After the disaster of Clark Field, the Far East Air Force (FEAF), was left with a very small number of fighters in operation in the Philippines, which were not enough to guarantee air dominance around the islands, which were fsurrounded by the Japanese Navy, which prevented the arrival of supply convoys.
The last aircraft of the Pursuit Group 35 were in transit, aboard the Pensacola convoy, diverted to Australia, to be assembled there and taken in flight to the Philippines, although there were no planes, enough FEAF pilots had survived, they were taken to Australia to man the planes, however the situation had deteriorated so badly by the time the planes had been assembled that there was no way to send them to their original destination, besides the Dutch East Indies were in great danger, allied air forces had suffered great casualties and the need for fighters was urgent.
Under these conditions several fighter squadrons were created with newly assembled aircraft in Amberley Australia, the first was the 17 rd Pursuit Squadron (Provisional), with newly arrived pilots and a few veterans from the Philippines, for the serious needs of the combats in Java, the squadron was sent there. With new aircraft arriving in small batches, the 3 rd and 20 th Pursuit Squadrons (Provisional) were formed, also destined to Java, the 20 Ps was the first to be sent by air, but upon reaching Timor, they were intercepted by Japanese planes and only 6 P-40 survived, the 3rd PS was sent in flight, but only 8 fighters arrived at Blimbing, the others or were lost in accidents or had to return to Darwin due to malfunction, of these, the apparatus 54 flown by Second Lieutenant Robert Buel was destined to protect a naval convoy against a Japanese Mavis who had been following them, the lieutenant managed to overthrow the Japanese apparatus, but then disappeared without a trace, this is the plane that inspires me for this model.
The following squadrons to be formed were the 16 th, destined for India, and the unlucky 13 th and 33 rd Pursuit Squadrons (Provisional), both intended for the defense of Java, however the bulk of the 33 was caught on the ground when the Japanese aircraft carriers attacked Darwin, the 13 rd and the remains of 33 rd were destined for Tjilajap, not being able to send them in flight, it was decided to ship them in the USS Langley and with some planes packed in the USAT Seawitch, as replacement for the losses of the 17th PS prov. the plan was to get to that ill-equipped port, run aground the USS Langley, get off the planes and use the beach as a runway, however the convoy was attacked already very close to its destination and the USS Langley was hit with several bombs, which sent it to the bottom with its cargo, on the other hand the Seawitch arrived at port, according to a source, it threw its boxes to the sea, according to another it reached them to unload, of both squadrons only two pilots survived. The end of the Java campaign was approaching, the pilots of the 17th PS prov. gave their planes to Dutch pilots and returned to Australia, where they joined the 49 FG in formation.
The model is Lodela Revell, H-1000 series in 1/144 scale, the paint is El Viejo Marino, I use the USAAF 1941 package, the colors Olive Green 41 and Neutral Gray, all the work is by brush, including the insignia, something a little hard on this scale. Modeller Sergio Tellez. There is very little information about that time of war, many planes were only delivered with the basic colors, and the national star at the center of the fuselage instead of the symbol of the squadron, only with the economic numbers painted on the fixed helm in black or white and sometimes in the nose, because of the little evidence, it is possible that the planes were customized in the field.
