maltadefender Posted September 16, 2011 Posted September 16, 2011 Playing myself back in gently after a lay-off for almost all of 2011, I'm going to have a crack with the baby Airfix P-47D 'Razorback'. Using a set of SuperScale decals, the finished product will represent 43-25429, 'Miss Mary Lou' - the mount of Major Harry MacAfee of the 19th Fighter Squadron of the 318th Fighter Group in the Pacific theatre. It's only after deciding on the subject that I've realised it's hardly an original choice... Corgi and several kit manufacturers have already done it, so why not choose another? Well my best friend - 24 years of putting up with me and counting, and even 'best man' at my wedding - is called Mary Louise, so among all the little models I've built with some sort of connection to friends and family it will fit right in. As for the real 43-25429, she was in the vanguard of the island-hopping campaign of 1944, using the P-47's ruggedness for low-level close support work. On June 22, 1944 twenty four P-47D Thunderbolts of the 19th Squadron were launched from the escort carrier USS Natoma Bay to land on the Aslito field on Saipan. First plane to touch the ground was flown by Capt. Harry E. McAfee. These planes immediately went into action in support of the Marines fighting well entrenched and determined Japanese troops. On June 24th, McAfee and another pilot guided Marines ashore on Tinian. They flew almost at the wave top level over the landing craft towards the beach, turned, and flew again and again guiding the boats to exactly where they supposed to land on path finding sweeps. When the island was captured on July 31st, Major McAfee became the first American pilot to land on Tinian. And so, with that, let the build begin...
greatgonzo Posted September 16, 2011 Posted September 16, 2011 Do I see Japanese flags as kill symbols on the decal sheet? Pity .
maltadefender Posted September 18, 2011 Author Posted September 18, 2011 I think I was a bit spoilt before I took my break, after making the recently-released 1/72 Spits and 1/48 Messerschmitt 109E you get to associate new tool quality with whatever comes in those smart red boxes. The little Jug has therefore been a bit of an eye-opener! I decided to use the starter kit paints, with the addition of Tamiya polished aluminium for the tail and cowling, plus Revell cockpit green for the interior. The tiny pots of Airfix acrylic go on nicely enough with a brush and give a nice finish - but it's extremely frail. Breathe too close to the model and it will scratch the paint. Which isn't altogether helpful when there is as much remedial work needed once the bits are stuck together! One thing struck me from looking at the 1:1 photos, whihc is that the pint finish was a bit mottled rather than completely even. This is a benefit, as the consistency of the starter kit paints can change from one application to the next. I guess that the Pacific sunshine and salt took a heavy toll on a colour like Olive Drab, and faded it pretty fast - much like the darker colors on alta-based fighters. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it! Of course all this paint detail becomes a bit secondary when dealing with the it and finish problems... Yes, the curse of the wing root trench struck hard with this old kit, requiring a lot of filler - never a strong point of mine. Having duly got filler everywhere within about half an inch of the canyon, I let it harden a bit and then proceeded to polish off all my nice paintwork with some wet & dry. Paintwork nice, wing root nasty! Splash it all over - as our 'Enry would have said Paintwork nasty, wing root fixed (ish) - hope I've got enough paint!
maltadefender Posted September 18, 2011 Author Posted September 18, 2011 OK, rescue as complete as it's going to get, glasshouse painted and aerial secure. All this while the wife was getting all unneccesary over Gary Barlow on the X-Factor!
maltadefender Posted September 25, 2011 Author Posted September 25, 2011 Should have most bits done by the end of this weekend. I've decided to stick with the decal instructions on painting, with just the vertical tail surfaces stripped back to bare metal finish. Looking at the many models of Miss Mary Lou, most people prefer to completely festoon the old girl with bare metal and blue, such as this: However I'm keping her in relatively sober form on the assumption that she would have been in factory finish and then gradually stripped and repainted in theatre. The bright blue markings would probably have been helpful for her low-level work, but as I'm not going to do much (if any) weathering, I'm going to have her as I imagine she would have looked early in the Saipan campaign. Pics to follow...
maltadefender Posted September 25, 2011 Author Posted September 25, 2011 Pics of progress (I broke the aerial wire so will replace that!) Those decals needing to go on top ('kill' markings and Miss Mary Lou in blue) follow, then the serial last of all as I use the tail to hold on to the model!
