Shangri-la
I have many hobbies, (probably too many) one of which is pinstriping and painting WW2 style nose art. Over the years, I've painted pin-ups on several flight jackets, hot rods, and numerous metal panel wall hangings for people.
The first piece of nose art that I can remember leaving an impression on me was the piece on Capt. Domenic S. "Don" Gentile's P-51B Shangri-la of the 4th fighter group, 336th fighter squadron.
I first saw that eagle with the boxing gloves on a Revell 1/32nd scale P-51B box. It was on the shelf at my local K- Mart in the model section. (Remember when department stores carried models and paints?) I talked my parents into buying me that kit and I still have it in my stash after too many years to count, waiting to be built.
The box art was so cool looking to me. It looked like that P-51 was going a million miles an hour, and that angry little eagle was ready to take on any enemy fighters that dared to fight him.
That nose art that left such impression on me was painted by one of the 336th F.S. enlisted men, named Fred Rice of Alamosa Colorado. He painted many of the 336th F.S. nose art, Shangri-la unarguably being the most famous.
Little is known about Rice's career post-war, but it's believed he retired to Alamosa and taught high schol art. He passed away in 1966 at the age of 45. A piece of his art, an aquatint entitled "Kansas Dust Storm" is in the permanent collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
All the info on Mr. Rice was found on the 4th fighter groups official website: http://www.4thfightergroupassociation.org. There's a lot of great photos and info for all three of the groups squadrons there.
The model pictured here is not the 1/32nd scale Revell kit, but the Tamiya 1/48th scale P-51B. It was a straightforward, out of the box build. The only additions being photo etched harnesses, the radio aerial wire made from smoke colored "invisible" mending thread, and Kits World decals for Capt. Gentile's mustang.
The paints used were Tamiya, Vallejo, and Model Master, with oils and chock pastels for the weathering.
The last photo is of that cool Revell kit and the awesome box art with Mr. Rice's nose art front and center. That old box art made a kid daydream of being in the cockpit going as fast as you could, guns blazing. I still love it just as much today as I did then.
Hope everyone enjoys taking a look, thanks.
Nice built Clint.
Thanks Rafi, much appreciated.
Excellent job, Clint! Great write-up too! Loved reading all these facts of the nose art. And, yes, all things that made us daydreaming as kids are priceless!
Thanks Spiros. One of these days I'll finally build that old Revell Mustang. It's funny how we can see something like the the art on a box and it can still get us excited and we remember how we felt the first time we opened a kit.
A very nice Mustang of the well known Shangri-La, Clint @curtisshawk
Thanks for the information about the nose art.
Thanks John. I like resurching all that stuff, it's half the fun for me.
Very nice model. & article ! Iβve driven thru Alamosa , Colorado many times over the years. Itβs an out of the way place that seems to never change , only the people & cars. Never knew there was a connection to the famous P-51 Shangri-la
Thank you, Jay. I've never been their, but I love those kinds of towns. My Mom came from a little town like that, Lone Pine California. The last time I was there it was like that, one stop lite in the middle of the main drag. That was a long time ago now, maybe it's changed, I'm not sure. It would be sad if it did.
Clint...wonderful story, awesome model. Weathering...spot-on.
Thanks Bob, I really appreciate that.
Great article, Clint @curtisshawk! π I really enjoyed reading it and seeing your great looking model! ππ»
I appreciate your kind words Gary, thanks.
Great model and article. You captured the excitement of that box art with your amazing build.
Thank you Bob. Now I just have to build the actual kit in that cool Revell box. I still have it waiting its turn. It'll happen sooner rather than later. π
π ... Greetings ... π :
As I saw and read this post, I must say that it is just my same case.
The Shangri- La was my first aircraft model and yes, it was the Revell 1/32 scale model.
It was blown away by Hurricane Hugo. I have the decals for a 1/32 model and am searching in calm for
a Mustang P-51 B to have it again, like you, it was the eagle that caught my attention. There is also the fact that
I love Bald Eagles and collect statues of them.
You have done a great work on this model Clint, love the subtle weathering and the work done in the cockpit.
Thank you very much DE4EVER. Revell is still producing that kit today. It's boxed as Lt. Bill Overstreet's P-51B "Berlin Express". The box art is of his famous chase of a Me 109 under the Ifel tower in 1944. It's still a pretty affordable kit too. I have a really nice hand carved eagle statue I picked up on a deployment to Panama back in 1994. Here is a cool painting I found online of Overstreet's exploit. Revell's box art omits the Me109 and is a close up of the P-51.
1 attached image. Click to enlarge.
Terrific build, Clint. The paint, decals and weathering all look extremely nice (@curtisshawk).
Thanks John. I was pretty happy with how this one turned out. Now on to the old Revell kit.π
Fabulous name, equally fabulous model.
Much appreciateated George. It's always been one of my favorite P-51 paint schemes.
Very nice fast-back Pony! Well done.
Thank you Greg. I always lean towards the high spine version of the Mustang and Thunderbolt, to me they just look right. I know there was visibility issues with them but I like them better. It's purely an asetetics thing. To me they look faster. In the case of the P-51 the B/Cs were faster than the D model.
Great job Clint. That turned out gorgeous.
Thanks Keith. I really appreciate that.
Well done version of a well-known Mustang!
Thanks alot Chas. I've always liked that particular Mustang.
Fantastic Mustang!
Thank you very much, Lis. I like thoes early Mustange.