With this one, my project to build one each of the fighters used in combat by the Airmen is complete-- here is Lee Archer’s “INA the Macon Belle”. This was also a Tuskegee Airman GB build. This is the Tamiya 1/48 kit, with some AM resin which really didn’t fit- and decals created by Warbird Decals.
And a close-up of the Hep Cat that was on his and his buddy Pruitt’s ride “Alice Jo”. Basically-- these two pilots were from the big cities… I believe one was from NYC and one from Chicago…and at that time most of the Airmen were from more rural origins-- so these two were dubbed the Hep Cats due to their urban influences…
Wow, thats amazing. I’m working on a Tuskegee P-51 as well. I’m takin my time with this one, but I don’t think I could ever get it to look like that. My reference photo’s show the red tail covering most of the rear 1/3 of the fuselage. Is that accurate? My canopy is also different. Did the design change throughout the war? You’ll have to excuse my ignorance, as this is my first attempt at an airplane. I usually stick to cars.
Outstainding T/A a/c. I too, want to know what the NMF was and how your did it. I’m working on “Kiiten” with decals greatfully supplied by you! On my P-47, I used Testors Chrome and finished with Testors Dullcoate. And still lookingfor “By Request” decals.[bow][bow][bow]
Mike,
Nice job on a great subject.
Have you taken any “family photos” of the whole collection ? That would be a neat shot.
I bet it’s an impressive lot !
Chris
Bryan and didfal-- I used good old Alclad II Aluminum… along with Dark Aluminum panels here and there. I used Guards Red as my paint for the tail and my sorry excuse for a LHS was out of Insignia Red…I actually like this shade better though-- seems more vibrant!
bud156-- Don’t sell yourself short bro-- this one has it’s flaws [;)] And your reference photos are correct-- but they are depicting a P-51D which also has a fin fillet (or basically an extension of the top edge of the tailfin). The red did extend further out on the -D. The D’s also had bubbletop canopies as opposed to the canopy you see here which has much more framing on it. I am depicting a P-51 B/C model-- they were for the most part without a fin fillet- and the red is as shown in my last pic.
Here is a digital camera shot of one of my books since I don’t have a scanner:
The 1st and 3rd Stangs are B/C’s and the 2nd and 4th are D’s…
Bossman…I am not so skilled at making a montage pic-- so here are my other three:
100th FS P-39Q “Quanto Costa?”:
99th FS P-40L “Ace of Pearls”:
And from the 301st FS-- a hypothetical P-47D-- no name [;)]
Thanks Mike, for the encouragement. And for the photo, it shows the differences nicely. I will be sure to post a pic when I’m done so you all can see my best work to date. [:D]
