ericg Posted August 16, 2020 Share Posted August 16, 2020 (edited) Here is my completed RAAF P-40N, depicted in the last months of WW2. This aircraft was originally flown by the C/O of 75 Sqn, Squadron Leader Clive Toldhurst but appeared to be taken over by Squadron Leader Alan Thomson after he was posted to 75Sqn, becoming the acting Commanding Officer. I managed to find a fair bit of information about Alan, including many pics of him flying `Hep Cat' (G) and also many pages of his logbook. I have spliced these pages together, made them clearer and have included some of them here. They show the many combat missions that he flew in it and show his affection for this particular aircraft. The notes on the right side of each page make for some fascinating reading and give a unique insight into what it must have been like flying combat missions in the pacific, as well as the wind down after the war in which he continued to fly this aircraft. As can be seen in his logbook, danger was always close, even after the war finished. A bio of Alan: Alan Thomson was born in Brisbane on 13 May 1920, and grew up in Brisbane and Bundaberg. He was educated at Brisbane and Ascot State Schools, and then Brisbane Grammar School. He left school before matriculation and joined the Commonwealth Bank, starting as a junior clerk at Brisbane's Queen Street branch. In the late 1930s he enrolled in a weekend flying course run by the Queensland Aero Club at Archerfield, during which time he logged up some three and a half hours flying time with an instructor. He joined the RAAF in July 1940 and attended 2 ITS Bradfield Park, 6 EFTS Tamworth, and 3 SFTS Amberley, before being posted to 1 BAGS Evans Head, where he spent over a year, clocking up 580 hours on Fairey Battles. He was posted to 2 OTU Mildura in September 1942, where he carried out conversion to P-40 Kittyhawks. His first operational posting was to 76 Squadron at Strauss, Northern Territory in late November of the same year. Japanese intrusion over the Northern Territory at this time was sporadic at best, and 76 Squadron along with 77 Squadron (Kittyhawks) saw little action, although each squadron was to claim one aircraft destroyed each. He was to stay with 76 Squadron for almost a year, following them to deployments at Onslow, Bankstown, Milne Bay and front line deployments to Goodenough and Kirriwina Islands. He then spent all of 1944 as an instructor at 2 OTU Mildura, and in early 1945 attended the RAAF Staff School at Mt Martha, Victoria. In late May he was posted to 75 Squadron (Kittyhawks) and became acting C/O of the squadron during its move from Morotai to Tarakan in late June 1945, and subsequent operations during the Borneo campaign. On 29 October, some six weeks after the Japanese surrender, Alan was involved in a serious landing accident. Suffering from his burns and shock he was evacuated to Brisbane, where he spent several months in hospital undergoing treatment for his burns. He was discharged from the RAAF on 18 April 1946. He was awarded a DFC promulgated in the London Gazette on 25 June 1946, and received the following citation: "Flight Lieutenant Thomson has completed two tours of operations against the enemy from the Trobriand Islands and Borneo, displaying daring and ability and keenness to destroy the enemy. He has participated in 29 sorties and 26 strikes and the successful results achieved by No. 75 Squadron, operating from Tarakan, are largely due to the courage and determination displayed by him. Flight Lieutenant Thomson has led his squadron on many successful strikes against the strongly defended Samarinda area with utter disregard for personal safety". After leaving the RAAF Alan returned to the Commonwealth Bank but never again flew another aircraft. Although he did retain a lifelong interest in aircraft and aviation. Alan passed away in 2002. The model: Eduard boxing of the Hasegawa kit. Modifications/additions: I elected not to use most of the included photo etch. Brengun aftermarket gunsight. Music wire front bead gunsight. Scratchbuilt brake lines, undercarriage extended inticators, whip antenna and fuel drain pipe lower fuselage. RB Productions paper seatbelts. Paint and markings: Gunze Sangyo acrylics Custom designed masks for the nose art, serials, squadron codes and roundels. A picture that I have wanted to do ever since I found out that there were two Hep Cats! Edited May 28, 2021 by ericg D.B. Andrus, Dart_Schatten, MikeMaben and 46 others 48 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miloslav1956 Posted August 16, 2020 Share Posted August 16, 2020 Excellent work! Martinnfb 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brahman104 Posted August 16, 2020 Share Posted August 16, 2020 Beautiful work as always Eric! And I love the personal background stories to your builds as well. I thought the editing in of Alan was amazing! Craig BiggTim, Martinnfb and MikeC 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMaben Posted August 16, 2020 Share Posted August 16, 2020 Wow !! Nice BiggTim and Martinnfb 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericg Posted August 16, 2020 Author Share Posted August 16, 2020 21 minutes ago, brahman104 said: Beautiful work as always Eric! And I love the personal background stories to your builds as well. I thought the editing in of Alan was amazing! Craig Thanks mate. I did it in black and white as well but felt having my model in colour and him in the original format had more impact. BiggTim, brahman104 and Martinnfb 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brahman104 Posted August 16, 2020 Share Posted August 16, 2020 Lucky you did, otherwise I wouldn't have realised that was your model as opposed to the real thing! BiggTim and Martinnfb 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeC Posted August 16, 2020 Share Posted August 16, 2020 Beautifully done model. It's good to see the background behind the aircraft as well - some interesting research there. BiggTim 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony in NZ Posted August 16, 2020 Share Posted August 16, 2020 Oh my word....I didnt think your models could get any better! BiggTim 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennismcc Posted August 16, 2020 Share Posted August 16, 2020 (edited) Superb, that is a great build and a great story behind it. Cheers Dennis PS Had to Google Hep Cat Edited August 16, 2020 by dennismcc BiggTim 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted August 16, 2020 Share Posted August 16, 2020 Such a wonderful presentation. Sincerely, Mark BiggTim 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collin Posted August 16, 2020 Share Posted August 16, 2020 Brilliant looking build. Will be saving these photos for future reference. Very nice finish, worn but not over the top worn. What is your technique for wing root weathering? Cheers Collin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AceofClubs Posted August 16, 2020 Share Posted August 16, 2020 Very nice work Eric The weathering process is perfectly balanced well done ciao filippo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ade rowlands Posted August 16, 2020 Share Posted August 16, 2020 Excellent finish Eric. I know that Hasegawa P-40N tail fit isn't the best but you'd never know from your end result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KitmodellerNZ Posted August 17, 2020 Share Posted August 17, 2020 Absolute stunner! Well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scale32 Posted August 17, 2020 Share Posted August 17, 2020 Crack'n result mate the weathering is spot on. Cheers Bevan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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