I’ve got a couple of 50’s era ground attack aircraft planned, but I have no napalm ordnance and I’d like some to add variety to the bombs and rockets.
Were these just old 75 gallon drop tanks or were they a specific to the use?
I’ve tried to find some pics so I can try and make my own, but can’t find any showing detail (most are in flight shortly after being released), I’m probably not using the right terms to search (napalm bomb? napalm tank?).
Any suggestions or links to good pics would be appreciated.
During the Korean War, most Napalm tanks look to be standard drop tanks. AF aircraft used the 75 gallon size commonly while Navy/MC aircraft used the larger tanks commonly seen on F4Us. At least taht is what I have seen in photos. After Korea ended is when dedicated Napalm cannisters such as the Mk.77 seem to have been developed. I’ll see what I can try to dig up for you tomorrow.
I’m certain that I have read here that there was a (WWII era) napalm tank built of non-metallic materials…specifically heavy cardboard. Stange as it sounds…I’m sure I read it here.
Ok, I did have a little further luck using Napalm Cannister in my search. I turned up information on the Mk77 750lb napalm “bomb” which is the VN to present version (also Mk 78 500lb and Mk 79 1000 lb), it mentioned the Mk 77 was an evolution of the M-47 and M-74 incendiary bombs of WW2. Further looking turned up some info on the M-47 which was a WW2 / Korea era 100 lb chemical bomb that could be filled with napalm to make it an incendiary bomb. The M-74 was a 6 lb incendiary bomb using WP. Both of these look like bombs (tail fins and all) and are clearly smaller than the drop tank looking napalm bombs most of us are familiar with.
So I’m still confused, but leaning towards using a medium sized drop tank. Anyone have an example of markings that would be used so I can distinguish the napalm from a standard drop tank? I saw one b&w photo that showed a napalm tank under the wing marked with a dark colored (it was B&W) band around the forward end of the tank, possibly another towards the rear.
Here is a link to a shot of a F-80 carrying two Napalm tanks-they appear to be overall black or OD. If you look close you can see what may be the fuses on the upper front and rear of the tanks.
Aaron from what I have read and the one color photo I have seen when drop tanks were used to carry Napalm they were painted yellow to distinguish them from normal drop tanks.
The one color shot I have seen to back this up is of a USMC B-26/A-26 taken during the Korean war.
Enter the site, click on the ‘Library’ link (bomb), then select Gallery Six. Scroll down to the picture of “Picadilly Commando”. She’s caught dropping a load of Naplam on German positions in France, in those cardboard cannisters, which look suspiciously like the cardboard fuel tanks used on P-51s and P-47s.
As a side note, my father was flying that mission as a B-24 Radio Operator. His crew was not flying ‘Picadilly Commando’ that particular day, although it was one of the two aircraft they flew most frequently during their stint with the 467th Bomb Group.
Google “Mk 77 Napalm” and you will find some sites with photos of the napalm cannisters we used in the '60s. There are also some older loads that did resemble an aux fuel tank, but I don’t remember the mod. The MK 77 ran around 500 lbs. It had an unpainted aluminum skin and, as I recall, a blunt nose. I believe this design was to make the weapon tumble when it was released. I think it may also have had both nose and tail fuzes. Don’t hold me to any of this. . . it’s been many years since my experiences with napalm loads.
I’ve got an Osprey book on F-51s in Korea that has a number of pictures of napalm being prepared. They show regular drop tanks and for the most part they were all zinc chromate yellow. That would be a good way to differentiate them from drop tanks being used in the normal way.
I ran across a page from an article (it was just a preview but happened to include some stuff on napalm), it said early in the war there was a shortage of napalm containers so they used F-80 drop tanks.
So it looks like I have a couple of options, drop tank painted yellow, drop tank painted OD, natural metal drop tank all with or without red bands. Like most of these hard to nail down details at least it is hard for someone to say its wrong. [:)]
Monograms 1/48 F-80 kit comes with the tanks or bombs as underwing ordinance. Also their older P-51B kit could supply a pair. Not sure who else’s P-51 kits include those tanks, but they were a standard tank on them so they should not be hard to track down. Just dont forget to add the protruding fuses where the filler caps normally go.
If I might add my two cents, I’ve seen several models of Korean-era ground attack machines with the converted bulbous Lockheed-style or Grumman-style underwing tanks. One thing I’ve noted in film clips and stills of these things were that the rattiest, most beat-up drop tanks were used for this purpose. But modelers of the period always miss this.
So if you choose to go this way, take the Dremel out and carve some dents into the the thing and put some scratched up, contrasting paint color on it as well (maybe with a red stripe, maybe not). You could even put a “chalk” slogan on the side of it, such as a message to Chairman Mao. Also, it probably needs some kind of fuse visible on it, but I don’t know what they used for these “home made” nape tanks. Possibly something that replaced the filler cap? Does anyone know?
Anyway, my main point is to make sure the napalm tank is not confused with a fuel tank, and should look like they commonly did in the field.
