Well, the 70th anniversary of the “Day of Infamy” was last December. Every year we commemorate any milestone anniversary with a theme build; but not necessarily a specific event. This year I decided to note the attack on Pearl Harbor as most modelers were focusing on more recent milestones.
At any rate, I dropped the Arizona kit I had started because it was totally stalled at the “remove from sprue” point. And since I was building a pair of P-40’s for the “Shark Tank” theme I decided to add two more and build a pair assigned to the Hawaiian islands. One would be 2nd Lt George Welch’s “160” from 7th December and the other an earlier scheme.
The Subjects
Both are basic early P-40B aircraft in the standard Olive Drab 41 over Neutral Gray 43 scheme.
The first subject is a P-40B from the 55th Pursuit Squadron, 35th Pursuit Group during early/mid 1941. In addition to the standard camouflage scheme, it sported a white squadron identifying spinner with squadron emblem on the fuselage side; and the then standard rudder striping.
The second subject is a P-40B from the 47th Pursuit Squadron, 15th Pursuit Group in which 2nd Lt George Welch is purported to have flown. In addition to the standard camouflage, it sports a white “160” on the fuselage sides. No other markings were carried. Most of this is based on a painting and is considered “common knowledge” as there is no information to refute this, however Lt Welch may have flown “155” as both were at the satellite field and no known information other than the painting exists.The two subjects are similar but different, just enough to show the transition in schemes as war was looming.
The Models
Since I was building these two in parallel with the “Shark Tank” builds, I also chose to use the Airfix and Academy kits. All of my comments on building and detailing is the same, with the exception of the decals.
I airbrushed the camouflage free hand. Not something I typically do as I usually cannot get a good demarcation. I just cannot seem to get a smooth, curving line and/or the overspray is ridiculously large. This time I turned the pressure down to 7 PSI and thinned the Model Master 2050 Olive Drab paint considerably and patiently painted over the Pollyscale 505086 Neutral Gray, working until I had a nice demarcation. I touched up with the Neutral Gray and I am actually very satisfied with the results.
Before decals I sprayed three light coats of Future to ensure a nice smooth surface. For both subjects, I used Starfighter Decals sheets.
The early P-40B is from sheet 72-134, subject D. The decals went on wonderfully, the only trouble I had was with the rudder striping. They are a tiny bit undersized for the Academy kit I put them on, and I had to touch up the blue and red. Based on my experience with the Academy kits, some day I’ll replace this model with the Airfix kit (already ordered for the stash!).
The second subject, “160” is the Airfix kit, new tooling, with markings from sheet 72-135. I had absolutely no problems with the decals using water and Micro-Sol.
Thanks for reading.