Hello,
I am looking to get a 1/48 Tamiya F4U-1D kit but would like to do it with the markings of Greg “Pappy” Boyington VMF-214. Does anyone know where I get the decals with these markings?
Thanks,George
pappy flew a F4U-1A thats wheree you should start.
The only ones I know of for sure were on an OOP Cutting Edge sheet. [V]
There are markings for two F4U-1As associated with Boyington on the Aeromaster special ‘US Navy-Marine Top Guns WWII’, set #SP48-08… including the well-known ‘Lulbelle’.
Besides the sheet mentioned by Frank, I believe that there may have been at least one regular sheet produced by Aeromaster, and I know there were a couple by Microscale/Superscale. Unfortunately I don’t know any of the sheet numbers.
If you can’t find any decals specifically for any of Boyington’s aircraft, the markings for both birds in the Aeromaster special wouldn’t be to difficult to cobble together… except perhaps for the name ‘Lulubelle’. From what I understand, however, ‘Lulubelle’ was specially marked for publicity photos and was not a regular mount of Boyington’s. He seems to have flown many different aircraft during his time with VMF-214, which was not all that uncommon for many outfits.
Anyway, I can post the relevant portions of the Aeromaster instructions, if you like…
Fade to Black…
In the book, “Black Sheep One”, the author states that “Lulubelle” may have actually been “Lucybelle”. It seems plausible to me since he (Pappy) had a relationship with a woman named Lucy… Also, it’s pointed out that #86 never flew in combat and, like BlackWolf pointed out, was slapped with Boyington’s personal and kill markings for publicity photos, hence the odd-sized and backwards kill markings. The only photo I’ve seen that connects Boyington to a particular VMF 214 Corsair is #883. Pappy is photographed in the cockpit just after returning from a mission flew with a massive hangover…
Having spent a brief time aboard the USS Constellation I discovered that:
#1. Just 'cause your name’s on it don’t mean you fly it.
#2. Only the CAG bird looks almost as good coming back as it did going out.
#3. Flight decks are SCARY places.
Boyington flew both the F4U-1 “Birdcage” and the F4U-1A Corsairs. There are two very good and probably hard to find sets for VMF-214. Both are published by Cutting Edge which is out of business so you’ll hae to hunt for these in places like ebay.
F4U-1 - Look for Cutting Edge CED48121. This contains a bird atributed to Ed Olander (but certainly flow by others) No. 576 with nose art “Marine’s Dream”
F4U-1A - Look for Cutting Edge CED48226. This contains decals for 3 214 birds plus the Lucybell art work which was indeed a promotional picture. Boyington flew the plane for publicity but not in combat.
214 birds are very generic. Marine’s Dream is the only one I’m familiar with that has nose art but there could be others. No planes were assigned to any individual. They are simply numbered and stenciled. Here’s a color photo I ran across of a 214 -1A. Dirty little bastard, isn’t it! Notice the fresh national insignia painted over the old one with the red outline. The red on the bars is missing. Not sure of the BU number on this one.
Enjoy
By the way, if you already have the Tamiya F4U-1D and want to make a 1A, all you have to do is not use the hard points under the wing and use the bubble canopy with the horizontal framing arcing across the top.
Good luck
Dave
Thanks fellows for your replies. I can not find any of the decals on the internet, so I guess that scrubs the idea of doing a Pappy plane.
George
Not really. Remember that these birds (except the Marine’s Dream) had no nose art on them. All you need are white numbers and the national insignia, both of which you can buy on their own. If for some reason you want the Lucybell markings just keep an eye out for them. I’m sure some will pop up somewhere. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen them done by others than Cutting Edge too.
Dave
Bruce Gambles book on the history of VMF-214 (SwashBucklers, Blacksheep - South West Pacific and Blacksheep (v2) on the USS Franklin in 1945), actually list the aircraft numbers used by Pappy on each of his missions on his last tour (Nov43-Jan44). and he used several.
883 was used a few times, That particular photo of him in 883 was taken upon return of the mission he got number 25.
On the fateful mission that he did not return from, he was flying 915.
I modelled the Hasegawa 1/72 F4U-1D with 883 (made rails on canopy for F4U-1A) and another in the scheme of VMF-214 in Mar 45 on board USS Franklin.
Trivia from Bruce Gambles book - The last WWII iteration of VMF-214 started training in Mar 44 in California, and went aboard Franklin in Jan 45. They were part of a fast carrier task force that attacked Japan on Mar 18 when Franklin got hit and almost sank, but managed to return home.
Fascinating part? Franklin had rejoined the War after being hit the previous Oct, JUST THE DAY BEFORE. VMF-214 flew in combat for less than 24 hours and had 24 sorties, and lost one pilot who was POW and returned on wars end.
There’s always Robert Conrad’s version from TV…[8D] Stencil “MAJ BOYINGTON” on the fuselage under the canopy rail, and add a few kill marks… Myself, I did T.J. Wiley’s bird with the American kill marks for each plane T.J. had wrecked. (He WAS a Japanese ace, y’ know)…[:D]
That’s hysterical. I forgot about that. Never thought about making a TV verison of the bird.
Dave