remains a last resort althoughmany people won't do this on the grounds thatit might not go back together correctly, therebypostponing completion of the model. You canactually get away with merely spraying throughthe old color and regularly washing the brushin thinners and/or a proprietary cleaner thatcomes in aerosol form.

Obviously, successful airbrushing requiresthe user to follow some cardinal rules,including using light shades before dark ones,and taking care when spraymg silver oraluminum to clean the brush (even morethoroughly than usual) to avoid conuminationof other colors.

The rapid amount of heat generated bythe average compressor in about one hour'sspraying is surprising. The model I currentlyusc has a nasty tendency to jam if it becomestoo hot but luckily gets going again when it hasbeen allowed to cool down. As an alternativeto a compressor, canned gas propellant will"drive" an airbrush: although it gives a highenough pressure to activate the brush, thepressure can vary. If the '--"Oln has been stored forsome time the contents can go flat, leading to

uneven pressure and the need to constantlyshake the contents into life. This on-offtendency alone soon makes people invest in acompressor. Those on the market arc eitheruniversal, or intended for usc with a certainbrand of airbrush, the prices varying to suitdifferent needs and the degree of features.These include a pressure regulator, a water trapand the capacity to operate more than onebrush at a time, if necessary. Homemadecompressors still figure in modeling, theadvantage with this type being that extrafeatures can be fitted for convenience andflexibility in spraying.

\Vhatever paint applicator system oneemploys, the difference an airbrush makes inobtaining a smooth finish to a model cannot beover-emphasized. That is not to imply thathand brushing no longer has a place in model

-


making, as a se[ of fine sables is indispensable,ideal for bringing ou[ in[ric:ue dc[ail in [heaircraf[ cod:pi[, [ires, wheel hubs and engines,[0 name bm a few areas. Running [hinnedpaint into pand lines to emphasize wear IS

ano[her important func[ion of small brushes intypically 00, 0 and 01 sizes. Brushes are alsonecessary to place decals correclly and wherenecessary, to apply a coal or I \\"0 of softeningagem.

CHOOSING A FINISH'10 return to our P-47D: having sprayed orhand painted all areas of the interior that willbe visible once the twO fuselage halves arcattached, and completed lhe eodpit, ourmodel is a further step ncarer to completion.By this stage a choice holo!> to be made on thcfinal color scheme, based eilher on an overallcamounaged effect or nalural metal finish(:\"MF). II is not [hal unpainted USAAFfighters ever remained in prisline conditioned(,.'omp3.roo to their eomemporaries in olivcgreen and ncmral gray camounage paim - it isjust th3.t [he weathering effec[ was somcwhatdifferent. From the modeler's viewpoin[, apoor joint thai can be hidden b} sc\ eral coats ofOli\-e Drab will nOl be quite so cas}' to disguise\\'i[h a plain finish.

Aluminum or sih'er paint has slightlydifferent propenies to Ihe pigment m allo[her color shades and some model pamtsarc specially formulated to be Iightcr forapplication by airbrush. The coats willtherefore be thinner, allowing the model'ssurfacc detail - or scral ches - to show throughthat much more easily. Care and patienceshould result in hardly any bad joints beingvisible - but the old adage dIal if things can gowrong, they in ....ariably will, applies as much [()modeling as any other human endeavor probably more so for some people!

ADHESIVESAt this poin[ we need to look 3.t the range ofadhesi\'es available. The mOSt popular arc theliquid cement [ype m3.rketed b} such firms asHumbrol, and hC3\"ier duty lubc-ccm(:m type.This Ialter is also sold by commercial suppliersand model kit companies 3.nd is mOSt widelyused for firmly bonding joints such as wingsections to the fuselage - anywhere that asl'ronger join is necessn}'. L'scd less tOO3.Y thanil once was, tube cemenl would, if you arcclumsy, craze the plaslic sur(;u..:c. On the onehand this may assure a bettcr bond as the twoplastic faces lend to melt into ea<.:h other, butthe drawback is l'hat the cement can lie on the

surfaces, suy pliable and bulge out of [he jointwhen two surfaces are mated up underpressure. As with :1.11 aspects of this hobby, 3.light touch when applying the cement will p3.Y

di\'idcnds. Ilelp is at hand \\ ilh Re"cll'sComaeta cement, which comes in a squ3.refk.xipack with a slim nozzle applie:.ttor. Thismetal extension rube is ideal for gctlingadhesivc into [hose inaccessible corners wherean cxtra drop or [wo \\ill ensure that nothingcomes loose, panicularly inside the fuselage.

Otherwise, liquid cemenl will cope withmost modeling tasks. Applied sparingly, itleaves virtually no trace on lhe plastic surface(although it certainly will mark the plastic

ABOVE The Eduard beltS were

mounted on top of the rail behind

the pilot's seat. representing theV«f they looped oYer md behindthis bar.The brown he.ildrestreceived a wash of thinned IQwUmber oil paint to make it lookmore leather-like.Tiny silver chipswere added to the seat. the floorand the rear bulkhead using asilver pencil.

BElOW The P-47D's raisedribbed flooring is very impressiveand free of any moldingimperfections.

GETTlNG STARTED 23

BElON The pre-painted P-47Dcomponenu were broughttogether in preparation for

assembly. Note that even theedge of the wing root has~painted Zinc Chromate Yellow.

This forms part of the mainwheel well. The assembly at the

top right-hand side of the photois the wing spar_This guanntees

mat me wing dihednl will be setat me correct angle.

if :Iccidcntally spilled) :md without the"stringing" cffect that tube cement can creatc.

Liquid :adhesi,-c is applied with :I smallbrush - often supplied with the boule it comesin - and works by capillary :lction so that itcreeps quieldy along the smallest of joints_ Itsgeneral non-staining properties m:ake it ide:llfor attaching clear parrs to solid sections, suchas cockpit canopies and formation lights_ Ithas the slight disadnntage of sometimesdrying so quicl:ly on contact with :lir tharrept.':l.( :applications are necessary. This type ofadhcsiw, which has all but revolutionizcdplastic modeling, is becoming more efficientand substances that come into the plastic-weld(3 liquid adhesi,-e is marketed by .\"licros(:aleunder thar name) category em occ:tSionally beused to close up gaps that \\ould otherwisen ..quire filling and filing - fWO chorcs that I.and 1 suspect many others, dislike intensely_

I}crsonally, I ne,-er use enough adhcsj'·e.0ver the years, and maybe remembering thed:ays when models ,,-ere marked by the amount

of dricd adhesive one could actually sec inthe joints, I've taken the warning "use gluesp:ll'ingly" rather to heart. nut today the rangeof adhesi,-cs to cover all modeling tasks iswide and you can chose the one that suits, :J.

combination of l>olystyrene cement and liquidadhesive being ideal for most modeling tasks.If all else fail... c~llnoacrylate (superglue) willsurely do the joh. The one drawback in using itis that, lad:ing the nexibility of other modeladhcsi,'cs, you ha\"c to get the positioning rightfirst time and closely monitor Ihe drying Outprocess.

To ensure that the glued parts hold togetheralong their entire length, Wf3.p elastic bands oradhcsi,-c tape around them, check continuallythat no slippage has meanwhile occurredbetween left and right or top and bonomhah'cs, and lea"c ,hem to dTy lhoroughl~-_ Thisis where :a useful and simple modeling toolcomes into its own - allaeh oTdinar~' householdclothes pegs along the wing leading andtrailing edges. This can be prefcTablc to clastic

-

24 WORLD WAR 2 US ARMY FIGHTER MODEUNG MASTERClASS

LEFT The fuselage fits togetherbeautifully. The prominent wingspars can be seen protl'1Jdingfrom me fuselage. just as theydid on the real aircraft.

oonds, II hich might snag an in silll aerial orother delicate l,:omponent. On a P--47 kit youmay for exampll.:, ha\'c had to fit two carriersfor lhe eight wing guns within the two winghah'{,'S prior 10 gluing. The blast tubes will ofcourse sTi,k out of ea,h kading edge and anyhea\'y-handcdncss in wrapping The rubberbantls Tighll~' around the wing mighT risksn:lpping them off, so :l humbk peg or twocum,s in I"cry handy.

For dClal1 painting, decal application ortasks such as anchuring aerial wires securely, adesk-Illouilled damp may be the answer. Setat any given angle with ,I number of jaws to

hold The model rigid, these m:lY be used inconjunctiun with spedal daylight lighting(bulbs or specially-{\esignetl l:lmps) and handheld or rigid magnifiers, if required.

Special adhesivcs will be noccssary if yourmodeling branchcs out into using brass etchand othcr customizing accessories. A range ofcpnoacrylatcs arc a\'ailahlc from specialistsupplicrs, thc adh(.'si\·cs sold for model makingoften having bccn specially formulated to

get good results from bonding otherwiseincompatible materials such as copper, plasticand rcsin. The hcst guide to determining thecorrect adhcsivc for the job you have in mind isto check guides that appear from time to timein the modeling press, ahhough the mail orderhO\L<>CS will be happy to advise 011 what productwill best suit your particular requirements.The accessory it'Self (or the ret:ailer who sloclsit) should also pro\'ide some guidance in thisrespect.

YOUR OWN WAYOne reason for great care in checking wing andtailplane alignmenl and making surc they willindeed fit well wit hout need for much postadhesil"e rubbing down is that it is perfectlypossible to digress considerably from theinstruction sheet. By this I mean completingall the work on the 1'--17 fuselage includingpainting and maybe applying the decals beforeassembling and attaching thc wings.

Any work on the fuselage, where most of thedecals and det;til painting :ll'C grouped, will befar casier wilhout the wings and tailplanessticking Oul al righl angles and getting in theway. You m;ty also IVan I to postpone attachingthe engine cowling for a similar reason..\hsking for painting will thus be far easier andshould lhere be any need for hand painting, i.e.as an alte1'llali\'c 10 persuading a decal to laydown around lhe nose ring of a 1'-47 cowling,lhen working on an uncluttered fusdab"C willpro\·ide much more fn..-edom of mo\·ernenl. Itshould be emphasized here that before taddinglhe fuselage lhe fit of the other parts will havebeen Ihoroughl~ checked for good alignmentand trimmed \\ here n(''CCSS:1ry.

Once you are sure. thaI c\'cf)1hing will fi[well when you are ready for final assembly, thewings may be attached t'O the fuselage. Whenthis is carried out, O\'cr half the job will ha\'ebeen done. More time will be S3vcd if you prespray the wings and t.tilpJanc and any otherparts when you apply the fuselage color: theimportance of oondueling se\'craJ dC)' runscannot be emphasized enough, Check again

GETTlNG STARTED 25

tD 4 4' •. -

ABOVE The kit's engine cowlfits well even without glue.The

flaps are connected via threehinges per side. Different hinge

partS are used depending onwhether the flaps are raised orlowered. Ideally. if the flaps are

to be depicted dropped. theyshould be left off until after

painting to avoid accidentallybreaking them off dUring

handling.

that the wing to fuselage alignment is correctand the dihedral angle is right. If so, eachundercarriage leg can be located and set ;1t thecorrect forward-rake angle, taking care to viewthese from head-on and from each side toensure that the toe-in IS also as per the originalaircra£[' It is very important [0 consult areference photo or twO for the correct "hang"of the undercarriage legs., as kit instructionscan be vague and thrce-view plans simplywrong aboul Ihis delail. Also make sure thatboth oleo legs are in line on both sides. Thelegs an be left [0 dry out by suspending Ihemodel inside an uptuml-d box lid (or tWO painttins of equal height). Any suitable lightweightobject can be used as props [0 suppon Ihefuselagc and ensure Ihat there is no mo\'emenlof thc Icgs while Ihe adhesi\'c dries OUL

Once the undercarriage anglc has been sel(;orr<;etl}, work can be carried out on any exrradetail such as brake or hydraulic lines rhat needto be run from lhe whl'Cl hub up inw thewell. While wartime fighters were not nearlyso complex in [his area as their modern daycounterparts, any small items you add 10 themodel should have logical anchorage points

Illside the well. Sway braces to kccp theinboard undercarriage doors in place in rhedown position also need to be attended to,although these will usually be part of the kit.

When the oleos hal'e dried firmly, attach thewheel well doors thaI: have been pre-painted,and fit the wheels to their oleo pins..\hny kitsprovide a choice bet\\een hub blanking platcsor "open" hub spokes. If the kit you havechosen does not, and the chosen P--47 subject isa late-war e.'\:ample, ",heel hubs with the spokesvisible might need to be found from elsewhere.This sort of deuil is often hard to check:aircraft wheels usually had hub plates but insome theaters of war the ground crew regularlyleft them off if they were prone to a build upof mud. Then there is Ihe fac[Or of differentwheel hubs being fined to laler productionaircraft - but you won't find many P-17references going into such dClail, so the reliableyardstick of "model whal you sec" holds goodin this insrance. PholOgraphs arc once againthe most reliable guides and it is pleasing to

sec that modern kits (and decal sheets) areincreasingly including reference photos ontheir instructions.


•

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Wheels on fighter kitS have only recentlymatured to the point where we gel treads and"flats" for an aircraft under load. This is adefinite plus on behalf of the manufaClUrers bmdo dH.'d: that Ihe degree of l03d is nOl excessiveto Ihe point where if the tires were as flat asshown, the aircraft would nOl roll. Many kitsstill have "round" wheels, in which casemake your own Oat area on each tire. Also ofimportance is to check the cross section of thewheels supplied in the kilo While things aremuch better in this respec1 !.han £hey used £0 bein the dars when tires were generally too thin.....hen viewed from head on, manufacturerscan still slip up. In addition, the tires shouldha,"c the corn.'C1 tread p2uem: a dose srudyof photographs and manwls re\'eals noticeabledifferences over the length}' production lifetimeof an aircraft such as the P-47.

Apart from references to the fitting of lowpressure tires (not necessarily on P-47s), noteven the manufacturers of tires were closelyidentified with supplying the wartime aircraftcompanies, Republic in this instance. Thehouschold-n:;amc m:;anufaClUrers of today weredoing just the same during the w:;aT. Ourhow man}' pt.'Ople can Slate categorically "P-47wheels wcrc always fitted with Goodyeartires"? If so, how much did the patterns vary?Wartimc US combat aircraft did not, [Q myknowledgc, havc different tire compositionsand tread patterns for different operating

conditions such as the variety fiued to Formula1 racing cars, for example - if only life was thatsimple~

So, in dealing with this kind of \'exedquestion, ne\'er assume anything; JUSt gi\·e themodel wheels to match those in the referencephotos as closely as possible, You may say thatnobody ....;11 notice, which may be true - buronce you get an eye for these things., you at leastknow .....-hat looks better on your own model.

Before leaving the subject of p...\i wheels,indi\'idual examples of the earlier machinessported a variety of designs on the hub plates.These included white sta~ numbers, differentsegments painted in squadron colors and evena reproduction of the unit insignia - rake aclose look to see what can be detected inphotographs. You may well come across a nicelittle extra detail that can be added to furtherenhance the model, For c.umple, on late-....-arP-47Ns, idemi£)' on flight lines was enhancedby repeating the aircraft number on themainwhee1 covers.

FINISHING TOUCHESFinal detailing of your P-47 includes loc-atingthe propeller, running an aerial wire fromthe radio mast to the fin, and auending toany ordnance you wish the model to carry.

P-47 propellers had at least four differentblade shapes but the most important thing isthe source of the manufactutcr because their

LEFT After assembly,.lI tinySe.lItTl line W<1S visible on theP-470's lower fuselage. ThisW<1S filled with Mr Sumter.lind sanded lightly with fine.lIbrasive paper.This wu theonly filling .lind sanding requiredon me entire kiL

GETTING STARTED 27

•

ABOVE Aeromaster sheetAMD48-71 includes spectacular

markings for a hard-workingP---47D in natural metal. The

decals perfonned perfectly. withno Q-nier film visible even

before a sealing coat over themarkings.The meGllic surface

was wetted with Micro Setbefore the decals were applied.A thin coat of Micro Sol settingsolution was brushed over the

decals to ensure tnat theysettled right iow panel lines..Step by step photographs on

achieving the nawn.! metal finishon this model will be dealt with

in Chapter 6: Special Techniques.

-~--S~

product was nOlit:eably differcnr. Does thcreference indicate the Curtiss Electric type(quilC poimcd, with blade cuffs) or a HamiltonSlandarJ, which was broader without (uITS!The hubs ',-ere also different, Ihc Curtiss ')"PChaving a more pointed front end while the H$had a rounded, more domed appearance.

While there may eYen be a choice ofpropeller in your kit, the radio aerial will be astandard fitting. Cheek that il is of the rightheight and strong enough [Q support the aerialwire. using thin fishing line or stretched sprue,add the wire stretched between the maSt andthe fin. A small drop of rube cement should beenough to replicate the condensers, which arcoften the only items visible in photos to provcthat therc was a wire there at all. Anchor thewire firmly with superglue.

Selecting the drol' tanks, bombs or rocketsyour Thunderhoh (,.';Jrrics will depend a loton the wartime date. Different drop ranks andordnance were introduced progressively onwartime Thunderbolts bUl kil manufacturersget carried a wa)' sometimes and throw in all

the bombs, tanks 3ml rockets they can fit on thesprues. Faced with all of this, the novice maynot realize the stress limitations that prevcntcdthe entire lot being loaded at once!

Various sub-types of P-H - and most otherfighter types - were built and/or modified torake '·anous types of Stores, so some familiarit}'with serial numbers of the variants soonbecomes a necessity. Even armed with theinformation that explains on which sub-types aparticular item of ordnance was carried, fieldmodifications to update older aircraft can holdhidden pitfalls for the modeler. In WillC combatunits older Thunderbolts rarely gave warentirely to new replacements, as there was anacute shortage in some areas. \Vhen you 3reaware that it was not unknown for a front-linegroup to receive a half dozen P-47 sub-variantsat one time, the notion that for example, thebubblelOps replaced the razorbad:s is, as ageneral statement, far from truc. This bringsthe record of actual e,-cnt..., p1:l.ccs and datesinto the realm of modeling more than mighlinitially be realized.


•

INSIGNIA INSIGHTSHaving: d<..'Cid<..'<! on the markings our P-I7 willgel il is time to choose the decals, either one ofthe options pro\'idl:d in the kit, or a commercialsh<..'Ct with scveral altcrnati,·c subjects, such asthe A(.'Tomastcr sheet shown on page 28. TheJanet will not always include the nationalinsignia, which is suppli(:d on the kit sheet,so these should be cut as closely as possibleand applied. Now comes another of lhose ncarimpossible questions rcg.uding markings. Priorto D-Day all tat.1icll P--I7s had an additional55 or 60 inch (the diametCJ" of the st:ar on blucroundcl) size national insignia under the rightwing - but when was it rcmo\'oo?Thcrc docs notseem to ha\"C been a published order coveringthis requirement, and the modeler will nore bothmarl.:ing styles remaining in usc for some timeafter D-Day. In fact he often won't actually secthe underside of the subject aircraft dearly aseven good quality reference photographs arcinvariably in deep shadow if they haye beenthrough a reproduction process. And of course,the only reference photo you ha\·e may have beentaken from the "wrong" side anyway. The factthat the national insignia appears on theunderside of the starboord wing is no indicator ofwhether is also appeared on the port side.

The I)oint of all this in modeling termsis that the 1:Irgest size underwing national

insignia on P-47s was paimcd on before thepylons were arrached. The kir instructionsshould be a guide to {his and the decJI sheetmay include the exrra insignia with a couple ofspots to indicate where {he pylon I)ins go - butdon't bank on this always being the case,particularly if the kit decal olnions are notlL';cd. All the modeler can do in this instance isassume that in the European Theater after agiven d:lte an 8th or 9th Air Force p-·f7D willhaye had the additional insignia applied.

The prohlem of determining P-H markingsat a certain date wit h IOtal accuracy issomewhat compounded by replacementaircraft. ~[ost groups suffered losses duringcombat mis..<;ions in 19++--45 and lxnh newproduction and older :lircraft \\ere recei\·ed.A grcat many P-4jDs, both r:lzorbacks andbubbletops, were passed on 10 the 9th Air Forceby the 8th Air Force as its groups com·erredto :\lustangs but I don't know the full e.nentof repainting after the.c;e latter machines wererefurbished at depots. Photogr:lphic evidencewould hO\\'e\·er appear 10 indicate that apristine exterior for tactical aircraft was the lastthing to trouble AAF planners al that time.

Thc p-.J.j combat groups themseh'esworked under the pretext of "if it isn't broken,don't fix it": photos show razorbacks in serviceat thc end of the war complete with their

LEFT A thin coat of flat vamishwas sprayed over the model to

tone down the contrast betweenthe panels and to blend thedecals with the model's sumce.The kit's canopy fiu quitesecurely wimour glue.Thewindscreen is recessed into theforward fuselage, and the slidingcanopy section snaps intoposition. effectively locking thewindscreen into place.

GETTlNG STARTED 29

RIGHT The completed P-47D.

unit's final color recognition markings and asone would expect, a preay beat up appearance.Invariably the shiny, recent replacementbubbletops can be noted on the same flight line- all of which makes modeling the Americanwartime fighters a fascinating if occasionallyfrustrating pastime.

Lastly, our P-47 needs fuel 10 get to thetarget and something to attack it with. Hereagain reference to color phOlOS will confirm theshade of paint used on the \'arious types ofdrop tank, but there arc guidelines. If we lakethe standard cylindrical I08-gal. type, theruling was that those manufactured in the UKwere painted gray while those tanks from 1.:Sproduction were NME Anomalies occur whenpholos indicate a darker shade of color onlanks as these were sometimes taken fromaircraft and stores daring from the rime thatcamouflage was in usc. Another reason 10check those dates.

As 1.0 the design of tank hanging under yoursubject: model, photos (and experience) willsoon enable you to sort out the cylindricalfrom the fiat type, even if the aircraft is viewedin profile and the tank is hard lO see inthose shadows mentioned before. Thc leaslconfusion is provided by a le:lrdrop-shaped75-ga1. tank.

When it comes 10 adding ordnance., theI)'pe and color of bombs carried by P-47s mustbe taken inlo consideration. ThanHully,model kits have finally reached a level ofsophisTication that has made toolmakers largelystop the practice of incorporating the rack intoone half of the bomb. Such molding-in makes

30 WORLD WAR 2 US ARMY FIGHTER MOOEUNG MASTERCtASS

model kit bombs look less than amhentic but ifIhis old type matches the size you need, simpl)'cut the pins ofT thc "smooth" half and sticktwo male/female halves together. You'll needto havc several kits or a heahh)' spares box to

get enough male or female halves, bUl this ispreferable LO hacking an inlegr3l rack ofT thething.

Also irksome are bombs with grooves in thesurface to enable them LO altach firmly. Oncea~"3in, many recent kiL<; comain correctly scaledattachment points for bombs and drop tanks,complete with tiny screw down clamps whichWCtC usually angled inwards from the carrierrack. I feel that pins designed [0 penetratethe surface of kit bombs is all right providedthat the scale is correct. Firm altachment ofordnance can be trieL:)", especially if the modelneeds to be mo'·ed around, so an extra drop ofcement may be vcry necessary to keep them inplace.

Formnalely, many of toclay's fighter kitsalso pro\'ide separate bomb fins. In acontinuing attcmpt LO obtain true scaleaccuracy the manufacturers are achievingvcry acceptable thin scclions in these tinycomponents. Bm there is a limit to whal Ihemolding process will stand. If you be3r inmind that no plastic bomb (or rocL.-et) usedon a P--47 kit (in any scale) would look out ofplace with fins the thickness of a piece oftyping paper, you'll quickly reject all but the\'cry best and vcry thinnest of kit components.This will unfortunately clean out almost allyour plastic armament stock because so manybombs have in the past had fins that wcre far

•

I

•

1

100 thick for scale accuracy. Re-culting themall from plastic card is the real answer but insuggesl'ing this' do not dismiss the complexityof the task, especially when dealing withbombs filled with those intricate box-typefins. If bomb improvement proves to be toolime-<ol1suming, there's no reason not 10delay finishing the rest of the kit - you canalways detail the bomb(s) hiler. It's not abad idea 10 resene painting and marking ofbombs and other items of ordnance until suchtime as you can complete enough for se\eralmodels. Focusing on this one aspect of modelmaking does breed familiarity with colors andmarkings. Selting aside the bomb(s) may alsobe advantageous if you are awaiting deli,"cryof the latest brass-etch accessory with which10 detail the fins and add arming wires andthose liny fusing propellers.

AnOlher job in this area or the kit is tocheck Ihe detail orrhe wing racks. As is obviousrrQm photos. P-47 racks were some or theIargesl e\ er filled 10 US aircrarl. With theirprominenl sway braces they were also alwaysoovered in stenciled instructions, these beingsupplied as decals in many current kits. Thelaler type or P-47 rack also had a lever arm atthe rear 10 push Ihe bomb away rrom the wing.This may need to be added to your kit.

Refernng back a minute to the undcrwinginsignia - if you arc modeling a P-47 opcr.tting inthe ETO and thc kit is onc or the old ones rromMonogram, the wing racks might ha\'c to be cut

oIT. This is a paln but the option chosed mayrequire you to apply the extra insi~'llia under therack and to detail the rack. Alternatively, simplycut the national insignia decal and set thebars inboard of the racks on both sides, This willalso need to be done on scvCTal lin-scaleThunderbolts that have their racks molded aspart or the wing too.

EXPLOSIVE COLORSRereren«s ror the oolors and markings of CSwartime ordnance are rare. so to speak, as thereare rew handy guides to what is an IJ\'erlookcdsubjttt. E\'en the massi\,c camounage andmarkings tomes do nI){ deh'c into the paintschemes or air weaponry to any extent.Fortunately, the books dc-.'Oled to the aircr.tft inquestion can PrQ\'ide us with such informationand much else or imerestw the modeler. Tne~tsources are the widely a\-ailable books or colorphotos, and magazine articles. Specialist modelingjournals have oovered Ihc subject: of bomb colorso\'er the years, bUI in case the reader does notha\'e access to any or these, the standard USAAFbomb colors are lisl:ed on page 114 of Ihis book.

BELOW A three-quarter rearview of the completed TamiyaP-47D Razorback.

\

•

GETTING STARTED 31

CHAPTI'R 2

REFERENCE SOURCES

Modelers of wartime USAAP fighteraircraft are arguably better otT thanthose whose interests :ue cenrered

on virtually any 01 her aspect of a\'ialion, inthai the amount of available reference malerialis enormous. Most people will stan with afew books, approaching the subjcct either fromthe modeling end per se or from a study ofthe historical aspecLS - campaigns, combatoperations, special missions, biographies ofpilots and unit histories. .Fortunately, all suchreferences will im'ariably contain phoLOgraphsof relevant aircraft in monochrome or color,and possibly, a page or I wo of color illustrationsin I he form of side-view profiles.

Recent decades have also seen the rise ofnumerous "overview" books which detailAmerican wanime fighters in varying degn..'Csof depth, illustrated with photographs andschematic drawings. Although the enthusiastwill most likely have purchased one or more ofthese as m:w when the~ first appeared or assecond-hand volumes since, he will preltysoon learn that they lend to be continuallyrepacbged - like some kits - and contain thesame hackneyed color profiles and cutaways.These 1:ll'ge-format, heavily illustrated tomesdo howcvcr havc some value for checking basic

dimensions and ~o forth, providing lhal thedata contained lherein is reliable.

Every current monthly or quarlerly a.via.tionmaga7.ine, and many books aiming at :l highvolume readership and a share of :l lTowdlxlmatket, tend to include color profiles \\ hich \-ar)'in quality to a significant degree. Oflen thcre isalso notice:able duplication of subject, for outof all the thousands of CSAAP fighters th:ltsa\\" combat, only a certain percentage had allthcir markings fully rccorded. These ha\'cbeen illustrated as sidc-vicw profiles manytimes, simply because although the potential\·ariatioll is vast, the numocr of aircraft aboutwhich complcte details are knOlln seems to

expand only slowly. Therc is also the reality thatpublishers will often re-usc existing materialrather than bear the l-ost of commissioning newartwork! This situarion has in the past led tobookshops being crowdl-d out with "pot boilers"that should largely be ignored by the enthusiastseeking to expand his horizons.

}oor these and other reasons, mall}' books onJ.;SAAF aircraft contain \-ariations On the sameold theme; "favorite" P-5ID J\'luslang schemessuch as the 361st Fighter Group's ++-1.f181/E2D "Detroit J\·lisg," and +4-13926/E2-5, variousThunderbolts of the 56th righter Gl'OUp

RIGHT Aircraft profiles canoften provide inspiration lor a

modeler.This attr'3ctiverendering of a P-40L Warhawk

was created digitally by ThierryDekker. It was used as the box

an on AMtecll·s 1/48-scaleP-40FIL kit.

32 WORLD WAR 2 US ARMY FIGHTER MODELING fMSTERCLASS

\Volfpaek, Medal of Honor winner WilliamShomo's F-6D ++-72505 "The Flying Undertaker/Snook.<; 5th" and Ch:ules Nbd)onald'sP-38L "Putt Pun Maru" to name but a few, arestill regulars in modern bool.:.s on the subject - asthey arc bound to be, integral :IS (hey are to thestory of the rcspectil'e aircrafl and (he operationsthey flew. These and olher well-known fightershave :llso had \\;de exposurc as kit andcommercial decal subjects, the dr:lwback for themodem modeler being th:lt these (,'Olor schemesha\'c already been used by oountkss mher kitbuilders all O\'er the lI'orid.

In the unlikely cycnt th:1t no alternativescheme can be found, a repn.:sl.:ntati\'e collectionof models of Srh Air I'"or-.:e l\tlustanl.,'"S willprohably include these hackneyed old fa\·orites.Modelers with access to better data will haveshunned these well-known schemes in f:lvOf ofsomething fresh. The sicuation :Irises wherehythe modeler is able 10 complete a dozen kiL<; inthe markings of othcr ain"Taft in a gi\'en groupaCler publication of a new, wdJ-illustf:lted unithistory.

Ob\'iously the :lrtwork in somc books. eitherairbrush rendered or computer sourced, is onlya.c; good a.c; the individual :.artist's references., hisinterpret:llion and the techniC31 difficultiesinvolved m reproducing digital Imagesaccurately on the printed page. It is true to

say that the subject of US fighter colorshas expanded significantly in terms of freshschemes in the laSt ten years or so. While \\"C

still sce the fa\"orircs, they increasingly sharethe single or double-page spreads of books andmagazines, as well as UCI.::t1 sheets, with lessfamiliar subjects. It is l'hese that ofler theopportunity for new modeling projects.

FIGHTERS ON FILM

Anolher welcome phenomenon of r(,'(:ent yearshac; been Ihe increase in the number of wartimeimages, bolh printed and on film, in full color.Many of Ihe stills Ihat have been reproducedwere diligenll~ uneartheu across the liSAby the late Jeff Ethell and it is to him andlike-minded indi\iduals th:u the modelingfraternity should be grateful for:1 whole area ofnew data. It LOok decades, but those long-heldcolor \"iews h:l\'e finally seen public:uion. Bookssuch as Fighter ComJl/uni: Tlu Histor)' oJAircraft Nf)Se Ar!, Wilr Ellglu ill Or/irinal Color;\lld ?lIofic If-ar Eagles have added immenselyto our know1cuge of fighter camouflage andmarkings as actually applied "in the field."

Color pholOgraphy has brought confirmation(as lI'ell as contradiction) regarding the details

of certain aircraft, subjec1:S which, we ah\;IYsassumed in our ignorance, were shot only inmonochrome. There is no reference as good a..c; acolor pho[O, hO\\e\er poorly it may have (raveledin the 60 years since it was snapped. Onl)through this can we pfO\'e that what C1,"eryonethought \\as:a black tail stripe was in fact paintedin red or dark blue.

Among Ihe most valuable fcat\lT'CS of colorphotos is confirmation of the shades used fornose :lrt\\ork names and ima~'CS. Jt is wcU knownthat USAAF front line units used combinationsof red, ycllo\\ and while - in other words Ihemost \'isible colours - to personalize theirmachines, but it is pleasing to ha\'e thc facioonfirmed. Reds and yellows arc notoriouslydifficult [0 determine from monochrome photosand some individual aircraft schemes ha\'e beenthe subject of guesswork for ycars.

Most experienced moJclers will usc thestandard p;\ckage of monotone photographs,

ABOVE Osprey Publishing offersa wide selection of books intheir Aircraft of the Aces series.These include historical nOles,operational descriptions, manywartime photos, line drawingsand profiles.

REFERENCE SOURCES 33

RIGHT Squadron/SignalPublications cover a huge range

of aircraft subjects in their InAction series. These soft-cover

books are presented in astandard landscape format with

50 pages each, packed full ofphotos and scrap view drawings.

The center pages featurecolor profiles.

,., P-47Thunderbolt-i::' I

written evidence, plans and color drawings, plussome color photos. Unfortunately it is not alwayspossible 10 extract all the information requiredfrom a single \'olume. There are books thatindeed trap almost all there is to know bet \\eentwo covers hm this is hardly e\'er the case inregard 10 widely used aircraft such as US Armyfighters, so vast is the subject. Taking all wartheaters together, fighter color schemes run intothe hundreds if not thousands.

Another fascinating area of markings thathas been given the hardback hook treatment inrecent years is nose art. There are various liLIesavailable but for the subject under rel,iell' USFighter Nose ",lrt by John and Donna Campbelland Jeff Ethcll's The Ili.anr)' oj" /lircrllfl ,\'0.\(Art arc both indispensable guides to thesubject. The latter volume not only shows thereader the original calendar art from whichmany of the pin-ups stemmed, but somebiographical notes on the artists themselves.

The Campbell tome is handily divided intotheaters and although not always prm'iding asmuch caption detail as hoped, the hook canset an enthusiast on the trail of the rest of theaircraft, as of course only the front end isusually depKted. One exception is the artworkwidely applied to the cockpit doors on P-39Airacobras, a fighter type that remains 10 beresearched in depth to determine furtherdetails, including III some cases the RAF serialnumber. The question is: did the aircrafthave one applied or not? A model could beincomplete without iT.

The vanety of published referem;esoutlined above prol-ides the modeler settingup a library with most of what is needed tocomplete a number of plastic kits. There arcmany very good value titles on the market andalthough a high price will often be asked forimported books, tlllS additional cost is offset bylhe fact thJt full color books do not appearevery week.

In Europe there has been a steady flow ofpublished data on USAAF fighters despiteIhe fact that some favored series such as Profilesand Aircam have long since disJppeared. Ospreyhas done much to redress any perceived lack ofan informative, English-language aviation bookseries with their highly acclaimed Aircraft of theAces, Combal Aircraft: and Production 10 FrontLine series.

Some of the titles covering aces havepresented many hitherto unknown marking;sdetails to delight lhe model maker. The\'arious authors of these titles also do their best10 unearth photographs to back up the colorprofiles (which are usually of exceptionallyhigh quality), as lhis is ultra-important to themodeler. Types such as the P-40 Warhawk ha\'ereceived little prior covcrage with regard to themost successful pilots who new them after theAmerican Volunteer Group had completed itsstint in China and Burma. Carl _I'vlolcsworth'stwo titles covering the 1'-40 units operating inthe CEI and rvlTO are the most comprehensiveyet on the markings of a vcry significantairplane.

34 WORLD WAR 2 US ARM.Y FIGHTER MODEUNG MASTERClASS

-w Ik Alounda P-40 Warhawk

3::LOW Squadron's WalkAround ~ries focuses on medealls of me particular aircraftsubject..The photographicsubjecu are usually acombination of operationalaircraft and museum models.

Having ta!.:en o'"er distribution of the Detail& Scale series, Squadron/Signal is alsocurrently offering even more titles of interestto the modeler of USAAF fighters, with rca:nttitles on the P-39 and P-W to add to thosepre,·iously released. Detail & Scale ha,"e, inwhat I fccl to be a deuimental mo,·e, cut bac!.:on the kit review section from some of theirlatest titles. These rc,"iews were not intendcd tobe anything other than basic plus and minuspoints of kits but they did co,"er the entire scalerange - very useful if the subjecI aircraft was arelatively new type in modeling terms and theindividual was in some doubt as to which is themost accurate kit and the best value for moncy.

WarbirdTeeh is the generic name of yetanother popular US series edited by FrederickA Johnson, which has a slighdy differentapproach in that e3ch title contains a wealth oftechnical dr:awings copied from officialsen'icing manuals, the son of visual data that isinvaluable to modelers. Sectional breakdownsof areas such as undercarriage operation, gunsight mountings, ammunition stowage andcanopy construction arc bm a few of Iheinformatil"e visual fcasts thal this seriespresents. In addition, WarbirdTech ,·olumesinclude a regular color photo se<:tion thatusually brings to light some fresh markingsschemes 10 add 10 thc bank of knowledge onIhe type in question"

Other gaps in thc single-type em"crage ofwartime aircraft arc rapidly being filled by

A perennial fa\"oritc with the modeler, theP-W has never looked back since reliable datawas first released on the carly models nown bythe famed FI~;ng Tigers. Few other aircraftmarkings ha\"c made such an impression asthe AVG sharkmouth: perpetuated far beyondthe products of Curtiss, these double rows ofdeadly white leelh were first popularized byr\o. 112 Squadron R.A.f: Not thai color profilesha\"c been '"ery kind to the aircraft of theAVG: the latest research shows that for yearsthe colors, particularly of the undersides, werewrongly assumed to be closer to those usedby the RAF than was actually the casco This isanother reason not to rely on data, particularlyartists' impressions, published in bookssome 30 years ago. Always check if there issomething morc up to date.

As a general poinl on color drawingreferences, il may also be found that the artisthas cleaned up the aircn:lft for Ihe purposes ofclarity, so the importance of reference phOlosto chec\,; this and other points cannol be O\'eremphasized. As with preHy much. e'"ery otheras~t of research, in time the modcler willcome to !.:now which referl."Ilccs, authors andartist.. to rely on and those to treat wilh somecaution.

