D-Day Group Build – 1/48 AMT A-20G Havoc
This is the AMT 1/48 scale A-20G in the markings of the 646th Bomb Squadron, 410th Bomb Group, 9th Air Force based at Gosfield, UK during the Normandy invasion. Kit was built mostly OOB with the addition of the True details resin wheels and life raft. Paint was my usual Model Master enamels, olive drab with dark green splotching over neutral gray. Photos of this group's aircraft showed ragged and hastily applied invasion stripes, so these were masked off and brush painted using acrylic paint applied over the base finish. For some reason, this aircraft did not have upper fuselage stripes applied, which was ok with me! Decals are a mix of kit and aftermarket. Weathering accomplished with sludge washes and drybrushing.
This is one of the more colorful airplanes I've built, but I don't think I'm going to be doing any more invasion stripes any time soon!
Nice job on those invasion stripes, Jaime...I'm never satisfied with ones I do. Don't think I've ever seen any stripes applied to the tail/rudder like that before, though. Good pics, too.
Craig, the rudder stripes are the group markings for the 410th BG. The other 9th AF A-20 group, the 416th, used a solid white stripe in the same location.
Turned out well Jamie. Ready for the B of B build?
Neat looking Havoc, good work on the invasion stripes.
Got there at last Jaime,that's a great job there pal you must be pleased with it ,treat yourself to a Chilidog as a reward !
N.
Well done mate, you finally got there.
It looks great.
Well worth the wait mate! Superb build, and finish, well done.
Nice looking model Jaime, I think the invasion stripes look great as well.
Jamie, "Ruth" was certainly worth the wait, a very pretty bird indeed. I know what you mean about the invasion stripes, no more for me for a while either.
Okay the A-20 done, time to get on with the Battle of Britain Build...lol
I like it, Jaime, well worth the wait!
Thanks, everyone!
There's a Tamiya Spitfire on the way for the BoB build. It only has 50 parts, how hard can it be? 🙂
Finally! Well built all around. Glad you lived up to your promise and painted those invasion stripes instead of using decals. Looking forward to seeing the Spitfire for the BoF/BoB group build.
Beautiful ! And I lived to see it ! I have to say it was worth the wait. Well done, Jaime.
Very nice work Jaime, the A20 sure was an interesting aircraft, looks more like a twin engined fighter in a way!
REALLY NICE! (Yes, I am shouting) Very nice work indeed.
great looking stripes...fine model
Jaime, Great looking Havoc- beautiful paint job .After a 3 mo hiatus from model building, I'm getting back to the work bench to work on my DD Spit...Maybe now with only the bottom stripes applied since its Aug!
Jamie,
I'm late to the party to add my sincere compliments on an exquisite build. You did a beautiful job on this.
The plane depicted above 8U H was my fathers plane. He was the maintenance chief for this plane, SN 43-9904, A20G-45, the "MARY RUTH" named after my mother. The one above is painted as the "MARY RUTH". This plane was shot down D-Day evening over France, 15 missions. The pilot. LT. Russell Goodchild was killed in the crash, the two gunners survived by jumping and were captured and released at end of war. After D-Day the group moved to France on formerly German airfields. My father got a replacement plane SN 43-9492, A20G-30,and he named it "Mary Ruth the 2nd". There was a likeness of my mother painted on the left side of the nose. This plane completed 59 missions with my father before being llreplaced by A-26's and B-26's. I have a hand full of shrapnel he removed from his planes during his service. I also have an inspection cover from a JU-88 that he got off a wreck at one of the airfields in France. Interestingly enough, he was stationed at a airfield in France that was only miles from where his first plane was shot down, but he would not have known that at the time. The A-20's had an excellent bombing history in WWII and did not get the deserved place in history for a bomber.
Rob, thanks for the story about this airplane! It's always great to hear from the people who were involved. I'm an aircraft mechanic as well, and having worked on C-47's and C-45's, I can understand the pride your dad must have had in keeping "Ruth" flying.
I't's interesting to find out there was nose art on the left side of the airplane. The decal sheet didn't include this, and all the drawings I had of the airplane only showed the right side. I was unable to find any photos of this particular bird, though there were plenty of other 410th BG A-20 pics on the web.
I hope you liked the model, and please feel free to contact me any time!