Cool frosty-- if I could do it, I’d do it too probably [;)] but my wife gave me my own room so I have lots of space… [:)]
frosty,
Your shadow box sounds good, the P-51 could have come down from above to counter a German fighter so don’t let the “high cover” stop you!
If any of you folks want detail digital pics of Lee Archer’s P-51C INA THE MACON BELLE- I have about 15 pics taken of Kermit Weeks’ gorgeous restoration just after it was completed in July 2001- I’d be happy to email anyone who wants the pics- they are outside in bright sunlight. I got up close an personal and no one was around to “spoil” the pics.
Email me at: lrobertojr@aol.com
be warned that they are large pics and will take a while on dial-up connections…
Hope this helps
Len Roberto
Thanx, Melgyver !
i’m hoping that the difference in scales will help 2 imply distance in the dio…
no way do i have enough space 2 do a B-17 in 1/72 !
and i want 2 keep the focus on the red tail…
if i can make this work, i’ll b really happy !
frosty[:)]
I misinterpreted your question frosty-- did you want the P-51 higher up or level?? To be honest-- they were in close at times as well…in fact-- they were the only group that I have ever read about that actually stayed in the flak with the heavies when they were over the target-- everyone else tended to swing wide over the bomb run and avoid the flak…
Jeeves:
u didn’t misinterpret !
i think P-51 higher up is where i’m headed so far…
flying high cover 4 Fort down below,
gotta see both kits assembled 2 know if it’s gonna work, tho’ !
frosty[:)]
Okay… Here is what i’ve dug up on the 15th AF B-17:
I saw the squadron/signal “B-17 in Action” and i couldn’t resist!! [:)]
Apparently they were olive drab/neutral gray… Hope this one helps, frosty!
Jeeves, thank you for the info… I agree frosty this is a very important story, and a great page out of history. I can’t wait to see how your shadow box turns out![:D]
Jeeves, I also like to find out as much history as possible when I build something…that’s part of the fun I think.[^] What a great opportunity to talk with a hero like Col. Dart… I envy you that![bow][bow]
frosty I can confirm that the 15th AF B 17’s were also olive green over neutral grey. We had a guest speaker at one of my model club meetings last year. He flew in the 15th AF as a B 17 Pilot and had 26 missions over Italy and southern Germany, and he showed us both black and white and color photos of his aircraft, explaining what colors were used. He was shot down on Mission 26 over Italy on the one day that the Tuskeegee Airman weren’t slated to escort them. (He remarked how when he’d heard that knews before the misssionm, he grew more concerned. He had nothing but the utmost praise and admiration for the Red Tails) His story continued with his account of swimming 5 miles into the shore and being recued by an Italian family who hid him from the Gestapo, despite having a son in the Italian Army at the time. Eventually, he was able to get away by boat to Sicily where the Invasion had taken place.
On another meeting the year before, we’d had three Tuskeegee Airman come to speak to us at an IPMS meeting. They were a plane captain, one of his maintenance crew, and an ordinance man. They were just as important as the pilots in this, and they had man great stories to tell. I only wish I could remember the name of the plane that was captained by the captain.
frosty, I would recommend looking into the possibility of joining an IPMS Chapter in your area. If they are anything like our chapter Orange County IPMS, then you’ll have the chance to hear firsthand from people like these, as well as many others. I got to see slides that no one else has ever seen of the Pearl Harbor attack, because these slides were shot by someone who was there in the middle of the attack. I saw film footage of a carrier in action of Yankee Station in Vietnam by an officer who shot the film during his tour on board that carrier. I met the youngest female pilot to achieve more than 10,000 flight hours before she turned 15, along with 3,000 flight hours in Helicopters. Some of those hours were flown in a Soviet MiG 29 Fulcrum when she was only twelve!
All that along with learning new model techniques and enjoying some fellowship with fellow model builders as well! Man, I’m grossly underpaying for my membership!
Jeeves: Correction on the ‘Aces’ thingy for the Red Tails. There were seven aces; two from the 99th, two from the 100th, one from the 301st and two from the 302nd. Thomas & Toppins, Brown & Lester, White, and Archer & Hutchins.[}:)]
My friend Tomcat at present is doing one of those planes a 1/72 mustang in their colors its the one named " Ina, Macon Belle" hes also done lots of research on them as well, he said they deserve their rights to recognized with the rest of the us air foece in ww2, now me i say they are far too long overdue for their turn also tomcat only painted the tail the rest actually was aluminuim foil told me hes so used to it now comes as second nature hope this help.
Sean Sewell here in AUSSIE
Heya didfal…
I know that all those planes are in the book-- but if you look at their actual kills, only one came close to 5-- I can’t remember who it was offhand right now as I am at work, but I do believe he had 5 but the AAF credited his 5th as a shared kill with another pilot-- so he was denied even that. The government was very hesitant to award them the kills as they were afraid the publicity of a Tuskegee Man getting ace status would make them too popular.
So they were even robbed of the work they did…very sad. One of the things that endeared me to them was reading one’s account of coming home on leave to segregation just as it was as he had left-- so he had to eat in the back of a restaurant in the alley-- and he saw German POW’s sitting inside laughing and eating with Americans…even the enemy was treated better than them and they were fighting for the US!