AMERICAN LEAD

As far a... core references to fighter unin; andmarkings go, I don', know what I'd have donewithout the magnificent Air .Forcc Storyseries hy Kenn Rust. Published in the 1970s byI Iistorieal Aviation Album in the US theyeo'"ercd all US air uniTs serving overseas c..xceptthe II th Air Force in the Aleutians. Before theyappeared we were floundering, nOI knowing thatmuch aoom Ihe order of fighter color schcmesand to which group aircraft bclongc::d. Someg3PS in our knowledge remain to this day bm90 per celli of this type of dala is there in nine,"olumcs. In some instances Ihey rC'"dled detailsof units we pre,"iously kne" little or nothingabout - and ha,-e had liule else since" If youdon't ha'"e Ihese titles, IT}' to find them if youcan - the search will be \\el1 rewarded"

In the 1;S, Squadron/Signal continue toc.\':tcnd Ihe In Action series 10 include I.'yermore unusual types. For Ihe modeler of theP-47, two titles by Ernie McDowell arcexcellent. Di,'iding the aircraft's combatoperations into Europe and the _'11'0 and theCDr/Pacific theaters, he shows the sequentialmarkings of all rront~line units, backed bythe usual top quality artwork for which thesebooks are renowned.

r


ABOVE Ben Kinzey's Detail &

Scale series of books are a greatresOlJrce for modelers. As lhename of the series implies. thesubie<t aircldh is examined in

detail with plenty of photographsand stale dr.rNings. Recent titlesinclude a generous selection of

color phOtos.

numerous profiles from Eastern Europe. Thesebooks "ary in quality but have the ad"nntage ofa modest price tag and generally good content,including pages of multi-vicw drawings,which arc vcry useful for modeling purposes.The detail these titles go into is e.\:trcmelyimpressive in some instances and as thecontents arc h<"'a\'ily biased towards the visual,the language barrier is not the drawback it mayat first seem. The continuing proliferation ofthese rilles would suggest that model makerseagerly seck them out.

GENUINE DATA?

Another r(.'(:ent addition to the co\'Crage ofWorld War 2 fighters arc the Walk Aroundseries publish<..'d by Squadron/Signal, and thecomparable Aero Detail. Both arc heavilyillustrated, high quality series, the latterimported from Japan. Chock full of close-upphotos of ncarly evcry inch of the subjectalrcrafr, these books can be invaluable indetermining the exact size and shape of itemssuch as slals, slots, hinges, rods, grilles, sealharnesses and many other details that arenot n:adily visible in photos of the full aircraft.The one reservation I would pass on aboursuch books is that the color photography,magnificent as it is, sometimes takes its subjectmatter from flyable warbirds or st:ltic museumexamples, Nther than a stock origin:al.

There can be numerous differences betweenthe two: hislOrie aircraft refurbished to flyable

starus h:a\e often been subject to :l certainnumber of internal and uteTior modificationsto enable them to incorporate modem avionicsand meet current air safety standards. Andwhilc new blade aerials or reposilionecl D/Floops 3re obvious enough, rhe fact that thecockpil may have been cleaned up comparedto wartime examples may he overlooked. Suchmodcrnization is most obvious in the ;1reaimmediately in front of rhe pilot. Theintrusive, often bulky gun sighr, which couldm3ke a nasty mess of the pilot's face in theevent of a crash !:anding, was a wartimenecessity. Today it is not and rhe sight and itsheavy-duty mounting bracket have imari:ablybeen removed.

Cockpil instrumentation has also becngiven grealer readability by being seL in a panelin contrasling colors, usually lighter thanthe uni\'ersal black that was used oribrin311y.Instruments have also been rearranged forenhanced readability. Warlime blad-facedinstruments on a black board can indeedbe difficult to read and rhe changes arcunderstandable - but authentic they arc not.

Wartime fighter cockpits :also had a plethoraof knobs and levers sticking out :at angles.Although they wen: vital to a combat role,modern day warbirds arc long past their days ofaction and restorers do h:a\e a tendency to

rcmo\'e items that no longer have any usefulfunction. This may be to save weight, becausesome items of equipment are unavailable, orto allow the pilot to exit the cockpit that littlebit faster, should a mishap occur - all vcryunderstandable, but not to be slavishly copicdon a scale model purporTing ro represent :1Jl

accurate wartime-"intage fighter. Be wary ofareas th:lI might for v:lrious reasons be nonst:lndard.

Static museum exhibits are in a differente:ttegory. Aircraft that :are no longer required tofly can be fully rc:.1:on:d down to the last rivel:and bolt with absolute authenticity. One onlyh:as to see a photo n:cord of such rcstorntionwork being undertaken to know that what yousec is lotally faithful to the original. MuseumstafT also go 10 great lengths to ensure thatall the colors of parts arc correct, so modernaircraft rehuild projects could in some cases bethe best reference available to rhe model maker.

COLOR REFERENCE

Any self-respecting modeler's reference libnrywill include one or more of rhe color-guidetype book which purports to be a complete A 10Z of USAAC/CSAAF/CSAr markings :and

•


camoufl:lge colors in tf3nsition from the l:lle1930s to posl 1947. I person:llly find some ofthese books diS3ppointing, as while they willexh:lusti,'cly list - and indeed show in full-pageillustrations - the exact dimension.. of the USnational insignia, list all known color spec; andperhaps provide color chips, they tend to skipthe numerous e.xceptions to the rule that makethis subject so fascinating. In the real worldthings were often rather different to \\halwas officially slipulatc..:ti, as many modelers willknow.

In terms of color guides, Dana Dell's workwill be all many modders need to obtain acomprehensive overview of what is a vaSlsubject. An acknowledged expert in his field,Dana has been delving into paint schemes andmarkings for years but he would be the first 10

admil lhal lhere is still more to be unearlhed.Whal he has published so far is admirable in itsdepth and scope.

Equally g()()(] bur in an enrirdr differentformat were the Camouflage & Markingsbouldets wrinen by Roger Freeman forDucimus Books of the CK some years ago.Cmering the mam US wmbat types in greatdeplh (considenng the limited number ofpages) these publications arc also iO\'aluable forchecking insignia dimensions., strles of serialnumbers and code letters., and other detailsthat always seem to need looking up, such asthe dates when the US national insignia wassupposed to haye changed from a red outline to

blue.That this dirccriye was not complied with

overnight is inevitable when one considers themagnitude of the task of remarking hundredsof aircraft; actual speed of compliance at unitlevel sometimes depended on lhe perceivedimportance of the new marking directive.The complaim from the Pacific Theater thatat a distance, :lny red in the insignia couldbe mistaken for a Japanese Ifillomam (or"meatball") hardly applied in Europe. Whenthe paim shops got around to it, the red outlinewas temporarily overpainted in a dark bluethat is often ,-isible in photos. On the otherhand, some p:lim directi\'es were imm(:diatclycomplied with. The sheer \olume of workundertaken on June 5, 19..... 10 :lpply AEi\Fblack :lnd white stripes to every L:S fighter,medium bomber, IranspOrt and liaison aircraftin England was rarely if e\er equaled.

The Dueimus series had unfortunately afew gaps. No P-39 or 1'-40 litles were includedin the USAAf seelion; while we're on thesubject of color a few noICS pertaining to thesetypes arc relevanl It' is surprising, for instance,

just how many P-+Os in US sen-icc in 19.J2-Hwere camouflaged in British-style shadowshading. Various references will mislead on thissubjl."ct when artists, refernng to o\'erl~ darkphotos.. interpret lhe top surface shade asoyerall Olh'e Drab. True, the camouflage took abattering in the tropical climate in which man~

P-tOs operated bUI there arc enough photosabout for this kind of detail to be doublechecked.

1\. similar situation existed with Airacobras,which in many cases not only carried Bril ishcamouflage bur serial numbers as well. Thesewere rdatively rare on I'-+Os, but both typesreached American hands vIa depots aflerhavlllg been painted af the factories followingl\linistry of Aircrafl Production patrcrns. Thisleads us into another gray (or should that begreen and brown) area regarding the actualshades. American painls were used to finishmany hundreds ofP-39s and 1' ---IUs ordered onBritish conlracls., so some '-anation in relationto the paints applied to aircraft buih inEngland will be noted.

Several widely reproduced oolor photos fromthe early to mid-war period will help matchmodel paints to the correct hues, the early "sandand spinach" scheme being aa:ompanicd by Ihe"desert scheme" ofdark earth and middle stone.Light and dark brO\m shades later met USAAF'"desert pink" to cloud the issue further. I\'!anyP-40s operat.ing in lhe :\ITO had two-toneGIlllouflage bUl soning out the exan shades cansometimes be difficult.

The abO\'e comments feg;arding variation inpaint shades apply equally to the camoun,\geon P-4lls in other theaters, particularly lheem. Aircraft tended weather to the point thatdetermining the e~act demarcation of colors atthis distance in time, oftt:n from poor qualil)photographs, can be a near ImpossibililY.Throw in the odd reference to the usc of threetop surface shades (a probable comment On USOli\-e Drab used for patch-up purposes) andthe confusion deepens.. The problem is., as c,'er,the preponderance of monochrome phoros asthe primary reference source [() wartimeaircraft; all the modeler can therefore do isto bear in mind but not be totally swayed b)pre-determined, sel-in-stone patterns anddirceti\"(:~.. regarding paint application. Whatthe reference photo indK"ates may bear noresemblance to any official order.

As black and white photos can alsovary widely in quality the modeler can only aimto reproduce exactly what he sees, w,lns andall. Bearing in mind the colors in vogue al thetime and in the place, a model can look quile

ABOVE The Japanese AeroDetail series is another goodsource of information formodelers. The aircraft plansincluded in each volume areespecially useful. USAAF fighterscovered in this series so farinclude [he P-47 Thunderboltand P-SI Mustang.


RIQ-fT Motorbooks produced aseries of books on ain:;rah., called

In World War Two Color. Thesebooks offer valuable detail into

the colol"S of ain:;raft in service,and the effects of weathering.

exotic in its broadly imerprcted camoullage.Unfonunately, the upper surfaces of realfighters arc (unlike models) rarely photographed from above and behind to show thefull camouflage panem.

To return to the books, most of us know thatwhen a highly desirable new reference titleappears on the market it IS far better to buysooner rather than later. Such mlumes ,'arynotoriously in the size of their print runs and ifyou defer your pUI'chase, the demand for thefirst edition may be so high that you findyourself waiting around for a reprint. There is,in some cases, no guarantee that this willappear and you arc reduced to scouring thesecond-hand shop&, or stalls at book fairs andair shows. The last resOrt may be the speei:tlisldealer's list. But if Ihe book was so popubr thehr!>1: time :tround, you may wait years for a copyto tum up.

The antidote to all this is to commit toa steady book purchasing plan to a,'oiddisappoinnncnt. All aspects of a\'i:ttion history

38 WORLD WAR 2 US ARMY FIGHTER MODELING MASTERCLA$$

have a handful of groundbreaking titles thaIare at the core of any collection although thesedo not appear very (requeml}'. Authors ofsueh works of reference need to put in yearsof research in order 10 I.:omplete theirmanuscripr..., which does at least give the buyera breathing space!

USEFUL UNIT HISTORIES

One area of special interest to the indi,·idualstudying USAAF fighter operations is theunit history. Often put IOgether by one ormore c.x-flight or groumkrcw veterans ofthe unit in question, these books have ollething in common ~ high prices. The quality,unfortulUtcl~; tends 10 \':1ry l'Onsiderably frOIllphoto-packed excellence to \'olumcs thai arcvery modest with "ery few illustrations of uscin model making. On the positi,-e side, theinformation and photos may be quite uniqueand as we are losing World War 2 scniccrnen alan alarming rate due t'O the passage of time,

Volume I

ABOVE A huge range of hardcover and soft cover generalreference books are available onthe subject of USAAF Fighters.Acl'5 alld Win.~lI/t'Il (2 vols)focuses on USAAF fighter unitsin Europe.

~~=""" 8r:;;:;;=aiCO=9iG~;;:>'~

By"DANNY <MORRIS

taken over a few years or member~hip, regularorders can offset this drawback by genuinereductions.

A number of relati,'cly new, private bookdealers are also helping the individual to buildup a useful personal library. Operating amail order service, most of them regularlypublish catalogues of specialist interest. Asmany references to USAAF aircraft and colorschemes are currendy out of print, the secondhand dcaler is the only source for somc of themore rare rides. As most of the dealers statein their catalogs, they welcome lists of "wantedbooks" required by individual customers.Some will conduct a free search or do this inreturn for a small fee.

Many modelers a\'idly allend the \'aflOU~ aIrevents that fill the calendar each year. Airshows present an exciting mix of flyin~ andstatic warbirds and contemporary aircraft,

EVENTS AND SHOWS

Ilhalc,·cr they nmmllt [0 print has some '-alue.Their modc:.-r effort at recording h(lll it was, atleast from their personal standpoint, can nevcrbe repeated in quite the same wa~. Anothcrreason fOl" bu~ing while you Cln.

Unit histoncs arc published regularl~ theseda~ S, although those on fighter squadrons orgroups arc generally fewer than tomes dealingwith thc bombers. At the timc of writing, mostof the Sth Air l'orcc fighter groups have hada history of sorts published, only ,he elusi,·c.J.79th ha,·ing not been eo'·ered in recen, years.(For more details, Sl'C Appendix 2.)

It is quite true that a high number of AAFunits put together a record of their recenthistory immediately after World War 2, butmany of thcse haye only a rarity valuecompared with modern book production. EarlypOSt-war paper was of such low quality thatphoto reproduction was often bad, an aspectgenerally perpetuated by a handful of modemfa~imile reprints. Some do manage to improvethe quality a little - but don't expect this alwaysto be the case.

UBRARIES, BOOK CLUBS ANDOTHER SOURCES

Library borrowing can help supplementpersonal collection of 1:H>oks. In the CK, ifthe public library should prove unable tosupply what is required then there arc also thereference libraries such as those of the ImperialWar Museum, the RAF Museum and the AirHistoric Branch of the Ministry of Defence.\,·/hilc all of these establishments arc wellworth yisiting, research will have to be doneon the premises rather than at home - none100 conyeniem for modeling purposes, wherei<.kally the reference should be 1:0 hand whileconstruction or paiming proceeds.

In the UK, the Public Record Office at Kcwand the Documents Section of lhe IW.\1. andRAF Museum hold a great deal of pnmarysource material on .....artime air operationsand although the main focus is naturally onthe RAF, much l;SAAF m:nerial is availablefor scrutiny. Such documentS will help areaslikc narrowing down operational flights byindi"iduals and units on gi\·en dates, targetsand so forth - an example for some of howan interest in model making opens upbroader horizons.

Book clubs are another way of obtaining theaviation literature you need. A small saving onIhe regular cover price (often it must bc saideroded by postal charges) makes some titlesless of a bargain than lhey first appear although


No.1: US Export Colors ofWWII

Dana Bell's

Aviation Color PrimersJPM5-USA National Com'ention Special, Virginia Reach, August 2002

THE "x" FACTOR

Other fomage, taken by pilots and groundcrewswho werc in the variolls war zones, is alsoa\':lilable. If )'ou'rc building a vidco libra!")', thescries from AVI enrirled Tht Gatti PlulI(J

includes llluch 10 inrerest the modder. It coversthc main USAAF fighrer rypes in somedcpth, placing rhe aircrafr in a historicalcontext with interesting conremJXlrary footage_Such \'ideas ill\-ariably consist of a mixture ofmonochromc and color film, the laner bringingforth some re:al eye openers regarding salientdetails of interiors. landing gear, propellers, :llldso fonh.

Equally good from rhe detail JXlint of viewarc copies of wartime inSTrucrional films, ,\hiehinclude walk-round c:\:tenor checls and fullflight data. Using a good quality \'ideo recordl."Tincorpor.uing a reliable "freeze frame" control,this foorage may tx: palL<;ed and srudied at kisurc.Ongoing computer sophisticarion means thatsrills ma) also tx: obtained from \'ideo as wellas thc Intemer.

Film sources can undoubtedl~ add 10 anindi\'idual's knowledge of CS fighter colorschemes during World War 2 because filmhas a fascinating habit of turning up someanomalies that arc not quite as per regulations.}\ (ull color image of an aircraft mo\'ing acrossa screen can hardly be challenged as t1efinitivereference.

\Vith all this data coming at us from all sidl.'Sand in various mediums, surprisingly there arcst:ill gaps to be filled, e\'en in conncction withsomething as familiar as the combat markingsof USAAF fighter groups opcrating ttl theEuropean Theater. Certain units seem to

havc had less coverage than others for yariousreasons and the fact that a short pIece of filmfinally confirms something Ihal has been indoubt for decades, is \'cry ~tisfying. The samegoes (or the aircraft flown by the top pilots aswell as the rank and file - there is nothing quitelike seeing their images on mOVIng: film.

Finall)~ there is that relatively rl.'Cent hutincrC"Jsingly popular addition to the homecntert:linmcm SUile, the llVD player. ThissyStl.'ITl offers images on disk of the Ix:st a\-ailablequality and significanrly superior (() videotape.1'\umerous telc"ision programs arc put straightonto LWD, enahling rhe enthusiast: modcler to

purchase b'"OOd qualiry comb:n footage as soon asit hits the local supplier.

TO~· A"'.-. j"A ..... ~, ~_" ,,"" _, ..."" ..... _ ""«.."'.. cs_•.,."' .... ,....·...... _«O".F_"..... _ ..... A__.I"M"••;,'....)

~I'IZ of"",1

lr.lde stands and other auractions. In the CK,venues such ,1S Duxford, Olr.! Warden, Bigginllill and the Royal International Air Tattoo atFairford arc supported by a large number ofbook dealers and model kit stockists and rhccnthusiast is often able to combine half a year'spurchasing ar various other outlets to ol)(ainall his needs at one or two shows. Xumerousbargains in kirs, "ideos, photographs andcphemera arc available and if you miss onc ofthe c\ems early in the ye-.lr, there arc usuallytwo or rhree dozen more latcr on both hcrcand abroad. The main sho\\s with an airdispla}'element are imerspersed with smaller ('\'ClllS

such as jumbles and book fairs, enough to

keep the enthusiasr away from home for e,'cry\\cckend of the year. or as long as the wallct willbeJr it.

VIDEOS

oorro......._ " •.,'(liOI: _ ..y .. ~~ r~ ."". A_ ~_ ......'''''' ,___,....~'_.I:... .. " (~__ so,r~.,.

,_ s·_ ,,"" , ,.... , ....-..... ,....""'1 ,.,j." (S~s:>l·M '·_ 1

ABOVE Occasionally. limitededition reference works will be

made available.This excellentsummary of US export colors ofWorld War 2 was self-published

by historian Dana Bell toaccompany his seminar at the

2002 IPMS National Convention.The pn:'sentalion of this stapled

book is simple, but theinfonnacion is outstanding.

IlithCTIO unsccn film records of World War 2combat continue to appear as commercial videos..

And yet with all the data currently available onUS fightcrs, some questions will remain. j\lootmodelers will ha\'c expericnced rhe situation in


•

LEFT Model magazines areanother good source ofinformation. Pictured here areScale AIrcraft Modellin,1{ fromthe United Kingdom, and Rrplicfrom France.

LEFT Some books fcx.us onartWOrk. such as Tom Tullis'Eotgles Illustrated series. Minirml

text allows room for many large.attractive profiles.Theserepresent both inspiration andreference for modelers.


flJG-fT In addition w Aircraft ofthe Aces, Osprey PtIblishingoffers several other aviation

series.

The Combat Aircraft seriesdeuils the history, technology

and crew of milia.ry aircr.lft.Each book examines a particularaircraft type. and scale drawing5and colour profiles illustrate themajor variants of each machine

A relatively new addition toOsprey Publishing's list is the

Aviation Elite series, whichexamines the combat histories

of fighter and bomber units.

·fu....w'n.IIII"'.. co:

Thomas G h-ie

which an artr:aetivc color scheme has beennoted in a new book or on film. The time,place, unil and cvcn pilot are known, but thefinal few derails important in the finishing of asale model arc still missing. Se\'eral wartimeUS fighler groups dispensed wilh serialnumbers when Ihe fins were o\'erpainted withunit markings; bUllhat doesn't mean Ihallhereis no reason to unearth the serial number ifonly as a clue 10 Ihe manufacturer's blocknumber and Ihe equipment changes il wouldha\'c had over the previous one. Serials arc thekey to variants and technical changes thai maybe important for a model. Although themajority of lighters did display rheir AAFidentity on the vertical tail, not all the digits arc


359th FighterGroup

\'isible on phologrnphs. So you need it for amodel but can'l find il- what then~

Forlunatd)' Ihe forward fuselage dala block,if readable, will yield those derails. But if theycan't be discerned, and a similar situation isduplicated a few limes o\·cc in conjunction withdifferent aircraft types, then iI's no wonderthai many kits languish. Sadly il is a fact oflife that lhis remaining data may lake years to

surface as reliable reference. My advice wouldbe 10 proceed rel,'":lrdlcss: finish the model in allthe markings you can confirm and worry aboutthe missing serial number !ater. Alternatively,make up a lypical serial number for the typein question or add a zero or two in pla<.:e ofmissing numbers to remind you.

CHAPTER 3AVAILABLE PRODUCTS

•

In this chapter, we'll take a look at the history

and development of kits and accessoriesrelating 10 L"SAAF modeling, across a

\"3.rictr of scales. With such a wide "ariety3.Y'ailable, a somewhat personal selcrtioninc\"iubly needs to be made - so I premise this

wilh an :l:dmission of indulgence for w\'eringsome of my personal fa\'orircs (as well as the notso fi1\'orite!) that ha,'e appe:ired in the previous

decades. A list of the most recent releasesappears at the cnd of this chapter for quickreference.

SCOPE AND SCALE

If we count up the number of first-line aircraft:

types thai are em'ered by the subject marrerof this book, we gel a baseline fi,-e, namelythe Bell P-39 Air-acobra, Curtiss P--40 WarhawL:,Lockheed P-38 Lightning, North AmericanP-5\ Musl'ang and [he Republic P-4,Thunderbolt. These were the mainstreamfighters that sustained the USAi\F's groupsand squil.drons throughoul the war, the Mustangalong wilh lhe P-(il nlack Widow of course

being me latecomers in that they were nOt readyfor US sen;ce until 1943 and 194-1 respecti\e1y.

The enthusiast modeler of IOda~ is able todouble that figure, assuming the yardstick iskits of aircraft that fired their guns in angerwhile bearing CS markings. By adding theBoeing P-26, Se,-ersL:y P-35, Curtiss P-36,Douglas P-iO, Deaufighter and Spitlire \\e\-ealready done so. All of those lisled abo\'e ca.n bebuilt from injection-molded kitS, depending onscale_ Any that can't are increasingly appearingin the lislS of the short-run kit manufacturers.

Further expansion of the list couldencompass the Republic P-H and the P-SIH.The first P-82s also flew before the end of thewar and if our hypOlhetical colleClion isexpanded yet again to lake in any Americanoriginating fighter type that flew between 1939and 1945, a lengthy list of prototypes may beacquired as models, In a differenl league to thepiston~ngine types but still a legitimate modelsubject is America's first turbojet lighter, theBell P-59 Airacomet,

Many of the lesser known one-off andprototype contenders for US fighter contracts

•

,LEFT USAAF model kits (ome

in all sizes. Big, 1n.4-suJe kits ofthe P-SID Mustang are avaibblefrom Aimx. Bandal, ilnd morerecently Trumpeter of Chinil._

AVAIlABLE PRODllCTS 43

Table 1: list of US Army fighter designations, 1935-45

Type Manufacturer Notes Type Manufacturer Notes

CW·21 DelTon Curtiss p'oouctian for foreign XP-S3 Curtiss project anfycustomers XP·j4 Swocse Vultee protorypes only

CW23 Curtiss oroduction for foreign GoosecustOfrers Xp·55 Ascender CJrtiss oraject on'Y

YI?-25 Conso!'cated p'ojeet onfy

P-26 Peoshoo-er 5oei"9 produc'ior for USAAC & XP-56 B.od orth'op p-ojec onlylore'gn CUsfOfTlefS BJIe'

YP-27 CC>r'l5Olidated project on,y XP-57 Tucker lightweight lig~-er oroject

YP-28 Consolidated praiect only XP-58 Gain lockheed oroiect onfy

YP-29 Boeing p'oject onlylightning

P-30 Consolidcted producion for USMCP·59 Bell Airocomet prototype & test series

XP-31 Swift Curfss '-st monoplane designP-6Q Curtiss project only

oy COtnfXlf'y; preleci any P-61 Black Northrop proouc'ion for USAAf

P-33 Consolicoted pro:ec arlyWicow

XP·34 Wedel~Williotns P'ojed cesign fe- XP-62 CJrtiss OfOjecl only

Ilghtvveight hgh'er P-63 Kingcobro Bel production for loreign

P-35 Seversky proouCion lor foreign custOMers & USAAF

cJs'omers P-6L North American proouction for fcre:gn

P-36 Hawk Curtiss oroduction for USMC & customers

:oreign cuslome's XP'65 Grumnan F7F Tigercat forerunner

YP-37 CJ1iss deSign forerunner of P-40 P-66 Vongl.ord Vdtee produc'jon lor :oreigncustomers

P-38 lightnirg lockheed p-oduction for USAAF XP~7 Bet W.cDon'lel1 rx0ieCt onyP·3Q AiToco:xo Bel p-oouc'ior lor USAAF & XP-08 TorroOO Vu!:ee PfOjecl on.y

Io'eign cLslOmers X?-69 .:<:epublic p'oiecior 01 P-47P-AO Wornawk Cur-iss oroducfon ior USMF & design; p-ojecr only

:oreign customers P-70 Douglas daptation 01 A-20;XP-41 Seversky project orly producion for USMF

XP-L2 CJ'tiss pro"eet only XP-71 CJrtiss orojecl O'lly

P-43 Loncer Republic p-oduction for fore;gn XP-72 Republic orojection of P-"7;custome-s project ony

P·44 Rocket RepubliC proCUC"ior lar foreign X?·75 Eage risJ-er p-ototy:oe cesign 101CJS'OfTlefS e~ort hg,ter ~ircohO()

XP-46 Cur:iss :::>reject ony XP-77 B~I lightweight prototype

P·47 Thunce"boIt Republic & produdic1 for USMF XP-78 North American project onlyC~'tiss XP-79 Flying Rom Northrop project only

XP-48 Douglas p'oject only XP-80 Sheoting ~ockheed prototype lor F·80 seriesXP-49 lockheed project 011y based on Star

P-38 XP-81 Convair p'oject onlyXP·50 Grurrmon A-my ve"SlCfl of XF5F-l

Sky<ocke-P·82 Twi" North American pl"odl.lcior lor

P-51 MJstans No<-, production lor RAF & M.stong JSAAf/USAfArrericcn USAAf

XP-52 Bel, prOlect onlyNote: Sor-e of the rrissing numbers we'e neve' token l.palthol.·gh several were allocatee to deSigns for novy ligh-els oraircrcft in other categories, In t1is instaree 'project" con indicateeither aircraft actually constructed or 0 design exercise,

44 WORLD WAR 2 US ARMY FIGHTER MOOEUNG MASTERCLASS

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have already bl,.'Cn modeled in 1/72 scale andahhough there may not be kits of all thesedesigns:1I l imc of writing, somebody, somedaywill gel around to dosing any remaininggaps, and probably quite soon. All thar willconcemralc the mind of the purist is whetherthe scale is right, as chances arc that mote ofthese fascinating footnotes of aviation history",ill initially appe;lr in the smaller scales., if onlyfor the faci Ih:1t anticipated sales will probablybe modCSI and not merit larger investmentHl\'ing said that, a gl:mcc at recent modeljournals reveals lhat manufacturers wishing 10inject a lillie eXOlic:a into their lists are certainlynOI neglecting the larger scales. One can onlypraise their enterprise in this respect - howmany Mustangs will be built in me relatiyelynew scale of IllS, I wonder?

JUSI how e.xt<:nsi\·c the US fightcr designscene was betwtcn the 1930s and thc laH~-1940s

can be seen in Table I on pagc 44. Some ofthe rarer ones would make \·cry impressive kitsin I / ~8 scale and happily not cvcrything isrestricted to thc smaller size on the grounds ofeconomy.

MARKINGS MIXING

When it comes to modeling possibilities,foreign aircraft types flying in USAAFmarkings can extend to the Hurricanes of theEagle Squadrons (some Sea Hurricane XIIswere also mJrked with US nJtiona! insigniafor Operation ·lurch) plus a number of secondline types. FJmous fighters flying new flagsincluded the [>-47Ds of the Brazilian I"Gruppo, which fought in Italy, the P-4iDs oflhe Mexican Expeditionary Force in thePacific, and last but by nu means least theP-40B/Cs of the Chinese Nationalist AirForce, alias the FlyingTigers.

Slretching Ihin6"S a lillie further, the B-25Mitchell did a turn as a night intruder in thePacific and cm so that too could legitimatelybe included in a representative collection ofUS Army fighters.

If our list may be lengthened further toinclude Iypes thJt did not sec combat but werewidely used in a Statcside training role, theBell P-63 Kingcobra can join - as of course canall the first-line types employed not only a.<;;

lrainers bUI in a host of !K:condary roles afterbecoming "\Var Wearies." These latter fighterscan yield a great many off-beat markingsschemes, occasionally more c-\:O[ic than thoseappliL-d by the front-line squadrons. :'Jeedlessto say, the Stateside fighter training programwas hugc and required a constant supply of

surplus l'-4()Bs, P-47Bs, P-38Fs and 1'-51.;\5,to mention just a few of the early sub-l ),pes.

Fighter training schemes for models werebrought to wider public notice by the Japanese;\-13uve company when it relcased a 1/48 P-4()Nin a very bright S(:hcme applied strictly for Zoneof lhe lnterior tuition flying as one of the kit'sdecal options. Thc painting on the box tOp e\'endepicted an aircraft in this non-combal scheme,which showed admirable confidence lhal itwas the kit, not the decal sheet, that modelerswant.ed first and foremost. To read some kitreviews and note the moans aimed entirely atbelow-par decals, you (;(luld be forgiven fort.hinking that it was actually the other wayround!

Warrime US fighters also fulfilled a hOSlof useful but oflCn passivc roles as monitOraircraft for hcavy bomb groups, weather scoutsand general "hacks." Some of these bring intoplay very unusual markings schemes: forexample, you may find a natural metal finish ona long serving example of a gi\·cn type when 90percent of ils brethren in front-line senicewere camounaged. Such unusual schemes,ideal for lhal different model, still turn up fromtime 10 lime.

1\AF bomber unit histories can be aparticularly rich source in respect of unusualfighter schemes. In the ETO, the P--Ii tcnded[Q predominate in support roles simply bectusethere were so many c-'\:amplcs in in\"cmorywhen lhe fightcr groups generally changedo'"er to the 1'-51. Ikst known in this respect are

ABOVE Mustangs must be oneof the mOst kine<! model aircraftin history.Tamiya's 1148-scaJeP-SI B is accurate, beautifullydetailed and well engineered.Hasegawa's 1/48·sc.ale P-SI 0,released some years earlier, isalso an excellent kit.

AVAILABLE PRODUaS 45

probably thc P..·I7Ds of the 5th EmergencyRescue Squadron, thc markings of \\hich ha\'cbeen wcll documented.

EXOTICA

The years of thc late-l990s - early-2000ssaw a positi\'c explosion of new hIS, many ofthem from Eastern Europe and the formerSoviet Union. These products swelled the kitmarket to a significant degree, leading to

new manufaClurers making an impact with kitSof aircraft that had rarely been replicatedpreviously. Thus such American fighters asthe almost forgotten Vultee P-66 Vanguard andRepublic 1'-43 Lancer, not to mention theone-offs and alsQ--rans, joined the ranks.

Part of the first generation of USmonoplane fighters, those mentioned werelargely imended for the export market andmorc familiarly appeared in foreign rather thanAmerican colors. In some cases, particularly inOlina, these deliveries re\-erted bad: to UScontrol where they wore that country's nationalinsignia, often for Ihe first time. But whare\"erthc circumstances, if fighters and prototypes ofwhat mighl be termed the adolescents of anindustry still malUring ill the early-19.ws worethe ,,·hile star on a blue ficld, then they may beincluded in a USAAF model collection. In this""ar a true chronological history can be createdin miniature.

Currently the international kit marketmakes this possibility much more realistic thanit once was. nOlh the 1'-66 and P-43 arc kittedby Air Collection ami Classic Airframerespectively, to 1/48 scale, a model size thatrolls on with a burgeoning after-market list ofaccessories seemingly appt.'aring on a monthlybasis, My earlier remarks about the Curtissforerunners of the P-40 appt.'aring as wanimekits must ha\·e been overheard as I note thai theUS company Joe's ~lodels has now added aYP-3i to its l/iZ-scale range.

If the modeler needs to keep p:lce withen:rything that is released, subscriptions to anumber of journals and periodicals will be d~

rigu~ur, Titles such as Scak /It-iarion i\1od~/tr

from the UK and the American Finc ScaleMoJ&r arc \"Cry on the ball, publishing as theydo many fCviews of kits, decals and producr..'ifrom paint to power tools. The former of theset\\'o ma!orazinc.<; is sllCCifie to aircraft kits whilerSI\1 is general with the advantage of carryingsmall ads for some of the more specialistproducts from mostly US suppliers. Anyone ofthose advertisements may ofTer the rcry itemyou need to complete a model project, be it a


plan, a specially formulated paint, a custom parior a new set of decals.

Arguably the leading journal of its kind inthe Ltc, SA.M carries full lists of actual kits.,forthcoming rele:lses and fascinating, weUfounded rumors of fmure presemations from allo\"er the world. In any given )'e:tr the enthusiastmodeler will be able to update an C\-er-<;hanging"wants" list purely from the pages of this onepublication. To show what is actually happeningin the real world of competition modeling, theeditor and staff regularly attend shows to featurethe best exhibits. With the advantage ofbeing almost full color throughout, SAM isundoubtedly a good buy.

France and Germany have become leadingproducers of top quality modeling journals,with the advantage that a slightly differentdesign approach pro\'ides the reader with someexceptional pholographic spreads of featuredfull-size aircraft, invaluable to complelingmodels. Among these lilies are Aero Journal,ALions, Jet f5 Prop, L'Albl/ln and Repli,. Ofcourse the text is nOI in English, but thcn ab'3inphofOgraphs arc international. Should youpeed these publications but do not wish toincur additional bank charges by personalforeign currency transaction, subscriptionsmay be placed in the UK through The AviationBookshop or Midland Counties L'ublications,among OI'hers.

CLOSING THE GAPS

The Widespread availability of American fightertypes in kit form has accelerated in recent years.This has significantly extended the possibilitiesof interesting new color schemes - there hasne\'er been a better time to construct a table-topair foree. While all the core USAAF Iypes havebeen kined al some point in the three decades orso since the hobby of plastic aircraft modelingestablished itself, a few gaps remain.

Today more kits arc oo\'cring hitherto lesserknown ,wants almost to the point where, forexample, aU the wartime Mustangs from theXP-51 to the P-51H can be built in bolh themost popular scales. The main question for themodeler is whether the L:it is 1'0 the scale he or shefa,'ors., but I\'e rarely leI that o'·errule thepurehase of a favored type. Pro\;ded it's nosmallcr than 1/72 scale, I go for it. But in termsof scale accuracy it S(.'ems 10 ha\'e been inevitablethat some aircraft ha"e lent themselves better to

the scaling process than others. To paraphrasea well-worn saying, when it comes to plasticaircraft kits, size docs seem to matter if it'squality you want.

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REPUBLICP-47DTHUNDERBOLT ~lrb&

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In general the original American quarterscale has hislOrically sen'cd this purpose betterthan :my other. The standard was undoubtedlyset by Monogram, a company which as longago as the 19605 pl'Ouuccd a range of 1/48sC:llc kits that left the rest of the industrystanding in terms of 3CCur'lCY. It took years forthe manufacturers concentrating on producingkits in 1/72 scale to catch up, which they nowhayc to a degree.

But for years the modeler of this undoubtedlyconvenient s(;a!c had to cut, sand, mix and match

almost c'"cry part of the airfamc to obtain adecem 1'-51, P-47 or - well, you name it, thataccuracy challcll!,'C \\'38 always prc.~cnr. Quitewhy this situation prc\'3ikd for so long is hard £0

[1tholll. Monogram and a few other 1l00abiemanuf:u..turcrs surely had no monopoly on rneirsources of reference 10 lr:lIl,<;fcr me dimensionsof a full-size airplane into a metal mold andullimatcly a good plas6c conso-union kil. Toshow that rney could worl.: me trick in sizes ornerIhan 1/48 scale too.. when rncsc manufacturersoccasionally n:nturcd into 1/72 scale rney healIhe established opposi6on hollow.

The modeler of today beginning to buildkits of American fighlers has a significantad\-:.J.mage O\'cr his contemporary of, say, 19/0,All the mainstream USAAF aircraft can nowbe built in a \-aricty of sales, particularly if

the vacuformed and multi-media kit is broughtinto the equation. These latter types of kitplay a ke~' role, as some aircraft arc not yetobtainable as injection moldinb'"S in the largerscales, particularly 1/32 and 1/24. Less robustthan injection molded kits, the v3cuformprocess offers the skilled modeler a realchallenge as there is mUl;h more work umkrthe skin before the final result emerges.

OUT WITH THE OLD?

:\lany seemingly e.~tinct kits arc back on themarket, re-released in the;r original boxes.Whether or not this is a good thing is a matterof opinion; for these kits, if largely unchangedsince rney were first released, arc sharing shelfspace with items thaI are delinitely superior inmany important respects.

O,"er the years kil'S hal'e been obliged. for\'anous rea.'iOns., to change their badges andappear "under new management," such as theJapanese Otaki line of 1/48 lighter kits whichis currently a''ailable from Airfix, There arcplenty of orner e.xamples. The modem scenecan therefore be quite confusing: which kit docsthe newcomer chose? One answer, apart fromreading re,'iews and keeping filcs on the detailstherein is ask members of a group of specialists.,who should be able 10 answer such qucslions..

ABOVE Academy's P-47DThunderbolt offers a fairlysimple parts breakdown,accurate outline and plenty ofordnance.

AVAILABLE PRODUQS 47

BELOW The USAAF usedseveral British aircraft in Europe.

including various marks of theSpitfire.ICM offer a Spitfire

Mk.VIIi with USAAF markings.

