It has been almost a month since my last post on this subject. I really appreciate the comments from everyone who replied to posts on this topic. After my last post showing some priming and masking, I was only able to work a few hours here and there. Family visitors are great to see, but when my model room turns into guest quarters, it poses a problem for modeling projects!
I am very pleased to say I am finally done and very happy with the result. I have wanted a larger scale P-40E in AVG markings for many years.
Col. Scott mentioned carrying a 500 lb. bomb on fighter bomber missions. “God Is My Co-Pilot” (GIMCP hereinafter), p. 146. He also mentions the bombs being “yellow”. (GIMCP, p. 147 and 155). All the photos I have seen only depict U.S. bombs in what appears to be olive drab paint (except medium blue training munitions).
Col. Scott describes how three “Kittyhawks” from North Africa were sent to China, two of which were intended for the American Volunteer Group (AVG) in Kunming. One, by order of General Claire Chennault, stayed with Col. Scott. (GIMCP, p. 124). Interestingly, at the time Col. Scott was “stuck” as the Commanding Officer of the Chennault’s Military Air Transport group. He had persuaded Gen. Chennault that he needed the P-40 to provide some fighter escort for his transports (who were flying many unescorted flights over Japanese held territory and relying on flying onto the clouds and similar tactics to get away). I speculate that Chennault liked an officer with initiative and imagination, so he handed that P-40 over to Scott.
Col. Scott described in the beginning of the book that he tried to get into fighters before Pearl Harbor when he was a bomber instructor with a lot of fighter experience before that. However, he was rejected as being too old to lead a squadron or even a group - and he was then only 34 years old!
Col. Scott flew many, many missions in “Old Exterminator” (which never had that name painted on her). Although the actual date is unclear from the book, at some point in 1942, Scott and nine other P-40’s flew over the Sintze-Hukow Strait and attacked some Japanese gunboats. I cannot locate this place. (The names we used for places in China in 1943 and today are often totally different.) After a long and difficult battle, Scott discovered that he was severely damaged. He flew home, but almost failed to make it. Old Exterminator was done for and never flew again being too damaged to make repair feasible. The fighter was slowly stripped of usable parts. The six .50 machine guns were removed and installed in Col. Scott’s next P-40.
There is so much more to the story in the book. The books written during the war have such an immediacy that post-war books often lack. Another example is Brian Lane’s “Spitfire!”, published under a pseudonym in 1942 describing his experiences in the Battle of Britain. (Available in a new paperback edition from Amazon.)
The color coats are Tamiya Acrylic Olive Drab XF-62 and Tamiya Dark Yellow XF-60, mixed 5:1, making a faded olive drab. The undersides are Tamiya Sky Grey XF-19 and Tamiya Black XF-1, Mixed 10:1.
Weathering is lightly done with Flory Models Weathering Wash, a clay based liquid product from the UK for a general wash over the model in brown and grey. AK Weathering Pencils for Modeling added a few smudges, streaks and stains. The antenna line is E Z Line Fine, light years ahead of the old stretched sprue. The ring gun sight is something I have had hanging around for years (decades?) in PE steel from Model Technologies. It beats the kit plastic part, although I think the 1/32 scale was overoptimistic. It goes to show that if you hang onto this aftermarket stuff long enough, you will use it.
The photo below shows Old Exterminator with its crew chief. I believe this photo is in the public domain.
I enjoyed this build, which was trouble-free (except for any misalignment issues I caused myself). I really like Hasegawa kits, and highly recommend this one. Thank you for following along. And, if you read this whole, long entry, a double thanks and two thumbs up - way up!
13 attached images. Click to enlarge.
