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P-51D 47th FS / 15th FG, Iwo Jima 1945 [TAM 1:32] - DONE


Alex

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Having sorted out a small obstruction, the fit between wings and fuselage is so perfect that I think I can actually paint them separately.  There's about a 1 cm span in front of each wing that would need to be cleanly glued to fix the front of the wing assembly; the rear can be held in place by installing the radiator intake scoop.  This is the only kit I've ever see where a fit this exact was possible.  So I have to try it - certainly I always get better results from trying to paint smaller and simpler shapes.

 

On the subject of paint, this is the 47th FS scheme - some very nice graphic design IMO:

pmXLGO1Bj

 

If you look closely you'll see an additional black and yellow band around the wings.  It's hard to see in this illustration exactly where along the length of the wing it should be located, but fortunately the VLR Mustangs book has this photo of a plane being craned off a light carrier in Guam that shows the width and location precisely.

 

poKxeCE1j

 

So them I'm left with the question of which exact plane to do.  Ideally I would want to do a plane flown by either Capt Bob Down or Lt Dick Hintermeier on 7 April 1945, when they shared credit for a Ki-45 Toryu that is believed to be the first Japanese combatant shot down over the home islands.  I could then pair this plane with my yet-unbuilt Zoukei-Mura Toryu as part of my ongoing "Pacific Adversaries" series (modeling encourages OCD, apparently).  But I've been unable to find any record on line of which planes those guys flew.  I have three options where I know the correct combination of federal serial number and squadron code - the two illustrations and the one photo above.  I found on line a few additional federal serial numbers of P-51Ds that were allocated to 47th FS, but not the squadron codes they received or who flew in them when.  There's apparently an archive of 47th FS photos and mission logs sitting in boxes in the Special Collections of the University of Georgia library.  But even without COVID, I'm not likely to drive 1500 miles to Athens just to look through that stuff (OCD has its limits).  I wish people would scan stuff like that and put it on the internet!

 

So I may just pick one of these three aircraft and figure that since the whole 47th FS went on that 7 April sortie, that plane at least left Iwo Jima with the planes that scored that first victory.  We'll see.

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Hi Alex:

Below are some photos of 47th FS planes showing the correct placement and width of the squadron bands on the wings.

 

4DE8329F-F81D-400A-A237-DB8BD92334FC.jpe

USAAF/National Archives via Fold3

 

C66BB4C3-D324-4F43-85F3-71F2C99BC48F.jpe

USAAF/National Archives via Fold3

 

B54991D6-5738-4CB4-9A18-F9522E1AADFE.jpe

USAAF/National Archives via Fold3

 

99D4B87E-0A8E-4AE8-81BD-B5C61DA2785E.jpe

Eduard

 

Notice that the 47th FS personnel have painted the wing bands with the flaps extended.

 

With respect to the planes that Capt. Brown or Lt. Hintermeier flew, I would reach out to Mark Stevens, who is the President and webmaster for the 7th Fighter Command Association.  Mark has the largest collection of photos of the planes assigned to the three VLR Mustang Groups on Iwo Jima.  If there are photos of the planes they flew, Mark is the most likely person to possess them.  Mark can be contacted at the following email addresses:

 

mark@7thfighter.com

stevensm@yahoo.com

 

Hope this information is helpful.

 

Andy Carothers

IwoJimaModels.com

https://iwojimamodels.com

Edited by acarothers896
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47 minutes ago, acarothers896 said:

Hi Alex:

Below are some photos of 47th FS planes showing the correct placement and width of the squadron bands on the wings.

 

[URL=https://app.photobucket.com/u/acarothers_photos/p/28853f2d-703d-4824-8612-cde293725d78][IMG]https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/ad134/acarothers_photos/4DE8329F-F81D-400A-A237-DB8BD92334FC.jpeg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds[/IMG][/URL]

USAAF/National Archives via Fold3

 

[URL=https://app.photobucket.com/u/acarothers_photos/p/318fcc40-4d82-47e9-beea-73d000c09e02][IMG]https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/ad134/acarothers_photos/C66BB4C3-D324-4F43-85F3-71F2C99BC48F.jpeg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds[/IMG][/URL]

USAAF/National Archives via Fold3

 

[URL=https://app.photobucket.com/u/acarothers_photos/p/c8de3224-9a8e-44db-ab9b-0983489bcc6d][IMG]https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/ad134/acarothers_photos/B54991D6-5738-4CB4-9A18-F9522E1AADFE.jpeg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds[/IMG][/URL]

USAAF/National Archives via Fold3 

 

[URL=https://app.photobucket.com/u/acarothers_photos/p/14bd561d-8bb8-4fac-a86a-4614999046f8][IMG]https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/ad134/acarothers_photos/99D4B87E-0A8E-4AE8-81BD-B5C61DA2785E.jpeg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds[/IMG][/URL]

Eduard

 

Notice that the 47th FS personnel have painted the wing bands with the flaps extended.