Economics han; not surprisingly, govcrncdthe plastic kit market since day one. Allmanufacturers make a substamial inn.--snncntevery time they decide to release a newinjection molded kit and for Ihat reason thcmolds Seem to survive even if the parcntcomp:!n)' goes to the wall. This happened to thcwell-known UK range of Frog kits when themolds were shipped to Eastern r::urope III thedays when the Iron Curtain still cxisted.Despite dire predictions that kits such as thc1172-SC3le Curtiss P---WB would nc\·er be secnagain in the West, thc situation rarely (x;curred.What did happen was that specialist suppliers,still able to obtain rarc kits, hiked Iheir pnccs,sometimes 10 Ihc point of absurdil); withlargely unobtainable (and often very basic)models becoming potential moneyspinners forthe fell'.

Re-rclcase of older kits stabili"les Ihe marketand brings prices back to a more realisticlevel. This is an important consideration ifthe younger modeler - those the hobby mustauraCl in order to keep it alive and viable perhaps with limited funds to spare, is to

persevere with a pastime that these days hasenormous competition from Olher sectors ofthe toy and lcisurc industry.

1\01 Ihat thc modeler of American fightcrshas real1~ had much ClUse to complain of anylack of tbe essential raw materials with whichto work. There have always been kils of })-47s,P-38s and 11-47s., or so iL~ seems and cvcn ifthey were once tcrrible, well, it was that ornothing. You have to go back to 1he dark a~cs ofplastic modeling in the UK to a point beforeAirfix released their first 1I72-scale 1)-5ID,

to find liule or no choice at all. But by thelatc-l950s Ihe LS modeling scenc had gotunderway with several quite exotic kits, whichmany UK modelcrs considercd way beyondthcir means allhc time. Thc linc-up ineluded aP-47N and a number of Navy fighters and jeltypes in 1/-1-8 scale from such manufacturers asLindberg and Aurora.

Soon other tirms including a hard-coregroup in Japan, added furthcr type.s and unlessthe modeler was particularly quick at buildingand painling, another option had arrived in Ihelocal store before the first k.it wa... completed. Itwas therefore hard to a\·oid suning a collectionof comparable models even if this had not beenthe original intention.

1/72SCAI.£

As the 1/iZ-scalc modelers passed through thescvenries and eighties, they saw things graduallyimprove in tenus of the quality of US fighterkits and must have been quite cnvious at' times.More versions of the most famous fighterswere also "discO\·cred" by the manufaclurers,undoubtedly assistcd by regularly published"wanl" or "wish" lists in the specialist modelpress.

Things picL-t.-d up only gradually hO\\c'I'cr;onc or two manufacturers e\'-en turncd theclock back by releasing appallingly inaccuratemodels, a particularly bad Muslang in 1/72being recalled by the writcr some lime afterrival firms had gO[ it more or less right. Thesewcre also the days when complctely nel\'companies appeared, and ,llthough they alienstarted their range with the inevitable (andsafe) Spitfire, Hf 109 and perhaps a rvlust':mg.wc hoped for bcller; and the subjecl mailerindeed got more ambilious.

Decal companies also began to explore thepotential for offering far more comprehensivcsubjects Ihan the small shcets that accompanil.-dthe kil parts padctl in a bag or box. This wasfine, provided that enough good kits could bepurchased 10 build, for argument's sake, arcprcsental'ive 1'-51 from cach of the Ei~hth AirForce groups.

In 1972 Lesncy Products ma.d!,; acontribution towa.rds the mass production ofmodels by releasing an acceptable P-510 intheir Matchbox range. llere was a kit that whileonly basically dctailed had the right outlincshape and could bc built in some numbers, Ihercsuh looking well enough to hang dCC:l.ls on.

l....atterl~ Ihe R\.,,·dl concern, nO\\ an amalb"3Jl1of German, British and American interests withsome buying-in ofJapancsc molds, has rek':lS<..-d a

48 WORLD WAR 2 US ARMY FIGHTER MODELING MASTERCIASS

LEFT Conversions and detailsets can a-.msfonn an ordinaryplastic kit into a spectacularreplia.. Uttle Fokkers producedil ?-40BlC nose in resin [0convert Hobbycraft's series of?-36 kits to the Tomilhawk..TheEduard photo-etched brass setand resin wheels from TrueDetails would also enhancethis projecL

further range of ll72-scalc fighters, among thema P--IOK, P-51 Band D and a P-47M. The laneris particularly goOO and probably lhe first rimcthat anyone has secn fit to label a late productionP-fiD update as such. AL<;O, i[ is only recemlythat i1 has been possible to buy a P-4QK marketedby a mainstream manufacturer as such In anyscale,

"M" FOR FINESSEAlthough it was changed considerably under theskin, the 1>-47M was c:tternally similar [Q theP-47D-30 and D-40, me Re\'ell kil providingthe useful bonus of mcluding a separate fin 611eT.Yes, I know we'\'C all hand cut Thunderboltfin filletS in the past but the section is very thinin [his scale and the fairing-in was exactingand took considerable time and effort. N()\\; aswith numerous other examples of P-47 kits, themanufacturers ha\-e removed mat chore. But toremm 10 an earlier mcmc, how long has il takento markel a decem "bubblctop" P-47 in this scale?

The Revell !)-47M is not the only usefulThunderbolt in me popular smaller scale to hitthe sheh'es, as Hasegawa pul OUI tWO \'ersions(razorback and bubbletop) in [he seventies, bothof which were pra&-d in thcir day. I always fcltlhey were a shade under-sized, lacking thechunkiness that one always associates with theT-bolt. This was particularly [ruc if compared toIhe old Frog razorback.

To bring things up to date, Hasegawa hasrecendy released a second P-47D razorback,which from all accounts appears to be a suitablereplacement for the earlier kit thai is no longergenerally avail:tble, The smaller scale end ofthe markel now looks healthier in terms of USfighter subjects than it ever was.

Lesney/ Matchbox had a stab at a razorbackT-bolt and at least achieved an excellent rearfuselage profile, accurate enough for the inspiredmodeler lO cross kit this with some parts fromothers to produce a good representation ofRepublic's mighty machine,

1/48 SCALE

Moving up a scale, the pinure vis-a-\'is accuracyof oudine is and \\--as, much more satisfying.From the day in 1%7 that l\-lonogr-am releasedtheir superior 1'-470-25 bubbletop completewith cylindrical and "flat" drop tanks, bombsand M-1O rocket launcher tubes, the art of theplastic kit look another upturn. In this scalea new Monogram release rardy disappointed.Bold enough 10 in\'cst seriOlL~ money in everlarger kitS in 1/48 scale, this US concerndelighted the modeling world wlth ever moredesirable, popular - and some quite esoteric - kitsubjects.

\Vhen the p~6l came out in 1974, thestandard of kit looling took another gianl leap

AVAIlABLE PRODUCTS 49

ABOVE Cutting Edge's resinreplacement cockpit for the

P-10BlC seen in dose-up,Today'sgenen.tion of cockpit sets

feature exquisite detail, and theyare available for a wide range of

USAAF fighter ain::raft. Brandssuch as Cutting Edge. Black Box,Aires and CMK maintain a very

high standard of detail.

fon\'ard. h beat Ihc prcYious l>esl of this aircraftin the larger scale., mat from AurorJ, a companythat was cert;;ainl~' a plastie-kil pioneer burunfonunalely lacked the design expertise 10 befound at ~10rlOn Gro·,-e., Illinois. No OIhl..T USmanufacturer seemed quite able to equal.\lonogram's prolific program of new 1/48--scalerel~ which spanned some 30 years. Therewere subjeeLS Ihat the company did not b'"Ctaround to while it remained independent. Soldto Mattei before being absorbed by RC\'ell, theexpertise of irs dcsi~,'ners now appears under adifferem label. "fhe Important thing is that thequality of the kiLS has not slipped.

Not that the name on the box reallymatters as long as the contents are accurate.,well molded and, hopcfuliS depieling a \-:lriamthat has not prenously appeared. Hugeduplication of kit subjocts (many, it must besaid, being of US fighters) must ha\'e had adelrimemal efreel on the sales ligures ofsome companies, particularly if the kils theyproduced appeared to be o\·er-priced. As a rulethough the piclure has been positiYe e\'en if thebuild up of different aircraft types, and thefilling in of long standing gaps (such as anaccurate 1)-4713), has been slow,

Over the ycars Ihe Japanese brand leaders,particularly I Iasegawa and Tamira, ha\-emasten"t! thc an of releasing types Ihat fitneally into what was a Monogram-clominatcdscale but without 100 much duplialion.Tamira's 1997 release of a Bcaufighter is aca..<;e in point: finished in American markings it

makes an interesting comparison with thcP-61. Reccntly the USAAF night fighter triohas been completed by Academy's P-3S:\I, a\arialion on their existing P-38J IL kits in 1/-+8sale.

AMERICAN SPITSAlso \ery importanl to Ihc AAF order of ban Iewas Ihe Spitfire in various marks, mamly the II,V, VII, IX and XI, thc laller a photographicreconnaissance varialH lhal did sterling work.The Spitfire kit picture in ] f.l.8 scale was nottoo rosy for many years: Monogram was Ihefirst to put out a 1\'lk IX thai was not quite rhecompany's best effon, although again theinclusion of a cylindrical belly tank showed justho\\ careful the company WllS in its rcsc:trch.Then Otaki added their \'crr acceptablc .\Ikvn, Airfix followed wilh a .1\1k V llnd beforeroo long we all got some reliable prmtcd dctailson Supermanne fightcrs marked with "starsand bars." These rC\'ealcd that there weremany more American Spitfires than we'd e\'erimagined. During the 1990s, four morecompanies released I/-+R-scale Spitfires. Thesecomprised Hasegawa, with seyeral variationson the Mk V, l'vlk V1I1 and Mk IX; Tamiya, witha Mk I :llld a few .'vlkVs; Ocidental, with a !'olkLX :md Mk XVI; and ICi\I, with MksVlI, VIII,IX and XVI.

EARLY NIGHT FIGHTERFinally, there was the P-70. An eXI..-client l/-+Sscalc Douglas Han>e from AM"I:'ERTL broke

so WORLD WAR 2 US ARMY FIGHTER MODELING MASTERCLASS

new ground and although being a lah:r A-2OG"arianl wilh a rear turret the kit can bccom'erted back to produce a P iOA with "open"rear gun position, as used in combal In thcPacific during 19.J.2....H. Thi... injection moldedkit follo\\ed in Ihe wake of a superb \':lcuformA-2OGI] fTOm Koster Axia[ion Enterprises thatwas equally adaptable to a P-iO.

While the 1/-I8-scalc Thunderbolt situarionremained much the samc as il used 10 be in1/72 by being dominatcd by varialions ofthc early or late l'--f7D, in 1995 AcademyMinicraft released an excellent P-47N followedby another from Re"ell-Monogram/I'RO~Iodcler shortly afterwards, thus doublytilling an01her gap. Long gone \\',\S the Aurora1/48 scale P--l7N which the aurhor recallslaboriously rurning into - well, :1 P-47N. I stillhal'e the prop, and wonder what ever happened[0 the rest of iL

Ila!'>Cgawa me:mwhilc had produced lhe allbut definili\e late P--I7D-30 model completewith the dorsal fin strake. This was followcdc"en more recently by a razorback 0which, compared to the still "cry acceptable.\tonogram kits, had fine engra"cd pane1lines.,items such as optional flattened tires for atypically loaded down fighter bomber, plus afull range of ordnan<:c. 'lamiya's 1/48-scaleP-47 Ra:wrbacL: rc!eas<.:d in 2002 signaledyet another slep up the quality ladder, withbeautiful surface texture, excellent del ailsand many oplionsincluding bombs, drop lanks,mckets, three alternate propeller styles anddropped flaps.

Rqprding lhe underwing munitions, one hasonly to collecl a sma1\ number of kits to quicklyaccumulate a full US ordnance depot's-worthof aeri:ll weaponry in plastic form, almoste\'erything being a\'ailablc in increasingly near 10S(;a[e dimensions- One an:a the manufacturersh:l\"e thus far shied awa)' from has been to releaseany parachule fT:lgml.:ntation bombs. Hung onfighter wing racks or garlanded around a 500 lbbomb, thc small but deadly "par3frags" werewidely used and it is to be hoped that one of thecottage industry suppliers is e"cn no\\' worbngon a set that rna) be adapt<..'(] to Soc'oeral fighterkits, a.. well as bombers. E"cn in one of thelarger scale<; parafrags would be "cry small, withtiny fins and attachment IUb'S - but they would(:ertainly be a useful addition to a pl3stic arsenal.

Ordnance has indeed come a long way sincethe pioneering days of plastic modeling. USAAFdrop tanks, ferry tanks, bombs and rockets eitherin triple M-lO tubes or the high velOCilYtype suspended from zero-length launchers,constituted by far the m~t numerous add-ons

for the wartime l;S fighter bomber, irrespccti\'cof type. In the more exotic category \\ere the20mm cannon suspended from the wing racks ofsomc 8th Air Force 1'-t7s.ln passing, I'd suggestthaI [his arrangement would make a vcryinteresting model subject:.

ROCKETS.\'lore L'S fighlers wcre fitted to use high\·eloeity aircr:lft rockets (HVARs) than isperhaps generally realized. The P-40N wasadapted to carry lhe M-lOs and some aircraflwere fitted with lhem for operations in China.Alternati,'c1y, six HVARs per wing on zerolength launcher~ as tanlalizmgly indiColted onscyeral breaker's yard photographs taken aflerthe cnd of the war, was an allema[i\'c. This wasI belicl'e. a very late production addition to lhe1'--10 and one possibly restrlct<..'d [0 US-basedc,xamplcs for training purposes. ~o good photosof P--IOs carl')ing a full compliment of I IVARsseem to ha"e surfaced as )"CI but timc willundoubtedly tum up confirmation.

HVAR rocket launchers can also be added tothe P-61 while the P-38 carried the M-1O triplewbes attached to the fuselage pod. Nwnerousphotos exist of Lighmings lcsting "trees" ofHVARs in the US and recent literature indicatesthat these were fitted to first-line air<"Taft in thePacific, mainly in the immediate postwar erawhen AAF groups undertook occupation duty inJapan.

The PA7Ns operating in the Central Pacificalso carried the M-IO launcher 10 somc extent,

LEFT Some companies navespecialized in particular areas.Ultracast of Canada hu built iureputation on its superreplacelTl('flt pilots' Se<lU andaircraft exhausts. Note thesuperbly deD.iled seat andharness., and me wafer-thin resinwaSte between the frame andthe seat. This will only require afew seconds to clean up, readyfor painting.

AVAILABLE PROOuaS S1

BELOW The subtle profiles ofpropeller blades are sometimes

lost on model manufacturers.Ultracast also produce accurate

propeller blades. These areCurtiss Standard Cuffed 4-BladePropellers, designed for Tarniya's

P-S I kits.

although the later model Thunderbolts weremore commonly filled with zero-lengthlaunchers. Some of these rockets had shapedcharge heads, which were not unique to thetheater as they were also seen on operationalThunderbolts in Curope.

LARGER STILL: 1/32 SCALE

In terms of the number of available kits ineach of the most popular scales, the selectiongradually dwindles the larger you go. 1'lodelsin 1/32 scale ofTer quite a challenge but withe;.;citing possibilities for a very dramatic endproduct. Limited in subject matter andshowing considerable variation in quality, thisscale seems 10 be relatively low in popularity,probably because of the work involved inrectifying faults. So few are the injectionmolded kits in this scale that lend themselves to

1:S Army markings that a list (subject to somecurrent updating) of well established kits

is quite short: 1'-38 (2); P-40B (2); P-40E (1);P-4iD (2); P-5IB (2); P-51D (4); and Spitfire(2). Even the 1'-38 entry, the Revell kit, shouldbe qualified as bemg: a basic P-38J and analternative "droop snoot" version using thesame molds but mcluding the necessary clearnose section used by a navigator/bombardier.The P-40B total includes one conversion and afull multi-media kit.

One of the later Mustangs and one SpitfireV, both by Hasegawa, are exeellenl while theRevell 1'-40E is a potencial competilion winnerprovided that a fair amount of work is carriedout. The same cannot be said for the twoRevell P-4is and the P-51B, at least not asthey come from the box. Things are howeverimproving in this respect and Craftworks ofthe US has recently released a 1/32-scaleP 51B. Resin model manufacturer J- Rutmanhas also recently released 1I32-scale kits ofthe 1'-51B Mustang, plus Ra:wrback andBubbletop versions of the 1'-47. These kits arevery accurate and well detailed.

The other Spitfire V is another Revell kitwhich was superseded by the later Hasegawaoffering. This superb kit is appropriate forconversion 10 an early Eagle Squadron exampleof a Mk Vc, as widely used by US units in the.I>deditcrranean.

The j.\lustang listing rounds otT with thetwo early Monogram kits of the P/P-51Dwhich were released both as a standard kit andthe so-called "llhantom ,Mustang," which hada completely transparent airframe designed to

show the essential mternal details inside thefuselage and wings. It came complet'e with acontrol plinth that retracted the wheels via abattery--Dpcrated lever and also released thewing bombs.

If that kind of activity does nothing for you,it is fortunate that either of the 1/32-scaleIVlonogram kits may be adapted to impro\'ethe Revell 1'-5IB, pnnClpally by enabling itto borrow a nose section that suggests that aPackard-,\lerlin is ll1side rather than somethingwith much more modest power output asindicated by the slim nose of the 1'-51 B out ofthe box. The chopping: and changing processdocs work and the result shows a spectacularimprovement in outline.

Many other areas of the Revell kit needchanging or modifying but an acceptable modelcan be made, particularly if the kit's optional.i.\-lalcom hood is chosen. This will at least reducethe number of heavy hinges cut \llto the openingsections of the sL'\:-piece canopy in order to

provide operating features. These are otherwiseacceptably thin and another example of "spoiling


-- ----

LEFT Squadron offer ahuge range of replacementcanopies in crystal clearvacuformed plastic. Theseare especially useful if themodeler wants to positiona canopy open, as they arescale thickness. The canopy

piettlred here is designedfor the Mauve l/48-scaleP-40N kit.

the ship" for want of a little more care. But mereal answer is to have a completely new canopyof either type - moockxl scparalclr As notedearlier a new kit of the 1'-518 in 1/32 scale hasbeen announced and hopcfuUy, it will render allthis hacking up of other kits unnecessary.

Incidentally, Revell latef fe-Iooled their1132-sCJlc P-5IB into a 1'-510. AlthoughI've never secn the kit, it was apparently updatedonly in regard to the obvious canopy andfuselage changes., the many other errors beingperpetuated - c1l..':lrly an opportunity wasted.

Revell's option of a razorback Thunderbolth:ls some exciting possibilities in this scale - butagain the wmpany nearly ruined a potentiallyfine kit by cutting corners on some importantdetails. \\"hcn thl,; earlier kit was joined by a1'-470·25 bubblcrop, it was disappointing inthat [he designer had mi~ealculatcd the shapeof the canopy, It lack~ the characteristic highpoint of the hood aft of the windscreensLx1:ion, nuking it impossible to use unless areplacement can be molded.

THE P·38 LIGHTNINGRe"e11 also gave the modeling world the sole1)-38 in this scale. Like its single--enginecontemporaries, the o\'erall size is impressi\'eand with work, the fighter can be made £0

look particularly com'ineing. Locomotiye stylerivets coyer the entire airframe in the majorityof these kits, the Lightning being no exceptionand a substantial amount of smoothing downis necessary prior to assembly. But with abasically good outline shape, the big Lightninggoes together well enough, with the prospect ofadding a considerable :lmount of detail to bringit up to competition-winning standard.

With such \\ork carried out it could stand\,...ith the P-WE as one of the best two kit.<; in1/32 scale by Revell, a~ no major airframemodifications are called for. The Warhawkand oLhers in this series arc re-released bythe company from time to lime, so you won'tnecessarily have lO pay collectors' prices forthem.

Otherwise most of these older l/32-scalekits can still he found in ~pccialist outlets:astute modelers, realizing that these wcre quitelong term building projects, invested in a suiteof drop tanks which wcre released as vacuformsets by US manufacturers while the kits werestill relal il'ely new. Thus the P-38 and the otherUS fighters in lhe series could have theirdistinctive additional fuel tanks, few of whichactually were provided in the kits at least ontheir first-run release. Later kits did includetanks, however.

The l/32-scale Revell P-38, P-40 and P-4-7all contain removable panels to expose areas ofthe engine, which can of course, be dctailedol'er and above what the instruction sheetrecommends. Allhough the 1'-38 kit onlyincludes one Allison, there arc enough modelengines in [his scale to add the other one anddetail both if required. With both power plantsIn rilu and more panels removcd this could be achallenging projec!. Displaying each engines.eparatel~ adjacenl lO the model itself is analtemati\·e. In any e\"lmt, some work certainlyneeds to be done in regard to engine panels onthese large-scale kiTS, as those on both the 1'-38and P-47 were st:emingl}' afterthoughts with apoor fit.

Finally, a 1/32-scale RC\'ell Bcaufightercould be completed as a USAAF night fightcr.

AVAIlABLE PRODUas 53

•

ABOVE Separate controlsurfaces are helpful when

depicting deflected ailerons andrudder, or dropped flaps

and elevators.

USAAF "Deaus" carried the stanuard vanetyof arm"ork and names as applied to other typesand there is a choice of variants.

THE GIANTS: 1/24 SCALE

At 112-+ scale there arc three P-SIDs, by Airfix,Bandai, and morc reccnLly Trumpcrer. Koneunfortunately is without its nail'S, but dedicatedwork and a degree of cross-killing should bringabout an extra special model that is undeniablyimpressive. Airfix again miscalculated the nosecontours and repeated the same eTTor for asecond time on a 1/72-scale P-51D. The profileof the Trumpeccr P-51 kit nose is also poor:this new kit has other shape deficiencies 100. Butthe sheer size of a .MusL1ng in this scale isinspirational, ideal for the really long Termprojects that can incorporate a massi\'e amounTof scratch-built detail, perhaps incorporatingbrass etch and!or resin components.

Whether or not you model figures to gowith kits, the l/24-scale Mustangs also inspireThe keen modeler to incorporate the pilot. Beinglarge enough to be of recognizable humanproportions, he might look good leaning on Thewing or posed getting into or out of the cockpit,perhaps clutching a handful of maps or holdingup live fingers in time honored fashion to signifyThe achievement of "ace in a day" status. ~lany

model figures appear a little squashed and rather

wooden but the larger size enables limbs to bereset so that your own composition may bearranged.

All three of these large-scale kits \·aryconsiderably 111 detail and design approach.\\-'hile BandaT opted for a smoother surbcewith acceptable scribed panel lines (includingoptional transparent covers over the gunbreeches to show the detail) Airfix wentoverboard with countersunk rivets which \\Tre aliTtle over scale. Numerous coats of paint willreuucc the effect of these but the kit's outlineerrors incline the modeler more towards theJapanese product. The latter shows a \'ariedapproach m that it has zero-length rocketlaunchers molded mto the wing undersides.Airlix also provide HVARs, but with separatelaunchers. The Trumpeter kit features relativelyrestraineu surface texture compared to its 1/24scale counterparts, and a generally high level ofdemiling. However, specific items including thecockpit and the machine gun leading cdgefairings still need plenty of extra work.

Each kit contains parts to build up theengine, the result of which is, not surprisingly,a substantial sub~assembly in its own right. ByspElling the servicing access pancls in a similarway [0 the real thing, Airfix make it relativelydifficulT 10 leave the engme out, should this bepreferred 10 save time. Displaying the J\lcrlinengine as a separate subject alongside the

S4 WORLD WAR 2 US ARMY FIGHTER MODELING MASTERClASS

aircraft will mterest those who "ish 10 addsuper delail to it, although the Bandai produt.1:prescnls a simpler kit Ihat may be built withoulincorporaling: the engine block, gi,·ing thcmodeler morc of a choice.

Bandai also mcluded a pair of transparentgun bay eO\'crs through which the Browningsand their behs may be ,"iewed. One of se\·eralsimilar approaches by kit manufacturers, thisidca ncvcr really lOok off.

The most recent US Fighter addilion Ihethesc giants is Trumpeter's Spitfirc Mk Vb.This imprcssive kit is well detailed and quite;lceuralC in outline. In fact, it is possibly thebest kit relcascd in 112+ scale to date. Airfix hasalso modified its old large-scale Spitfire iVlk IlO 1\lk Vb standards, including options ofVokesfilter, Aboukir filter, clipped wingtip&, Rotolor De Havilland propcller :lssemblies andalternate canopies. Howc"cr, the impressivetall~ of exlras docs not compensate for IhedilTerencc in o\-crall tooling quality betweenthe Airlix kit and the much better Trumpeteroffcring.

SOLE REPRESENTATIVES - SO FARAs far as LSAAF subjects were concerned in112+ scale, thaI was Ihat. Xo P-H, no P--W, noan~ Ihing else thai could readily carry whiteSlarS, oUlsideof a major conversion oftheAjrfix,Vlk I Spitfire 10 a later \llriant to creale aUSAAF operated machine, We wait, probablyin vain, for a P-H to appear as a completeinjt>t:lion-moldt."d kit in 1/24 scalc from onc ofthe m:linstream suppliers. Even the I'acuformkit manufacturers largely shy away from suchsubstantial investments in plastic: se\'eral 1/32S(,'ale fightcrs have bt~n released hut the writerknows of no rt":luily available addition.~ in 112+s(,.'alc at time of writing.

Howc,·er, the old adage tells us thal if youwail long enough, it happens. Current "enturesinlO sc,:veral shoTler run, multi-media kits to a'er~ large scale may well bring about more bigt;SAA F fighlers. II would be good to be ableto put a IJ2+-scale P--l-i, P-39 or P-40 on thecompetilion table in future year.., so here'shoping.

SOURCES OF SUPPLY

The keen modeler can do no better than to buythrough one of the mail order specialists.These can take the hassle out of buying direct,as unless there is a particularly good hobbyshop in your town, supply of new relcascs canbe patchy at best. Shops usually order smallquantities of kits at a time, there usually being

a restriction on shelf space; they scll the firslbatch, then wait for Ihe distTibUlor to restockthem. If there is any problem al the shipper'send, you could end up wairing months.

Altem:ttivcly an :tccount taken out with anyreputable mail order spe<:ialist, should ensurethat specific requiremems are catert.-d for withthe minimum of delay_ ;\5 always, muchdepends on whether or nOl the kit is homegrown. If it is imported, this certainly has abearing on the speed of delivery to localoutlcts. Fortunately the larger companies use anetwork of agents who also distribute the kitswithin various countries.

To emphasize the ongoing popularity ofkits of US fighters, the list that appears onpage 56 eo\'ers some of the models releasedor annount;ed in the last fi\'e ycars or so. Notall arc new, as the current sccne includesnumerous re-issues with new decals and maybenew parts, plus changes of manufacturerwherein molds are either lransfcrrt.-d or L:itsarc bought in and marketed b~ firms under adifferent name from that of the ori~nal. As canbe seen, the appearance of a hilherto rare typein kit form seems to spawn a spate of imitators- there arc no less than three 1/+8-scale Vultec1'-665 in this list.

BELOW Many different engines.both radial and in·line. areavailable. Probably the mostprolific supplier of these resinpower plants is a company ailedEngines and Things. The quality ofdetail and Gl5ting does notmatch the best after-marketitems of today, bllt they dorepresent a :sound basis for anaccurate engine.

AVAILABLE PRODUCTS SS

RIGHT A mind-bogglingselection of general accessoriesis available for the 2lst-cenrury

modeler. PiCtured here arereplacement 20mm gun barrels

and colored resin stock forcreating formation lights.

P-5ID

P-40ESpitfire ,M k IXP-51llP-51D

Manufacturer/ /72 scal~

AcademyLF ModelsHasegawaAcademyHigh Planes ModelslnTeehltaleriMPMMPMWingnut InternationalPlanet lI'lodcls

RS .\1odelsRS .\1odels1/48 scaleAccurate ~diniatures

EduardHascga....-aHistoric Plastic ModelsMinit:raftOcidcntal _~1odels

fldodclcraftPOMKS ModelsS'IERTamiyaFonderie !vIiniatureHobbycraft

Aircraft type

P-MlTP-40NBriswl BeaufightcrP-5lB/CDouglas D13-7AP-51BSpitfire Mk VbP-40F/LP-47~

Republic XP-72Vultce XP-54Swoose GooseXP-38Hawk 75

Bcaufighter(nrious marks)P-39Q!P-400P-47DP-5IHP-38)Spitfire Mk IXSpitfire :\1ks VII/ IXVultee P-66Vultee P-66P-SlAP-47D RazorbackP-63A KingcobraYP-S9/P-59AAiracomet

Manufacturer Aircraft typeIC.\1 Spitfire Mks VU/LXIC\.1 P-SlD/CICM P-SIDPend Oreille Model Kits Vultee P-66Jl12 scaleRevellCombat ModelsCraftworksTrumpeterJ118 scaleMPM/Hi\IL


CHAPTER 4BASIC CONSTRUCTION

H ow basic is "basic'? It must varydepending on the age and skillle\-e1 ofthe indhidual modeler, the range of

tools her or she is able to usc with confidence,the time 3\"1lilablc to devote [0 modeling andnumerous other factors. The detail someindividuals manage to cram into the smallerscale kits shows truly outstanding skill. Tothose who consistently win prizes for theirwork, the rest of us an have nothing but theuonOSI admiration.

MOSI modern injection-molded plastic kitspro\,jdc a straightforward step by step guide lObuilding each sub-assembly. If there is a choiceof varianls the alternate parts are clearlybbclcd. That said, it is uscfulro run an eye overthe salient design points of the differenlaircraft under Tel'iew. The bulk of (his chapterwill therefore describe "';lrious primary-typeL:irs (the Lightning, Thunderbolt, Mustangand so on) following !\Orne of the generalassembly steps which, with obvious \"ariations,arc similar for all injection-molded plastic kits.

PRIMARY TYPES

The general shapc of the American wartimefighter is of course \·cry familiar to those thalhave studied even rhe most basic reference andit goes without saying that the miniaturized\ersion should ha\'e all the major paw;duplicated accurately. With due regard to

certain limitations of the molding process andlhe relatively small size of most plastic kitparts, kit design may f(.'Suh in a differentbreakdown of parts but the end result ofassembling kir A from manufacturer Y shouldend up looking much like that of kit B frommanufacturcr Z.

In the real world there is more variationthan one would expect but much depends onthe scale, lhe age of the molding and in essence,something one might well call ·'tradition."This latter factOr ml,.-ans that a range of kil.o;from the same manufacturer will usually haveone-piece horizontal tailpi::ancs with locationslots whereas a kil from a rival range may

LEFT A 1I48-scale Bell P-39DAiracobra, modeled by BrettGreen.You do not always needw build a new model in order to

have a new USAAF fighteraircraft in your collection.Withsome care and planning. it IS

possible to obtain goodresults by refurbishing an oldmodel - a process that we willdemonstrate in the photOgraphsthat appear in this chapter. Thismodel IS Eduard"s excellent1/-48-sca.le P--400 kit that was

originally built as an AustralianP-39.Thanks to the

refurbishmem process. it is

rlOW wearing a new identity.

BASIC CONSTRUcnON 57

RIGHT This shows the kit asoriginally built, an Austr.l.lian

P-39.A1though initialconnruction was free of majo..

problems, a couple of basicshortcomings of this model were

not addressed the first timearound.These were the thick

tr.I.lling edges and the uicky fit ofthe characteristic "car doors_"

The first issue was ignored.Thesecond issue was initially avoided

by depicting both doors open.Reconditioning commenced with

the removal of detail parts.Fortunately. parts including theundercarriage legs. gear doors

and car doors were securedwith Superglue. Superglue

provides a strong join, but itdoes not actually weld plastic

parts together in the same wayas polystyrene cement. Finn

pressure is often sufficient tobreak the britde bond without

serious damage. Small detailswere stored in a ziplock plastic

bag to ensure they werenot Ion.The next wk was theremoval of decals. First, brownpacking tape was applied over

the tOP of the decals, thenripped off. This method is usuallyvery effective at removing decals,but these markings proved more

stubborn. Even the generousapplication of decal softeningsolution made no difference.

There was no choice other thanto sand off the markings. firstwith a sanding stick followed

by progressively finerabrasive paper.

imariably break the railplanes down into sixseparalc sections (top and bottom solidsection plus a pair of elevators) and perhapsalso pro,·ide a pin which passes through thcfusc.bge to support the ele,'aLQrs.

This in 10m is the result oflhe s:lmc designteam opting for a similar appro:lch no mattcrwhal lhe subjcct may he. For the moddcr thisapproach is a mixcd blessing. II may add up toincreased building time, especially if the solidtailplane, as per our example, ends up lookingexaetly lhc same as the morc complex onconce the lancr has been assembled. It is anunfortunale fact of modeling lifc that extrasub-assemblies do n01 always guar:anll;e tbat,for c..xample, trailing edges of n) ing: surfacesend up as thin as they should be.

AnOlher factor is the highl) accl;ptablcincrease in Iargcr ahernate pans such as noseand tail sections. These are either included inthe kits as standard injcetion~moldcd parts oras solid resin sc.uions which are designed tobun joint an appropriately truncued fuselagein the aS€, say, of a new nose. Such a large newsection obviously requires areful alignmentand use of an effecti"c adhesi,·e, because in thcmain resin is a good deal denser than plasticand therefore heavier.

TRAILING EDGES & JOINT LINES

In reg-.Hd to buildin!;" an alternative version of akit, I surely cannot be alone in having made theunderstandable error in cementing logether

two pariS of a new ,·crriallailplane and findingan annoying: joint line or step has to be sandedaway. Understandable? \\'e1I, this poor resuhis often only lx'(;ausc Ihe instruction sheet hasbeen foUm\cd to Ihe lencr: what one shoulddo is to make Ihe necessary curs to remme theexisting cailplane and anach the male aodfemale hah-es separately, before cementing thefuselage as a completc half in the usual way.This T find minimizes the risk of crealing astepped joint, onc that can be surprisinglydifficult 10 remove once the fuselage hahes aretogether. Once dry, the inside face of thefuselage haH~ thl; edge that takes the adhesiw,can be sanded down. This is important as Ihealternate pari may be slightly deeper than Ihefuselage.

The genel"31 advice here should be thai insome kits, Ihe separate parts pro,"ided for :Inahernate \ersion cm be slightly larger orsmaller than Ihe main fuselage moldings, or so itscem.<;. The difference an h:lrdly he measun..-dbut it will be revealcd the minute the adhesi\cdries, so always be alert to the risk of a bad fit.Othenvise, )ou'll invariably find out :lboUI il atan advanced slage of construction. II is doublyirksome to ha\e to sand do,,·n more than usualor in e.xtremis to havc to prize a sub---assemblyapan to re-:llign a bad joint.

Remedial work is of course a possibility, aswe can see from lhl: accompanying images ofthe P-39 reconditioning, but in modeling, as inmany other aspl;cts of life, prevention is betlerthan cure.


•

•

•

OTHER TROUBLE

Years of I) ing dormant :u \-aTying temperaturescan have a dctrimcnt'al clTl."Ct on older kits, theparIs of which appeared to be a perfect fit whenil was purchased.

Some components do not :l.gc well at all.Unbeknown 10 me the "rcal rubber" PVC tiresissued in the Airfix 1/2~scak P-510 losttheir flexibility over the years and have almostmolded themselves sulid to the wheel hubs.This and uther large kits du nut always ofkra plastic ahcrnatin:, so if the rubber bootshave perished, findin~ replacements might bediffil.:ull. If you hal'c ,h(,'Sc kits in the luft it maybe worth chl.'Cking un the state of their tires.

CORRECTING A P-47Diffcring design methods of achicnng thesame end may frustrate the modeler who likesto cross-kit to obtain a ~..uoJ result by utilizingthe best f(,:3turcs of se\"Cral. Let's assume thata 1/72-s1.::1le 1)....7 is being made: there willbe two methods of mating the winb'5 to thefuselage - butt-jointed, or as a one-piece lowerSt."Crion which incorporates part of the lowerfuselage.. the objct.1 presumably being to obtainthe correct dihedral angle and a more aCCllr.lte10wt.T fuselage line when "iewcd in profile. Thisdocs not always happen, of l'OUrsc because modelkit manuf:at.'turcrs arc only :IS good as theirreference sources and occasionally end up asoonfusc..-d :IS the rc!>'t of us. Don't assumc th:atthey n0CCSS3rily h:a,'c much more (;umpreh(:nsi,-e

references than you do. a... the n~uhs somctimcsrefUlc this.

A few examples will emphasize the problem.Thc Lesney Matchbox P-+7 in 1/72 SC'"Jle hasa ra7.0rback profilc t1ut makes it a desirable kitto tackle although a glance at the conte11lS ofthc box almost makes one wince. The kitsprues were originally colnred a bright pO\Hlcrhlue and navy hlue - hardly an inspirationalchoice, but typical of most of this company'searly products. Two-tone plasl'ic was differentto the way most other kit's were sold and themarketing men appeared 10 ha\'e belicvcd Ihatthis approach was a winner,

This particular P-47 has some redeemingfeatures but others that arc nor so. Althoughthe airframe outline aft of thc engine firew:all isacccptable, there is much rcsen'alion on thevague way the cowling flaps arc presented. Thecowling itself scems to fall into one of tll"Ocategories used by manufacturers of 1/72-scaleThundcrbolts - too slim or 100 f.1t.

The .M:atehbox lit errs in the formercategory, which is marginally harder to correct.But assuming that an alternati\'c cowling isnot to hand, the flaps need to be rcmo\"edand replaced by a corrcrtly scribed, thin stripof Plasticard or a sct cut from another kit.Other fuselagc details need attending to at thesame time, particularly the \·cntral inukes andexhausts associated with thc function of thesupercharger, plus the w:lSte gates in each sideof thc fusclage. As molded. all [hese deuils are100 small. Thc distinctj,·c turboblowcr intakes

LEFT With the decals removed,the trailing edge of the kit wingswere thinned on the bottom.Coarse sandpaper on analuminum block was used tosand off a large amount ofmaterial, followed by a. fewminutes ose of a sanding stickAsmooth finish was achieved withfine abrasive paper: By this point.most of me panel lines on thebottom of the wing near metrailing edge [induding the f1~

and aileron hinge lines) had beenobliterated by the heavy sanding,These were restored with ascri~r using self-adhesive DymotlpC as a guide.