Red Dragon Posted September 25, 2011 Posted September 25, 2011 I seem to remember reading somewhere the kill markings were Del Monte labels off tins of Pineapple, the 318th FG being part of "The Pineapple Air Force". Phil Playing myself back in gently after a lay-off for almost all of 2011, I'm going to have a crack with the baby Airfix P-47D 'Razorback'.Using a set of SuperScale decals, the finished product will represent 43-25429, 'Miss Mary Lou' - the mount of Major Harry MacAfee of the 19th Fighter Squadron of the 318th Fighter Group in the Pacific theatre. It's only after deciding on the subject that I've realised it's hardly an original choice... Corgi and several kit manufacturers have already done it, so why not choose another? Well my best friend - 24 years of putting up with me and counting, and even 'best man' at my wedding - is called Mary Louise, so among all the little models I've built with some sort of connection to friends and family it will fit right in. As for the real 43-25429, she was in the vanguard of the island-hopping campaign of 1944, using the P-47's ruggedness for low-level close support work. On June 22, 1944 twenty four P-47D Thunderbolts of the 19th Squadron were launched from the escort carrier USS Natoma Bay to land on the Aslito field on Saipan. First plane to touch the ground was flown by Capt. Harry E. McAfee. These planes immediately went into action in support of the Marines fighting well entrenched and determined Japanese troops. On June 24th, McAfee and another pilot guided Marines ashore on Tinian. They flew almost at the wave top level over the landing craft towards the beach, turned, and flew again and again guiding the boats to exactly where they supposed to land on path finding sweeps. When the island was captured on July 31st, Major McAfee became the first American pilot to land on Tinian. And so, with that, let the build begin...
maltadefender Posted September 25, 2011 Author Posted September 25, 2011 (edited) Thanks both, yes not much time to make corrections on her now! Looking in to things, it seems that the 318th wore a profusion of 'duck egg blue' markings on bare metal when stationed in Honolulu before shipping out. Fine and dandy for being at home, but possibly a bit too gauche for a combat zone? The blue bands around the Jug's tubby middle were overpainted fairly quickly, so possibly the aircraft became more muted over time. I've used Azure Blue as it's the best match to the lettering for the top layer of decals for the 'Miss Mary Lou' script. To digress for a minute, I love the response that the Americans got when the P-47s arrived in England to replace the USAAF's Spitfires. An unnamed RAF pilot - although it sounds very much the sort of thing Tom Neil would say, and he was attached to the Americans at the time - suggested that they were so big next to the Spit that if they came under attack the pilot would just have to run around inside it and he'd never get hit. Sounds like a similar observation made when he discovered that the navigator/wireless operator on Fairey Fulmars was equipped with a Tommy Gun. This, Neil suggested, was to do the decent thing and shoot the pilot then himself if the Luftwaffe caught sight of them! Edited September 25, 2011 by maltadefender
maltadefender Posted September 25, 2011 Author Posted September 25, 2011 (edited) Here's the 1:1 Mary Lou and me... ...in 1987 ...in Sixth form ... at my 25th birthday (007 theme!) ... and my wedding last year! Hope this all goes together nicely or I'll cop it! Edited September 25, 2011 by maltadefender
maltadefender Posted October 3, 2011 Author Posted October 3, 2011 My word there are some industrious types out there... I'm lagging behind! Having hummed and hahed for a bit, I decided to put the blue stripes on after all. You know me - any excuse to prise open the Azure Blue! Build is almost there, only the pilot figure and greenhouse left, then to mount her on a stand of some description - once I've got my matt varnish rattlecan working again. Is it me or is this Airfix's most troublesome spray??? Also the dog or child got involved and knocked Miss Mary Lou off the table, so I've got to replace the prop blade ASAP. Ho hum.
AnonymousDFB1 Posted October 4, 2011 Posted October 4, 2011 Lagging behind... I haven't even started... Nearly there
maltadefender Posted October 24, 2011 Author Posted October 24, 2011 (edited) It's a long way from my best efforts, but I'm calling this one done. The broke prop blade steadfastly refused all advances from poly cement or superglue, but hung on long enough for the final photo. Finished it today as we were due for a visit from the real 'Miss Mary Lou' - who seemed quite chuffed. Just like when we were kids, however, she then proceeded to break the radio aerial ("Is that supposed to happen?") and the prop blade fell off! At least this build has helped get my eye in a bit after my layoff for most of 2011. Now to finish my Spitfire GB models and start planning for Malta! Edited October 24, 2011 by maltadefender
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