Women Warriors 33

 

 

 

 

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Airfix Hawker Hurricane Mk.I Build in 1/72 Scale

Another Airfix quick build, this time it’s their Hawker Hurricane Mk.I.  This kit was released in 2014 in two versions, an earlier variant with parts for the two-bladed prop and shallow rear fuselage, and this one which contains the three-bladed prop and ventral ridge, among other associated bits.  These kits created quite a sensation among modelers who were pleased to see a rag-wing Hurricane kit.  This soon turned to disappointment when Airfix failed to release the obvious follow on tin wing Mk.I.

Adding a little insult to injury, Airfix also got their rag wing wrong.  The areas immediately forward and aft of the gun bay covers were also aluminum skinned to allow armorers to service the guns.  Airfix has molded these areas with the same fabric texture as the rest of the wing.

The fix is not overly difficult – sand off the fabric texture and scribe in the missing panel lines for the metal  panels.  At this stage I also added the missing panel lines at the leading edge of the wings and filed down the trailing edges to eliminate the step there.

One thing Airfix does well are cockpits.  Here the major components are assembled prior to painting.  The cockpit floor is molded into the upper surface of the wings.

The cockpit is painted and washed with black and then lightly drybrushed with silver to bring out the details.  Airfix provides a decal for the instrument panel, seatbelts are Eduard, leftovers from their Spitfire kits.

The wheelwells are quite deep and well detailed, something some other kit manufacturers could learn from (I’m looking at you, Hasegawa!).  I have also scribed the leading edge panels on the underside of the wings.

One miss is that Airfix provides four-spoked wheels instead of five-spoked wheels.  Fortunately the Eduard Spitfire spare baggie has several five-spoked hubs so the Airfix parts were drilled out and corrected.

I cut out the wingtip lights and replaced them with roughly cut sections of clear sprue.  I also mounted the clear landing light covers at this point.  Both were attached with liberal amounts of superglue to hold them in place.

Here are the clear parts on the wing after filing and sanding them smooth.  The parts were polished with 8000 grit sanding cloths to restore their clarity.  I find that it is difficult to get a good fit on these parts if you wait until the end of construction to install them, much better to fill the gaps with superglue and polish them smooth again before painting.

Here is the Hurricane all masked up for the camouflage pattern using masking tape.  I used poster putty on last week’s Defiant build and wanted to compare both methods.  I was able to achieve the same results either way, but found the poster putty was faster.

Mr. color paints were used, they are easy to use and go on without problems.  I still think the colors are a bit off, the Dark Earth should be lighter and the Dark Green darker.  I used an Eduard canopy mask set because I am old and lazy.

I used the kit decals on this one, they behaved without any surprises and depict a No. 85 Squadron aircraft from the Battle of France.  I had intended to do a Battle of Britain aircraft but after checking serial numbers it turned out all my aftermarket decals were for tin-wing BoB birds.  The sliding portion of the canopy was plunge molded using the Airfix part as a form, the Airfix part was too thick to fit properly over the spine.

Airfix Boulton Paul Defiant Mk.I in 1/72 Scale

This is the Airfix new tool Boulton Paul Defiant Mk.I turret fighter, markings are from Xtradecal sheet X72117.  The model depicts a Defiant from No. 264 Sqn based at Hornchurch in August 1940.  This was the aircraft used by Plt Off E. G. Barwell on 24AUG40 to claim a Bf 109E for his sixth victory.   The aircraft was lost over Thanet on 28AUG40.

The Defiant is generally thought of as an unsuccessful design by aviation enthusiasts, so I was a little surprised to learn that it was credited with quite a few victories given the small numbers deployed.  The most successful Defiant ace was Sgt E. R. Thorn of No. 264 Sqn who was credited with twelve victories.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

B-17 Flying Fortress Interior Colors Part II

During the war B-17s were produced at three locations.  The Boeing plant at Seattle, Washington was assigned production code BO; Douglas at Long Beach, California was DL; and Lockheed Vega at Burbank, California was VE.  These codes were noted at the end of each aircraft’s batch number.  Each factory was supplied with equipment and pre-manufactured assemblies by various subcontractors.  While governed by the same set of regulations, variations in production practices and suppliers inevitably resulted detail differences.