BASIC CONSTRUCTION S9

and exhaust doors in the lower front fuselagealso need improving before lhe next stagein conslruclion is reached. One option is to

smooth down the cmire fuselage at thesame time as re-sl.:ribing the cowl Oaps. Sets ofAirfix and Frog P-47 kit wings can be made tofit without loo much filling. fortunately, theMatchbox kil, in conunon wilh many ornerThundcrboh modcls, has slraightforward burljoint top and bonom wing sections. Be warnedIhough, the sheer time taken LO conven onelin-scale P-47 into what il is supposed to bein Ihe first place is disproportionately too highat time.-".

The building up of one or more spares boxescan prove invaluable in any conversion workwith lin-scale plastic kits. "Building up" is ar.uhcr misleading Slalcmem, as spare parts tendto accumulate rapidly seemingly withoutmuch help from the modeler. The source maybe unused e...tra pans supplied with kits tobuild alternative n ..Tsions or, as is SO often thecase with military aircrafl, large amounts ofordnance. Everything is worth keeping for futureusc although I have to admit that after a few yearsyou have more spares than you'll ever be able10 usc. In something of a "C.1tch-22" situation,as kits improve, SO thc need for doing yourown customizing lends to lessen but sparesslill aocumulate because multiple e.'l:amples oflhesame kit will of COUTSC keep yielding an almOStequal nwnber of spare itcrns.

MUSTANGS IN DETAilA long tcrm fa\·orite with modelers, me NonhAmencan Mustang line began in model termswith the larer production \'crsion, the P-51D.Rardy did any other variant see the light ofday for years and [hose that did were less thanworth mc effort. The brcakmrough came whenAccurate Miniatures released Iheir first four kitsS(lme years ago. The Allison-cngine exampleswere follOYi·ed with the recent P-51B/C kits,A..tI,1climbing me P-51 \'lIr1amladdcr from the rightdirection, so (Q speak.

in thc larger scales the Mustang faredquite well, the American and Japanese modelcompanies ,ldding it to their respective lists ona regular basis. Hawk created something ofmilestone with a 1'-510 in 1/48 scale, whichfirsl appeared in 1962. For years Ihis was theyardstick againsl wruch other Muslang kitswere judged and there was an interestingrider to its appearance. IP.\'lS USA's Qllarur/yJournal ran a review, complclc with a list ofitems necessary LO delail the kit, plus someTechnical Order manual drawings of thecockpit interior. Unfortunarely these werc inerror insofar as the manuals wcrc for an 1'-510rather than the warlime model. The upshotwas thai model ]\'Iuslangs began to app<.-ar withradio aerial wires stretching from Ihe canopyto the fin. These were nor actually neededon World War 2 Mustangs hut few peoplcappeared to know this including model

RJQ-fT The magniwde of theproblem with the mHing edges

can be seen in this photo.The tOp view shows the thick,

unmodified trailing edge, andthe bottom view is the wing

after thinning. This will be verynoticeable on the finished model.

60 WORLD WAR 2 US ARMY fIGHTER MODEUNG MASTERClASS

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manufacrurers, who Slaned to market kits witha liny hole in the canopy to lake the wire.

Later kilS, such as that by Fujiffii were notreally superior, despite in [his case, a full set ofmoveable comrol surfaces (the Hawk modelhad none) including flaps, engine detail and sofonh. Separate flaps were quite unusual itemsto .find in any plastic kit at that time, whichis rather odd, as mo\'eable ailerons (ratherpointless items for an aircraft on Ihc ground)have long been staple items in kits. The pity ofit was thaI Ihc rest of this particular Fujimi kitsuffered from some obvious outline errors thattended to put modelers off.

Tamiya's subsequent release of a muchsuperior 1'-51 D was followed by a P-51B in thisscale, another example of manufacturers, evermindful of the competition, filling up gaps intheir own list. I)ity the poor modeler, who maynOt, for various reasons, wish lO aUlOmaticallypurchase :all the Mustangs and Thunderbolts ina g1\<en scale as Ihey appear, tTy1ng lO sorl outwhich is the currenl best. In a world wherelOday's hil is IOmorrow's second place kiL, hemUSI be confused at times. Added to that is thefact that the afler-market firms always seem [Q

go one bener than even the mOSt highly praisedkil b}' releasing corrected pans even before}'ou've e\'en acquired the kil and noticed it to bee\'en slightly below par.

The only answer is to read as many reviewsof the ncw arri\1I.1 as possible and tr~' toarri\'e at a personal judgment: we\'e all seenthe model magazine article that praises a kit

beyond compare yet prints an accompanyingphoto that can contradict this.

GETIING INTO THE P·51Cnderstandably one of the mOSt popular ofmodel kits subjects, the superlativc 1'-51f\iJustang in all its guises ....'lIS a war winner inevery sense of the phrase. From its Britishinspired origins to occupation dut~· in a defeatedGermany and Japan, Mustangs flew thousandsof sorties 10 speed Allied victory. Along the waythey were painted in a dazzling array of colorschemes and personal markings, enough to kl:epthe enthusiast modeler in work for as many yearsas the P-51 remained operational. That timespan would of course tale in the colors ofnumerous air forces other than the US but theunits equipped with il during World War 2 havegi\'en us hundreds of markings schemes; somany that a modeler could happily spend hisentire time making only models of the 1'-51 ifthat were his choice.

For years the only injection-molded plastickits available represenled the revised, bubblecanopy P-51D of late-1943, six variants or sointo Nonh American's eventual productioncycle of some 15,000 examples. But nO\\~ thewhole range of the aircraft that originatedwith the NA 73X of 1940 may be built in modelform,

DETAILS;\'!:ustang floors .... ere simple wooden boards, asyou can readily tell by the hea\'Y gT1l.in effect

LEFT A replacement resin seatfrom UJtraca.st was installedwhen the kit was originally built.The remainder of the interiorwas built straight from the box.This resin accessory has ahamess molded in place.Theinterior was otherwise leftuntouched dUring reconditioning.Deuils in this area are verygood, as can be seen by the deepsurface texture on the f~me forthe pilot's armored glass.The canopy was originally gluedin place with po~tyrene

cement. Despite determinedtugging, the canopy refused to

come free, so it was left in place~ther than risk damage to thisprominent feature.

BASIC CONSTRUcnON 61

RIGHT The remainder of thepaint was removed with thinners

and a clean rag. I wanted toshow off the cockpit detail on

one side of the aircraft, butretain the clean lines of the

fuselage on the other side whileretaining a view of me

nice Interior.The windows in thedoors of the P-39 rolled down

like those in a car. I sliced off the[Op of the port side door (the

section containing the window),drilled holes in me window

around the inside of the frames,then used a sharp hobby knife to

cut out the "glass:' The emptyframe was glued on[O the

canopy, then the door itself was

test-fitted. Some trimming wasrequired [0 achieve a flush fit.

;

somc kits ha\'c on Ihis componcnt part. Itwould bc a ycry coarse piece of \\'ood indeedthat slil1 showed lhc slightest trace of grainC\'cn in 112-l scalc, so all the modeler needs to

do is to paim it an appropriate color and add alittle discoloration in the form of faded ordarkened patches.

i\hny operational V-SIs had the mechanismat the lower end of the control columnprotected by a c:am'as or k":lthcr boot, \\hiehis usually represented in kits. This is paintedin an appropriatc shade of dark brown to

represent le:lther or lighler brown to indicatefabric - although I am lhe first to admit I haveno idea if and when the difTerem materialswere used. My gues.s is that ea.r1ier aircraft usedk":lthcr but as production built up, a cost sa\'ingwas made on the m;e of this material, and aehc:aper fabric was then used.

t\ \\"arbird or any good close-up photographwill rc\"Cal salient points about the P~5l whichmight need slimming down for greater scaleaccuracy. These include lhe central rod inthe belly air intake; the "solid" or perforaledengine breather plate on e:1ch side of thelower nose; braces for the taih,h(.'CI doors (plusan oleo dlLst boot); formation I;ght lenses andthe curved, perforated canop,. brace in the rearcockpit behind the pilot's head.

One item tha.t no ~1ustang kit I know ofincludes is the 3dmittedly liny 3crials on thefin for the ANIAPS-1J tail warning radar.Numerous operational P-51J)s had this setfilled at thc cnd of the war and the aerials arcquite dc:ar in photographs. When modeling

62 WORlD WAR 2 US ARMY FIGHTER MODEUNG MASTERClASS

such a kit remember thaI lhe array consisted ofa fore and aft rod and a cent'ralloop. As suchan addition can he a lin1c delicate it is bestto fix it to the inside face of each lin halfbefore assembly. In this way whatcyer mater;31;s chosen, either plastic or fine wire, it c:an beanchored firmly.

RECYCLING

With lhe foregoing comment'S in mind it is c1(.':trthat the avid modeler 11';11 ine\';tably accumulate,1 stack of kits that arc at best superseded by 01 hernewer one or arc in gener::ll terms unusable, atleast on the f::lee of it. I found this with the P-IO.I la\-ing acquin..-d nwnerous 1172-scale kits of thctype o\er lhe years I found the :\10nograrnP--40:'\ was there in abundam;c in my abandonedbo:..es. :\1y liking for late-war fighters in generalwas the reason for this, lh::lt and the fact thatno P-I{)l\" W3S otherwise available - in any SClle- for dectd(.'S, I built a few of the !vlonog:ramofferings but neglected to carry OUI Ihemodific:ations n(.'Cessary to bring the kit up 10 amore reasonable standard. Was there still a usefor a kit th3t was not only o\'erS/.:ale but also qUllCbasic in that when [he large r;\'Cts were sandedaway all trace of the flying surfaCOi disappearedtoo? As the inugcs in this ch::lpter shO\\;\,hcnthings don't tum out as expt-<:ted or hoped, allneed not be lost.

ONE SEAT OR TWO?One of [he most aesthetically appealing of thewartime fighter trainer conversions, the P-l-O

l

\

W;uhall'k came as a dual scaler in a number ofguises. The most amhitious was Ihc reworkingof a number of P-IONs to accommodalc asecond cockpit behind lhe exisling onc with adear Pcrspcx section linking lhc 111'0, plus afew other detail additions. One such is whatI can beSI describe as a fuselage side plateadjacent 10 the second cockpit plus an elevatedmirror device muunled abm"c Ihe from hood toenable the instructor 10 see whal the pupil \\-aspushing and pulling during Ihe flight.

1 oom"Crtcd the Monogram P--KlN imo theTP-fON without 100 much trouble. An !':::.asternEuropean manufacturer known as l.r r..lode1sreleased a 1172-scalc TP-W sometime in 1999- bUl the object of the exercise was fO show thatyou can rt:cyc1c old ones.

KiTs of other American fighlers can beadapted to trainer configuration. [he early razor-

oock Thunderbolt ;lI1d M uSlang looking: (he bc!.1:in my view. The P--f7Ds used for Ihis purposehad elongated cockpit glazing in some instant"Cs,while the stillborn TP-l7G, onl} twO of whichwere built, had the standard cockpil mOR"dfon\-ard a few feel. II \\as nOI sek'Cwtl forproduction but £hose P-l7s used as front-linerraincrs had c..xrra glazing afl of the Stantlartlcockpir. The singlc-seat \·crsions thou sired such:urcr:J.ft can be readily adapted, Ihe addition of asecond scat being simple enough using kitS in thcmOSt popular SCllcs.

Examples of the early i\luslangs were alsoadaptt"d to (rainer configurarion in a similar \\-ayto the other types, the P-5Jn/C h:I\'ing:c.xtendti! aft glazing to rhe greenhouse canopywhile in the field modifications to the P-51 D 10accommodate two people resulted in the canopysometimes being cur into three Sttrions.

BElO'N After thesemodifications. the model waspainted and the smaller detailswere reinstalled. These detailswere repaimed too.A hobbystand was used to hold themodel upside down while thedetails on the lower surface ofthe model were added.

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BASIC CONSTRUCTlON 63

R1Q-IT The only other additionto the kit was il set of six-stack

exhausts from Ultracast..Thestarboard door Wil.S glued in the

open position.The attractivedecals were sourced from

Cutting Edge Decal setCED48146,Airacobra #4.

or all the lrainer conversions of i'llustangs,the P-51D is probably the most satisfying inmodeling leTms with the added auraction ofsome unusual color schemes, such as the o..-erallred used on one example flO\\1l by the 4thFighter Group.

Two sears were occasionally added under thewartime P-5ID's huge canopy and there wasalso a TP-51 D, which had an elongated hooddesigned to give the second occupant greaterheadroom.

At the other end of the fighter trainerspectrum was the quite odd looking TP-3l)(tWith a second canopy perchcd on the nosefOD\-ard of the original, the result was not onlythe worst looking two-scat com'clsion but in myview thc world's most: ugly aircraft!

.\'loving up 1'0 the Bell P-63, this had at leastm a projected trainer vcrsion, a second cockpit


added in the fuselage aft of the standard position,making it another candidate for a (wo-seat fighteroom·ersion. Like almost an:rthing associated withthe wartime USA...>\F the model possibilities aremueh wider than they may seem as first sight.

CHAPTER 5ADVANCED CONSTRUCTION

T he questions of modeling skiJl leyeland task difficulty arc hard to quantifywith absolute pn;cision: the answer

has surely to come from a personal viewpoint.That kits carry labels stating that rhe contentsarc intended for different levels of moddingexpertise surdy docs not inhibit the purchaseyet some people may find that the complexityof the components, particularly rhe multimedia type kit, indeed represents a task moredifficult than imagined.

Some accessory kits have noll' reached thestage that used to be morc associalcd withmodel engineering. They incorporale a rangeof non plastic parts that require a differentapproach to attaching such minute componentsas flap hinges, oleo scissors and dive brakes.These after-market kits are fine for those whorequire such ultra-fine detail but cerTain aspectsof modeling seem still to he a challenge asrebrards the final, generally external, etYec!.

Some often prefer to see greater emphasisplaced on the external finish, areas That can beviewed when the model is completed such asgun bay doors, stores racks and other "Thingsunder wings" than parts that may well be

hidden away under cowlings and so f(lrth. Theargue that mosT USAAF fighters give littlechoice to view (he interior ho\\"Cvcr detaileda kit may be unless The modeler resorts toartificial cutaways or a complete strip downwith the airframe pared to the bone, as indeedit might have been during a major sen'ice.

However it can be rewarding to opt to f(Jeuson one or two areas of The kiT. ·j'bere is plenty ofscope. Relatively few of (he smaller scale kitshave pro\"ision for open gun bays for examplebut cutting these om and adding new onesfrom Plastieard can considerably enhance thefinished item - and they're far more likely to bevisible than flaps, which on some aircraft atleast arc hardly ever seen in the down position.

Some might also argue (hat multi-mediaaccessories can be disproportionaTely expensiveand add greatly to the task of completing whatmay alrC"Jdy be a fairly complex kit. Extratime will have to be spent on (he buildingstage, which in total hours, can almOST double.However, multi-media accessories are verymuch up to the individual modeler, who mustchoose the one or two that will enhancc aparticularly favored, detailed project. By no

BonOM The AMtech 1!48-scaleCurtiss P-40F Warhawk. modeledby Brett Green. During the earlyI990s,AMT released a series of1148-sGile P-40 Warhawks thatwere quite accurate in outline butsomewhat basic in detail.Theyearned a reputation for challengingfit, especially around the wing rootsand the engine cowl access panels.Ocher WarhawklKittyhawk variantswere developed by AMT but, forunknown reasons. were neverreleased. In 2002, a new companycalled AMtech finally used thefirst of these unreleased moldsto launch their P-40EWarhawklKittyhawk Mk la.The P-40F Kittyhawk II waspowered by a license-built versionof the famous Rolls-Royce Merlinengine.This development wasintended to improve high-altitudeperformance of the P-40, whichwas greatly il1ferior to it5 Axiscomemporaries. However, inthe final analysis. performancewas only marginally improved.The P-40L was a furtherdevelopment of the Meriinequipped Warhawk.This type wasintended to be lightweight (withthe reduction of equipment,including the deletion of twowing-mounted machine guns) andtherefore faster.The disappointingresult was an increase in speed ofonly around four miles per hour.Many P-40ls were later retrofittedwith the extra twO wing guns.Very early P-40Fs and ls had thesame short fuselage as the P-40E.Later production machinesfeatured a longer fuselage andrepositioned horizontal tailplanes.AMtech launched their P-40FIL"long tail·· version in eariy 2003.This new company was not happywith the profile and detail of thefuselage nose as molded by AMTAMtech therefore commissioned anew, accurate solid resin nose tobe included in their kit.Thispermitted modelers who were nOthappy with the shape of the kitnose to cut it off and replace it.Less experienced modelers couldsimply build the kit with the plasticfuselage intact. In the modelingproject that appears in this chapter,we will use the resil1 110se, addresssome of the fit challenges and adda detailed replacement cockpit tothe model.

ADVANCED CONSTRUCTION 65

mcans should the less experienced bepersuaded to buy all and sundry c.xtras: shouldthey pro\'e difficult or frustrating to ineorpor:lteinto a kit, the modeling community might loseanothcr would-be convcrt.

Ilowe....er, on the other hand, as the imagesthat accompany this chapter show, the unatime and effort dedicated to adding ad\'lnccdmodeling detail 10 a kit, and the experience andconfidence gained as a result, l.-an make suchprojects \'ery worthwhile indl.'Cd,

CHAUENGING THE MODELER

In the following pages of this chaptcr, we'llattempt to highlight those areas of each ofthe c1as.sic CS fighter models of World War 2that always seem to need special attention.and more ad''lnced modeling skills as a rcsult,irrespective of the kit and 1:0 some extl.-nt thes(.'llc.

Beginning at the front, the propeller(s) ofall wartime fighters bear scrutiny, as these varr10 a surprising degree e\'en between the sameaircraft Iype to Ihe same scale_ Differentmanufacturers naturally design their propeller(.'Omponcnts in a variety of ways although sometime ago thcrc was simply one, an integralspinner with the blades attached. Th(."Se days,propeller blades are increasingly presented asthree or four separate items plus at least t\\·omore for the front of the spinner and its backplate, The latter is usually molded wilh pick-uppoints to hold the hlades rigidly in position but this can provide a challenge insofar as youneed to manually set the angle of each one.There is some flexihility here of course but docheck several photos to get typical blade anglcscorrect.

Two-piece spinners are relati\·ely straightforwanl on aircraft such as the P-40, P-38and 1'-51, with the proviso [0 ensure that bothhalves go together wilhout an annoying: Stepthat may be difficult to !'>and smooth once theblades are In position,

Should you kel that the propeller bladessupplied in a certain kit are undersized thereare seyeral afler-market alternati\--es. The USKendall Model Company (KMC) of Miamioffers one. I have [\\"0 of their resin Curtisspropeller blade scts for l/48----scale P-Hs thatare excellent. Thc pointed-blade type isad:tptable to \'cry many Thunderboll kilS thatmay ha\'e the blades a Iinle too short,

I spray propeller blades almost any colorother than straight black. By adding a minuteamount of blue, grccn or brown to mall black(the laller nOi stirred up complctely so as 10


retain a sheen), propellers will look suitablydifferent to olher black areas of the kit. Don'lforget the reverse faces, particularly wherephotographic e\'idence shows the blade painlto havc ocen worn away by the effects ofslipstream-blasted sand. Aircrafl based indesert areas often lost painl from propellerblades and sc\'eral references show the erTecl to

ad\<lntage.I ha\"c a small horror of kit instructions

that simply tell you painl seyeral areas blades, tires, guns and some cockpit interiorinstruments - black. I often wonder how manypeople end up with models thai look most oddin this respect.

PLASTIC HORSEPOWER

Detailing engines is a subjCd in itself :lnd man~'

modeler.; of US fighters end up with a sizeablestock ofPran & Whilne~; Rolls-Ro~ce or Allisoncngines, which are not always incorpor:lll.:d inthe kit if it can be compleled wilhout lhec..xtra work powcr-planl delailing entails. .\1ostmanuf:1crurcrs producing kits in sc:ales from1/48 upwards provide al least a rudimcntaryengine block if only as an anchorage point forthc cxhaust~. If the engine is used, few sclfro;pccting modelers would dream of letting it beviewed without some additions_

Wartimc piston engines were complex andexhibited masses of pipes, supports, fuel linesand wiring, some of which arc visible even witha single panel removcd, so again it is up to

individual tastc as 10 how much extra work isput in on a part of a kit Lhat can otherwise behiddcn - or trcated as a separate component inits own right. Suffice to say that if extra enginedetail is undertaken, the result can often bemost impressive.

For the sakc of economy, some smaller kitengines havc what would be separate itemssuch as clcctrical leads or small diameterpipes., molded into Ihe plastic block, so theseshould be carefully remo\'ed and replacetl withnew brass etch, thin wire or stretched spruecomponents to gi,"e a more realistic threcdimensional cffect.

Enbrine bearcrs or mountings on wartime USAnny fighters consisled of quite substantiallcngths of round or flat section sleel, the latteroften being drilled out 10 saxe weight. All thelarb'Cr SCl1e kits incorpoT:lte these distinl.1lycpieces, as do SC\'cral in 1/48 scale_

If the kit is designed in such a way thatIca\'ing out the engine inml\'es adding blankingplatcs behind the exhaust ports and maybesomc imcmal bracing, Ihe engine might just as

LEFT Cutting Edge Hodelwork$pmduced a beautifully deuiledresin cockpit for AHtech'sP-40FIL kit more than sixmonths before the kit itself was

released. The cockpit comprisesa new tub (not seen in thisimage). sidewalls, a seat withcast-on harness. kidney armorplates, instrument panel with theoption of aceUte instrumenlS,gun sight, headrest, controlcolumn and other details.Theproduction quality is superb.

well be used and enhanced a linle. Going astep further and deciding to show the work\'ia detached inspection panels will, as manymodelers will know, involve reducing thelhickness of the plastic. As they come, mostplastic parts ha\"e over-scale edges to allow theadhesive to be applied. This entirely practicalapproach docs not however allow realistit;display of remo\Td panels without some workwith scalpel and file.

A study of many of the fine referencesto aircraft POWt;r plants, particularly the \ValkAround and Detail In Scale series of books, willrc\eal (apart from many small ancillary ilemsthat can be Iflcorporated in the engine area)fhin melal snips around all the main inspeclionpanels. These wcrc punched at inten'als to

accept ri\·ets and hold the remov'Jble panelsin place. Such strips arc hard to fit after muchassembly has taken plaa:, so for an enginedetailing project they should be added first.

This is not necessarily because all the panelsare to be refined but the fact that the supportstrips show up as bright yellow chromate onmany reference photos. Miss them out and thelack will surely be obvious, as will the fact thaithey are ser too f.1r in if rhe plastic walls haveno.[ been thinned down.

In addition to preparing the bays tomake them more realistic, work on the engineitself can be as extensive as the individualmodeler Wishes.

Clearly there arc many who detail engines in1/72 scale as if the work was second nature butpersonally I prefer to resen'e this acti\'ity forthe larger scale kilo Eyesight may well playapart here, but to some of us rhc larger kit canbe that much more impressive because youcan more readily observe the work carried out.It is of course perfectly possible to pick alengine dell1iling, i.e. (0 do just that amount ofwork to show what goes on under one panelon one side of the fuselage, as indeed manykits recommend.

.Many kits inspire you to go several stagesfurther than the raw materials supplied. I findthis to be particularly true in 1132-scale kits,some of which represenl only the raw materialfor an endless amount of super dctailing in\-anous area of the airframe. Depending on theconfiguration of the full-size aircraft. therewill be \llrious SCi:tions of intake trunking,associated mesh dust filters, as well wiring, thatcan be incorporated by scratch building.

The P-tO is a ease in poinL It is fascinaring tosee hull' for example, the engine cooling systemworked on this fighter when the entire from endis exposed. The modeler could be inspired tobuild up the three circular air intakcs under theengine proper and add as much additional detailas possible.

Either of the two 1/24-scale Mustang kits,which contain an impressive number of piece..<;to build up the main block, supercharger,

ADVANCED C{)f\ISTRUcnON 67

•

ABOVE TOP It is possible forexperienced modelers to scratchbuild details for their models, but

the current generation of resinaccessories offers a supremelevel of detail combined with

simplicity and speed of assembly.Compare the difference in detail

and fidelity between the kitsidewall (left) and the resin

replacement sidewall (right).

ABOVE The pilot's seat isusually me most obvious feature

inside me aircraft.Apart fromthe more accurate shape. the

resin seat in this cockpit set(right) includes a clever

representation of the pressedmetal ribs (on the front and backof the seat). and an authenticallydraped hamess. The kit"s seu is

also shown here, on the left.

:\Ilcillarics and mountings for a c01wincingPackard l\lcrlin arc good for this.

:'vlcntion of engines and exposed panelsbring us 10 what the modd willlooJ,; likc WilhOluch of its interior on show. Americanfighters, unlike their German cOlinterpartS,gencrally did not have a plethora of hingesfroOl which to hang thc panels. No doubt wC\'e:111 admircd moods ofHf 109s or FW 190s withcI'crr :lCCCSS p:lncl open while still heing, so tospC".lk, in one pl<.'(;e. The Germans employedIhe uni\crsally exn:lIem Zeus f:lsleners so th:llinspection p:lncls, often quile large ones,mere!} hung down (or were braced upwards)with thc aid of Stays. They usually remainedan:lched to the aircraft - not so with Ihe Allies.The P-38s should b":lm :In honorable mention:IS an e.\:ception in this respect as iUi nose panelshinged upwards to :lllo\\' access to the gun bay.

This means, In mooeling terms.. that in-linecngine fighters such as the P--40 and P-51 will,if thcir inn:lrds arc displayed, he ClSt inslantlyinto diorama mooe. Therefore to keep Ihe kildisplay area within reasonable dimensions. the

dislocaled cngine panels will nced to he restedagainst lhe wing: or tailplane or laid out on thewing. Obviousl~~ hinge an~' panels that were notnormally detachcd and add any retaimng rodsnecessary to hold them open if the kit spruesdo nOt include them. If a more elaborate S(."Cne, A

perhaps incorporating figures, is reqUired, thenthe panels rna}' be plac<.-d. on trestles or otherwork benches. Alternatively', they can simply' beb.id on the ground adjacent to the aircraft.

BATTLE DAMAGE

As part of their kit package, Monogramincorporated wing dihedral pi<.'(;cs In some1/32-scale kits, an addition that could well heincorporated into a detailed mooel to sho\\' thewing StrOClore in some way. Such items areuseful when f(,,"Crcating banle damage, withsome of thc surfa<."C skin pl:c1ed back as it wasocc:rsionally wont to do under fire. Damagedairframes pro\·ide numerous ways for a displaymodel to be that bit different.

Rcvca.ling what went under the skin as a resultof the aircraft being struck by shot and shell docshowever dcm:md that the modeler indulge inreplicating portions of the basic structure to

sc:rle dimensions. This is a fascinating aspect ofaircraft modeling and one thar should he farrcmovc:..'l! from the Hollywood iu<.':\ of a line ofbullet holes stitching the skin as neatly a.~ ascwing machine. This and other approach<.';; to

rel'ealing what is hidden under a !>OEd plasticeX1erior might be thought of as turning the clockbad: to thc days when modeling meant buildingthe airplane's structure first. Not so. T()day themodern plastic kit is adaptable enough to provide[he ideal compromise for revealing part of theS1ruCture, but thc work involved can he timcconsuming.

One way not to create battle damage is to

make the mistake ofrrying to pare down plastic10 a thin enough section - it'll take hours.Instead cut away the entire pancl(s) andsubstitute thin sections of I)lasticard suit;lbly10m and holed. More card may he cut andshaped inlO part of the airframe longeronsunder the skin. When trapping this newStructur:al ctT<.'(:t hetw<.'Cn two wing sections,)ou can cheal a little by supporting it on theexisting lower s<."Ction, which remains as itcomes in the kit.

The \'ertic:rl fins of fighrCTs often took flakor cannon shell hits tha[ peeled back theskin, and this effect may he created withoutdifficulty. Either study the photos of aparticular air<'Taft in order to reproduce c...actlya damage pattern with specific markings or


complete the model with typi<;al damage. For adiorama of wing damage, how about placing apilot figure with his head and shoulder pokingthrough the hole?

i\'1any model dioramas go for a crashlanding - one fighter displayed on a baseboardinvariably with its prop blades bent back, andmaybe, without win~ and other items. i\ pilotor ground crew figure may be in attendance atthe 'Heck. But such lah/raux do nOl alwayscompletely coO\'im;e. The modeler should get afeci for not only where crash-landed aIrcraftbreak, but also how they break - simplyhacking the pieces off will not look convincing.

Bending back the prop bladl'S IS probablythe simplest form of battle damage, but eventhis needs to be done correctly. One method isto he:u the blades gently o'·er a naked flame,just sufficient to make them pliable enough to

bend. You may want at the same time to mistthem off center. Kcep the reference to handas you carry out the creati'·e vandalism andyou should be pleased with the f{.'Sult. It goc'Swithout saying that you should test the methodfirst, and then perhaps usc an old prop with

poorly-shaped blades for the display modelrather than sacrifice a good one.

If none of the foregoing attr.lets you, therei~ another way: the Japanese company Bandaisuggested that after completing their 1/2-1 scaleP-51D the mo(1clcr wishing to show off someof me imerior could lllke a hot knife to it. Theinstruction sheet duly showed a kit with iL<;canopyeU[ imo and the aircraft's center sectionpartially exposed after a jagged edge chunk hadbeen rcnlO\·ed.

The view will often be lllken that detailingan engine and perhaps adding items sueh asgroun~ transport, senicing st:lncls and figures,puts the model firmly imo the diorama C:l.tcgory.This will often be the "iew of show organizcr.iand judges., should tbe model be r(;quircd forentry in a competition. E.-..:tr:t worI.: will ofcou~be rl"quired to broaden out what may ha,-clllartl-d OU[ as a single, rebti"ely simple alrlTaftprojl'Ct, so pl:m in acl'"3nce what you want toachieve with any kit you tackle. Numerousscenes "ill suggcst themselvcs from the pagesof suitable books and magazincs dl'3ling wim\\"3rOme fighrer operations.

LEFT The solid resin nose onAMtech's P-40F/L is cast in ahard. cream-<:alored rm.teri;il.The distinctive intake inside mechin of me caw! is beautifullyrendered as a deep undercut inmis single part. Panel lines arecrisply recessed, matching thehigh-quality surface texture ontht:': kit's plastic parts.

ADVANCED CONSTRUcnON 69

AFY::JVE TOP Some of thedifferences in shape and panel

location can be seen in thiscomparison between the resin

nose and its plastic counterpart.The resin casting plug, as

indicated by the vertical line atthe back of the part, must be

sawn off to achieve the properfit inside the kit fuselage.

ABOIE The kit fuselage halvesare marked and a razor saw is

used [0 make the (W() shoTt cuuper side required for the

conversion.When you aremarking and cutting, always cut a

little less off than you think willbe required. It is easier to trim

before fitting than filling andsanding a gap afterwards!

If a number of items are to be detachedfrom the model for display purposes, thebuilder may well opt for a diorama type exhibitby placing the aircraft on a suitable base. Adiorama. does nOt of course ha\'e [0 enend to

Ihe ultimate realism of greasy mechanics, oildrums, bowsers, cnt;inc hoists and work standsbut merely a neat group of dctached partSdisplayed, preferably [0 show off any markings.On the other hand, replicating a full sizesen'icing scene is an anracri,'e proposition, soagain Ihe final design of the display is to themodeler's choosing.

FAMOUS FIGHTERS

If we look at .the salient design points of the\':lrious USA!\F fighters, we find obvious areasthat should when duplicated on a model be

100 per cent accurate if Ihe final result is tobe convincing. These areas come into whatmight be termed the "male or bn:ak" category.T.1king Ihl.: modcls through in numerical orderof design~tion it is easy to identify where eachcould fall down if these b~sics arc overlooked.Although the world's manufacturers currenllyseem bent on rcproducing all thc main combatfighters in aLi their sub-types, plus prototypes,onc-()fTs and e\'cn "paper pb.ncs" in kit form.\yc can'l CO\'cr thcm all here. Of those aircranprojects that wcre allOC:lled type numbers,rclati\'e!y fel\' actually entered full-scaleproduction for USAAC/USAAF sen·ice. Asnoted in 'Elblc I on page +t, the rest exisledonly as prOlOtypes or pre-servil.:e test examples.

SEVERSKY P-35Although its was a lale--1930s. pre-war design,the P-35 was one of several obsolescent fightersthat found what modesl fame it garneredunder US (:olors during Ihe debacle in thePhilippines. O\'ertakcn technically as wel1 astactically by the rampaging Japanese, the P-35tried valiantly to hold orr the likes of theMitsubishi 1\6.\1 which sll'epl O\'CT Clark Fieldin the early hours of 8 December. Overwhelmedby the oppo~ilion, CS pilolS ne\'CTthclcs." g-JI'e ilback in enough mcasure for the modem modelerto include the tJJ>C in a representative fightercollection.

Color schemes for both :'\'\'IF ,andcamounag(:o examples may be found for Ihelinlc Se\ersky, well exemplifying the UStransition from peace to lI'~r after Pearl I Iarbor.As with the 1'-36, IIobbyeraft and Academyseem to have followed each other to release the1)-35 in 1/48 scale, there being little to choosebetween them in terms of fine surface delail. Ifccl thaI Ihe Academy has captured well thecontours of the 1'-35, and reproduced lhehump-backed appearance of lhe original \\ilhits modest dimcnsions. i\'lolded in lighl grayplastic Academy's kit is very delicate - to Ihepoint of being adversely affected by anyrubbing down of joint lines. Surbee scratchesthat would normall:y disappe-.lr on other kitspersist on the 1'-35, so a heavy-handedapproach will cause problems, particularly if anN.MF scheme is chosen.

CURTISS P-36A rugged and mean performer, Ihe P-36 foundarguably more fame in French and Finnishrather than Americ';In hands. But as one ofthe few USt\AC fighters Ihat managed 10knock down some of the Japanese attackers onOeeember 7, 1941 it has an indisputable place

70 WORLD WAR 2 US ARMY FIGHTER MOOEUNG MASTERClASS

in aviation's mythical hall of famc. A finecxhibit in the USAF Museum at Day[on, Ohionow represents the actual aircraft of theIHth PG that claimed the first aerial victories.Having thus been widely seen this particular1'-36 might be too familiar for many modelers- but there are alternatives. Even if yourmodel theme is to be strictly post Day ofInfamy, enough color schemes can be found.

Several 1'-36 kits have appeared over theyears with l'vlonograln leading the field witha neat l/7Z-scale rendering many moonsago. Hobbycraft and Academy have released atotal of limr I/4S-scale Hawks, all of which aresatisf)·ing to build. The aircraft lends itself to

numerous well-documented US.A....>\C markingsschemes, a selection of which are availableon commerCial decal sheets, among themAerol\laster.

Tackling the Academy P-36A rcpresentsfew problems, provided that the instructionsconcerning the mounting of the engine arefollowed to the letter. Failure to do this canresult in the cowling not fitting over the engine,which is actually desib'l1ed to be positionedtoo far back. The mounting boss needs to belengthened to ensure this error 1S remedied.These minor drawbacks apart, this kit, whichlacks some cockpit detail, will be snapped upby those who wish to add it. Alternatively it IS

attractive enough to be built straight out of thebox.

In 1//2 the 1'-36 has fared quite well, alsobeing produced in this scale by Frog andHasegawa, among others. Not having examinedany of the smaller scale kits I can't really pass onany comments as to their accuracy. I'm sure thenthat Bert Kinsey, author of the excellent "Detailin Scale" series of books, won't mind if I borrowa few observations from hiS review section in thefirst volume of a two~partcr covering the 1'-40variants. Reb'arding the snialler scak-s it wouldappear that Bert and his renew team plump forthe .Monogram kit as the yardstick agaillst whichall others are measured.

P·38 LIGHTNINGIn common with most US fighter kits,contemporary models of the 1'-38 are quitecomprehensive, the aircraft generally being"~calC(1 down well. Assuming that the moreexperienced modeler has decided to work withone of the latest 1148-scale offerings fromHasegawa or Academy, there won't be much to

complain about.As with any kit, detail can be added to the

cockpit area: the Lightning's canopy featuredroll down windows on each side and a roof

section, which was hinged to flip up and back.Faced with a one-piece model canopy thetraditional method of enhancing a P-3H as adisplay model was to tackle the delicate job ofseparating each section and displaying them allIII the open position. Today the modeler canoften lay aside the razor saw as the canopy partsare often already separated. In addition, thebetter kits will enable the nose gun magazinesto be fully or partially exposed under separatedoors, and some engine detail will be visible Viaseparate panels. The list of accessories fromVerlinden, Kendalll'vlode1 Co or .I\tissing Link.l\tode1s, to name but a few, can usually supplysuper-detail extras for more than one variant ofthe 1'-38. The scale of the original aircraft hasa bearing on what is available for model kits andas a rule of thumb 1/48 scale offers slightlygreater scope.

l\10re aware than ever before of theconversion possibilities wilh one basic airframe,the mainstream manufaclurers often revise lheirkits to afTer more variants, particularly if theyare similar in most other respects. The shape of

ABOVE TOP Constant testfitting is an essential procedureto achieving a perfect fit. In thispicture, we can see that thereare only a few minimai gapsbefore trimming and sanding.

ABOVE This view provides amore complete picture. Notethe slight step between thetop·rear of the resin nose andthe fuselage, and the ridge at thebottom of the nose.There aretwo ways to deal with theseminor problems. We can glue theparts as they are and sand theparts until they match; or we canadjust the parts to fit when theyare glued. Excessive filling andsanding can lead to ioss ofsurface details. so we will bemaking a few more adjustmentsbefore assembly.The cockpitparts have also been test-fittedto ensure that they do notinterfere with the resin nose.