Jeeves:
My understanding is that these ‘kills’ were confirmed by other pilots in the units. But, as you stated, they were hard pressed to get the recognition from the higher ups. These ‘kills’ were eventually recognized only after the war.
In the January 2003 three issue of finescale there is an article about the tuskegee airmen with a painting of them defending a b-24 of the 456th bomb group. It is the history you can model section.
[:D] GRREAT IDEA FOR A PROJECT.I CURRENTLY HAVE 9 BUILT TUSKEEGEE PLANES IN MY COLLECTION.ONE P-47,ONE P-39 “QUANTO CUESTA”, ONE P-40 “ACE OF PEARLS”, THREE P-51D 's “DUCHESS ARLENE”, “CREAMERS DREAM”, "LITTLE FREDDIE ", THREE P-51B’s “topper III” , “ALICE”, “INA THE MACON BELLE”, I HAVE TWO MORE TO BUILD ONE P-51B AND ONE P-51D.THEY LOOK GOOD ALL LINED UP IN MY CABINET.ALL WRE AFTER MARKET DECALS.I HAVE TALKED TO A FEW OF THE ACTUAL AIRMEN AT AIR SHOWS IN MY AREA.ITS HARD TO IMAGINE THE B.S. THAT THEY WENT THROUGH TO DO WHAT THEY DID.MAYBE IF I CAN FIGURE OUT THIS SCANNER DEAL I CAN POST SOME PICTURES…GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR PROJECT !!!HAVE FUN
Hello frostygirl! How’s the 1/144 B-17 going? There’s a 15th AF B-17G in the Readers Gallery of the Sept 2003 issue of FSM accessible in the net. You might be interested to know that Academy is releasing a Tuskegee P-51C together with a jeep in their aircraft with vehicle series though this may come a little late for your project. Happy modeling!
Is that P-51/jeep combo in 1/72 or 1/48?
I happened to scan through the Osprey B-17 Units of the MTO yesterday in Barnes & Noble-- and out of the 10 or so color plates of profiles they had-- I’d say about 75-80% of them were olive drab…the natural metal ones I saw were very plain looking…although I did see one that had tail art instead of nose art…
Jeeves:
The Academy kit is supposed 2 b a P-51c in 1/72, and includes a jeep. it was
listed in the last squadron catalog, & i ordered it…but it wasn’t in stock.
i think they listed it too soon…
then again, this seems 2 b a popular subject, so maybe all the eager Airmen fans just bought ‘em up fast !
i haven’t started on the B-17 yet…
w/o the P-51in hand, i’m using the time 2 finish a dio base & work on another project that’s pretty involved… (it’s another afv, so i’ll say no more) [;)]
mite have some time 2 work on it (the Fort) a bit this coming weekend, tho’ !
as 4 paint, thanx 4 the info… the B-17 will look good in the tan (faded OD) w/ a
shiny NMF P-51 up front !
thanx 4 checking up, it helps keep me motivated !
frosty[:)]
Duke:
belated thanx 4 ur reply also !
i think i must have had my head in the clouds, so 2 speak…
i’ve been thinking about joining IPMS, but i’ve had some bad experiences
w/ the ‘rivet counter’ types in my model railroading & was kinda hesitant
about going thru any more of that stuff, not 2 mention time commitment
(getting 2 any meetings would b hard 4 me rite now)…
but i should check it out anyhow, i guess.
loved ur cessnas, BTW !
frosty[:)]
Frosty,
Sorry I am so late on this but you are talking about 2 of my favorite topics, B-17’s and the Tuskeegee Airmen. I am definitely more familiar with the 8th Air Force than the 15th so will do some more searching to see if I can find anything else to help you there besides what has already been given.
Now on to the Tuskegee Airmen. While I had heard about their exploits it wasn’t until I had the opportunity to build a kit for the Black Employee Network at AMEX (friend of mine is the lead of the group and is aware of my hobby). Of course, got to do the research so off to the local library and check out a stack. Some great stories and good pictures. I also found a decal sheet in 1/48 with markings for several planes so picked Lt. Lee “Buddy” Archer who was the groups high scorer with 4 confirmed kills. Several sources said he really had 5 which would make him an ace but due to polotics, one was counted as shared. I followed up by contacting the Air Force Historians office and was informed that Lt. Archer only ever claimed 4 kills.
Here are a couple of pics of my finished project;
As for the paint, Walmart brand Aluminum, 88 cents, looks good to me[:)].
Some good books to look for are:
Red Tails, Black Wings by John B Holway
Red-Tail Angels by Patricia and Fredrick McKissack
The Tuskegee Airmen by Jacqueline Harris
and the Osprey book Mustang Aces of the 9th & 15th Air Forces by Jerry Scutts
also the following websites:
www.jodavidsmeyer.com/combat/bookstore/blacksinWWII.html
www.cr.nps.gov/museum/exhibits/tuskegee/airoverview.htm
www.acepilots.com/usaaf_tusk.html
www.hist.unt.edu/tuskair.htm
www.world-wide-net.com/tuskegeeairmen/
I also have a powerpoint file that I put together for the talk I gave (can’t just build a model, got to talk about the history, etc). It is kind of large so if you are interested, I can email you directly.
Oh yeah, an idea for your display, have 1 engine on the B-17 feathered as from combat damage. Good reason for the Mustang to be flying so near, Big Friend, Little Friend.
(heh, the pics worked[:D])