In the first post on B-17 interiors I showed the standards for the “official” colors and appearance.  In this post I’ll show some of the variations and details of operational Fortresses.  Link to the first part is here:  https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2019/09/11/b-17-flying-fortress-interior-colors-part-i/

Here is a very interesting color photograph of three fitters installing equipment in the aft fuselage of a Fortress.  While the official USAAF Technical Order specified the fuselage interior was to remain unpainted, here the longitudinal stringers were supplied to Boeing already primed.  Also note the supports for the gunners’ footrests are each primed, stamped, and annotated.

B-17G-105-VE serial number 44-85790 was purchased by a Mr. Art Lacey and displayed above his gas station / restaurant in Milwaukie Oregon.  In 2014 the aircraft was purchased by the B-17 Alliance Foundation and is currently being restored to airworthy condition as “Lacey Lady”.  It is a late-production Vega Fortress and is of interest because it remained unrestored, a virtual time capsule.  This is the interior of the port wheelwell looking aft.  While the skin of the nacelle is unpainted aluminum, the rear bulkhead and internal structural components have been primed.  (Photograph by Steve Heeb)

This is a photo showing the cockpit of the NMUSAF restoration of B-17F-10-BO serial number 41-24485, the “Memphis Belle”.  This shows the Dull Dark Green color specified, FS 34092.  The boots on the control columns are Olive Drab canvas.

Another restoration  showing the other color specified in Technical Order 01-20EF-2, Bronze Green.  In this picture the color looks a bit too bright due to the lighting, but it is useful as a general comparison with the previous picture.  I would doubly caution modelers attempting to directly match the colors in the photograph – the aircraft is a restoration and even if the restoration team got the color exactly right the photograph and your computer monitor may not capture the tone correctly.  Modelers should try to match FS 14058 but a little darker.

A rare color slide taken inside a B-17B showing the port waist gun position.  On the early Fortresses the gun positions were in bulged “teardrop” blisters, the guns pivoted and rotated within.  On all Fortresses the after fuselage interior was specified to remain in natural aluminum.

The B-17C eliminated the teardrop waist gun fairings but the fuselage cutout shape was unchanged.  Twenty B-17Cs were supplied to the Royal Air Force as the Fortress I.  Here is a view of the Fortress I interior as an RAF gunner poses at the starboard waist gun.  Note that the fuselage of the “shark fin” Forts is considerably smaller than the re-designed “E” model.

A nice view inside a B-17E looking aft towards the tail.  The cylindrical object in the background is a chemical toilet.  The crew access door is just visible on the starboard side.  (Photograph by Frank Sherschel for LIFE Magazine)

A waist gunner in full flying gear.  Flying at altitude required oxygen and an electrically-heated flying suit – hypothermia and hypoxia were potentially fatal.  This gunner also wears an apron-style “flak jacket” to reduce injuries from shrapnel.  The cramped quarters and precarious footing are obvious, there was little room to spare and the gunners got in each other’s way.  Crews would often fly with only one of the two gunners, particularly later in the war.

Another view of the aft fuselage, this time looking forward.  The waist gun positions on this Fortress are protected by armor plates which appear to have been primed.  The guns are fed from plywood ammo containers, and additional ammo boxes are stowed on the floor on either side of the guns.  In the background a crewman is making adjustments to the Sperry ball turret.

In the two previous photographs the crew had carried additional .50 caliber ammunition in boxes, and these boxes are commonly seen in or around operational aircraft.  This is a nice color photograph of an ammo dump which shows the stenciling and variations in colors of these boxes.  (LIFE Magazine photograph)

A B-17G Bombardier identified as Captain Bonnett poses at his station.  The device leaning to the right is the control for the Bendix chin turret.  Note the details of the seat and lap belt.  There is no acoustical insulation installed on the sides of the nose compartment, the Alcoa sheet aluminum product stenciling is clearly visible.