Ihe cn!,olne cowlings instantly disdnguishes aP-38F/H from a P-38J/L but there are moresubtle differences lhat the kit tool makers maynot nea:ssarily ha\"e picked up"

Giwn all these integral wmponcnl parts, theadranccd (;ol1version possibilities arc relati"elyfew with thc P-38 as the two distinctly diffcrenttypes of cowling for the Allison engincs havcOccn killed a numhcr of times., as has thc radarcquipped, night fighter twin SI.-ater, thc P-38;\'1.As the "last of thc LighLninf,rs" just missed aerialcomoo.t, the interest factor for somc modelerswill underst:mdably be borderlinc - but theaircraft doc'S 1001.": impressi,·c and makes aninteresting comparison with the P-61 - in anequally battered fini..m. Available photos showthat rhe finish of the p-38rvl suffered almost asmuch weathering as iL~ earlier counterparl aner afew weeks in the Pacific. The books lell us thaithe [WQ---SC:l\ l'vlkft the US in a glossier shade ofblack hUI it seemed not to ha\"c lasted too ,veiL

The ra(br-equippcd P-38JVl's all-black colorscheme lends itself to further comparison withan early model P-38FII-I similarly finished in aman night fighter scheme. Pb.eed alongside thecamouflaged day fighters, this would be a nicecontrast. The early Lighming variantS saw somelimi[ed Pacific combat as a stop g:Jp pending thedelivery of sufficient P-6I~

.\lonogram were once ag:Jin the firSImanufacturer l'O sec the altrnction of a "nighlLighming" and offered it as an alternali"e"crsion 10 their P-38L as long ago as 1966.Beautifully riveted and paneled, the detail is allraised, but 1his call to turncd 10 advantage. Thekit includes some crystal clear transparenciesto go o\"er the raised second seat of thc P-38.ivI.I recently found details of one of four aircraftthat rcached Japan after the end of the war andsaw sen·icc with lhe 4lSlh and 421s1 NightFightcr Squadrons, a good modeling topic.

As onc might expccr, the elimate wroughthawlC on the paintwork of these machines. Youmight reproduce this finish with a coat of blado\er the sih'cr plastic, lightly sanded 10 bring outthose raised rivets and panels.

In common with other aircraft with anosewheel configuration, the Ligh1ning looksto my mind very impressive with the nosewheelturned a few degrees off center. This is apersonal thing, but one that many modelerswill surely understand. -"at (hal model firmsreadily indulge me in this: [hey hardly evcrseparate the olco legs or mold [he forks at anangle to make the display of a £urned n05ewhecicasy. This is invariably on thc grounds that themodel's noscwhcd fork section would be evt:nweaker lh:m it already is_ An}' weight put on the

72 WORLD WAR 2 US ARMY FIGHTER MODELING /'MSTERCLASS

Icg to balance the model would probabl~ besingularly unsuccessful.

As with any tricycle undercarriage aircraft.the problem of \\eighting lhe nose of a P-38can be acute, as no modeler worth his $:litwould drcam of resorting to a lransparent tailprop to kecp all three wheels all thc ground.Adding nosc weight to a model with an angledllosewhecl might be a disaster, so the bestsulutjon may be to cirtum\'ent this and :lUachthe model to a baseboard.

All in all, P-38s sueh as thaI from Academy.Hasegawa and HobbY<"Taft in 1148 may safely bea5S<..'Illbled and finished quitc quicl;:]y, althoughthc S(.'COnd of the manufaet:urcrs listed hareapparently built in quite a conSlructionchallenge to their P-3S). Judging from somere\,k'ws, aligning the tail booms is particularlytricky which might result in a switch 10 theAcademy kiL~, which arc simpler in this respect.The choice though is not easy as the detail ofthe Hasegawa Lightning is said to be excellent.

One curious item [ found on thc Acadcmy kitis two mysterious bulges on the insidc faees oflhe enginc cO\dings. I'\"e checked thoroughlywithout finding similar prolubcrances on thefull-size aircraft and can only assume th:l\ theloolmakers mi.<>interpret<..x\ the brightly polishl,.x\oval SI.'Cn on the skin of almOS[ all Lighlnings atlhal point. These highly polished O\-als actcJ asmirrors for rhe pilot to check thaI the noscwhl'Clwas "down and locked" and were of course flat.

Anothcr area. that n<..'Cds attcnding to on ,he1'-38 is the guns. ,Vlost model manufactul'ersrepl:aredly mold til esc with thc slotted bandjackets visiblc, irresJll:etive of the version. InfaCI the gUllS of latl:t production Lightningswere 5(:[ into blasllubcs, as pel' thc P---J.7. Thatsaid, 'it is a pity to change these as blasl lUbesare quite plain and can tend to indicate lhat themodeler has not bolhered to fit more detailedguns to his kit. Faced with such a "'can't win"silUation, individual modelers might opt for alillie artistic license and fit thc!.:it guns, \\hiehusually have nposed barrel jackets.

Lilerally rhc biggesl ehallcnge to detailing aP-38 lies with the I132-5<..lIe kit from Revell. Itdefinitdy nl'Cds to ha\'e all the raised ri\"ct de1ailrcmOI'cd and the main pancllines and the tlyingsurfaces n:-seribcd. After :l few applications ofwct and dr~; the rather thin pbstic trailing edges(no complaint mere!) of the wings and lailpbnelose:t liuk oftheir crispness and some delail m:tyneed to be redefined around lhe trim tabs

On this Ici[ the cotire nose pod - WllL';ually fora P-38 kit - is a scparale assembly, making anyadditional features or the application of nose an,names and scoreboards, that much simpler. ;':0

,

,

•

internal pans arc supplied for Ihc ammunitionmagazines or thc gun breeches :md in this sizethere is an almost ilTC'iistible urge to super~etail

mis area. After that mere's only the cockpitinterior to t:lcklc, the kit providing a basic floorand sidewall components to start you off. Theadvantage of being able to work on the nosebefore the huge wings are allachcd becomesohvious with the kit to hand.

n9 AIRACOBRAIn a field full of tail draggers, thc Airacobrastands alone among first-line US singlc-<:Ilginefighters b~ haxing a tricycle landing gear.This again creates the potential problem ofpersuading it to stand corrccrly on ils noscwhccl.Weighting thc l.:xtrerne forw".l.rd fuselage canresult in similar problems you rna) expcriencewith the 1'-38 SO again, the solution could belocating the finished model on a baseboard andlightly anchoring ca<;h wheel with a pin, adhesiveor sticky lape. Three-pointing Ihe tricyclelanding gear of the Airacohra applies equally10 the other two "twins" - the 1'-6\ and 1)-70,should your representative collection of L:$A.AFtypes e.xtend 10 multi-cngine aircraft and nightfighters.

In 1969 a 1/-lS-scale 1'-39 was releaSt:d byM.onogram 10 take and hold the "best kif" slotfor thi... particular tJPC for many years. Providingbuild options for a P-400and three 1>-395 (a 0-1,D-2 and 1.,-1, thc b!>1: in RlL'iSian markings) thcAiracobra remains an excellent subjcct to \\Urkwith today. Having only recently been joined bytwo other P-39s in this scale, a resin conversionkit from l'vlissing Link Models and an injectionmolded example from Eduard (sec Chapter 4),me radical &11 fighter has not e.xacrly swampedme display tables in t"OlTlpctition. This may alsobe that me P-39 is pcm:i\-cd as me least effe<..-nyeL"S single-seater, plus the faa that ilS markingsha,-e been rather poorly documented, with a fewnotable exceptions.

The 1\'lonogram kit provides useful internaldetail in the nose area, the forward bay of whichwas dominated by the barrel and breech of a37mm or 20mm cannon. The kit inlcrior makesan extra case for mOllnting the P-39 on ahaseboard rather than adding hallast, as 10 makeroom for the amount needed to keep thenosewheel on the grollnd, some of the gun uctailwould hare 10 be dropp<:d. This i!> a pit)' becausethe internals of the 1'-39 may be finished 10 lookquite rom"inring e\'en with no funher detailadded.

A bulky weight stuffed into the nose of anymodel risks sacrificing some internal partsand might reduce the opponunity [0 show the

panels opened up, more so with the 1'-39 due10 its configuration. "nere is very little spaccforward and although it is possible to place aweight forward of the nosewheel withoutS3crifi<.--ing the interior, )'ou'll be hard put to findmaterial with enough density to balance Ihemodel.

A drawhack with all carly Monogram kits,the 1'-39 being no exception, is the raised panellines, All these should be 5.1nded ofT, not onlyon the grounds of alllhenticity blll the practit-alone of getting decals 1O lay down o\-er raist-diosl'(:(:tion panels, lines and ri\-ets. Again the"light sand" can be employed so that somer.lised detail can show through the paint.

SMALLER AIRACOBRARevell repr~nted the P-39 fairly well in 1/72scale many years in advance of its ri'-al'i. Old nowand with its part~ co\'er(.'(\ in ri\Tts, the kitsuffered from a too shallow outline shape, butwas deemed a little bener Ihan the more angularprofile of the Airfix and Hellcr kits releaseusome time later. The laner kits do however havea number of parts mat may be used 10 enhanceone of the three offerings if a representativeAiracobrJ is required in this scale. Areas to takenote of include the undercarriage, armamcnt andany engine access panels.

As with many yimage kits the cockpittransparency in any of these 1'-395 may lookdecidedly forlorn. It is a fact that sometransparencies in this scale were not veryclear even when they were first kined andsuhsequent pressings have done nothing toimprove the molds. This fact:Or, along- with oyerlyheavy framing, makes them prime candidates forreplacement. But using [hree kiLS and a decentcanopy an acceptable P-39 can result.

Many of us who ha,·e these older kits on oursheh'es sometimes find that a newer release isnot necessarily that much of an improvemcntto justify a purchase, leading us 10 drag out thatdus[)' box again, along with allihe spares. Thisis certainly lruc for the P-39. As there ha\·cbcc.n relatively few of them in any scale, thc"old hut good" adage may well hold true.

BELL P-63The Kingcobra was a fascinating de\elopmcnt ofthe P-39 and ofiers an attraeti\'e comparison10 it." older stable matc. Although sharll1g asinlilar configuration, the two aircr.lft were quitediffcrent in detail - fC\'iscd nosewhcel ol~

four-bladed propcUer, new tail surfaces anddorsal re:tr fuselage in the case of the P-63C andpylon-mounted guns rather than integral \,-ingmountings on aU \"ersions.

ADVANCED CONSTRUGION 73

ABOVE The P-40F's cockpitsub-assemblies have now beensprayed with a thorough coat

of flat black.

For years the only representation of the"King" in plastic kit form was a lin-scale kitby the Japanese firm Aoshima_ Shonly beforethis book went to press howeyer ~U)M andToko added the P-63 to their lin-scaleinjection-molded ranges. The \'aeuformed kitsfrom Wings of (he US are reportedly yerygood, though this type of kit demands morefrom the modeler in all stages of constructionthan is necessary with injection molded parts,

J\lPM has also extended its short-run rangeto a 1'-63 in 1/48 scale. Fit of parts leavessomething to be desired and as is usual withlimited run kits [here is much cleaning up to be

undertaken before construction t;ommenccs.Afterwards you can 1001: forward to wieldingthe filler to close the gaps.

CURTISS P-40This type is dealt with specifically in theimages that accompany this chapter, but it isworth detailing some more gereneri<: pointstoo on the aircraft, and the modeling produ<:tsavailahle.

Adding detail to a P-W model wilJ usuallybeb>1n with the air intake and the cooling napsat the IO\\'er rC,ll" end of the engine bay. Theseha\'e been molded fully dosed, fully open and

RIGHT The above stage isfollowed by a coat of Dull Dark

Green. sprayed at an angle to

permit some of the black toremain visible as "shadows."


,

,

LEFT The instrument panel inCutting Edge's resin cockpit setis made up of a base panel,printed acetl.te instruments anddie from panel. The rear of theacetate instruments is paintedwhite to permit subtle dial detail10 show at the front.

partially open, separately or inlcgr"l, dependingon the kit in qUL'Stion. Moving lYJ<.:k from this

an::J, the belly rack for a bomb or drop tanks mayhave !O be added or at Ie-Jst impro\'cd b}' l:s.<;cntialdClail. Fortunately perhaps from 3. modding\ iewpoint, L:SA.AF Warhawks lcm.kxl to ha,-e a

nC::ltcr SCI of four sway brdCCS to hold bombs inplace than did J...:jttyhawks of the RAl-; with their

e.\"tr.l.ordina~·ca['s cradle of angle iron hangingbctwl'C,:n the oleos.

The wnl'Cls of the real P-40 were almostdisproportionalcly large and in common withOlher 3in:raft, they werc usually fined withIf(~dcd rires. You would nOI have lhought Ihis10 be Ihc case as far as kil manufaLwrcrswere concerned as for years they pcrsisll,-d insupplying only smooth tires in their 1'-40 kits. Ifthe subject you arc working on had those lovelydiamond-patterned tires (and the kit oncs don't)

an effort should hc made to cut the Ire,ld in. Abeller altcrnatl\'c these Jays IS to scarch Ihecustom parts lists of thc spc:nalist supplierswho may well offer a set of tirGS wilh the(.'Orret:1 tn'ads in resin or 01 her material. This ismarginally l':lSier in the smaller Sl-alcs ;I.e; 1/32scale al"l"l'SSOrics remain in somewhat limitcdsuppl~. Don't cut kit lires unless you ha\·c lo,bm on the other hand, don't l'Omplclc a P-+Qwith complelCly "bald" lires, as it just won',look right.

Of :lI1l Ihe Warhawk kits produced it isralher strange that the majority of them ha\'cbeen of the P-WE. NOlwilhstanding themanufacturers' obsession with Ihe marketing0ppoTlunities of the sharkmouthed FlyingTigers, this appears a slrange imbalan(.'C, aslhe oribrinal AVG flew, of course, the P-40B. Itappeared at one timc Ihat no kit supplier worth

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LEFT Details in the P-40F'scockpil are picked out witha fine brush in variouscolors.

ADVANCED CONSTRUCTION 7S

RIGHT Careful painting ofstr".lf>S and buckles CMI result in

a very convincing seat.A well-painted pilot's seat looks

great through an open canopy,

his sail could bear 10 rckasc a Warhawk Ihal didnor fc:l.ture a sharkmourhed aircraft on the 00):top, forgelting thar most of the buyers had beenthcre before.

There are now scvcral IJ-JOB and P-W~

l.:iL" but the version that runs a c10sc secondto the E model in US service, the F, was for)1:'3.rS all bUl ignorcd as an injection moldedkit subjecl. This ,'crsion, shown in thephotogr:lphs in lhc this chapter, powcred by aRolls-Roycc Merlin, lacked the characteristicintake on top of rhe nose and had differentengine cowling contours to the Allison-enginemachincs, Other variations of the Warhawk,the K and L, wcre similarly ignored as kitsuntil recently, [hal gap being plugged byreleases in both 1/48 and 1/72 M:alcs.

Acro.1vlaster's com eTsion kit for the P-40Fcomes as a small 00): containing a new nose,flaps and rudder and fln fillet sections,Designed for mating with the truncatedfuselage of the \..lau,'e P-40~ the com'ersionwork~ a treat and opens up a far wider rangeof markings possibilities than hitherto. Theone drawback for the laz~ modeler used moreto completing American fighters in 00 andI'eutul Gray is thai the ''<lSI majority ofP-JOFsin sen'ice (mainly in the 1\1'1'0) wore l\\'O-loneRA r -relile <.-11mouflage.

The P-40F and L \\'ere built as "short" and"long" fuselage \'ersions and were widely u~d

by American air forces, a faCllhat makes theiromission from kit lists for so lung an evengreater mystery, hut better late than never.Using Ihe Aerofl'laster conversion set and otherkits such as AMTeeh's reccnt release, the

modeler now has the opportunity to build'rirtually the emire front-line P-40 range,

REVEll'S P-40 IN 1/32As it comes rhe original Rewll kit lends itself[Q numerous P-40Es in sen'icc with lhe Sth AirForce as well as the laller day Fl~'ing: Tigersduring their tnmsirional period 10 lx."COmepan of the 23d Fighrer Group of the 14th AirForce, This parricular unit also used the shortfuselage P--40K, so adding a fin fillet to the kitexpands the markinl,"S horizon a bit further,Decals for \Varhawks in lhis scale arc not verynumerous so a resorl to masking and sprayingwill be the only option for some camouflageschemes. In any evem decals in lhis size C;ID

be rather obvious, so a "direct on" paintingapproach should bring aboul a more satisfyingresuh,

As it comes out ohhe box, Ihe Rc,'c1II)-+o1::box is one of the best of the singlc-sl-atersfeamrcd in the original 1/32 scale fighterseries. One reason is thai unsighlly pins either10 altach the transparent p;arts 10 lhe fuselageor to hold opening SCClions in place do ootmaT the canopy, I wanted to hand paint somepersonal arl\\'Ork and employ stencils ratherthan d<.-"C:lls for the national insignia, so this wasan id<.--al kit to srart Wilh,

The surface detailing is reslrained enough10 bear only lightly rubbing down after a coatof pamr, Re,'c1l having captured the unique"planking" effect of the Warhawk's fuselageconstruuiun well. The engine and some oflhe cockpit detail is convincing enough andalthough some viciolls ll\\sh was present onsome of the sprues, my o"erall impressiun wasof a kit worth taking time over.

As work procceds, you find youTSClf addingdelail rather than having to resorl t'O the sort ofremedial work thai can be a real chore, Mindyou, such is necessary. "Adding" includes thestays which held lhe P-40's ,'entral en~oine

gills open (they arc molded in this positionon the lit), refining lhe drop tank SUppo.-lSand adding the flexible fucl lines, generallyimproving the tank by S:J.ndwiching the twohah'CS provided with a thin Plasticard scamdown the middle, and in my case, cutting out oneof Ihe \\IDg bays rhat held the machine gunammunition. This ncccs.<;itJted adding the splildoors and their rClaining rods, plus some of theammo. 11/ situ in their bays the familiar beltsof 0.50in. l11rtridges were p\\rtially hidden bycovers similar to those thar werc supplied withI-Iascg'Jwa's 1'61" Helleat kiT and I inserted someof lhese on thc Wal'h:lwk after making up rhewalls of the bay as an elongaTed Plasticanl box,

76 WORlD WAR 2 US ARMY FIGHTER MODEUNG MASTERCLASS

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if you do undertake Ihis "one wing only"l."UlOut, don't forgel to choose the right wing:as you don't necessarily want 10 CUI a decal orcompliCltc stenciling of the muiana! insigrua..\1r O\m choice was dictated morc for spc:.'Cd than:mything else, and I opened up the gun bar ononc wing only. Talking of guns., those on theP-40E and later vcrsiol1.'i were :lema11)' insertedinto the wing from below \'Ia lhal huge panelth,lt hinges down at the fron!. Anyone whohas assembled a P--40 will have noticed thesepanels (one per wing) became the)' had a coupleof curiolls shaped "swellings" al the rCaT, asthough someone had miscalcu1a1Ccl the truedepth of the gun breeches .md had ('0 beal outthe panel until they fiUed~ These f:tirings arcun almost all P-40Es - except (of course) thebrgc scale Revell one. The panels themseln:sarc marked out but they arc slighily 100 angled.If they arc to cut out they'll bolh need reshapingand made squarer. Those bulged fairings:probably all me modeler can do to recrify thisannoying shortcoming - shoTt of remoldingthem completely - is to build them up \\;!hfiller or adapt a couple of small bomb halyesor other suitable item from the spares box:Jnd fair lhem in, taking due care to leep oneeye on the references while so doing. lney::aren't unforrun:Jtel~~ \-ery regular shapes so ap::artieularly elose eye will ha\'e to be lept on Ihereference photos, which arc plemiful enough.

The Revell Warhawk's cockpit detail is afertile ground for impro\'cment, the instTumentpanel being a little random when it comes lO lhenumber of instruments engraved nnlO i1. Thepanel indudes substantial supporTing "legs" oneach side which do not seem to appear on thefull-size aircraft and it thcrefore needs somereshaping and refinement in the form of drillingout (."ach dial and adding :1 c1earPlasticardbacking. The pilot's scat in the P-40F. had aroundt-d top as opposed 10 the almosl squaresct:tion of the kit scar. A.<; this is tOO lall as it(.'Omcs, il i<; a simple maner 10 reduce andreshape it prior to attaching it OntO the H-shapedsupport prO\·ided. The P-40 seat also hadprominent horizontal ribbing \\hereas theRC\'ell's arc ycnical.

The full size P---IOE did nOi ha\'e a cockpitfloor as such, the pilot's seat being bolted 10 thewing upper surface spar where it passedthrough the fuselage. Revell do provide a floorand I h,l\'e no argument with that as it makes thecockpit sub-assembly stronger and thaI mucheasier to finish prior to attaching lhe fuselagehalves.

The US company ScraTchbuilders releaseda kit of resin parts to com'en the Re\'el1 1/32

P---IOE inlo an early P.....wB or C Taking this ideaa few steps further is another American basedcompany, Cr.lfl\\orks of Washington, which haspressed ;l complete and wcll-rcscan:hed multimedia resin based kit of the P-wc' Sufficientparts are provided to build lhe emire Totn:lha\\ kairframe out of resin, the kit meluding whil'emctal componentS, a brass etched fret for someof the cockpit and landing bocar detail and verywelcome dry decals.

SMALLER SCALE, SAME ISSUESThe outline accuracy of Curtiss Warhawks in1172 Sc:lle has been variable at tx."St. Almosteveryune has had a stab al Ihe type, mainly interms of the Allison-engine P-40E - Air/ix, Frog,Hasegawa, Ileller, :'vtatchbo.\, Monogram andRcvcll to name a few. All rhesc manufat1:urershavc released examples over the dl."t-adcs, bur thekits vary and some generally fall short on SI..'\"eralcounts. Frog alone gambled that a P---IOB modelmighr be popular in this scale. It was a fine lin1ckit if a bit basic, being released at a time whenthis British company won many friends with arange of delicately crafted World War 2 fightersIlOt duplicatcd clsewhere for years.

That the Frog P---IOB remained the only kituf this \'ersion 3\-ailable in any scale for dl.'C3dcsis strange considering the international fameof the American Volunteer Group, whichflew this early model for mOSI of its existence.The modd manufacrurers got around that bylabeling all their P-40Es as "Plying: Tigers"with inevitable sharkmouth decoration, whichis certainly not inappropriate for a bter .-\VGaircraft and many others operated by theCUll Pacific-based groups.

Offcring a light and restrained raised linesurface, the kit is quite straightforward to

assl.:mble with an eye needing 10 be kept on thefil of parts. Wing root gaps are difficult 10

disguise withoul thc usc of filler as the moddcould soon taL:e on an Q\'er-generous degree ofdihedral. Thai said, the kit has the potcmial forbeing turned into a firsl--cla...... replica 2hhougharc not Ihe strong point and Ihe P-40B suITersfrom o\'cr-thick framing.

'Ine kit's docal options oITers no surprisesinsofar as the suggested color schemes arcfor 1\VG and RAF aircraft. This kil doeshowC\-er lend itself to a \\ide \"ariel)' of earlyUSAAC/L"SAAF color schemes as mOSI of the"traditional" fighter groups, those thaI wooldform the nucleus of a modernized air force to

fight in World War 2, f1cw the type. In facl lheP-40 is an ideal subject if one wishes 10 show inmaud form the progression of US fightermarkings from the unpainted aircraft of the


RIGHT We get one last goodlook <It the P-40Fs sidewall and

footwell detail before it isencased in the fuselage. The tubhas not been glued in position

it has simply been tacked inplace with Blu-Tack.

carly-l9-Ws to a similar hare meral scheme assported b~ some P-40:'\s in the Pacific in 19+1.

IIasegawa, a company [hal generallyproduces excell(.'1u kits, no.'1 came up with aP--IO!\. This conlained the requisite numberof delicate, well detailed components 10 thecompany's typical high quality, SO far removedfrom previous Allison--cnginc P-4Ds, most ofwhich varied in fuselage length, canopy size,wheel dimensions and so forth.

Howc,"er [his particular kit, like some othersIn the 1/72 scale Hasq,'awa range, seems 10 bea shade undersized, particularly in fuselagedepth, leading to the conclusion that thedraughtsrncn had miscalculated the dimensionson this occasion. Of course it could be thatmanufacturers other than Hasegawa ha,·eOVl'rscaled the aircrafl slightly but the quesllonof why this should be is hard 10 answer. It aUgoes back, I suppose, to which sct of dimensionsthe mold makers use. Check P-4D dimensionsin several references and they always var);indicating that kit manufacturers may just have aproblem or two in this respect.

Older P-40 kits regularly rt.':lppear at modelevents, offered either in original boxed form (atquite high asking prices) or in bags witlloulinSITut.-tion sheets and consc.."qucntlr somewhalcheaper. J\lorc recently Russian and EasternEUTOpean manufaeturen; ha'"c re"italized themolds and thc kit.. are once again being imported

78 WORLD WAR 2 US ARMY FIGHTER MODELING f.;\ASTERCLASS

into Ihe UK. Newcr P-40B kit.. in 1/72 scalcha,"c recently become available too.

As this book was being completed Rc\·cllbroughl out a short fuselage P-40K, a ,·ariantthat had generally been o'·erlooked by Iheindustry. Another welcome addition to thisscale, rhe kit has fine engra,·cd surface detail,bur as indicated previollsly, the mainll'heclsnecd replacing with somcthing morc In

keeping with those of the original aircraft.

QUARTER-SCALE SUPERIORITYAcadcmy's P-JOC, rdtastd in 1000, sel newslandards for the earlicst of the first combatwartlly Warhawks, its rcstrained panel detailengraved inlO the plastic as it should becontrasting wiLh lhe raiSt.-d line appTOach longadoptcd by Monogram.

Molded in light gray plastic the Academ~

kit goc... together vcry well and is one of manycontemporary kits that fall tasily into the "OUIof rhc box" building eatcgory. One curiousbut in my case welcome inclusion is a solid0/1" loop fairing. :'\0 mention of this itemis made on lhe instruction sheet andalthough manufaClurers h3\'e been known 10add additional parts and indeed whole extrasprues to bts tIlar are to be part of a series, oneOfF loop is a mystery. It may be that Academyarc to re-tool tile p-JOC into a P-WK, a subtype that in some instances had this addition

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on the fuselage aft of the cockpit. I'm notcompbining as the part (;arne in "cry useful fOT

just such a model, a P-WK of the 23d FighterGroup.

One other area that needs commenting onis Academy's slight "dumbing down'" of the1)-4{)C's internal detail- As it retained cowlingguns the aircraft had the bn.:cchcs flanking theinstrument panet These should be at leastthree separate parts. The gun rearming andinspection panels arc among the few hingeditems that may be incorporated onto a P--40Cwithout turning the model into a diorama.

MORE P-40S REVIEWEDIn recent years I\'c gone a little OTT for the\\larhawk and buill the Frog P--lOB, theHaSCb"3wa P-40:'\, two 1/48-scalc AJ'vlT-ERTLkits, the J\'lonogram Sn::tp-Titc offering to anuncenain scale, converted the Tl)-40::"J" from.'vlonogr.J.ffi kits, dry run the Mau\'c P-40N anddonc cnough work on the R(.·...c111132 P-WE lOnotc thc great possibilities this kit offcrs forsuper dctailing.

Within the abO\·e building program one ofthcAMT kits was finished asa P-40F using theAcro.I\'lasler conversion parts, and a P----tOK,onc of se...eral options providcd for in theA...\IT/ERTL Warhawk \\hich is basically an"En model bur is sold with the P--+OK's dor~1fin as an optional tail seclion. Forgivc thc manyacronyms, bur banging on about Warhawks andKittyhawl.:s would only confuse thc issue,although I do appreciatc that British rcadersmight morc readily idcnli!~' the differcnt P-40sllsing RAP nomenclalurc.

For a 1/48-scale P-40K, the A!vIT kit is agood starting point although the I;eneral fit ofparts lcavcs something [0 be desired. Rccc..'iscdpanel lines make for an excellent restrainedsurface finish and overall the assembled kitlooks '·cry comincing pro';ding that areas suchas thc wing dihedral can be achie"cd correctly.Thc kit also has a few anomalies suchas fuselage location points for the cockpitsidcwalls that do nOI haxe the correspondingpins. You locate the sidewall sections into thecockpit floor, which makes for rather weakassembly until the completed cockpit box islocatcd into the fuselage halves. Eycn then, thepanels are a little "ofT the walls."

Scparate side panels containing theexhausts are provided 10 show an engine (noparts for which are provided) but theexhausts thcmsch'cs do not duplicate thefishtail design of the original. Incorrect exhaustpipe shape is a common fault with numerousP-40 kits, unfortunately.

The AMT P.-\OK also ineludes a scat backpanel that is incorrectly kinked to angle forwards.This is doubly odd as the corresponding itt.'ffi inthe same company's P-40L/N kit is a corrcctlyangled back, a straight piece of plastic cont:liningthe headr(:S\ being provided in that instance.

Persuading the :\cro~'laster P--4QF nose tomate \\ith a trunClled ,'--\IT fuselage has itsdifficullies. AeroMastcr actually recommendusing the Mauye P-40:\" bur as these kits arc abit hard to come by and I'd already set aside thesingle example 1 had, there was no choice butto seek an alternative if I wanted a P-4QF in1/48.

Carefully cut at the points suggcslcd in theAeroMaSlcr instna;tion sheet, the AMT kitwill accepl the ncw nose without 100 much

ABOVE TOP The next step forour P-40F: cementing. Someplastic cements have a needleapplicator that makes preciseplacement a simple maner.Adhesive was run around eachh,lIf of the P-40Fs fuselage.

ABOVE The pam were thenuped and clamped.The fuselagewas set aside until the glue hadthomughly seL

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ADVANCED CQNSTRUOION 79

RIGHT The bottom of theP-40F's resin replacement nose

protrudes into the center of thewing. The area to be removed

has been marked out. and ascriber is being used toaccentuate the CUt line.

RIGHT A razor saw wasonce again used to remove

this section.

OPPOSITE TOP The minorsteps and ledges on the resinnose are dealt with by gluing

small pieces of plastic card tostrategic positions.These pieces

of card rorce the plastic of thefuselage to line up with theconwurs or the resin nose.Several coofigurations were

tested before the best resultwas found.

OPPOSITE MIDDLE Final fittingof the adjusted nose proved to

be free of gaps. Steps and ridges.

OPPOSITE BOTIOMThe plastic and resin was

blended by sanding.

difficulty - that tends to come with the rest ofthe kit! Although the component parts arcwell molded, numerous gaps will appear,particularly ai' the wing roots. .'\s with someother kits in which the fuselage is sel or"sprung" inlO Ihe completed wing I he dihedralangle can become c.\:cessive in an effort to dosethe gaps and Ihe only remedy is to resort to

Plasticard shims and filler.The complctcd kit is onc of those I hal may

rake a linle gening used lQ: the !\'Ierlin enginedid not euctly naucr the P--40's hithertoelegant nose profilc and in this case a weightednose due to dcnsity of the resin compositionmakes you momcntarily wonder where thenosewheel went! Ha"ing said that, the P-40 andL were widely used by US comb.at groups andthe ht open<; up many markings possibililiesthat had previously to be neglected.

SNAP-TITE WARHAWKOn the subjcct of P--40Fs, 1 rcmembered arc!ey:mt oddity in my "yet to build" kit farm,namely a "Snap-Tite" IVlcrlin--engine Warhawk,(.;rt'3 197.J.. You may recall this .Monogram subseries., aimed firmly at the junior end of themarket and maybe bcc:luse of that, not adheringto standard S<.'3les. These kits st'Cm laIb'Cly tohave bt'Cn ignort'ti by the serious modeler, whichis a little short sightt'ti 10 my mind as caeh oneshould 1't::3.II)' st:md alone and not be judged indirt'Ct comparison with another. Tne WarhawL;is Iargc.-r than 1/72 and probably worb out at1I.bout liM - but the point is that it was the fil1itP--40F 10 appc:Lr. It builds up well and if anycomparison nc.'Cds 10 be made., ~'lonogram 11.00relcasc..'<1 a P-5ID as a Snap-Tite in the samescale. Also., Aurora ona: came up with an F.J.FWilda! in much the same scale.

80 WORLD WAR 2 US ARMY FIGHTER MODEUNG MASTERCLAS$

With the rider that the over-large anchoragep<linls of this kind of "no glue" kit needtrimming or removing, a model designed to

be simple and quick to build has someundoubtcd ad\"antagcs. ny all m(,,'3l1S addconstruction strength with adhesive (as.\Ionogram's instruction sheet suggests) anddo remove thc raiscd panel lines. This kit isprobably worth the cffort as to my knowledgeno P-j.()Fs c."ist in scalc." smaller than l/-t8but as the photos herc show, thai sub-type hasbeen \\'ell recogmscd in the larger scale.

One drawback to an odd SC"J.le kit is thc lackof correctly sized markings. nul <If:,rain I foundthaI wil'h thc advantage of a bulging decal file,suil';lble national insignia could be found.Incident.lIly while searching to find somethingsuimble I realized that the P-40 is among thefew US fighters to have fuselage and wingn.uional insignia to the sa.me dimensions.

Talking: of insignia, fcw modelers of theWarhawk will ha\'C failed 10 OOlice rhecommcmorati\-e, IS,OOOth P-40N \\;th nationalnurkings of all the countries supplied by Curtiss.The l\hu\'e kit has been updated and re-rcle:ts(:dbr a Japanese company called Create 310,romplel'e with all those markings.

P-47 THUNDERBOLTSoon after it first cntcred sen·ice with theSth Air Force, Republic's mighl} P-47 wasbeing weighed down with all manner of "thingJ;under \\'inb"S." Drop tanks were followed bybombs, rocket tubes and I IVARs, extras whichm<tnufacturers have not been slow to includeas optional extras in their kits. Unfortunately,while concentrating on filling up the sprueswith stores, they often appear to haveo\·erlooked the true outline sh;lpc of the oldT-boh and om;e agam the IliZ-scale kits onoffer have historically n:quired crossing-buingwith components from others to build one goodexample. In particular, the addition of customparts for Thunderbolts included such itemsas determining whether a gi,·en cxample wasfined with Hamilton or Curtiss propellers withstandard or "paddle" blades.

In the case of some older models. therewas the chore of constructing wheel wellwalls and in addition, detailing srores racksmolded integrally as part of the lower wing,something that while not critical, could hamperthe camouOage and markings process. Someof us will have cut our teeth on the ancientfrog razorback kit, which although ignoredthese days, was not the worst model of itstype by any means - and it did seem to be theright size.

ADVANCED CONSTRUOlON 81

RIGHT The remaining fuselageseams on our P-4QF were tidied

up with a sanding stick. Lacer.they were smoothed with fine

g~de abrasive paper.

REPUBLIC P-47 IN 1/32The razorback P-----l-7 is also lhe subj(,.·t:t of aRe"ell 1/32-scale I:il, \\ hich n.."t.)uircs suitablemodification. :\1ore worl: is n(,.>(.'(]ed to turnthe razorback into somel hing acceptable assome fundamcnlal airframe eHors ha\"e creptinto the moldings and these need to beattended to before other Ilork is tackled. :\"otall these Rc\"cll kits extended to underwingstores - or even the racks - bUI the p-·n 1 usedincluded a pair of racks Wilh Uritish-sty1cbombs (some kits were marketed with RAFm:lrkings for an aircraft serving in Burma) anda suspicious looking eenterlinc drop t:mk.

During the time period whc.'ll these kitswcrc oriboinally a\-ailable, I illl·cstc.'(] in a set of1/32-s(;alc \-acuform drop t:lnks m:lrkctc.'(] byHorizon Com"crsions. fly offering standardtanks for the P--47/P-Jl, the "'n:lt" tank oftCflsecn on Thunderbolts, plus lhe \"Cr~ lal"b'C ferrytanks for the P-38, this sel is p:lrIieularly useful.Armed with the IIonzon drop tanks and anyOlher ill.'lllS more recently made available foraircraft models in this scale, oldc.... kits mayconsequently be lini<;hed to look as they should.J.:lucri), some of the standard-pattern AAFlighler drop tanks have been replicated in1132-s<.;ale injection-molded kits, nOlably by theJ-1ascg'Jwa P-51D, which is adaplable tu the 1'-47,but the 1'-38's underwing loads SC(,.'lllS to havebeen rat her ol"Crlooked in this rcspl;Ct.

Unforlutlntcly the P--47 bubblctop version ishc~ond redcmption as it comes out of the box


because the high point of the sliding wel.:pit bood is nol reall) present, this part seeminglybeing molded 100 short. The consequent "curoff" look is n:ry noticeable and an alrernati\·ccanopy will h:lve 10 be found. But one can h:lrdlylea"e out lhe 1) 7 in a (."()l1ccrion of 1/32 scaleAmerican ligtu(. s and by carrying out correctivcwork, the Rercl1 kit can be made to look vcryimpressive indc.'Cd.

P-51The modern day kit sccne shows that thcmanufaClurers are;!l long last aware that NorthAmeriC"Jn's finCSI came in sevcr.tl distinctlydifferent guises. A look oock at the releases ofpast decadcs pro\cs that ,Monogram apprccialoothat there was a P-51 B as well as rhe bubblelopD and duly released kits in 1/-t8 and 1/72 scalesin 1967. The company only added a P-JID inthe larger scale len years later but in rhemeantime, ilS happy customers sat back andwaited for lhe rest of the world t'O catch up. IIdid but slowl), in more ways [han one.

Ir was 1995 before Tamiy:! added a P-51 Dto its excellent 1/48--scale range. The kit, whichhad a str.righlforw:lrJ Mustang dcsi~ approoch,included leardrop external fucl tanks andseparate naps, plus nicely derailed wheel wcllsthat were prcs$(,."(1 as separate parts. Two cockpitcanopies, anI; to represcnt an aircraft built alInglc\\"ood and 0111;:tt Dallas, were also provided.A neat \Ouch on lhe four-aircraft subject decalsheet was the inclusion of an "aluminum" effecl

surround 10 the national insignia. This t:nabledthe subject model, unimaginati\'ely that wellknown P-510 (.·(Kkd E2-5 of the 361st FighterGroup, to be complel'ccI with the masked offoutline around the "slars and bars" nQt beingcompromised by awkward masking or a shakyhandheld brush.

This :lnd other P-510s of the 361s[famously - or notoriously - wore lactical uppersurface camouflage, which for years manypt:oplc rhought to h:lse been insignia blue orc\-en red. Only when one of a number of colorphotos laken of this aircraft and three othcrsIII a four ship formation was finally subjectcdto c,treful reproduction did we realize lhat theupper surface color h;tc! been olive drab allalong.

While 'Iamiya thus demonstrated anadmirable in-depth approach to decal research, itwas nO( really nceded for thc fuselage of thisparticular machine, which had the 00 T:u;ticalcamounagc touching the national insignia at thetop, without an ::'\MF outline. It was howevermasked ouT when 1\£1\F stripes were applied.

