Midway Marauder
Saw that Greg Kittinger wants to do a Midway B-26. Here was my interpretation, done a couple of years ago. "Susie-Q" was an early bird with short wings and different tail gun position. Valom had a kit of it, it got crucified by the critics when released, it does look a bit chubby. I got a non-torpedo version so stole one from the old Airfix TBD kit and mounted it using internet-gleaned info. The surface detail on Valom kits is really fine, they just need more care in research, as many model companies do. I hand painted the nose logo I hear a decal set is available now.
REAL heroes flew this one and crash-landed the wreckage. They had no real idea of what they were doing, but they changed History.
Nice! Part of the battle not usually covered.
Bill, it really looks great. I hear the torpedo rig was a rush job so it could get into production and out to the unit. The story on its use didn't get published until 1945. Secret stuff.
This is so obscure, I'm amazed there is any info available.
Lots of guts by those Air Force guys, performing in a role not much practiced by the AAF.
Nice job, Bill...that belly shot shows it best.
This is a really nice looking plane.
Why don't you re-post it between June 4th and 6th, when we have the reveal on our Midway Group Build ?
Thanks,
Louis
nice
Cool looking model, Bill, the torpedo sets it off well. Wasn't there an early rock'n'roll song called Susie Q, not sure if there's a connection?
Yes there was George, done by Three Dog Night.
It's originally a Dale Hawkins Rockabilly song (my favorite music form, named after me 🙂 ) , later done more famously by a very early Creedence Clearwater revival (a favorite band of mine). BUT The B-26 Susie=Q was named after the pilot's (Jim Muri) wife.
Nice one! The Marauder sure has some character. Those tiny wings! 🙂
Susie Q was done by Creedence Clearwater Revival. I first read about the Midway B-26s in Martin Caidin's Ragged, Rugged Warriors when I was a kid. What a tale! PS Great looking kit!
Ragged Rugged is such a great, overblown, propaganda filled legend of a book. I have always loved it, and have been fascinated with the early Pacific War ever since I read it as a kid. I just found a paperback later copy for $3 bucks and re-read it. The best are the Chinese Hawks vs. "whirlwind" Mitsubishis and the Brewster Buffalo parts.
Bill, so did I. It's like that old line about the difference between a fairy tale and a war story. A fairy tale begins "Once upon a time..." and a war story begins "This is no stuff.." The Southern variation starts "Y'all ain't a-gonna believe this stuff"
I give Caiden leeway, he invoked interest in the air war in a lot of us. And rightly so, they deserve to be remembered and celebrated. Glue a sheet over a fuselage hole and go back after the enemy? Poor enemy!
Past all the music, these guys in the B-26s attacked just ahead of the TBDs. One of them missed the island of Akagi (Nagumo's flagship) by less than 10 feet and scared hell out of the Admiral, who was later quoted as that being the moment he understood just how committed the Americans were. When the SBDs from Enterprise and Yorktown arrived overhead 10 minutes later, their attacks on top of the Admiral being rattled by these guys to begin with started the deterioration of Japanese command in the battle.
Tom, that was Jim Muri's bird that went down Akagi's deck. Now I'm gonna pull out my Marauder and that Velocette vac conversion. About time I got motivated on this.
Nice looking build Bill, and it does look a tad chubby, but I could live with it as a representation of the A-model. I'm not sure I want to spring for a Valom kit at this point since I already have a couple of 26's in my stash, so may build out a Dauntless and a Devastator instead. I eventually may come back to the torpedo-totin's Marauder though, and if I do, your's makes a nice reference!
If your interest revives, I found the info/diagrams on the torpedo mount. You have a choice of 2! PM me your E-mail if you need.