The interior of a B-17G nose section looking aft.  Plywood ammunition boxes for the cheek guns are to the left, the Bombardier’s control panel is to the right.  The sides of the compartment are unpainted aluminum, but the rear bulkhead is covered with Olive Drab canvas, part of the acoustical batting to help reduce noise in the cockpit.

TSGT Robert Siavage poses in the Radio Compartment of his 306 Bomb Group B-17F.  His .50 caliber gun is stowed overhead.  This aircraft still retains the insulation in this compartment, although crews often removed this in the field.

A color shot of LT Bob Welty posing inside a B-17G after returning Stateside.  This photograph is interesting as it shows the interior of a “Mickey” aircraft which carries an AN/APS-15 radar in place of the Sperry ball turret.  These were used as pathfinders when the target was obscured by overcast.  The receiver equipment was mounted in the Radio Compartment forward of the bulkhead.

Two photographs showing the color and stenciling of the seat cushions carried by B-17s and other U.S. aircraft.  The cushions could also be used as flotation devices.

AER Moldova Russian Trucks in 1/72 Scale

Two builds of the AER Moldova Russian truck kits, one is a PARM-1 aircraft field workshop and the second is a similar kit converted to an anti-aircraft vehicle using the Zvezda 37mm 61-K gun.  The kits are a little dated by today’s standards but still build up nicely with no surprises.  The gun truck conversion is rather straight-forward, if you are looking to practice your conversion or scratchbuilding skills a gun truck is good subject to start with.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Imperial Japanese Navy Antisubmarine Escorts 1941-45 New Vanguard 248 Book Review

Imperial Japanese Navy Antisubmarine Escorts 1941-45 New Vanguard 248

Written by Mark Stille, illustrated by Paul Wright

Paperback, 48 pages

Published by Osprey Publishing July 2017

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1472818164

ISBN-13: 978-1472818164

Dimensions: 7.7 x 0.3 x 9.7 inches

The doctrine of the Imperial Japanese Navy centered around fighting one climactic battle where the IJN was to win a decisive victory and thus the war.  All procurement and planning before the Pacific War had this strategy as its goal.  The Japanese submarine fleet was to be given a scouting and support role in this  battle, helping to locate the main enemy fleet and reduce their numbers before the Combined Fleet could join the battle.  The Japanese presumed their opponents would assign their submarines the same mission, and thus gave little thought to protecting their vital merchant fleet in a protracted war.

U.S. Naval doctrine also initially planned to assign the same mission to their Fleet Submarines, but when the Pacific War began the strategy shifted and the U.S. submarine force was tasked with destroying the Japanese merchant fleet.  Heavily reliant on imported resources, the island nation of Japan was particularly vulnerable to a sea blockade.  The Imperial Japanese Navy was remarkably unprepared to meet this threat.  The few dedicated escort ships available were lacking in anti-submarine warfare weapons and sensors, and were typically manned by officers drawn from the Japanese Merchant Marine Academy, not the IJN Academy at Eta Jima.  By 1943 the USN had overcome its initial problems with malfunctioning torpedoes and was deploying large numbers of newly constructed, state of the art submarines with highly trained crews and commanding officers hand-picked for aggressiveness.  The Japanese nation faced an existential crisis.

In this book author Mark Stille describes the belated Japanese efforts to design and produce escort vessels to counter the U.S. submarine threat and protect their merchant fleet.  The Japanese developed several related ship classes with progressive increases in ASW weaponry and efforts were made to simplify the designs in order to reduce construction times.  When US carrier and land based air power became a serious threat during the last year of the war, the ships were refitted with increased anti aircraft batteries.  The book describes the construction of each class and lists the fate of each vessel.  Illustrations are clear and well presented to show the differences between the classes.

Recommended as an overview of the topic, and a good recognition guide to help the reader identify the ship types.

Jeep Walk Around Part 1

Photographs taken at the Military Modelers Club of Louisville IPMS Model Show, May 2015.