P-51 IN 1/32 SCALEAs the only kit of an early Merlin Mustang in1/32 SClle I had no choice but to use the Revellkit as a basis and carry out a liule mixing andmarching. pnmarilr 10 add an engine of theright frontal cross-section. As it comes the !.:ithas frOIll end contours somewhere between anAllison and a Merlin but not cxacLl)' right foreither. An engllle section molded to the corrcct

dimensions can be cut from either a "solid".'''onogram P-5ID or .he same company's"Phantom Nlustang" thaI was also pressed inthis SCJlc.

I chose to usc these older kits purely on thegrounds of availability and the f,\ct that therelC3se of the Hasegawa P-51D quickly putthem into the "spares only'" ('"3tcgor). Whilethis may be an added reason to usc either of theMonogram engines, they do not fil perfccrlyall round. I found a degree of fairing-in to benecessaT)' on the undersides and the thinwing roots also require building up wilh filler.Anyone wishing to tackle this converSIOnwould be bener using the Hasegawa kit which will in any event probably be the onlyMustang available - as (he engine apparentlymates better with the Re\"ell kit fuselage. Also,the spinner, propeller and mainwheels of theJapanese kit are much more accurate.

An carly \CTsion Mustang in this scalehas numerous markings possibilities. not tomention ordnance loads that will in some C3S(."S

have to be scratch builr. Bombs should beno problem as numerous kits slipply thesein abundance, even though they may notnecessarily be to 1/32 scale. A large size bombin a 1I48 SClle bomber !.:it can usually doublefor a smaller size on a fighter in the largerscale - i.e. a 1/48 scale 1,000 pounder canbecome a 500 pounder in 1/32 scale, and soforth. Customizing plastic rod can be used tomanufacture a pair of M 10 rocket launchers forthe P-5IB/C.

LEFT The P-40F's ccxkpit rubwas next in~erted into thefu~elage.The fit W<1S extremelypreci~e, with the nsemblyclicking in place without thebenefit of glue.A bead of~uperglue wa~ added to the backof the pilot's bulkhead and alongthe bottom edges of the cockpitfloor to ensure it did not comeloose later.

-ADVANCED CONSTRUCTION 83

Without its cngine the trunclted H::ascg:Jwar-5 II) could form the basis for::a supcr-detailcddior::am::a whcre the building \\ork conccntrateson what goes on at the fronl end, but below theslin. Start by inserting a Plasticard fircw:lll atthe point thc cngine has been cut ofT to use onIhe r-51B, drill this to take ,·arious :lncillariesand work slowly fon\-ard from there.. Thc sparesbox will provide many of the necessary bits andpieces ::and when the engine is inSI':llk'd, thcdiscardcd sections of the Revell 1)-5 IB might beadaplcd for display as separate panels. Thc f.1ctthaI these arc slightly undersized \\on'l r('':llly benOliccd provided that they are sandcd down andpainlcd.

Finally, the thought occurs lhat onc couldadd lhe uncowlcd, detailed .\'icrlin engine to theRevcll P-51B and not bother with cuning: upthe l-Iascg'Jwa kit but this would slill k':l\·c theslight challenge of modifying the propellerblades and adding new tires of lhc correcteross-seclion. Then ::again, the conlQurs of theoriginal Rc\·cll kit nose might, JUSt might, beadaptablc 10 :In Allison although this \\ouldinmh"c a considerable amount of work.

EARLY MUSTANG MODElS!\'lanifeslation of an early Mustang in plastic kitform to INS scale occurred in thc c::arly 1990swhen the US company Accuratc Mini::aluresreleased nOI one bur thrce Allison-engineP-5Is: a P-51 (with no suffix letter), a 1)-5IAand an :\-36. ThIS bra'·e "go for broke"approach was a ~'amble that the markel hadvastly inereascd in sophistication ,111d indeedknowledge lhrough acql11ring the many finereferenccs thaI have appeared in reccm years. Itworked, A~1 achieved sales good cnough 10keep the company goin~ so that currently il isbranching out into other subjects and g'.liningan em'iahle reput:llion for quality. Thc goinghas reportcdly been hard at times., but 10 dalcAM's stable of early Allison--(;ngine l\lust'angshas lx..'Cn joincd by a P-SII:I :lnd P-SIC, both ofwhich ::arc welcome replacements or adjunct<; 10the lIotill useful ~Ionogram kit in this scale."'Iore Tt'Cent still is a Tamira release of a P-SI Rwhich, if prc\'ious kits are anything to go by,will be little short of highl~· desirable.

There is though a downside to all these newreleascs in th::al the modeler mar prefer to build::a stable of !\'lustangs from the same kit. 11::all boils down, I suppose, not only to what isprefcrred but availahility. \Vhile some areas ofthe world stock enough plaslic kits t<l cater foralllaSles at all times, this is not always the case.An impulse buy may resull in essentially lhesame kil but with a slight contrast, particularly

84 WORlD WAR 2 US ARMY FIGHTER MOOEUNG MASTERCLASS

in surface finish and a different end result.Therefore if you wish to build reprcscntati\·eP-51Bs of thc enlire Sth Fighter Commandit may be worth invcsting in several lits atonce. Which one is entirely al the modeler'sdiscretion, of course.

In 1/72 scale thc Mustang sirualion was, ase\·cr, that much gloomier than in 1/-1-8: ofrhemall only Frog w::as once bold enough to kit :Ininjection molded A-36. Unlike the reasonahleearly p-ol-on from this manufacturer, theApache represenled anOlher lost opportunityto corner a hungry slice of the market, as thekit suffered from somc major errors. Instead ofcarefully designing a model that could have ledto numerous cQm'ersion possibilities to creaTese\'cral of the Allison-t.:ngine Mustangs, themodeler was ohliged lQ wield scalpel, knife andsandpaper to create wh::al it s:l.id on the box topin the first place.

At long last Condor (!\'IPC) \\·ith a new.'\-36has plugged this gap in the kit linc-up of earlyMustang \';lriants in this scale. Ha\'ing nor secna copy as yel, I c:l.OnOt say whether it hits thema.rl in rega.rd to outline accuracy.

Among [he :lccc:ssory/convcrsion sets forp-s Is that from Verlinden Productions providesa full range of uoderwing Slores for a II48-scaleP-SID. One of the mOSt useful additions., it iswcll worth obtaining, nOt bCGtuse it introducesmuch that is ncw bUl by including a range ofP-SI rocket, bomb and drop tank scctions tovcry accurate tolerances. This is also one of lhefew accessory SCIS Ihat recognizes the differencebetween the early and later style of main wingracks designed for Ihe carriage of drop tanks orbombs on the P-SI n. Broadly speaking thesehad the carrier crulehes mounted either at thetop - flush with the wing - 00 <:arlier style racks::and on the lower edge on the racks fitted toP-SIDs and ,,"s..

Hy combining resin and photo-ctch partsthis particular accessor) kit en:lbles the modelerto apply SClIe fins to bombs and "SIr:lPS":lround HVARs and drop lanks: both were slll::allenough on the full-sized :lircraft :lnd [hey comcout (or the~· should) as positi\'e!y minute whenscaled down. Verlinden's SCI :llso mcludcs thesway braces for field modifications of racks, plusa full sct of rod:ers for Ihe triple M-1O bazookalUbe>.

Photographs indicalc lh::al scvernl methodswere used to 1000le ordnance and fuel tankssafely under P-Sl wings, particularly in theCBI, where some P-5111s and Cs actuallycarried two drop tanks under each wing, heavilybraced to keep them in pLlce. In a theater deniedalmost e\;erything for long periods of time, the

LEFT Test~fitting the wingnsembly on the P--40F seemedco confinn this kit's reputationfor an ill-fitting wing root.However, this problem has avery simple solution.

LEFT Wedges of plastic wereinserted between the cockpitnoor and the fuselage wing rootto increase the width of thefuselage where it meetsthe wing.

LEFT The wing root gap wasclosed without using putty a(tera few minutes adjusting theplastic wedges_ Note thac thewings are noe even glued to thefuselage in this phoco.


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RIGHT With the P-40Fsfuselage spread. the dihedral of

the wing W<lS a litde nat. Toaddress this problem,Tamiya

masking tape WolS attilchedunderneath one wing tip ;md

stretched across the top of themodel to the other wingtip.This

had the dual effece of reswringthe correct dihedral and

squeezing an even tighter fit atthe wing roOts.

squadrons were obliged to Jury-rig their ownbomb shackles before the regular items werehauled O\'er the Hump route from India.And although the European-based air forcesgenerally had a good supply of st:lndardizedequipment for their j\'lustangs, \':lriations maystill be found abroad.

The type of accessory kit produced hyVcrlindcn is invaluable for ringing thechanges and improving still further thecomponents provided in kits. Other sets,intended for detailing P-47 and P-3S kits, arcavailable in the range.

NORTHROP P-61!\ purely personal view of the P--61 is thai it looksfar better with its top [UIn'! in place thanwithout. ;\·lost modelers did not of course c\'crh;l\'c to put up with the blast of four "fifties" justabo,'c their heads, or experience the buffetingthat sometimes resuhed when the turretedairCN.ft was flung around the night skies ofEurope or the Pacific. 'fbat led to the majority ofthe 9th Air Force P-6ls operating without theturret, which certainly alten:d its dramatic lines.Turn...'tS were actually fe-introduced onto P-61soperating in the ETO at the cnd of the war, so allis not losl for the modeler seeking such acombination of configuration and markings.

A mighty beast of an airplane, the "Widow"has a no-nonsense look that makes it an idealkit subject. This is parti<.:ularly so in a largerscale, as Monogram proved vcry well indeedby offering a superb kit that incorporated both

86 WORLD WAR 2 US ARMY fIGHTER MODEUNG MASTERCLASS

the "short nosed" 1)-61:\ and "long nosed"P--61B;eithcr vcrsion can be an cye-cuchingcenterpiece of any display.

Again thc kits in 1/72 disappointed, thoseby Frog and Airfix indicating a HTy differentapproach to the s:amc subject. Frog, whilstaehic\·ing an au:cptable top flL~c1age contour(no lurret' was indud<..'d) gave its P-61 odd,cross-halch surf.'l<.'C detail meant presumably 10

represent rivets, and mcssed up the dimcnsionsof the fusdage, not to mcntion the rear glazedsenion. Frog's UK counterpart covered theblack airframe in "trademark" rivets OUI addedan admirable degree of dctail sueo as separatewing spoiler!>. an alternativc top turret, droplanks and so forth. L"nfortlmately thc lOp lineof lhe fuselage, including the cockpit profile,was far too square with pronounced comers.Re-pro6ling was a difficult option as the cockpilcanopy also had sharp comers lhat could nOIreally be adapted without a remolding job. Thatsaid, the Aim\: kit is one to use as a startingpoint if an ohler P-61 kit i<; required in lhis SOlIe,wilh perhaps somc cros.<;-kining using the Frogoffering's bc!.1 bits.

Alternatively the modeler can splash out ona completely new kit such as lhat released byIhe Dragon or Revell concerns.

DOUGLAS P-70If your favored model scale is 1/48, the regu laradJition of kits to this size in recent years hasbeen yery satisfying indccd. The currentsituation is that there arc noll' very fell' 6'aps in

the ranks of US Army lighter models., and inthis SClIe at least, the majority of them arcsatisfyingly accurate. The appe;!ranee of theAMT 1\-20 raised the possibility of conversioninto a P-70 night fighter, a type that couldha\'e raken a prize as one of the least knownCS combat aircraft of World War 2 until a fewyears ago.

While nm marketed as a Il_70 per se., the1/-18 Af\tT A-20J follo,\ed an excellent\':J.cuform KOSier J\\'ialion Enterprises kit in thisscale, which also fc:atured two dorsal tUTTet\':J.riants. I understand, hO\lcI'er,lhat colJ.\-lTSionsets are available 1'0 tum this or the A.\·IT Hayocinto the c:arlier \'ersion, forming the basis for thefirst US night fighter.

In 1/72 scale, the old ReH:11 kit of1975 vimage \\"US actually marketed as a 1'-70,an update of the company's earlier release asa sl'J.ndard IJustOn. Included in the night fighterwrsion wa.<; a solid nose section, under fuselageClnnon tra~ and radar aerials. Pressed in blackpbstic, it remains the best of the early modelA-20/Boswns al"Uilable in this scale, those byAirfix and Frog h'lI'ing their share of outlinefaults. Long after the twO biter kits had all butdisappeared, Matchbox rele-J.scd an A-20G/j:h:lI'ing fuscbge St.'Ctions incorporating the n:ardorsal turret was welcome., although the on:rlylarge engine cowlings dem:mdr.-d replacementwith something morc in scale - the 1/72 cross-kilting saga conrinued. [n any event, all1'-705 th,lt saw action had rhe l~.rrly-sty1c rl':1.r gunposition with sliding transparent panels, asincorporared on 1110St nOSlOn/Havoc models.

In conclusion, a \Yord or \11'0 about kits of the"foreigners," both the (jg:hters of other nationslhm wore US insignia and thosc nationals whonell' US aircraft but applied their o\\'n nationalinsignia as well as the "Stars and bars." Theybct."Ume an imlXlrtanl part of inventory in theETO, MTO and the l':Kific.

SUPERMARINE SPITFIREAmong the non-American aircraft serHngthc LiSAA F in a wartime fighter role, theSupermarine Spitfire was the most numerousand important from the carliest days of theconflict. From bcing Ihe mount of indi"idualpilots who joined RAF units, through thcthn.'C Eagle Squadrons in 19-11--12 to flyinglong rangc PR wrties for the 8th Air Force,Spitfires SCT\'l'll whr..ll nothing (:omparablc wasa\~ilablc. Operating in the Mediterranean withthe equipmcnl-5t11T\'cd 12th Air rora: when itwas despeT1ltc for aircT1lft to support OperationTorch,k thc Spitfirc squadrons of the 3Isl and52d Fighter Groups were well to the fore. A

type that \\'ore a fascinating \'aricty of markingsfrom large size renderinb"S of Old Glory (sothat Vichy French forces woold rl'Cognize itduring the early days of 'Ioreh) 10 ~MF

aircraft wearing full Stars and bars and doublecode letters, the Spit was an enduring fa\'oriteamong many US pilots.

In 1/-18 scale, kits from Otaki and AirfL"(now one and the same as reprds most of theformer company's fighters) arc among thelegion of Spitfire models, although tht:rc arcfC\yer in thi..s scale than the smaller ones. Otaki'soriginal Spitfire was pressed as a .i\ lk Vlll,making it ideal for a 12th Air l1)rce machine.Under its own banner Airfix relcasc..'lI a good~'lk V, thc version ,'ery \\'idely used by thcAmericans, both in Ihe l.l( and MTO. Quarterscale ~lk LXs were rclati\'e1~ thin on the groundafter Monogram produced the firSt one to begenerally anibble in the 196Os., :although thesituation ha... since been redressed by a numberof ncw kits, not to mention resin accessoriesIntended for usc with :\Ik Vs to make thenl'(;cssary changes and updates.

~ot surprisingly a plethora of Spitfireshavc appL-ared from CK manufacturers in1/72 scale, with the seemingly irH:I'ilablemriation in accuracy. They ha\·e been joined bya number of offerings from France, the CzechRepublic and Iloland, proof positive that such aperennially favoritc subjcet will continue 10 beadded to the \\'orld's kit lists.

As with other types, the Spit(jre has rakenyears to grow in accuracy as a plastic kil andthis writer would rccommend looking ror themost recent kits rathcr than hack older onesabout. Astute modelers familiar with theaircraft \\'itllook in particu1:lr:11 any kit's wingunderside to ehcck how \\"cll the subtle "gullwing" effect has been reproduced. This maynot be a personal issue if the rest of lhc kilseems good enough (the latest Rc\'ell "'Ik V isa case in point - it has almost nal wingundersides but is otherwise a fine lillie kit) bUIthe full sizc contours really should be at leaslindicated, I fccl.

Current Spitfire kits don't need the degreeof cross fertilization d~ ri~unlr in decades pastand the 21st century modeler has far morereferences, particularly color photographs, thatwere unavailable e\'en 20 years after the plasticmodeling hobby secured a niche in thecommercial market place.

Moying up to the larger scales., both Re\'e11and Hascg;m-a produced early (!\II.:s I 10 V)Merlin Spitfires in 1/32 scale as did Airfix inliB scale. Of these I ha\'e prel'iously built theHasegawa kit to produce an Eagle Squadron


, ..

MJ.: V, The L::il is superb, alTering all the major,'ari:uions on the :\n V Iheme in regard totropical filters, different size radialOrs., and achoiee of st:mdard or dipped winb'S as wellas a choice of standard and bullet proofwindscn:ens. Once completed it surprised meLO re:l1ize after not a few years of abstinence (atleast in building Spits) jusl how big an aircraftit is compared to a P-51 in Lhe same scale,

Although the Hasegawa kit IS \"Cryimpressive, despite some hard to disguise sinkmarks alon!,; the wings, the fit of partS on myexample also left a little to be desirt'd, probablydue 10 long-term storage. Also, the wingsub-assemblies are substantial pieces of plasticwhich ha\'e to be persuaded to male withoutlnOl'ing: out of alignmelH. The excel1ent cockpitsub-assembly, which is almost a model in itsO\I'n righ..

The mcthod of splicing PlasLic:lfd stripinto the gaps was particularly successful on theSpit as the lower wing half which incorpor:lledthose long, swt."Cping characteristic wing fillets,is in one pieet::, Once the top 'I-ing hah'es arejoined Ihis sub assembly is quite weighty andit must be persuaded to fair smoothly inlO thefuselage wilh only thin plastic ridges to anchorit firmly. By inserting plastic strip fore and aftalong one fillet and across the rear joint, the job,,"as complclcd satisfactorily with no nct.'(j forfiller.

f\larkings for the Spitfire V of No" 121Squadron (latH:rly the 336th FS of the 4thFighter Group) posed a problem al first.Without any custom decals to hand I reSQrled toan "old three into one" HisAirDec sheel of L"Snation:tl insignia. With the drawback that thefinished decal is thicker than one would eXIX'Ct intoday's kits, Lhis method ncyerthelcss scrved itspurpose. The yellow nng, blue backgroundand whitc star combination creates some "strikethrough" hut in Ihis case it didn't mauer. Themajority of Eagle Squadron SpiL'; wcre "handmc downs" lhat in\-anably had lheir RAFroundels o\·crpaintcd with the US marking.

For thc codes I chose relatively "easy" lenersthat were mask.ed with strips of Post-It andsprayed in Sky, the rear fuselage band beingsimilarly trealed. Eagle Squadron Spitfire Vscamc with the detail diffcrent.'{.'S applicable 10the mark, the most obvious being full span andclipped winglips and standard or externalbullct-proof windscreens. In regard to markingstherc wa." sprinkling of personal decoration,which included the "double cagle" emblem oncenain individual aircraft, but only a handfulof scrial numbers can definitely be tied in wilhcodes. As thc serial digits werc not always

88 WORLD WAR 2 US ARMY fIGHTER MODEUNG MASTERCLAS$

painted on the rear fuselage thc problem ofdefinite idenlificuion remains conjccrural insome cases. Equally, Spirfires also showevidence of o\crpaintcd serials., part serials anda general lack of 6n flashes, as per Americanpractice. Many indi"idual machines had seena fair degree of scrvice before being passedto the Eagles., SO a \\'(:athcred appearanee is quitein order on a representative model. OtherUSAAF Spitfires operated c.xtensively in theNlediterranean and the many kits of the ,,"'Ik V,VII and IX may be finishcd in appropriatemarkings.

HAWKER HURRICANEAlthough used by al1 thn.'C E.1gle Squadrons, theHurricane .Mks I:md II did not remain in servicelong enough for any c.xamplcs to adopt U5AAFstar insignia. So evcn though a collection ofAmerican-Qperated fighters could legitimatelyinclude one or two E.agle Hurricanes., they willseem at first glance to be 1t..:\.F machines. Butall is not lost. During Operation Torch, carrierborne Canadian-buih Sc::J Hurricanc XIl<> didluve the "uni' ersal" whitc star marking Clrriedby all aircraft lile1~ to be operating O\-er that areaof:'\onh Africa and comc in contact with hostileVichy French forees. These particular Hurriswith their rellow outlined fusclage insigniawould therefore be more in leeping with acollection of AAF fighters.

Which kit 10 chose for an American-mannedHurricane is a moot point: in 1172 scaleHa.~egawa currently puts out a neat !v[k II andthere arc ~e\'eral sUH'ivors of a long line lhathas included, apart from the more familiar labelsof Airfix and Revell, a rare venture into plasticby Keil Kraft, a company prcviously knownprimarily for nying Sl,:ale models in wood. Thislatter kit was a bit on the hea\'y side but ithad nice detail and was no worse than itscontemporaries.

There are se\'cral good lJ.l.8--sealeHurricanes on Ihe markc.'t and although nonearc, to the \\"filer's knowledge, labeled as a(hooked) Sea Hurricane !\U: XII, rhe sub-trJ>ethat was the equi,-alent of the :\'ll: lIe Againthough I would olTer an opinion that l\lonogramdocs as good a job as an}" in this scale. Thecompany's con\"erlible kit ga,'e options to buildthe Mk. II, IV and a Iropicalized Mk Vc "ersionbUl [here was no provision for a "hooked"airt.Taft. This addition is relatively simple tomake in conjunction with a study of Hurricanerderences. You will of course havc to modify lhefuselage undersides 10 take a tail hook and its"V" S[futs. There are plenty of scale drawings 10

help with the dimensions.

•LEFT I removed tOO muchmaterial from the lower wing ofthe P-40F where it met thenose, so a scrap of styrene wascut to the approximate shape ofthe gap.

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LEFT After the gap was pluggedby gluing the styrene in place. itwas trimmed then filled withMilliput two-part epoxy putty.Atiny ball from each stick wasmixed together to prepare theputty for use. It was applied with

my favorite putty trowel - anold staple remover!


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ABOVE The P-40F model isnow well aligned and gap free,

and ready for paint.

BRISTOL BEAUFIGHTERA type quite widely used but hardly loved bythe USAAJ:; the Beaufig-hter was a stop gaplwin that served pending the delivery of theP-61 The trouble was that most of the pilotswho were destined to fly the Beau operationallyin the M1'O had tmmed on the P-70 - goingback to a tail dragger was seen as a retrogradestep. WiTh the bendit of hindsight we can wellunderstand their views. Added to an unfamiliarground angle was the fact that the Beau hadengines with enough torque to put a Spitfire to

shame anu send the BrIstol twin careering offrhe runway. It nevertheless helped the erews toget their eye in over the \Vestern Desert andIlaly before the \Viuow (and a few ,\10squitos)came along at the eleventh hour to re-equip thesquadrons based in the .Mediterranean.

The Tarniya kit broke the seeming embargoon any Beaufighter kit bemg produced in 1/4Hscale, a situation that had prevailed for years.An excellent kit well up to modern tooling andmoluing stanuards, the Japanese release may bebuilt as a CSAAF-operatcJ Beau .\lk VI or X,

with or without the thimble nose radome,which is supplied.

In 1/72 scale, Airfix again had the fieldto itself with a Beau .i\1k X released in the 196Os.A Frog kit came later with some mlllorimprovements but modelers had another lcnb>thywait f(lr anything better, a gap that was filled byHasega,,·a only as recently as 2001.

Long bd(lre that, Revell ploughed on withnew additions to their larger scale fighter rangeby producing a Beaufighter ivlk I in 1/32 scaleduring the course of the 1970s.

A great expanse of black plastic parts, thiskit lacked the internal detail modelers hadcome to expect in this scale although its outlineand components were basically accurate. Thatwas the trouble with this entire range - basicwas usually the operative word and anyonewishing to upgrade the variant (a straighttail i'vlk I as originally released) bced a heapof work. Converting the model into a nightfighter as used by the USAAF is hm\Tver notan insurmoumablc task. It ean involve adaptingthe kit's horizontal tailplane imo a dihedral


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unit, changing the nusc wntOUfS to accepta ccmrimctric T:ldar scanner and improvingthe dear bubble over the ubserver's positionto incorporate a machine gun. Alternatively ancarly straight tailed !vlk VI might be found, theAAF accepting a variety of Heau sub-types.

END NOTE

Using the word "a(k:mccd" is a minefield inmodeling bct-ausc what is a difficuLt task to oneJX=rson will seem to be routine to anOlhcr. Buthaving b<..'Cn a sucker for American fighter kitsfor as long as 1 can remember, I've also kickedthe "strictly all one SC:l1c" viewpoint. As kitsgrew ever more sophisticated I was attracted totry other sizes, the upshot being that now I'lladd a good Mustang, Thunderbolt, Warha",!.': orwhatever, 10 my collection irrespective ofthe scale. This is no great revelation in that itmeans thaI I now opt primarily for IN8 scalebut like the added possibilities with 1/32 scale.Another drawbad: of being too partisan for onecomparati,·c size is that one can miss the farsuperior releases outside the preferred fa\'oritescale. Change your habit though and you'lllikely be scrabbling 10 find the fine kits you

missed in this new SC'Jle firST lime around. Notthat this is a great problem: molds for plastickits arc expensive and thcy rardy seem to bemelted down or whate\'cr they do with them.Providing that you can be palienl, someone willeventually re-release thitt' overlooked modelsubject, probably al a much bem;:r price thatthose asked by specialist suppliers for "original"l:it.s that haw rocketed in price. There is also adistinct possibiliry thaI someone will kit thesubject better than the original you spent timetrying 10 track down.

ABOVE The extra effort spentpreparing the P-40F's parts wasworthwhile, as it saved a lot oftime fiXing alignment and gapproblems later. The resin cockpitfrom Cutting Edge Modelworkswas also a good investment dueto its high level of visibility underthat big, open canopy. Note thatthe techniques for achieving theP-40F's finish will be dealt with inthe follOWing chapter.


CHAPTER 6SPECIAL TECHNIQUES

CAMOUFLAGE & COLORING

Camounage is a word that hJ$ becomesynonymous in aviation terms with twoor mort colors applied to an airframe in

a disrupti\Oe paltern. Such was :l.dopted almostuni\·ersally by the R.AF as "shadow shading'" ofits combat airCTaft, but in World War 2 nO suchscheme was spt.'Cified for US aircraft despite ascries of pre-war tests. Extensi\'e painting offighters in a \"'J.riety of c.."(perimenral panemsled to the conclusion that none of these quiteelaborate schemL"S would be adopted. Instcad,a simple overall top surface co,n of OliveDrab with Neutral Gray on the undersideswould suffice. As all camouflage paint is to

some extem compromiscd by the application ofnational insignia and other identiry markings,it W-.IS felt that IhisAmcrican scheme was \"llStlysuperior 10 a brighr natural meul finish. (Sl:Cthc accompanying images on p:l.ges 99-106 formore details on recreating this scheme.)

While the majority of USAAF fightcrsconscquenlly saw action in these regulationcolors., many examples left the factories inapproximations of British shadow shading

patterns. There were numerous variations ofoutline and dilTercnu:s in color shad~ owing lUthe facl thaI Amcm:an paints \\ue generally usedto apply Ihe colors. The matching processinC\·itably came close only on occasion.

In unit service, when aircraft such :lS theP-39 and P-W were dh·erted from BritishcontracTS, the oolors were subjected to e.'l:lremetemperatures, high humidity le\els andgenerally rugged conditions when Ihe~ II"I,."Tedeployed in the Pacific or Ihe !\Iedilerrane:lll.Some colors took on strange hues Ihat almOSIdefy accurale identification from paint chartsall these years on.

:\"umerous Warhawks and Airaeohras weregiven dark green and brown camoullage at theirrespccti\Oe factories or modific-.uion center~ theexact shades often being bro.1dly interpreted. Lnservice, such ain..Taft often appear to sporr ashade of green seemingly closer to one of thcL:S Oli\'e Drab mD;:CS rather than RA F DarkGreen. Similar variations occur with DarkEarth and the underside color, which ungedfrom lighl blue (known :1,<; Duck Egg Gn:cn orBlue) LO light gray and the infamous Sky ·Lypc"5", the laner bemg subject 10 rather broad

RIGHT US Army Air Forcefighter aircraft displayed a wide

variety of schemes.There are aneven wider variety of techniques

for depicting these colorschemes. Three of these

techniques are oudined in theimages in this chapter - painting

a narural metal finish. preshading. and post-shading.

Firstly, the narural metal finish.This can be one of the most

impressive ways to display yourmodel aircraft, but the shinymetallic surface can be yery

unforgiYing.Any scratches andother imperfections will be

magnified. and some metallicpaints will reward the lightest

touch with a large fingerprint onthe paintwork. Even so, a reliable

and successful natural metalfinish can be achieYed.

92 WORLD WAR 2 US ARMY FIGHTER MODELING .YlASTERCLASS

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inlCrprelalion. See the images on pages107-113 for further guidance on reproducingIhe green and brown camoufl3.b'"C effl."Ct.

Among me re:J.SOns why nuny US fightercolors do not seem to conform to known l'Xl.ints)X.-cificltions are (1) the result of exposure 10

h:rrsh 3.tmospherie ronditions 3.t the time; (2) therefen..-'Ilce source being on color photographic~lOck th3.t is more Ihan 50 relTS old; and (3) the'lIbT::J.rics of the printin~ process. These 3.re them3.in f.1ctors that play 3. pari in disrorling themodd maker's percep(ion of the true coloractually applied to aircraft :11 fat:tories anddepots.

Uut among model makers, there is anongoing need to knoll' wh:.!t the al:tual colorswere. Nlllch research has been undertaken to

provide the answer and over the ~·l.':Irs modelrr.linl suppliers ha,·e wrestled with thc problem.Th:tt Ihey have largely suceeed(.'(j is rcflected inIhc C"cr growing range of enamd and acrylicpainls intended specifically for moods.

NATURAL METAL FINISH

When thc USAAF generally droppedGlmouflagc paint for military aircraft in 1943,Ihe b:J.sic oycrall look of first-line fighters wasradiCllly ahered. Type recognition nurkings andcodc leners \\-ere changed from white or OIherlight color 10 black and for a shorl period theoverall effect was quite pbin, even dull. Thegeneral adoption of color (rim for n..'COgnitiollpurposes was made during 19+1- parti(Ularly onfighters based in the ETO and MTO.

The basic construction of aircraft duringWorld War 2 comprised a mi.xtllrc of Aldad,dural, aluminum, titanium and mabrrlesium.These materials, shaped inlO 3.irframe panels,n:tturally enough exhibited slightly differentI'Onal v'alues which show up in photographs.Even aircraft built by sub contr3.ClOrs had areasof their airframes Ihal were common to thetype. A prime example was the darker panelsrunning abO\T and below behind the exhauststubs on both sides of the P-51's cowling.These are always yisible on M F aircraft andshould be indicated on any model. Tips andadvice on how to achieve a lop-qualil)' NMFfinish on your model are provided in theimages on pages 92~98.

WEATHERING

An airbrush is clearly lhe optimum tool forapplying weathering eITect~ on models althoughmrious types of paint may also be applied by thestipple and dry brush technique; other marking

media including graphite, fdt tip or crayon maybe applied using a sort doth as an applicuor.As a genernl rule, mOSI aircraft irrespective ofwhether or not they start OUl \\ith a null orglossy paint finish or a "naturnl" surface finish,suITer a dl.'gfCC of wealher d1et.1S once they star!flying. The air is a hoslile em"ironmcnt, bringing"ith it c.'I.treme heat and cold, with rain andhumidity [0 effect the finish of airplancs thaIplough through it. This usually manifcs£s itsclfin the form of discoloration and fading of thepainlll'ork but the most rommon effect is that ofbuffing the surf3.ce to a shiny (or shinier) finishthan it started out with. Added to that were theresults of the reb'1.llar removing and replacing ofcerrain panels undcr general servicing, leadingto chipping of paimed edges, anu the adverseeITei;:tS on finish as a result of oil and fuelspillage.

Wc:athering additionally manifests itself inIhe form of exhausl slaining and di~coloration

in specific art':IS. A light gray or beige coloredstreaking or faded effect indiClted that anengine using k-aded gasoline (pelrol) was set torun at a lean, more or less cornxt throttlesetting, while a darker color meant a richer fueland air mixture, the variation being similar inprinciple to the \-arious I)"pes of coloration\-isible on (he inside of ,-chicle e.'l:haust pipes.

Such efTCCIS are easier 10 achie,'c if they are3.pplied, for example., in waler paint O"cr anenamel base coat. Gouache, which comes in atube, is ideal for this purrosc as i( has a mattfinish. Water soluble paint has the one bigadvantage in that it can be wiped off for rcpeatattemptS, shOll 1<1 the first application not re~ult

in quile wh:u is required. This trouble-ti·cemethod should stand up to a degree of he:l\'Yhanded errors - thin paint, spillage and orhertroubles - without spoiling a good basesurface. BUI familiarity with your 3.irbrush(and perhaps its limitations) should eventuallyresull in the correCI degrce of exhauSI stains.,grime and fading you are aiming at.

Pristine painlworL: was a \-ery low priority[() men fighting for their Iin:s., bombed by theenemy, rneked by diseasc and under allackfrom a host of Ihings that crawled, bit andstung. i\1ode1ers really need to crack thosefaded shades if Ihe)' arc to celebrate accuralelythe aircraft flown by Ihose who fought in (hoscdesperate, '·aliant days in far flung theaters ofwar. Models of wartime aircraft shouldl1atural~y reneet 1he \\'t-ar and tear of from-lineoperations.

An inleresling surface coloring can beachieved by varying the paint tones if the subjectis in Ni\1F but is a little more demanding if Ihe

SPECIAL TECHNIQUES 93

RIGHT This P-47D will wear anatural metal finish and invasionstripes on the lower surface ofthe fuselage. The first step was

to paint the lower-mid sectioo ofthe fuselage white. ensuring thatthis coat covered it thoroughly.

Tamiya paintS were used for theblack and white invasion stripes.

RIO-iT Tamiya masking tape wasused to mask off the areas that

were destined to stay white.NalTOW strips of masking tapewere first applied to the edges

of the stripe.These narrowstrips are required due to the

compound curves and openingson the lower fuselage. A wide,

single length of tape would mostlikely have wrinkles and gaps. A

wider strip of tape is used to

cover the gap betWeen the twO

narrow borders of the stripe.Note that a small blob of

Blu-Tack has been stuffed intothe supercharger vent, which

was painted and weatheredbefore assembly of the fuselage.

RIGHT Tamiya Acrylic Flat Blackwas ~prayed in light coats. The

Te~torAztek A470 airbrush usedto paint this model can be seen

in the background.


r

LEFT With the masking taperemoved, the black and whitestripe5 were revealed. Someadjustment to the width of theblack stripes w;u required. Themasking process was repeateduntil a satisfactory' result wasachieved.

•

•

j

,

1

modd is to depict an OD and Gray machine.This is where the references 3b":lin come to therescue as each US fighter h:ld :m:as of wear and

fade common [0 all theaters. Different degreesof weathering can also be pcn.:ci\"oo on aircraft

serving in Europe and the Pacific, a fact thaIrcn(,.'Cloo the extent of ground support andfacilities.

Some fighter group commanders werefastidious about ha,"ing smarl aircraft on theiTflighl line. Crew chiefs would ha\"c c....haustburns cleaned ofT aircraft after rcd::lcss youngpilots had Tcrumed from missions and messedthem up in the process. Other COS were notso panicular: if the unit commander turneda blind eye to such things, more \\"catheredaircraft might appear on the flight line. In the8th Air Force in England, for whatever reason,the 33Yth Fighter Group seems to havc flownscruffier Mustangs lhan, say, the 352d FighterGroup in the same eount'~'.

But despitc all this, how often docs onc seea model wid} all markings in plaec flown by a50-mission-plus pilot without a scratch orsome c\'idence of exh::lust stainingr A finish aspristine a.'l the d::l)' the aircraft was rolled out ofthc factory paint shop makes little sense to myway of thinking. I do know that there is awidespread belief that weathering an otherwisefinished model nms the risk of ruining iL, butif care is exercised, the problem should be

o\·ercome easily.

RUBBING DOWN RIVETSOn larger sc::a.le kits such as the Re\·ell 1/32scale P-38 and P-H that arc 10 be finished incamouflage paint, the notorious ri\'et headscan be lighl1y rubbed down before applying afirsl coal of olive drab. Rub lhe rivet's downagain and apply a sel.:ond coat of painl. WithThe rivets slil1 proud of the surface plastic, rub

them down for a third time, which should stillhavc thcm \'isible through the paint. all somc\'cry weathered aircraft finishes, some rivetand panel detail should be seen, bur nOI ne:.rlyto the extent visible on the kit when it is new.As a final touch, morc 00 can be sprayed o\erthose areas nOI so prone to the wcar and tear ofopcrntional fl);ng. A patchy finish so rypic::a.1 ofmany first line aircraft should result.

The above ri\·ct retention method ob\<iouslyworks bc!.1 when the plast:il.: base color is lightgray or "naturnl plastic" rather than say. bbcl:or green, one reason \\ hy 1 - and I SUSpeCImany others - much prefer lits molded in aneutral shade.

Hut even if a kil is molded in darker color,this can pro\'ide eonlrast as the "rub downafterwards" method can be used if a weatherednatural metal finish is chosen. One important

BELOW The entire area ofblack and white invasion stripesw;u finally masked in preparationfor the natural metal finish.Tissue paper was dampened andpressed gently into the mainwheel wells. This acts as amalleable mask for cavities thatare otherwise hard to plug.

SPECIAl TECHNIQUES 95

RIGHT Tamiya AS-12 AirframeSilver is only available in a spray

can. This is a great shade fornatural metal aircraft - neither

too shiny nor wo dull.The finishis also quite wugh and durable,

unlike some other natural metalpaints. The only problem with

this color is that the spray cansometimes produces a slight

orange-peel texture on thesurface of the paint. To avoid thisproblem, the contents of the can

wtlre emptied into a smalldisposable container. The

container was covered withplastic wrap, a small hole was

made in the plastic and the paintwas sprayed into the hole. The

result is a pool of silver lacquerin the bottom of the containerthat can be poured into a glasspaint jar. If you are swring thedecanted paint. do nm tighten

the cap tOO much as there maystill be propellant in the paint,

resulting in a possible build up ofpressure in the jar. The silver

lacquer was then sprayed overthe entire model using the

airbrush, resulting in a smooth,hard base coat.

point to remember here is to obrain a goodeO\'cragc of paint before attempting to rubdown. Aboyc all, remember that you're tryingto din)' up the finish, not ruin the paint finishyou have already applied. 1 know that somemodelers feel they arc treading a \'ery fine linewhen doing this and Ihe answer is obviolL<;ly topractice on an old kit first. A degree ofboldness may also be in order!

