Hey guys and girls;
Does anybody know where I can find what I’m looking for? I need The U.S. insignias that consist of just the dark blue dot with the star; the ones used on Battle of Midway aircraft . My Devastator’s decal sheet has red dots in the middle. My Avenger’s decal sheet has blue bars attached to the sides. I think what I’m looking for was used between the two insignias I’ve just described. Any help?
Also, could anyone point me in the direction of any pics of the Midway aircraft or the P-36 flown by Rasmussen while defending Pearl Harbor?
Man, I ask for a lot!
Thanks, Steve
go to squadron, phoenix, or any of the others and do a search with the keyword “midway”. i cant remember which it was but i believe a company did a sbd or an avenger with midway markings, also i believe i saw a decal sheet for midway a/c.
joe
Try Bare Metal foil, they may have those decals you are looking for. Try Aeromaster or Eagle Strike as well one of those three should have them. Good luck in your search.
I think you will find that by the time of the Midway battle, the red ball was supposed to have been removed becoming a blue ball with a star within it. However in many cases, the ball was still visible because red is a very hard color to cover with white as it tends tp “bleed” through the white cover coat. It usually results in a pinkish hue where ever red is overcoated with white. I had never really noticed it until I bought an SB2U Vindicator kit and the decals had a pinkish white ball for the center of the star for the Midway scheme and then noticed it did indeed show up on photos.
The white bars didn’t appear until mid 1943, with the entire insignia being bordered in red. That lasted for about 6 months and was replaced with a blue border (which lasted until 1947 when the red stripes were added to the bars). It should be noted that aircraft in a combat zone tended to retain the red border to well into 1944. (you gotta realize that when you’re being shot at and trying to generate missions with all that entails, repainting insignia to meet regulations has an extremely low priority)
The air Force Museum also has the USAAC for thoses periods go www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/history
im afraid i sent you misinformation. there are two kits coming out with midway markings. sbd-2 and a tbm1 c these are future releases. the decal sheets do not show up. http://www.internationalhobby.com/ihs/kpsearch.asp this is the search results i recieved. sorry about the misinformation.
joe
Here’s an explanation of US National Insignia…some groups at MIdway still retained the red dots…I have photos somewhere…
http://www.njahof.org/insignia.htm
Jeff
Aeromaster has those decals; I ordered them for my 1/48 Dauntless. Incidentally Aeromaster makes some of the best decals I’ve seen.
Thanks for all the info and links, you guys are great. Now I’ll see what I can find.
Thanks again,
Steve
paulnchamp;
I looked at the Aeromaster site. It said that those decals were no longer available. If they’re on the website then somebody should have them, right?
Steve
Steve,
It was several years ago that I ordered mine, but I’m thinking that there must be more of them out there somewhere. I would make some e-mail inquiries.
Paul
Here’s some pics of VT-8 between 5/1542 and 6/4/42.
Thanks Gary
I aim to build all the planes participated in the Midway battle and the ones in the Pearl Harbor attack on both the American and Japanese sides. The pics of the TBD Devastators will help.
Steve
Sounds like a great project! What scale?
Have you seen the SAM colors and markings book Pacific Air War Dec 1941-May 1942 (or something like that)?
gary
Garryschurr;
1:48.
I’ve got a book on Midway and the SBD-3. It’s by Aeronaval of Spain. I found the ad in FSM last summer. Good references and specs on the Dauntless and just about everything involved the battle. I have a major in history and have been interested in WWII since I was a kid. Watch the movies Tora! Tora! Tora! and Midway etc. whenever they come on T.V. even though I have them both on VHS and DVD. I think the thing that got me into the modeling was my honeymoon to Hawai’i. Went to the Arizona memorial. I don’t know anyone who had relatives on the Arizona but, the heavy feeling about the ship really got to me. The visitor center has that 1:96 scale Akagi with all the planes in such great detail; fascinating.
Steve
Garyschurr;
Might be a dumb question but, what is a “SAM” book and where can I get one?
Steve
SAM IS Scale Aircraft Modelling out of the UK. An excellent Mag that’s been around for years. They released that “special” I mentioned earlier. Their website is http://www.samnet.co.uk/home.shtml but I couldn’t find it there. This is there US agent and they list it:
http://www.wiseowlmagazines.com/Combat_Colours_No_4_Pearl_Harbor.html
Hey steve did you ever notice that in Midway, the movie, during the in-flight scenes, the planes flying in formation with the SBD pilot on screen are actually SB2A Buccaneers?
Let me know if you need more info.
garyschurr;
Every time they showed the Devastator squadrons they were Vindicators(?). What do you think the Japanese pilots were flying late in the movie; the plane was light in color and had the rising sun with rays on the wing root.
Steve
Tora Tora T-6 and Vultee SNV but where else could you find your Kates Vals, and Zeros. LOL I particularly enjoyed the Yorktown dressed up as the Akagi (looked better than the Connie in Pearl Harbor!)
Connie?
Steve