 

With respect to the planes that Capt. Brown or Lt. Hintermeier flew, I would reach out to Mark Stevens, who is the President and webmaster for the 7th Fighter Command Association.  Mark has the largest collection of photos of the planes assigned to the three VLR Mustang Groups on Iwo Jima.  If there are photos of the planes they flew, Mark is the most likely person to possess them.  Mark can be contacted at the following email addresses:

 

mark@7thfighter.com

stevensm@yahoo.com

 

Hope this information is helpful.

 

Andy Carothers

IwoJimaModels.com

https://iwojimamodels.com

Thanks Andy, that’s very helpful.

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22 hours ago, acarothers896 said:

With respect to the planes that Capt. Brown or Lt. Hintermeier flew, I would reach out to Mark Stevens, who is the President and webmaster for the 7th Fighter Command Association.  Mark has the largest collection of photos of the planes assigned to the three VLR Mustang Groups on Iwo Jima.  If there are photos of the planes they flew, Mark is the most likely person to possess them.  Mark can be contacted at the following email addresses:

 

mark@7thfighter.com

stevensm@yahoo.com

 

 

 

Andy - great advice.  Mark Stevens got back to me straight away with the info that Bob Downs flew 44-63822 / 150, as illustrated in the VLR Mustangs book.  The book's attribution of that plane to Capt Sam Powell might be an error, or more likely both men flew the plane at one time or another.  Mark said he had spoken to Lt Hintermeier at one point too, but that he did not recall the details of the aircraft he flew from Iwo Jima.  So, I've got the subject settled now.  Off to do some painting...

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Hi Alex:

Glad I could help in your research.  Mark Stevens is a great resource for those interested in the Iwo Jima VLR Mustang Groups, and modelers building VLR Mustangs.  Which pilots were assigned to what aircraft gets a bit confusing at times.  Often times, pilots would fly planes that they were not assigned to just based on the availability of planes ready for a particular mission.  Also, quite a few pilots in the 15th and 21st FGs were rotated home due to their length of time in the Pacific theatre of operations, and the planes they flew were then assigned to other pilots.

 

Looking forward to the completion of your Iwo Jima VLR Mustang.  It is shaping up quite beautifully!

 

Andy Carothers

IwoJimaModels.com

https://iwojimamodels.com

Edited by acarothers896
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Plugging away on painting.  I've got the base metal colors down on wings and fuselage.

poDzEEj0j

 

poE8k7poj

 

On the fuselage I've been playing around with different Alclad variants to get some tonal variation between panels.  It may look a bit too pronounced right now, but I think that after having the squadron colors and codes painted over the top, plus stencils and some judicious weathering, it will fade into the background a little bit.

 

poH9sBKBj

 

The wing surface is a mix of White Aluminum and Semi-Matte Aluminum to represent the aluminized lacquer that Mustang wings were painted with.  I'm wondering if it needs a coat of clear semi-gloss to complete that effect...

 

Playing with panel variation on the cowling sections.

po3GSffQj

 

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That's Duraluminum, White Aluminum, and Dark Aluminum in different places.  I now need to mask all that off so I can spray regular Aluminum on everything else.

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Squadron colors.  This was a surprising amount of work - probably six hours worth over three days.  But worth it for a pretty clean result.  I'll paint the serial numbers and nose art next.  Then I need to decide if I'm going to paint the stars & bars or use the HGW transfers for them.  If they work, the HGW transfers should look excellent, but I've never used ones nearly that big before, so am a bit apprehensive about the possibility of incomplete transfer.  Which would end up with me having to remove them and paint the insignia anyways.

pmdTMXq0j

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I'm really liking how this is shaping up.  The horizontal stabilizers are just slipped in place for now - will glue them once painting is 100% complete.

pnyZfO1Qj

 

While doing the whole yellow/black thing I forgot about the disassembled version of the machine gun bay covers.  So I'll need to go back and do them.

 

po694JwPj

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