Rubbing painnmrk down seem<; to be moreof:m art than it might at first appear. I find thatil is ho\\e\'er onc of thc more pleasing: aspectsof modeling as the efTe<..'t one creates will beunique to the indiyidual model (and modeler).The trick is as C\'cr, to kecp lhe wear and tearwithin Ihe confines of the visible effects ofweathering: on the full size airframe.

b-en if the available photos of your subjectaircraft do not show that much weathering onsay. the wing rOOt areas, anOlhcr photo of asimilar ~ub type assigned to the same squadronin the same theater mar do so. "Borrowing" abit more weathering to boost the final 1001.: ofa model is I believe, quite legitimate. Whatyou arc then depicting is a typical finish forthe thcaler of operations, which fel\" canargue wilh.

DECALS & MARKINGS

While decals arc <.:urrently reaching very highstandards of accuracy and reproduction, Tpcrsonall~ c.'\:ercise a lillie caution in their

application. While not in any way denying thatde~;als are an integral part of modeling, theyarc sometimes used ;n my opinion to thedetriment of I he direct application methodusing suitable masks or stencils or indeed handpainting.

Looking closely at decals, one occasionallyfinds discrepancies between the pancllines onthe full size aircraft and the width or depth ofthe docal. There can be cerl'ain limitationswith the artwork/printing process andperhaps e'-en the accuraq' of s~;aling. Decalsh<.."Cts are usually prepared from large sizean-work or computcr generated images andreduced 10 the rC<juired dimensions, and I'\'efound inSl'ances whl.:l'c for l.:xample the air<;faftserial numbers in I/ ~8 scale do not matchthose on the I.:it sh<.."Ct because they arc slighrlytoo large. J found this out \\ hen trying tosqu<.."Cze si;\: digits onto Ihe fin of a P-47 in thisscale in the stanJard location between theleading edge and the rudder hinge line. Aeomp:my that should know better had actually<;caled all the numbers wTOngly. I found therewas little or no space at each end of the serialwhen applieJ to the model, when such is quitcobvious in the reference_

In shorl, nobody should be overawed by thereput.1tion of decal companies with voluminouslists, as they may miss certain detail~. I'm notimplying that there is, in lhe hard commercialworld, a race for quantity over quality. But onecould state with some accuracy Ihat there is a

96 WORLD WAR 2 US ARMY FIGHTER MODEUNG MASTERCIASS

pcrcei\ed ucsire to be first with decals for ane:"ciring, ea~'Crly awaited new kit. If the T':I(."'C iswon hy a poor product tht..n the whole cxcrciseis a wasle of time. II must surely be preferable to

hold back, ~et the \<lrious clements as accurateas possible, st':llc the shce! wrrectly and releaseit only when qu~lity ronlrollS s.1tisfied.

In defense of the commen;ial dec;11 firms,howe\'er, Ihere is the slight problem lhal somesheets a.re designed around specific kits. If thisad\'isory small print is ignored or ol"erlookcd,applying the del-als to an alternative kit canlead to problems. So be "amed - even if allP-51s in a comparable sClle appc-Jr to h:1\"e thesame \'ertiClI tail :UC3. :lpplying decals willshow that it isn't neee<>s:arily 50.

Painting m:lrbngs str:light onto tbe surfaceof the model must in some instances besuperior to using a decal, which will in\'anablyrequire \e.. ~' close curting 10 elimin~te alllr:u:csof the c:lrrier film rhat surrounds every ilem ona waterslide sheet. The larger the decal, themore acute this prohlem e:ln become. Thingsmight gel unwieldy with Ihe decal demanrJinghuekets of softening agenl 10 persuade it 10 laydown on compound cun cs - and I have notedthat in onc or two instances this stuff will notonly stain a light finish and "lift" the surfacep:!int but it Cln fade detail off the decal as well.I land painting may therefore produce superiorresults, particularly in 1/32 scale where acresof plastic provide ample scope for dispensingwith the I:tr~'Cr oncs al least.

Thc US star or star-and-bar insignia tendedto wcalher very well, e\l,~n on a h:l1Iercdbackground, su the facllhat modd dec'lls ofrer ahigh \'isibilil); t:1irly dean :.lppearancl: is quite 10

keeping with some subject airtTaft. An exceptionwould be those quitc numt--rous instances II herethe insignia was deliberatel) clullt'd down on thegrounds of reducing \isibililY.

To confuse this issue, 50me photos will:tppcar to indicate a glossy application of Ihenational ilThi~'1lia againsl a matt o\'crall colorschemc_ It W:IS not of course unlmown for decals10 be uSt.'cl for somc aircraft markings, so checkIhose refcrenCl'S c1osely_

This question of glossy or man modeldecals is a moot one as some photos definitelyshow reflections off II'hal is known to he I'crymall surf:lee. In gener;ll however a sheen affect,nOI necessarily uniform o\-er all surfaces,should be aimed al. If noccs.sar)~ one of lhecommcrtial matt or gloss \-amishcs C'Jn beapplied to produce a uniform surface mer theentire aIrframe.

\Vhilt' you are ~tudying photo references,scrutillize thc outline of code leners and

numbers. Dead straight t'<il,'CS and absolutevertical :llignment was often the exception,\\'obbly Olltlines being vety.apparelll on mallYaircraf1. IdcntifiC'Jtion di~,;ts on warlime aircrafl!c'Il1L'<l Ol'er, did not fol1O\\' standard p:!tterns.,were presented o\'erl:trge or undersize fromregulation dimensions :I.llJ show a placementthat varied 10 say the least.

Some crcati\'e applications such as pamtingserial numbers aligned \\ilh the aircraft'sground anglc rather than horizontal to thecenter axis can give the mooeler a degree ofleeway and:t slightly diffCfCnt remit. In contrastwith realit~" dt."t-'":lL" tcnd to pro\'ide the morJclerwith perfectly proportiont-d ktters and numberswhich SOmetimes need a dl.:l\"rec of modiflcationto make lhem match the real thing.

There arc of course those who helie\"c thatthey are totally unable to paint a straight linc and

ABOVE Unpainted aircraft oftenfeatured different shades ofmetal on different panels.Individual panels were preparedby masking with Post-It Notesand Tamiya Masking Tape. Somepanels were sprayed with TestorMetalizer Aluminum, whileothers received a coat of adarker shade.

BELO'N The Olive Dr.lbanti-glare panel on the frontdeck was masked and sprayedusing Gunze acrylic Olive Drab.The natural metal finish was notover-sprayed with a flat finishafter decals were added. A lightCOat of semi-gloss varnish wasapplied to the decals only.


-

PERSONAL MARKINGS

Rows of small Hakenkreuz, Ba{kenkreuz orless commonly, the Regia Acronautica's bundleof three fasces, recorded air and groundvictories ovcr German or Italian adversaries,some of them, it has to said, being morerecords of enthusiasm than actual kills. At thetime, more than one pilot swore the enemyaircraft he fired at was a goner, a fact not alwaysborne out by analysis of enemy records. Notthat this matters in terms of model markingsalthough a natural curiosity leads one to seckout the bcts behind the symbols, the name ofthe pilot(s) and some of the sorties flown toaccumulate the visible scoreboard.

The 9th Air Forces' cautious and evenrather reluctant system of awarding aerialvictories to its tactical pilots was the cause ofsome controversy, then and since. The curious"unconfirmed destroyed" was a categorythat frustrated numerous pilots and some seemto have painted the kill on their aircraftwhatever higher authority's ruling was. Thisled to some P-47s particularly carrymgimpressive victory tallies, which do not bearout scrutiny of any list of aces. In this eventesprit de corps was undouhtedly the main ohjectof the exercise.

In the Pacific, similar embellishment offighters took place, the rising sun or plainer"meatball" usually being used to indicateaerial victories. That said, there arc numerousexamples of variations on this basic theme, farmore than anyone modeler can ever duplicateover the average human lifetime!

Photos showing well decorated P-3Hs, P-40s,P-47s and P-5ls might indicate the personalmount of an ace - or they may not. It is a wellknown fact that most of the top-scoring pilotsused more than one aircraft to obtain theirVIctories and in regard to tactical fighters,particularly those operating in Europe, there arcfor example numerous P-47s showing a row ofkills which arc not obviously attributed to anyone pilot, but an accumulative score hy several.Enough of these can he found in the pages ofunit histories to start you on a research programto find out more. And there you have one moretheme, several models of the different aircraftflown by one pilot.

Scores of USAAF fighters carried missionsymbols in great profusion, making potentiallyexcellent model subjects. Sometimes though,there is the problem of complete identification.Confronted with an interesting missioll log,cartoon and name in a photograph showingonly part of the aircraft, the modelcr can ha\'edifficulty in unearthing details of the rest ofthe markings. This can lead to endless cross

\Vhi1e not represcnting as large an artworkcanvas for pin-ups, canoons and names asthe homhers, the tactical fighter outfits,panicularly those attached to the 9t h Air Force,had many P-47s, Mustangs and Lightningscovcred with symbols representing combatmissions. Along with names and cartoonfigures, such aircraft had masses of bomb,broom, umbrella, train, truck, tank and shipsymbols stenciled or paimed on to record thedestruction meted out to the enemy as theAllies swept across Europe.

would bc complctcly lost if they did not haveacccss to dccals, which is entirely understandable. As with any aspect of modeling, we allhave a pcrsonal choice and prefcrences. For somesubjects hand painting, or a mix and matchcombination of spraying and decals may yieldmore satisfactory results, depcnding on thesuhject.

RIGHT The result is a crisplypainted set of canopy parts.

RIGHT The canopywas then painted silver. Note

that the insides of the clearparts have also been masked

with tape. This is to avoid therisk of overspray on the inside.

RIGHT The P-47D's canopy wasalso paimed silver. The clear

sections of the framed canopywere masked with small strips of

Tamiya masking tape. The firstpainting step was to spray black

as a base coat.

98 WORLD WAR 2 US ARMY FIGHTER MODELING tv\ASTERClASS

reference to :til a\-ailable books covering thatparticular type, but the search is oftenrewarded by the information required to

complete a model. Some help is oftenprovided.

The US practice of including the aircraftserial number on the forward fuselage datablock ha~ always been of great help (given aelear photographic referem:e) in ideTllificationof individual aircraft, even if only a partialfront-end photo is available. The group andsquadron code and serial number ctn usuallybe determined, leaving the confirmation of theindi\·idual aircraft code letter to be cracked.That can take more time. Some deed sheetsmiss out serial numbers for this very reason butthe kit will be considered incomplele unlessthis detail em be unearthed.

However, more and more individual fightermarkinb'S arc being perpetuated in fre~h

publications, magazine articles and ever morecomprehensive decal sheets. There seems to behealthy competition among the various decalsuppliers to come up with new schemes andIheir efforts should win nothing but praisefrom the moclclcr, as occasionally such data IS

not readily available elsewhere.Dl.'Clls ha\'c in fact become so accurate and

sophisticated that they are turning themseln::sinto an essential branch of rcsc:arch in theirown right - to the poim that the last thing

anyone wants to do is cut them up for applyingto a modeH

II is at vel)' least worthwhile running youreye o\"cr the lists of decals published TL-gularlyby mail order houses and modeling ma~,'':lzines

tn ensure that details of the aircraft you arclooking for ha\'e not been added to any list. If ithas, that may save you a considerable amount oftime, should you have been intending to handpaint or cut up a selection of sheets lO malt: upa complete serial number or sct of code 1cttt:rs.

To my knowledge nobody has yet comeup \\-ith faded and worn dl.·(;al~, irregular linesand markings stained with c.'\;halL~t. If you wanlto make a model look tot':llly authentic, allsuch irregularities, if reJcnnt, should beincluded. Hand painting or the use of preshaped masks, ctn help obtain almost completeauthenticity.

Final finishing using clear varnishes isperhaps an overlooked aspen of modeling butthe popu!ar ranges of paint indude a variety ofmatt, gloss ami sheen type finishes lntendeu forspraying over the emire surface of the kit.I laving rdied on the semi-matt finish inherentin many modem paintS, Pvc nOI had too muehexperience of what used 10 be simply lermedYarnishing. Otherwise I\c found that a ruboyer with a soft doth will bring up a sufficienlsheen on a \'cry matt surface- which leaxe5 theongoing problem of gloss) decals contrasting a

BELOW Next we move to

pre.shading weathering on anOlive Drab finish. Many WorldWar 2 US Army Air Forcefighters wore a finish of OliveDrab and Neutral Gray.Althougheven the names of the colorsseem to imply an uninterestingpaint job, Olive Drab actuallyresulted in a diverse finish dueto its instability and heavyweathering in service.Pre--shading panel lines on amodel offer the opportunity tolend even more definition to ourOlive Drab P-39D Airacobra.

,--


RIGHT The P-39D model wasprepared by simply masking offthe clear parts.The open "car

door" on the starboard side wassimply blanked off by taping the

door in place.

little too much on the model paint surface. ThevilX versa challenge of \"ery man decals is nOtnearly so widespread. Thi~ decals-versus-paint(:Ol1trast is \,"here varnishes may come into theiro,,-n bur ol1e should rale inro account the fini~h

of the subject aircraft. j\hu or senti-gloss blackpaintwork on aircraft such as the P-61 and1'-38 often appears ro show the nationalinsignia glossier than surrounding airframeareas. This cannot always he the angle of thesun or the use of decals, but the effect is quiteI'lsible on photographs. It means that theapplication of a glossy commercial decal sheet10 a matt finish will be authentic enoughwithout the need to bnng the modd up to thesheen of the decals, which docs seem to be ;1

rather labor-mtensi\'e way to do things. As e"er,the only answer is to give it a go on an old lit,principally to see how the \"arnish rc;lCts withthe dl"(;als and the softemng agent, the thinnersused in the pamt and so forth.

MASKING

On a larger s<.-alc kit the simplest and mosttraditional form of mask IS the harddemarcation line achie\"ed by a l-anl or stiffp~pcr edge held lightly in position with rape,Blu Tad: or e'-cn finger pressure. Carefullysprayed, Ihe resultant lines on thc kit shouldbe crisp enough, with the advantage that thenose an, l-ode leiter, number or whate\·cr, ha.<;e.\:actl~ the same renl"Ctive property as thesurrounding paint.

100 WORlD WAR 2 US ARMY FIGHTER MOOEUNG MASTERCLASS

An) pliable material can be osed to blank ofTpre-paimoo arC3S such as a lXlCkpit interior andwhed wells, COllon 11'001 or moistened [issuebeing parlicularly efTecli\'e in c1iminalin~ any"creep" of sprayed paim.

ProduCls such as Maskol are line for somelasks ahhough it has 10 be well mi:.:ed.PUllcl'ioning by cOI'ering the masked ofT areawith a fine, proleelil'e membrane, \'1askol andolher similar liquid products can shrink if themix is not righe SlOred for any lengTh of timethe producl can harden and gel al the bottomof lhe conlainer, ill which case il is preferablero invest in ;) fresh supply. Older liquid maskm,ly also ha\'e a tendency to "string" and nOIcover well.

Adhesive tape such as That sold expressl~ forthe purpo!'>C b) Tami)'J. ma~ be used for maskingsmall and large areas of models. ·rhe one provisoI'd add is 10 watch thal a pre\'iously paint'l-Jsurface does not "lin" under the tape. Providl-Jthm it is lightly tacked down or used to anchora piece of ordinary paper along the line to bepaimcd, Ihere should be few problems. I'vefound thai sih"er (or aluminum shade) painl isprone to lining as this has a .endene}" to "plaIC'"the surface with slightl~ difTerent adhesionproperties to colors. depending on the type ofpaim being used. ~ew tape with adhesionproperties Iha. ma~ seem too strong can bewiped bet'\\ccn thumb and forcfingl'T befon:application to reduce its Slrenb'1:h_ RC',;ularan work masling tape or draubohting tape isoflen recommended for Ihis work but thlTC is

stillihe risk of gening too grelt an adhesion andc\·cn a hair\" ed!!e._ 0

i\hsbng tape's stren~'th is achie\·ed by aheavier maleri:ll-likc backing and should he usedsparingly - it :Ill dCJX'Ods on the complc..'\:ity ofthc :lrC:J. to he masled - and whether in the caseof thc abewe-menlioned !>;Iver, if the model pan..h:l\·e been washed thoroughly before a start

was made on conSlruetion. Con!>'t3ntly handlingmodel paris em impart a coating that can heresistant ro painl, so finb'Cr (;emmet should hekept to a minimum.

If you prefer that the mask doc'S not actually:ldhere to rhe surface of the model, it is possibleto usc tape to hold a paper or pbsric edge downto do the actual "straight line" job by proximityspraying. The ortiee stationery product Post-Itsarc ideal for this purpose as I he adhesive line onthe pecl--olT edge is gentle l.'Oough not to lift ap.1int surf:lcc.

There are now numerous custom peel offmasks on the markel, prim:arily for {''":Inopyframes and n:ltional insigni:a and m:any modelerswill probably ha\"e used these or {,TC:J.te....d theirown similar methods, depending on wh:at theyarc trying to :achieve. iT is well to rememberthat e...cry e...enru:llilY for "creep" or overspraymtt<;t be allowed for as painl will gel throughthe sm:allcst gaps unless grC:J.1 care is takcn to

prewnt it doing so. Out careful masking prior to

:lpplicalion of paint for cowling nose rings andfuselage, \\'ing and tail bands :md so forth cansometimes he preferable to inducing decals tolay down on curved surfaces. Wheel hubsincidentally can he covered by cin:ular selfadhesive stickers that arc sold in small sheets at

stationery outlets. i\Yailable in a useful \-ariety ofsizes, they {''":In prOlCCl the hub while the tin;color is being sprayed.

CAMOUFLAGE MASKINGThe biggest challcngc somc modelcrs of w-artimefightl.'T$ facc is that of applying CJmounageconvincingly. The scale of the model docs nOIreall~ malt'''... 100 much as the result should besimilar. The question oflen posed in modelingjournals is whether the paint shades should ha\'ehard or soft edges. And what is the pn::ferr"xlmethod (If application - one ovcrall color wi! hthe second one applied on top or the firS1 coatapplied o\"cr bare plastic with rhc second bUlIingLIp aeros~ all Surf.1CCS? As regards edges andmasking, one secs both applied - see lhe imagesaccompanying this chapter for det;lils of how to

create both.Doth Iypes of spraylxl edge will he e\·idem in

reference pholOS and copying what is there willgive good results: some areas, particularl~ thosein shadow under the tailpl:aoc arc impos..sible to

chock should a single monochrome photo be allthai is a\-ailable. In Ihat ins-rancc all the modelerCJn do islO follow directiH'Sand paint cham thatexpbin ho\\ paim paltems wcre generallyapplied 10 Ihe Iype in question.

CANOPY FRAMES AND MASKINGCommercial companies ha\"e only recentlyappreciated thaI a markct niche cxists forcarefully tailored, self-adhesivc masks, huthaving identified it they arc bcm!;: offered inrapidly increasing numbers. Designed fi.Jr usewith specific aircraft types they arc aV:lilnblc

LEFT Panel line~ on the P-39Dwere roughly over-sprayed usingblack acrylic paint. It is notnecessary to be very precise atthis stage.

SPECIAl TECHNIQUES 101

ABOVE Next, the top colors arenext painted between the panel

lines, resulting in a starkcontrasL The top color was then

over-sprayed in multiple lightcoats until the dark panel lines

were barely visible. In the case ofthe P-39D, the white tail andleading edge markings were

sprayed before the maincamouflage colors.

from companies such as ."vieteor ProductionsInc. of .i\lerrifield that has numerous subjectsin the Black 1hgic range, while Eduard of theCzech Republic markets Express .\hsk.

These products serye to highlight one ofthe most demanding tasks in completing amodel aircraft to a reasonably high standard.Ensuring that the windscreen and cockpitc-anopy framework is painted well can be thestuff of nightrnares as there arc few areas thatwill make or break an otherwise attractive finish.Not only docs the shape of the cockpit framinghave to be spot-on, all the lines have to be deadstraight. Shaky lines arc yery quickly noticed,unfortunately. There arc various ways aroundthis problem if the hand holding a loaded brushll1sists on deviating from an extremely narrowframe line.

Pre-masking and spraying the canopyframework is a reliable method although muchdepends on how well defined these strips arc(sec the images on page 98.) Even slightlyraised frame lines can be difficult as whatyou are actually doing IS painting a strip with('hree sides. Rubbing the framework down ISsometimes an option, prOVll1g that maskingthose panels that should be kept free of paintreduces the risk of scratching the elear areas. Afurther method is the application of strips ofadhesive tape. Pre-painted, these StripS maybe cut very finely indeed; providing that theresuh docs not have an oyer-scale appearance,

this "instant canopy frame" method can heeffective. It can certainly remove lhe hasslefrom what rcmams onc of the most difficulttasks 111 model making. The one drawback isgetting adheSive strips to adhere well. O\'ertime they ,Yill haye a tendency to dry out to thepoint of lifting off, so an adhesive suitable forsuch a job should be used, but very sparingly.

WHEELS

11 is only comparatively recently lhal manufacturers haye ineluded treads on Ihe lires offighter kits, the bald variety having long beenthe norm. fortunately there are kits that supplytwo sets of wheels, in flattened-under-load formand completely round. Such spares arc valuableas treaded tires will considerably en hance anolder kit. The patterns varied from type to lype,so check your references.

Wheels arc most easily painted when lhehole in the hub is impaled on a round carriersuch as a wooden or plastic cocktail stick.Suitably supported, bald tires can also beworked on to create convincll1g tread patternsin paint or small cuts, worn effects and "creepmarks" which arc often yisible in vcry clearphotos. Separate hubs might need someanchorage points for hydraulic lines and thereis of course a need to paint the spokes of"open" wheels.

Hub cover plates over the wheel centers ofAmerican fighters commonly sported someform of decoration, in the form of stars,various designs in several colors or mllliatureinsignia. In addition, more than a few added 10numbers for ground recognition on theflight line.

Should the kit decal sheet not run to theseitems the modeler may wish to add them,either by hand or after a delve through thespare decal file. Wheel cover plates - or the lackof them - is a sizeable subject on its own.Among the questions one can invariably ask IS- were they always supplied with a givenfighter type, irrespeeti\T of sub-type? If theywere left ofl~ was this usually because thepresence of mud could accumulate dangerouslyand affect braking? Or were plates generallydropped on some sub-types later in the war, asphotos would appear to indicate? I'm afraid Idon't have the answers, either!

Kit wheels that traditionally were completelyround until comparatively recently can begiven flats by using a domestic iron. Heat theappliance just to the point where plastic willsoften and place a suitable cushion between thesurface and the model's wheels. I find that the


LEFT Eduard's P-39 kits includeself-adhesive canopy masks.These grealty simplify the task ofmasking the canopy. bUI somecare was required as theadhesive is nO[ particularlystrong.The edges of the maskswere bumished with the end ofa toothpick before spraying toavoid painl bleeding under theself-adhesive material.The whitewi and wing leading edges werealso ffia.:lked at this stage,

tissue provided as kit d(.-c:ll prot:l,."Ction is idealfor Ihis purpose. Stand the model on the iron'ssurface, nlaking sure that it is level. Gentlepressure will soon nallen the bonom of thetires. 'Vith a large kit that \\'on', thrl,."e-point onthe iron, the appliam;e will have to be held levelwith a table or other surface to ensure that thetailor nosewhcel is nattened in equal degrees.Etjually, thc whcels can be n:lltened separatelybut if they're not :lll':Lched to their oleos there isthe risk that the nalS will be uneven.

In rCbrard to wheels and lires, it is wellworth the time to check that what comes inthe kit bears a close n:semblance to the realthing. l-listoric:.Illy kit wht."els were often toothin in cross section :md some fighters, notablythe P--IO, had wheels that appear almostdisproportionatel~· large. Some digging in thespares box will be necessary to come up withIhe righl size if you feel Ihat the kit wheelsneed 10 be changl,.'d.

GUNS

As onc of Ihe major componenlS in plaslic kilsof milifllry airCT:lft, repliC2 guns require specialtreatment. Thc~' should of course not look thesame as tires or propeller blades, the other two"black" areas of wartime airplanes.. Kit paintinstructions would ha\·e you belien' otherwise,offering as Ihey do litlle in Ihe way of guidance_

A coat of mati blue/black is indeed necessarybut only as a starting point.

Many kit machine guns arc moldedconvincingly with enough engraved uetail:.Ind require onl}' a "metallic" look to cnhant:etheir authenticity. Paints formulated to h:.lve ametaU\(; look arc useful but dun't overlookanother method of imparting this effc(;t to

paintwork which is about as simple as it gets.Graphite frolll I'he humblt, pencil, rubbed

on with a finger or tissue, is a remarbblyeffeClivc we:l\hcring device. IJeneils arc asurprisingly useful and perhaps overlookl,.-umodel aid. Sha\'ed off lead (any soft gradefrom HB to 61l can be used) is simply applil,.-tlto black-pamted guns to impart a rc:llisticgun metal sheen to the surface of lhe barrdjacket and breech block. It is also easy to pencildirectly onto the surface of lhe plastic to adddeplh 10 the sheen.

The gTaphite method can also be used toenhance daTi: engine paTtS, particularl~ radialcylindeTs and to an eXlcm on silver surfaces tocreate a daTi: weathering efTect. As gr:J.phite isVeT} smooth, a touch of it added to a plaslicpropeller boss will enable the blades to LUmmore casil). I also use a pencil to pick out areasof \\hct:l \\ells lhat ha\'e engra\ed hydraulicand e1ectncallines.. At the opposile end of the\\·ealhering spectrum, while chalk can beemployed to lighlen dark paim surfaces.


1c!>S common typc with a ~ond additional br.lCeangled to impart strength. It appears that mostrcar-\'icw mirrors fitted to US fighters in Europecontinued to lv"Omc from local sources, bur therewere Ameril<ln faclory produced mirrors. Onsome batches of P-510s they were sct into anaddilional snull bubble in the nuin, sliding partof the l<lno~: :\lany !\[ustang kits now includemirrors but ~"Ou may wish to add a second, whichwas quill' a <.-ommon practice, should you optto finish a modcl depicting the markings of aparti<.:ular pilol. liswlly the choice of mirror \\-as

personal to the nun f1~ing the aircraft, as it washe alone who needed thc extra \-i~n behindhim in combat. Once more, the references needchecking elosely to sec what style was fined tothe ain:raf[ you are modeling.

BASEBOARDS & DISPLAYS

A30VE The camouflage colors.Olive Drab and Neutral Gray.were sourced from the Polly

Scale acrylic range. These colorswere applied using the S<lme

technique as the white - firstfilling in between the ~nel

lines. then successive lightlyover-sprayed coats until the

desired effect is achieved. Thepre-shading can be seen under

the Olive Drab. but it is not tOOobvious: subtlety is the objective.

MIRRORS

Rear-\'iew mirrors are among the areas wherefighler models might be improved. Most t~ peshad them to a greater or lesser degree, but theywere particularly popular on ;\Iustangs. lon<.:enOled Ihat Sth Air Force P-Sl rue and I)

models had at least 25 different mirrormountings, both on the windscrccn rramc\\orl.::ll1d the sliding canopy.

;\1any of the mirrors sccn on USAA F air<.:raftin England were originally manufactun..'d forSpitfirlv'"S and Hurricanes and their mountingsI'aricd hom a sclf-supportingsingle stem and the

The widespread :Jdoption of baseboards forindi\idual model.. enables interesting infomlationabout the subject to be presented "at a glance."Ucpending on what need.. 10 be included here,the modeler can !>oi\'e his im:Jgination a free rein byrcnd<..';ng the badge of the JXIrent Wlit the modelin qucstion belonged to, adding a photo of thefull-size aircraft and perhaps, brief written data onthl.: pilot(s) who fkw it in rumba!. For rumpetitionentries, sollle IX'ople prefer to pro\'ide notes onthl.: model and llK'tltion any colwcrsion workthl.:y hare carried OUl, although such data can bepresented on a separatc card if the organizersprefer it,

RIGHT Individual panels on theP-39D were oudined with

Tamiya masking tape inprepar.ttion for the application

of altemate shades of OliveDrab.The base color was

lightened with a few drops ofPolly Scale US Desert Sa.nd.Thefabric-eoated ailerons n!Cei~

an ev\1n paler shade of OliveDrab. as these surfaces faded

dramatically in service.

104 WORLD WAR 2 US ARMY fIGHTER MODEUNG MASTERClASS

LEFT With the masking t3J>eremoved, the patchy finish onthe P-39D Cln be seen.The

Clnopy was IlUSke<l off onceagain in preparation for thegloss (oa[ and decals"

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A b:Ise can, altt."ITlan\"c1y, be just thaI if youinlerprcl the wonl as a fighlCr disJX'rsal area.Much depends on the scale of the kil s1:lndingon il and whal else )'ou intend to display, Threcdimensional items such as oil drums arcminimalist accessorit.os bur if the base area islarger, a fuel bowser or othcr \'chicles may beincluded. Placing the aircraft itself on piercedsteel planking is always eflcctivc :md:l number ofm~1nufaeturershave in th.: past offered flexibleshcet~ of PSP in \'arious st':lles that need tobe attached 10 a firm b:Isc boord. One I've usedwas an American product called Sca.legr.lIewhich, as it incorporates a few tears andindicalion of repair, makes a \"ery authenliefront-line basebo:t.rd.

Eduard market bases in ri~rid plastic wilh thePSP effect forming the surface upon which themodel srands- Oribrinally available in 265mm by164mm size, suitable for a single-engine fighterup to 1/4-S scale, the range has since beenc.xtendcd to include bases double that size. Verywidely used on the often rough fronl-lineairfields employed by USAAF fighler groups,this handy, instant runway material sets off awell-made model arguably better than any otherif a realistic, as opposed to an artistic, setting isrequired.

As should be obvious frum thc above, a deardi\"ision exists octll(:en a realistic and a designed

base, both of which arc a step up from plain antSThe Iattcr may well be the modeler's choice forthe quite understandable reason that, havingslaved O\'cr the model, the urge to put the samededication into a base is not ncarly so strong!Fortunately, plain bases, particularly thM( canoedfrom fint.'-grained w()()(], look atlraeti\'e enoughand to some eyes, do not detract in any way (romthe model itself. That's also a valid point and onethat the modeler who wishes his work not 10 beJudgt.-d a!> a diorama will have to consider i( he isbuilding for compel ilion display. The problem isthat m<xlem model competitions fcarurc so manybases that models placed dircctly onto the displa)table arc !>urting to look as though they ha'"esomething missing

There arc numerous alrcmati\-c types ofbaseboard that need nOI be \"Cry rime oon.<;umingto crc:ttc. Simply cutting up and pa!>"ting dOlI"l1 awcU rendered piece of 00" art and/or the l;ilin!>truction sheet on stiff card to your 0\1"11

design c:m work welt Almost an)' rigid surfaceIhat will support a model e:tn suffit.-c, includingmirror tiles which can be butted together toform as large an area as necessary to show ofT anyaddition:.l detail added to the model's lm'"crsurf.1er..-s. This alfID safeguards agaimt anyonepil,;king the model up to check if the undersideshave been finished correctly :ll1d possihlycausing damage.

SPKlAL TECHNIQUES 105

AIRFiElD VEHICLESFuel bows.ers have already been touched uponbut the range of airfield \'ehicles as injectionmolded kit suitable for display with AAFfighter models is not exactly vast. In 1/72 scalethe Haseg:Jwa J\'lini Box range of tanks andmilitary vehides included a six-wheel G;\'ICCCKW-353 Gasoline Tank Truck, completewith a 5ith Fighter Group P-47 on the box lOp.This kit, which ran to a two-man crew but nOI

a flexible fuel hose, was nicely detailed for thescale although such items as wire mesh guards

on lights always need replacing on militaryvehicle kits, irrespe<:live of lhe SC:tle.

Several Olher items in the Hasegawa range,including a Wilys Jeep, a smaller size bowserand twO differenl trucks, \\ere all inl,ended foror could be adapled 10, aircraft dioramas. As iswell known, the build-up of the 81h Air Forcein Brilain was glven much mtlliria supporl bythe Brilish before L."S equipment was shippedo\'er the Allanlic. Therefore model itemssuch as the Airfix RA F Reco\'ery Set,consisting of a Bedford OX tractor unil for a

Queen Mary trailer and a Coles Mk 7 crane ona Thomycrofl Amazon chassis, can also beadapted for an American airfield scene. Thesame applies 10 the Airfix RAP Emergency ScI.

This comprised a pair of vehicles, the K.2ambulance and Ihe K.6 crash l'ender, both onAustin chassis.

In regard 10 figures, Airfix put oul several1/72 (HOIOO) scale airerew selS including"USAAP Personnel" which offered "-+6 piecesmaking 38 assemblies," 10 quote lhe box I'Op.The eXira pieces consiSI'ed of a single 500 lbbomb and a one-man jack ITolley. An excellentphoto of this device in use at a P-+7 baseappears on page 111 of Roger Freeman's bookThe fighl for the SJ..ies published by Arms andAmour Press.

I ha\'e not come across a great many airfield\'ehicles since the above kits were first relcasc:.:d inlhe 19705 but must also admit to not looking outfor new addit'ions to any great extent' either, so I

may be a little Out of date as to what' is currentlyavaih\ble. 1 do know that some extra work isnecessary if I he modeler wishes to anach the fuel

ABOVE and RIGHT Additionalweathering included highlighting

of panel lines with a thin wash ofblack oil paint applied directly to

the recessed lines. Finally.exhaust stains and oil streaks

were added using a thin mix ofTamiya flat Black and Red

Brown.The dramatic pattern ofstreaks and stains on the lower

fuselage was carefully copied

from a photograph or a wartimeP-39D on page 17 of Bert

Kinzey's P-J9 Airacobra In[k'ni/'


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lines from the bowser to the aircraft and rhusuch a scene almost l.'Crtainly demands theinclusion of a figure or t .....o, as ground crew .....erehardly in the habit of dCpw'ting for a smoke andleaving a few hundred g:1l1ons of high octanegasoline TO pump into the wing and/or fuselagetanks on their own!

In 1/+8 scale the airfield support vehiclepicture has not been quite so rosy asmanufacturers long ago adopted 1/35 as thest'anclard scale for the larger military ,'chiclekit. While certain itcm~ in this scale areaclaprable to aircraft in 1/32 scalc, vchiclessuil'ahle {or display with 1/48-scalc aircrafthave been somewhat neglected, as least as far as[he mainstr~m manufacturers arc concerned.In partial response to this dearth, _'\-lanagramincluded a Clctrac tracror in their R-24l.iberat'Or kit and this, despite a molding thatwas a lillie "chunky" and dct:lil that was on thebasic side, was a vcry welcome extra. For abaseboard display a fighler can be hooked up to

the Cletrac \-ia lOW bars fixed to the landinggear oleos - once again, do eh<..'Ck the referencesro see exactly where these fitted on differentaircraft Inx:s. As it comes, the Getme has"solid" sidewalls bctw<..'Cn the tracks, lackswindscreen glass and any hint that the vehiclewas equipped with a soft-top canvas hood - avital extra for English and Italian winters. AllI hese details and others, ean be added wilhoutdifficulty to the J\'lonogram kit althoughreferences will also indicate that Cletracsopcrarcd with the windscreen folded flat.

As a companion to the 13-24 tractor, the.\'lonogram B-17G mcluded a flatbed bomblrailer. No motive power was actually provided in

the kit bUI lhis lrailer \\0"":15 commonly hooked up[() a Cletrac or a trud. for moving Out 10 lheflighl line. Most commonly photographed onbomber b3ses., thesc important vehicles areequally adaptable to a fighter scene where theycarried oxygen bonles as well as bombs, rockersand ammunition boxes.

References ro vehicles diroctly as..'IDCiatedwith the operation of USA.A}~ fighters arc not,to my knowledge, tOO thick on the groundalthough all encompassing references such asthe M(ghty Eighth H-ar Manual docs includesome basic details and no less than 17photOgraphs in the chapter entitled GroundSupport Equipment. Obviously majoring on

ABOVE Now we come tocreating post-shaded we<ltheringfor ~ Desert Warhawk.. asshown here on the P--40F.

BELO'N AMteeh's 1/4f8-scaleP-4QF was painted with PollyScale acrylic paints - Azure Blueon the lower surfaces and a base(:oat of RAF Middle Stone on thefuselage sides and the tOP of themodel.A few minor gaps weredealt with using Gunze MrSurfacer before paintingcontinued - it is never too lateto find (and fix) a problem,


RIGHT The disruptivecamouflage on desert P.40s had

a hard edge. In order to replicatethis edge, Blu·Tac.k was rolledinto thin sausages and gentlyapplied to the surface in the

shape of the camouflage p,anern.Polly Scale Dark Earth was then

sprayed inside the Blu-Tackbon:ler, resulting in a herd edge

with the tiniest hint ofnarrow overspray.

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materiel supplied to me 8th Air 1-oree in lhe L'Kfrom both British and American sources, thisrefcrcnce e:>:tends to ambulances, wreckers,mobile cranes and runway control vchicles andtrailers, the latter dccked out with a distinctivebbck and white chcckcrboard finish for highvisibility out on airfields.

Some general guides to military \·ehicles ofWorld War 2 such as the Obun:u's Fithti"K'~hi&s Di,retory published by Warne, includeairfield equipment. .\1y aging cdition haspro\'ed quile useful in this rcspect andalthough morc modern titles appertaining 10Ihe subject have no doubt appeared recenlly.Numerous vehicles will be observed within thepages of general fighter group histories; SOwilh a diorama in mind, now is the time to goo\'er them again and take a second look at the\'ehicles \-OU ma~ ha\·c missed the first timearound.

As a last word on this aspect of aircraflmodeling it is nOt wise lO assume that fighterunits III other ,heaters of war were suppliedwilh vehicles and so on to the extent that theEuropean-based air forces were. In the em,for example, a heat-up Chinese truck or an oxcart might be more appropriate lhan a CUSIOOlbuih trailer for carrying bombs, the units basedthcre being silUatOO at the end of yery longsupply lines.

THEMES

With the amI of branching out into aircraftcolor schemes th.n arc that little bit different,individual mooclers often pool [heir work intoa group project with a common theme. The

108 WORLD WAR 2 US ARMY FIGHTER MOOEUNG MASTERClASS

IPMS Special Interest Groups - SlGs - ha\'espurred this approach to modeling and theresults of combining the resources of small orlarge groups of modelers can be seen 10advantage at numerous shows. The internet hasundoubtedly assisted this coming togelher ofthe SIGs.

In fact many themes suggest themselves lOmodels of Americ;m fightcrs. They mightinclude aircraft flown by the aces, differentaircraft us,,:d by the samc squadron or group,depicting the c,·cr-popular black and \\hitcstripes applied for D-Day in Europe or theinvasion of the Philippines and the famoussharkmOUlh marking, carried at various limesin different war theatcrs, by all first-line L'Sfightcr typi.:S.

Simple, ,,:ommon themc:s might includethc u.<;e of stripes and/or checkers as unitmarkings; thc eyer popular ladies in variousstages of undr(."Ss; aircraft decoratcd with thenamcs of thc (.'::I1'Ioon characters made famousby Al Capp, Walt Disney and others - e\'cnaircraft wilh the same nicknamc might appeal10 some groups of modelers.

Characters from comic strips, moyie andsong titles provided the warlime US sen-icemanwith a wide range of inspir:lIion when it camcto naming combat aircraft. l\'ot all names arcreadily traceable to thcir source howeyer and aworJ.:ing knQ\\ k"<lgc ofAmerican sporn; and card~,''Umcs in \'ague during me war can help 10 Cf:lcksome of [he c.~prcssion.'i USI.:<1 10 personalizeaircraft in this way.

One varialion on thc theme idea is to SCt out'specifically 10 duplicate in plastic an individualaircraft in a photOs or photos. "Mrs Virginia" a

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LEFT The arial wires wereattached to the model prior topainting. eliminating the risk ofspoiling the paint job withsmudges of superglue. Patches ofOlive Drab were also added onthe assumption tha[ the RAF finflash and starboard side wingmarkings would have beenpainted out. later advicesuggested that these aircraftprobably never canied the RAFwing markings. so lhe OliveDrab circle waJi lightly sandedand repainted with thecamouflage colon.

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P-5IA of the 1st Air Commando Group iswell enough known and an id(.-al choICe. Withenginc CXh3USt stretching O\'cr half the lengthof the fuselage, this example offers one of thebest weathering subjects anpvhcrc.

Along similar (herned lines arc 3lfcraft

painttxl up specially to mark a mil~1:onc suchas the 15,OOOth P....ON with all the customernational insib'TIia. Enough "round the dock"halftone and color pholos have been publishedfor such a model to be l,;omplctcd with satisfymgaccuracy, using the Create 301 kit. Modelingcommemorative aircraft need not stuI' there asdozens of P-47s sported similar markings to

record milestones in production and thosedenoting their purchase thruugh war bonddri\'(,~. Most well known of all in this categoryperhaps is the P-3SJ painted in o,'erall brightred with the wording "Yippee" under thewin6'S. The differem:e here of t"()un;c is that theThunderbolts saw action while the others didnot.Them~ can naturally extend to an attrat'tiye

display base for the finisbt-d model. A plam sheetof clear plastic will prott"(.'t photobrraphs of thefull-size aircraft, a portrnit of the famous pilot(s)who flew it, artwork profiles of aircraft of thesame unit, or an original urut badb'C in the formof a cloth patch or a dcctl; these arc jus't someidca.....

BUILD A BONEYARD

ThroughoUT the foregoing te:\:( [here has atlea.<;t been the implication that after a fcw yearsat the hobby a modcler will hayc acqwrcd agoodly range of sp:ue parts_ This Illight come

about in a number of ways not least \·ia theyounger gencration. To be brutally realisticabout plastic modeling, it is oftcn only apassing phase of growing up; youngsters willjust as soon throw a kit together for the solepurpose of blowing it to bits on Guy Fawkesnight or speed its partial demise in some otherdire way. Such a fate may be anathema to themore mature modeler bUT he or she t-an bl:nl:fitfrom this vandalism by collecting thl: \cftover bits and removing them to a safe plal:e onthe grounds of dearing up. Few parents willcomplain once the wrecker of kiTS hasdiscovered a range of lllternative interests,from computer games to - well, you name it!

The llOarding modeler with a few youngrelatives can therefore soon be inundated witha mass - evcn a mess - of truncated winb'Sand fusclagL"S, "'heels, props and what haveyou_ Somc parts indeed come in handy forconversion work but mOSt of the larger itemstend to languish in the spares box incvitably tobe jomed by thc ICftovers from thc modeler'sown kit bashing efforts_ As thc years pass, thethrce P-5Is, four 1'-40s and tWO 1'-38s (anycombination of numbers is applit-ablc to someof us) which were once the IatCSt thing butwhich you nc\·cr gOt around 10 completing, arcrt"Tldcred morc or less obSOletC b~ ne.....cr. morcaccuratc kirs. Dcep down, )OU knO\\ you'llnc\-cr build thesc oldcr ones nO\\'. Do thcy haveany USC!

If thc major componcntS havc beenscpanted from Ihc sprues, or you ha\·c oo.-.esfull of pre\-iously paintc:.'tIl..its noo· broktll downfor easy stonge (on the grounds that onc da)they might lx: usc:.'tI ag:ain), thc~ ccnainl) do_


RIGHT Post-shading commencedwith il thin wash of black oil paintprecisely applied to the recessed

panel lines.

..

One method lli to s!:3ck all the wings andfuselages together on a baseboard, put all thewheds in a separate heap, along with thespinners, cockpit canopies., drop tanks and soon, and you have an instant comer of a scrapyartl in the making. Take a baseboard in the sizerequired, run a section of fence in any materialpreferred from card to metal around IwO sides ofil and simply arrange the model pans on lhebase and againsl the fence. Chances are some ofthe winbTS and fusclage~ will have old paint anddecals still in place - so much the beuer, a.s they""ill pro,,'ide a lout:h of variety. It goes withoutsaying thai models to any scale may be used fora boneyard scene :l1though surplus IIn-scalekits mUSI be the most economical - :mdprobably the mOSI numerous.

II is perfeedy pos.<;ible, of course, to superdetail such a diorama in mueh the same wayas any other; bUI the heauty of the basit: st:rapheap is lhat with some judicious placement,you can get away with lhe minimum of gluingand painling. It docs help if you ha"'e a numberof examples of the one aircraft type as, tidy tothe end, the military tcnded, at lea'" in the US.to park similar aircraft l)'pcs together whilethey awaited their fate. Poor surface detail orany OUlline inaccuracies of the parts can be allbut be hidden by carefully t:Olnposing thescene; wings stacked on their edge do nOIre,,-cal much and neither do fuselages if they aretightly packed together in a line. Paint may bedabbed on the lcading or lnliling edges of thewings that are most visible to enhance the

110 WORLD WAR 2 US MM,Y FIGHTER MOOEUf\K; MASTERCLASS

efrecl and where appropriate, the L;S narionalmsignia may be overpamted and depicted as asolid shape. Color photos show lhe shade usedto have been rust red in one inSl'ance but therewere others.

If you do tackle such a proj<:cr, don',o,,-erlook lhat box of old. briule decals [hat arenot likely be applied ',a any current model. Cutthem up and apply where appropri:ue to lhosearea.<; of the scrap wings and fuselages thar maybe seen.

The modeler can tailor such a display totaste. A P-40 for example, placed in front of thestacked airframe P:lrts on its gear kgs with ilSwindscreen in place, will set the scenc wellenough and provide a focus. Ahemari,,-cl}; thePacific island "hole in the ground" l)'pc of scrapscene, will1 P-38s and P-6Is (some with droptanks still attached) shoycd on lOP of truncatedbomber parts, might be a more amhitiousproject for some people. The referenu.'S are fullof these sad but nCttSSar)' scenes of 1945 as IheAllics systematically scrapped the largcsr airforces the world had e'!·er SCCI"I.

Aircraft disposal came into three broadcategories: firstly, those where the scrapping ofsurplus but complet e airframes took place,mainly in the US; secondly there were thelocations where airuaft were stripped ofmilit.lry equipment and put up for sale; andthirdly were those areas - mainly o"'-crseas where combat damaged aircraft caresses weresimply abandoned. A sub-·cuegory might bethe "active" wartime sLTap yard from whieh

l.

LEFT Once chis seep was(ompleee, a very chin mix of

Flat Black and Red Brown wassprayed over the panel lines. In(ommon with the pre-shadingtechnique, a subde finish is theobjective_

f

airframes were cannibalized for spares [0 keepother airCT::aft n)·ing.

In modeling terms, each type of dumprC<luircs a different approach. for the openair "h:mb'1lT quc:..'Cn," some deliberate strippingmight be rJcs;f:lblc, nOt 10 mention a degree ofairframe damage from shot and shell, a wheclsup landing and so forrh. Missing panels, bempropeller blades and some cutting away of theairframe to reveal the structure underneath,

arc all areas the skilled modeler can raclde tomake such a scene that much more realistic.This IS where those saved pieces of flash cancome in handy as the thin plastic makes idealdamaged panels.

Finally, the references contain numerousscenes ofain;raft being readied for the smelter. Inthe US tht:sc machines were stripped of engines,tifL'S, props and so forth and were stacked priorto disposal in a much more organized manner.

LEFT Kit dee.:als wereadded at chis stl.ge.


RIGHT Exhaust stains wereapplied to the fuselage sides

using the same thin black-brownmix as the panel lines. A chalky

stn:'ak. using a mix ofTamiya Buff

and Flat Base. was streaked ontOp of this stain.

Amcrican master modeler Shepherd Painc isa master of this sort of presentation, and hasbased many of his creations on .\lonogram kits.An abandoned and vandalized B-25 !\,Iitchellcame as part of the paeka6'"C in the original 1/~8scale kit. There was also a ditching scene withthe TBO De\-a.scltor kit - these and a wholerange of other ideas arc rcadil~ ad:Iptablc lOfighlers. Shep published a book, HoII' to BuildDiomllloJ in 1980, an A.f format paperbackcrammed with idcas including an :lmazing H-26.r...'laraudcr production line. Such an ambitiOllsand innovalive modeling project will appc·JI lOmany, with the ad'-aI1tage of some spaee saving ifadapted to reproducing part of a factor~.. rumingOUl sing:lc-cnginc fighters.

A further \'ariatioll on this thcme is anarming area. By placing a P--+7 next to a stackof bombs and :'<.'1-10 rocket launchers you I,;an:dso reduce your stocL.s of plastic ordnance,which proliferates \\;th c'·ery kit }OU buy the'>Cdays. A Iasl thoughl ~ if you arc a YOr.Il,.;OUSmodeler who uses many spares, leave theboneyard scenes intact on the shelf, so at least~'ou can see at a glance how many props, I' hl,.'C!sor canopies you acrually na\'c withom the nec.'1l10 son through len different slOragC boxcs!

WHERE TO STORE THEM?

Finally, there is the e,·er present problem ofsioring models once mey MXC been complcH.'d,and unless you !i1·C in a com·encd Zeppelin shl,.-dyou'll soon find thal space is at a premium. Dust


very quickly settles on the surface of a plasticmodel .... hieh iL~e1f just sils Ihere, c::lling into

an area that you really need for yCI anotherreference book - or indeed another model.

I can', sugges' a rl'ady an5\\Tr apan fromIhe none~loo-s;ltisf;lctory rcmedy of hangingmodels from the ceiling. Up therc they willg:::J.lhcr dusl faster Ihan almost anywhere else andshort of repading them into bo.XC5., wilh somerisk of breaking off the smaller more delicatepa.rrs, this remains a challcnge proponionare tothe amount of available space. Friends of minehave wisely buill display cabinets that <Ireintended 10 line ....';1I1S or alcmes.

If the only option is to pad completedmodcl'> away, a ,-isi, '0 your local wine merchantmight yield a number of wooden boxes. Thesecome complete with supporting inserts 10 holdIhe neck of the bollies firml~. A box intended fora couple ofbonics will aaual!) hold a 1/4S--scalcP-t7 or P~51 nicely with room to spare foradditional cushioning: lTL,1lcrial such as bubblewrap. 1\ further model storage idea is a box witha transparent lid. I.arge enough to housc a 1/32scale P-51 with il.'> .... hl,.ocls down, these boxes area bit flimsy and it is am-L<;:able to remO"e thepropeller. BUl a well~fining sec-through lOp ofthis type docs keep out the dust :md pre\'cnts themodel from being completely hidden from view.A sort of bonus herc is that if the mood isunfinished bm 'isible you can always nagyourself into completing it some day soon.

I have in the paSI built a floor-to-ccilillgsla<.:king unit so ,nal you have a number of

LEFT A final coat of Polly Scaleacrylidfln finished off this

"""Ott

sheh'cs available. Mcasun.-d on the size of thebaseboard for the largest kit you han:. Ihesc willthen serve as a useful resting place for smallerkits, and a number of completed models and/orboxcs can be accommodated. Many stores nowsell modular shelf uniL~ dcsi!."Iled to squeeze inlothe smallCSI possible space, and these arc wellworth invcstigaling £0 meet your personaln..·quirements. Most practic:ll of all are glassfronted C:lbinets, eurbo:mls or model display1,;:lS<-'S which allow the models 1'0 be secn andwhich inhibit the ingress of the dn..-aded dust.

If your living room runs to a large coffeetable this might be adapted to take an enclosedshclf unit for models, \·iewed through agl:lss top.

It is howcver a sad fact tbat many of thcmodels made up do eventually fall intodisrepair through lack of safc storage space andalthough all thc pieces that come adrift aredutifully kept, lhcrc is some inbuilt resistanceto refurbishing if the choice is between takingthe time to do Ihe necessary remedial work allO\'cr again. or tackling a new kiL

Garden shed or garage storage of models isanother possibility but in Ihcse locations,absolute frcedom from damp cannol alwaysbe guaranteed, with a consequent detrimentaleffeel on the dCl-als and maybe cven the paintfinish_ Ovcrtime some dl-cals will yellow, erackand peel off - apart that is from those you ma~

·want to remove to refurbish a kit that may nolonger be available.

If you do ha"e to rl'Sign yourself to storagewhich risks brcakage, it is a good idea tophotograph each model as you complete it.Th:u way even if il plunges to the floor thcnext time you artempt to find something in thestack of boxes underneath it, at least you witiha\·e a record of the way it used to 1001.:.

A 1:l!t1: resort ahernati\"C to your m\TI !>1:orage isto present built up modeL~ 10 a local history orwar museum, if one exists with spacc a\~li[ablc.

There are numerous small establishmentssueh as control tmn~r museum." adjacent tohistorie airfields. Oflcn run on a shoestring.such locations mar be glad of some additionaldisplay items, especially if your model subjtttsarc relcvant to the units that wcrc once based Onthe airfield in qucstion. It may only take a phonecall or an e-m2i1 to eheck.


Table 2: USAAF ordnance colors-==,;,;,;.;.-------Bombs (various weights md

ty'pes including HE general

purpose, light cese, TNT or

Amatcl filled, armor-piercing

end semi-crmor piercing md

fragmentation)

GP or Le, Tritonal Hed

120 Ib 1v",-41 fragmentation

bCllb

Photoflash combs

4.5in. M-l 0 rocke- launcher

tubes

M·B prolectile

4.5in. HVAR

L..5in. HVAR

4,5in, HVAR

05in. yellow oond betvveen tvvo 1in banes on nose and tail

"IMF tail bse gear and locking nut on extreme nose, usually

contrasted by yelbN spot on extreme rorward flat erea

common to all bombs.

yellow nose rings; clive drab body and fins; black stencihtyle

wording

Gray, no oands; block markings

dark green/clive drab exterior with red inte-ior

olive drab body; yellow head

clive drab head, steel body and fins

half yello'vvjholf NMF head and Wy on shaped charge

type; steel body and fins

red nose, white body, red fins (practice round)

•

,

•

Table 3: Drop~tank colors

Early metallteordrop-shapedl 75 gal. drop

tenks painted to metch underside color ofaircraft

Im;JregnmoD paper tanks (108 gol

caoacity)

N''€ral Isteell tanks [108 gel I

Elongo'ed teardrop (150--165 gal.)~ommor'lly carried by P-38 and P-47N

All tank riler caps

114 WORLD WAR 2 US ARMY FIGHTER MODELING tv\ASTERCLASS

usually neutral grey or I~ght gray: some ir'l clivedrab

NMF [silver doped) with tvva red bands on center

section

light grey with two red oonds; some in derk olive

drab

.NMF 0' painted to match aircrcft finish, P::lfticularly

Slack on night fighters

,ed

•

\

,

THE GALLERY

LEFT Lockheed P-38 Ughtning.model by Chris Wauchop. Thisis Haseg;rNas IH8-scale P-38JUghming kiLThe pdIlel lines andsurface detail are well renderedon this model. It also portraysthe graceful lines of this twinboomed fighter beautifully.However. the kit is best suitedto experienced modelers dueto the alignment chaJlengespresented by the architecture ofthe aircraft. and the relativelycomplex kit engineeringpreented by Hasegawa.

LEFT The P-38 was originallybuilt by anocher modeler andreconditioned by Chris. He leftthe existing decals in place andactually airbrushed aroundthem. The model was repaintedusing Gunze acrylic paints in aTestor Aztek airbrush.

LEFT This model featuresimpressive wealhering of itsOlive Drab and Neutral Grayfinish. Panel lines have beenover-sprayed with a thin mix ofblack and brown, then therecessed lines have been furtherhighlighted with a thin acrylicwash. Paint damage and chipswere created using Tamiya Silver

ellafTlel paint ~pfied with a finebrush.

THE GAllERY 115

RIGHT This overhead viewhighlighu the patchy finish, whichis typical of wartime Olive Drab

paint on USAAF fighters in thePacific and in Europe. The tOP

canopy section was replacedwith the equivalent section froma Falcon vacuform canopy set.A

pilot was also added to theinterio... of the model. Nylon

monofilament (invisible mendingthread) was used for the

aerial wire.

RJGHT The exhaust from thesupen::ha ...ger is a chalky gray/un

colo ....Tamiya Buff, a little Whiteand some Flat Base were mixedto achieve this convincing effect.

Paint damage on the wingwalkway beside the cockpit can

also be seen in this view.

116 WORLD WAR 2 US ARMY F1Gl-lTER MODEUNG MASTERCLASS

TOP Curtiss P-40E, model byBrett Green. This is AMtech's1/48-scale P-40Warhawk.Thecockpit in the kit is a little bareso a True Details resin cockpitwas added.This set was actuallydesigned for the Mauve P-40N.but it was eventually persuadedto fit in the AMtech fuselagewith a little help from a razorsaw and sanding stick.

MIDDLE The side view showsoff the distinctive deep chinintake, the additional intake ontop of the cowling. the framedcanopy and the original shorttail.

BODOM The model wasfinished with one of AMtech'shigh quality decal optionssupplied with the kit.The paintfinish is fascinating. The basiccamouflage colors are DarkEarth and Dark Green, but largepatches have been over-paintedin a darker color - possibly freshOlive Drab. The shark's mouthand the irreverent character onthe tail lend even more interestto this subject. The disruptivecolor scheme was painted withthe assistance of Black Magicself-adhesive camouflage masks.The set I used was actuallyintended for a P-40B Tomahawkbut the pattern was similar andit was a simple matter to adaptthe masks to the differentcontours of this later version.Acombination of Gunze and PollyScale paints were used.TheOlive Drab patches werespr<tyed freehand. The kit canopyrides high on the fuselage spinewhen depicted open, so avacuform replacement wassourced from Squadron. The ringand bead sight came from anEduard photo-etched set (notfor a P-40 though), a mirror ontOP of the windscreen wascarved from a scrap of styreneblock and the twin antennawires were added fromsmoke-colored invisible mendingthread.

THE GALLERY 117

RIGHT P.....ON Warhawk. modelby Darren MoW<lm. Mauve from

Japan relused three 1/48-scaleP-40 kits in the mfd-1990s.This

P-40N Warhawk is the first ofthese offerings. The model

feat\lres excellent surface detailswith crisply engraved panel lines.

Clear parts are very thin andfree of distortion, but me fit of

me c1ur section behind mecockpit can cause some

alignment headaches.

RJGHT The True Details resincockpit was added to this kit.

True Deuils' cockpit isinexpensive and quite nicely

detailed - an excellentreplacement for the basic kit

cockpit.True Deuils resinW'heels were also used.

RIGHT Mauve's ?-40 waspainted with AeroMaster

enamels. Although the samemarkings are included in the kit,

SuperScale decals wereemployed for this project. In faet,

twO sets of the parrot's hudwere applied to guarantee

complete opacity of thebright colors.

118 WORLD WAR 2 US ARMY FIGHTER MODEUf\K:; MASTERCLASS

LEFT RepubliC P-47DThunderbolt, model by DarrenMottram.Academy's 1/48-scaleP-47D kit was released aroundthe same time as Hasegawa'soffering. Apart from somequestions about the shape of thecanopy it is a very nice kit with astraightforward fit. The shape ofthe model is accurate too.

LEFT Construction presentedno problems and the model wascompleted almost withoutmodification. The only additionwas an extra rib added insideeach side of the wheelwell tocover a kit join-line. The kitcockpit was also used straightfrom the box.

LEFT Some British-based P-47sused stocks of RAF paints tocamouflage their aircraft.Although it is at odds with theinstructions, the box art depictsa Thunderbolt finished in RAFDark Green and RAF Sky with aNeutral Gray fuel tank. The boxart served as the inspirationfor the paint job. Xtracolourenamels were used for the RAFcolors. Weathering comprisedTamiya Smoke being sprayedalong the panel lines for subtlehighlighting. Kit decals were usedfor the most part. The exceptionwas the impressively checkerednose.This was masked withindividual squares ofTamiyamasking tape and sprayed!

THE GALLERY 119

RIGHT Republic P-47NThunderbolt, model by MickEvans.Academy's 1/48-scale

P-47N Thunderbolt representsthe final production version of

this bulky USAAF fighter aircraft.Academy's kit was released

around the same time ;as theProModeler kit. The Academy kitfeaw~ superior surface detail

and less troublesome fit than itsProModeler counterpart.

RIGHT Academy's 1/48-scaleP-47N supplies a generous

allowance of stores includingbombs, rockets and drop tanks.

Much of this ordnance can beseen fitted to the model.

RIGHT The model was builtstraight from the box. The

natural metal finish was achievedusing Testor's Metalizer But'fable

A1uminum.Alternate shadeswere also obtained on randomly

selected panels by mixingdifferent MetaJizer shades,Decals were sourced from

AeroM;a.ner.

J


LEFT North American P-S IAMustang. model by DarrenMottram.The mid-1990s saw aflood of 1/48-scale P-S IMustangs hit the market.ProModeler,Tamiya and AccurateMiniatures all released P·S IBlCkin within 12 monms of eachother. However,AccurateMiniatures maintained anexclusive hold on the 1/48-saleAllison-powered Mustangvariants. Accurate Miniaturesreleased a P-SI,P-SIA,A-36and an RAF Mustang Mk. I in1/48 scale.

LEFT This is AccurateMiniatures' I{48-scale P-SIA kit,built straight from the boxexcept for me canopy. which was

sliced apart to fix in the OJ>enposition.This extraordinarycamouflage was referred to asthe "dallie scheme," and alsosometimes as "confusioncamouflage." It was painted as anexperimental measure in theUnited States during 1943.TheOlive Drab paint was from theXtracolour range. Black andwhite paints were Humbrolenamels.

LEFT To obtain this strikingfinish, the model was firstsprayed white all over. Thefuselage and lower wings werethen completely coverl~<l withTamiya masking tape. The daulepattern was drawn OntO themasking tape using a wartimephotograph as reference. A sharpknife was then employed to

trace over the pencil lines andcut out the black sections of thecamouflage. Humbrol Flat Blackwas then sPr.l}'ed, followed bymore ma5king and painting ofthe Olive Drab upper surfaces.Markings were minimal - oneupper wing roundel and a fewstencils.

THE GAUERY 121


·,

•

TOP LEFT North AmericanP-51 B Mustang, by ChrisWauchop. Tamiya's 1/4a-scaleP-51 B Mustang was released in1995,and was an immediate hitwith modelers. The kit includesdrop tanks, bombs, andaltemative exhausts.

TOP RIGHT The P-S IB was

painted with Gunze acrylicpaints in a Testor AnekA"70airbrush.Weathering comprisedthe shading of pmellines, stainson panels and chipping of wingleading edges and fasteners."Chipping" the paint was

achieved using a sharp silverpendl.AeroHuter deals ~reused on this model.

BOTIOM LEFT This Mustangwas built straight from the boxexcept for the drop tanks.Theopen Glnopy is supplied as anoptional assembly, with the opentop molded to the starboardside of the canopy_ The fit of the

flaps was so good that glue wasnot reqUired.

BOTIOM RIGHT The onlyaddition to the kit cockpit wasthe pilot's harness, scratchbuiltfrom lead foil for the straps andfine wire for the buddes.Thisphoto offers a fine view ofChris's wondertul weathering onthe wing walk and fasteners .

mE GALLERY 123

APPENDICES

BELOW North American P-51 DMustang, model by Mick Evans.

Hasegawa's Jl48-scale P-51 DW,iS first released in 1991, hot

on the heels of theirgroundbreaking series of

Messerschmitt Bf I09s.At thetime of its relene. Hasegawa'sMustang W,iS the best-detailed

and most iiuthentic P-51available in iiny scale. Indeed, it

was probably the best World'Niir 2 Allied fighter model of its

day.The kit fits togetherbeautifully. with only a litde work

reqUired under the nose.Markings for the 487th FighterSquadron, 3S2d Fighter Group,

were supplied as one ofthe three attractive marking

options in the kit.

APPENDIX A - USEFULADDRESSES AND WEBSITES

Amerie:ll1 Air Museumclo Imperial War i'v[useumDuxfonlCAM 115 em -l-QRUKThe Amcritlln Air i\luseum in Britain acts as amemorial to the 30,IXlO Americans who died£lying from the UK in World War 2, :lnd housesa collection of historic American eomoot aircraft.

American Aviation Historical Society2333 Otis StreetSanta AnaCA 9210+-3846USAExcellent quarterly journal demte<! to allaspects of t..5 a,·iation history.

The Aviation Bookshop

656 Holloway RoadLondon N I9 JPDUKLong-established book supplier carrying a fuJIrange of literature including books, mudelingpcriodic;\ls, plans and photographs.

A"iation Usk602 Pmnt StBox 97Usk \VA 99180USA.Model mail-onler house and publisherspecializing in rare kits and publicationsworldwide.

HannantsHarbour I.{oadOuhon BroadLowestoftSuffolk i'\R32 3LZUKInternationally renowned mail-()rder suppliersspecializing in kits and accessories fromaround the world.

Imperial War MuseumDepartment of PhotographsAll Saint's AnnexcAustral SILondon SEI16SJUKWith a collection of seyeral million pnnts andnegatives, the l\Vj\'l can supply numerousgood quality aircraft images.


,

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International Plastic :'Hodclers SocietyUSA!vlembcrship Seerelarye/o IPMS/USAPO Box H75North Canton011-liZ0--2-175USAAnnw.1 membership includes:J quarterly magazine arrying articles, news, re\'iews :Jnd web sites.

Just BasesMr P Thompson21 Graham RoadPaig-nwnDevon TQ,1 InnUKAs the name implies, this firm makes andsupplies finished bases and covered displaye:Jscs including the glass-dome type forprotection from dust.

Koster Aero Enterprises2S Glcnridge DriveBedfordl\'lA 01730USASuppliers of high qualilY vacuform andmulti-media kiLS

I)aragon Designs39 Cantley LaneNorwichNorfolk NR-I 6'1'1\UKExtensive range of resin "extras" for numerouskits in various scales.

US Air Foree Museum1100 Spa:Jlz S1.\Vrighl-Pancrson ApnOIl -15-133USAThe USAF Museum is locatoo near Dayton,Ohio., and is the oldest and largesl mililar)'a\'iation ffilLscum in the world, Its exhibitsinclude over 300 aircrafl and missiles.

Verlinden Productions811 Lone Star Drive (UK DmrihuJors:O'Fallon lIiSfore,r Agentsi\'lO 63366 IVellingJo" HouS(USA 157 SlIarp,nJe Street

D/Jver. Kmt, UKjVerlindcn's \\'ell established r:mgc of kitconversion sets and accessories includes manyCSAAF suhjects: it also publishes acomplementary series of modeling books.

WEBSITESHypcrscale www.hyperscale.com10ny .VI:t.t1cliano's Scale :Vlodelling Indc...

www.scalcmodclindex.comInternational Plastic Modelers' Society (USA)

www.lpmsusa.orgInternalional Plastic Modelers' Society (UK)

www.ipms.ul:.co.ul:Osprey I)ublishing

www.ospreypublishing.com

APPENDIX B - SELECTBIBLIOGRAPHY

Archer, RD and Archer, ve; USAA FAircraft Camo/lflage ant! Marhllgs 19-1119-17: The /-1is/or)1 of UWllIfAlnmftMarkillgs. Insignia, CIl1/WIIj!ilgt (50J!rm,Schiffer Publishing Ltd., Altglen, 1997

nell, D Air Force Colors 1926-4i (3 \'ols),Squadron/Signal Publications, CarolllOn,1979, 1980 and 1997

Cross, R :and Scarborough, G P~SI

tHIISlallK - Their history and how f/J modellhe"" Classic Aircraft :'\0.3, PSI.,London, 1973

Ethell, J and Bodie, W lI},r Eagles in Of/gil/aIColor, Wide\\ing, Georgia, 1995Pacific lVar liaglts ill Or(l{inal Color,Widewing, Virgima, 1997

Ethen, J and Simonsen, C The Hislory orAircraft NO$/! Art, Motorbooks, Osceola,1991

Freeman, RA Th~ Might)! Eigll/h, .'vlcDonald,London 1970Tlte MIghty Dighth H'tlr Dial:J', Jane's,London 1981Tlte Mighty Eighth lJ'iJr Mafllwl, Jane's,London 1984-The MIghty Eighth in Colour, Arms &Armour, London 1991The Nimh Air Force III Color, Arms &Armour, l.omlon 1995P~38 ClaSSIC USAAF Colors 2, Cla.~sic,

CrO\\borough.2001P-I7 Classic USrL-IF Colors J, Oas.~ic,

Crm\ borough, 2002I-less, WN and I"ie, TG Fighters oftht "fi.~hIJ'

Eighth 19-12-15, i....lotorbooks, Osceola,1990

Holmes, T Amen'call Engles Classic USAAF

Colors I Classic, Crowborough, 2001McDowell, E P-I7 Thunderbolt, European

Theater, Squadron/Signal Publicatiom,Camillon, 1998P--17 Tlumderb/Jlt. Pacific Theatcr,

Squadron/Signal Publications, Carol1ton,1999

APPENDICES 125

Rust, Kenn CAir Forte Story - 51h, 7th, 81h,91h, JOlh, J2th. 131h, Hlh and J5th AirForus, Aviation Historialll Album,California, 1975-82The 9/1, A" Foru;n World Hitr lI, AeroPublishers, California, 1967

Scutts, JC P-5J Mustang Aces oflhe Eighth AirForce (Osprey Aircraft of the Aces seriesNo.1) Osprey Publishing, Oxford, 1994P-51 MlISlallg Aces oflhe 91h alld 15thAA Fs f5 the RAE (Osprey Aircraft of theAces series ::-Jo. 7) Osprey Publishing,Oxford, 1995P-4i Thunderboll Aces oflhe £i!hlh AirForer (Osprey Aircraft of the Aces series:'\0.24) Osprey Publishing, Oxford, 1998

Stafford, GAm ofthe Eighlh,Squadron/Signal Publications, Carol1l'On,1973

Stanaway, J P-38 Lightning Aces ofthe Pacificand Clll (Osprey Aircraf[ of the Aces seriesNo. 14) Osprey Publishing Ltd., Oxford(1997)

Wea[herill, D Aircraft and Aces ofIhe 9th, 12thand 15th Air Forces, Koobbura,"'le1bourne, 1978

8TH AIR FORCEThe following: 8th Air Force fighter units hayehad new histories or reprints of earlier onespublished in the last three decades or so.\Vartime or immediate postwar histories arcnot included.

4th Fightel' GroupFry, G The Debt/ell Eagles, Walker Smith Inc,

USA,1970Ethell,] and Fry, G Escort 10 Berlin, Arco

Publishing, New York, 1980Hall, GrO'ier C Jr 1,000 Deslroyed, Ace

Printing, Texas, 1962

20th Fighter GroupMachy, R The 20th Fighur Group,

Squadron/Signal Publications, Carol lIOn,1995

IIfrer, J flappy Jack's Co Bu,r:gy, SchifferPublishing Ltd., Altglell, 1998

55th Fighter GroupGray, John M The 55th Fighter Group 7;erSUS

Ihe Lufirvaffi, Specialty, Minnesota, 1998Littlefield, Robert M Double Nickel, Douhle

Trouble, RM Littlefield, California, 1993

56th Fighter GroupMcOaren, D Beware the Thunderbolt, Schiffer

Publishing Ltd., Altglen, 1994


Freeman, R 5611, Fighter Group (OspreyAviation Elite series No.2) OspreyPublishing, Oxford, 2000

Hess, WN Z~mJu's Wolfpack, .\1otorbooks,Osceola, 1992

78th Fighter GroupFry, G Etl!:'es ofDu:tfrml, Phalanx,

Minnesota, 1991

339th Fighter GroupHarry, GP 33911, Fighier Group, Turner

Publishing, Kentucky, 1991

352d Fighter GroupPowell, Robert H, Jr The 8111ellOS( Bastards

of Bodney, Taylor, Texas, 1990Ivie, Thomas G 352d Fighter Group (Osprey

Aviation Elite series No.8) OspreyPublishing, Oxford, 2002

353d Fighter GroupRust, K The Slyblrd GrQup, Aero Publishers,

California, 1968Cross, GEJonah's Fret ar~ Dry, Thunderbolt

Publishing, Suffolk, 2001Price, Bill Close Calls, Aviation Usk,

Washington, 1992

35Sth Fighter GroupMarshall Be Angels, Bulldogs (S Dragons,

Champlin Fighter Museum, Arizona, 1984Wells, K Sleeple Morden Straftrs J943-15,

Egon, Herts, 1994Wells, K Will/peys to Muslfwgs, East Anglia

Books, Herts, 1999

356th Fighter GroupJ\1.illcr, Kent 0 Eswrt, Acadl,.'ffiY, Indiana, 1985

357th Fighter GroupOlmsted, M The 357th Over £urop~, Phalanx,

Minnesota, 199'!-Rust, K The YoxfOrd Boys, Aero Publishers,

California, 1971Roeder,] The 3571h Fig/atr Group,

Squadron/Signal Publications, Carollton,2000

359th Fighter GroupSmith, Jack H 359,h Fighur Croup (Osprey

A'iiation Elite series No. 10) OspreyPublishing, Oxford, 2002Muslangs f5 U"icorns: A His/ory oftheJ59/h Fighler Group, Pictorial HistoriesPublishing Co., Mont.lIu, 199i

Miller, Kent D Jigger, Tinplalr a"d Retkross,Academy, Indiana, 198i

I

,

361st Fighter GroupGons, S LillIe Friends, Taylor, Texas, 1993Con, Paul B Yellowjacke/s.', Schiffer

Publishing Lid., Altglen, 2002

364th Fighter GroupJoiner, 0 W (Ed) The flis/ory ofl/'( 1641/'

F((hur Croup, Walswonh, Missouri, 1991

479th Fighter GroupNo n.:·ccntly published histOry.

9TH/12TH/15TH AIR fORCES1st Fighter GroupMullIins, John D An Esa/fl of P-38s, Phalam,

Minnesota, 1995

31st Fighter GroupKucctna, DC In a Now Forgo/un Sky, Flying

Machines Press, Connecticut, 1997

79th Fighter GroupWocrpcl, D In a floslile Sky, Schiffcr

Publishing Lid., Alrglen, 2001

52d Fighter GroupBurke, LG and Cunis, RC American Beagle

Squadron (2nd PS), Amcrican BeagleSquadron Association, Maryland, 1987

82d Fighter GroupBlake, S Ad(Jnmini (Up and AI 'Em.'), 82nd

Fighter Group HislOry Lnc., Idaho, 1992

325th Fighter Group.\kDoweJl, E Chukmnils, Squadron/Signal

Publications., CarolllOn, 199-1.\oJcdowell with Hess, H The eftuJurlail Clan,

Acro Publishing, California, 1969

353d Fighter Group.\'liller, Kent D Sroen MomhJ tr.;~r Europt,

Miller, Ohio, 1989

354th Fighter Group(Anon) HiSlory in the Sky, 1aylor, Texas, 1992:'\css., WH 15.j//' Fighter Croup (Osprey

Aviation Elire series ~o. 7) OsprcyPublishing, Oxford, 2002

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

•

Many lhanks 10 lhe following indi"iduals andorganizalions that helped this project reachfruition: GaslOn BemaJ, Jr of Aero!\"lasrcr;Accurate Miniatures; Qaudinc OJ.andy ofAccount:ability; Tom Frisquc of Aviation Us!.:;Humbrol LId; K(,."Im Nunn of Brigade .Models;Brian Marsh; Binney & Smith (Rcn:ll-Monogram); Lynn Sangster of Hisloro: Agents (UK

represenrarins for Verlindcn J)roductions);Thierry Decker for his P-40L profile; AlanGriffith from A~\'hech; [h"id Klaus and SoonBattisroni from Meteor Productions; Lewis Naa:from Tesoor; Dana Bell; and all the modelerswhose kits appear in The Galk'ry chapter - OuisWauchop, Darren MOllram, and .Mid. E,=Finally, a s:pecial thank you to Brett Green..

APPENDK:ES 127

INDEX

F;,un.. ill bold .....,.. 'u ilb:.,,,,,.,...H.I' bomb..- ""'to ~5

."",,",pn :;0

1'_36 711'.1871P-JS\l >IP-WX: ;l>-~

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