P-40E Warhawk, 3rd PS (Prov), Revell 1/144

 

After the Clark Field disaster, the Far East Air Force (FEAF) was left with a very small number of fighter jets operating in the Philippines, insufficient to guarantee air superiority around the islands, which were surrounded by the Japanese Navy, preventing the arrival of supply convoys.

The Pensacola Convoy was diverted to Brisbane when the route to the Philippines was cut off.

The missing aircraft of Pursuit Group 35 were in transit aboard the Pensacola Convoy, diverted to Australia, to be assembled there and flown to the Philippines. Although there were no aircraft, enough pilots had survived and were taken to Australia to fly the planes. However, the situation had deteriorated so severely by the time the aircraft were assembled that there was no longer any way to send them to their original destination. Furthermore, the Dutch East Indies were in great danger; Allied air forces had suffered heavy losses, and fighters were urgently needed.

El unico escuadron en llegar a Java fue el 17 PS Prov.

Under these conditions, several fighter squadrons were created with the newly assembled aircraft in Amberley, Australia. The first was the 17th Pursuit Squadron Provisional, with newly arrived pilots and a few veterans from the Philippines. Due to the serious needs of the fighting in Java, the squadron was sent there. With new aircraft arriving gradually, the 3rd and 20th Provisional Pursuit Squadrons were formed, also destined for Java. The 20th PS was the first to be sent by air, but upon reaching Timor, they were intercepted by Japanese aircraft, and only 6 planes survived. The 3rd PS was sent by air, but only 8 fighters reached Blimbing; the others were either lost in accidents or had to return to Darwin due to malfunctions. Of these, aircraft number 54, flown by Second Lieutenant Robert Buel, was assigned to protect a naval convoy against a Japanese Mavis that had been following them. The lieutenant managed to shoot down the Japanese aircraft, but then disappeared without a trace. This is the aircraft that inspired this model.

MODELISM

This is the old Lodela 1/144 scale model, manufactured in the late seventies. It was a magnificent model, easy to assemble, and very well detailed. It hasn't been produced since. This scale is perfect for modeling aircraft with such simple markings, like the planes from the Java campaign, of which I'm still missing two squadrons.

GALLERY

The model is a Lodela Revell, H-1000 series, 1/144 scale. The Old Marine paint scheme uses the USAAF 1941 paint pack in Olive Green 41 and Neutral Gray. All the work is done by hand, including the insignia, which is a bit difficult at this scale. There is very little information about that period of the war. Many aircraft were only delivered in basic colors, with the national star in the center of the fuselage instead of the squadron symbol. They often had the economic numbers painted on the fixed rudder in white or black, and sometimes on the lower part of the nose. Due to the limited evidence, it is possible that the aircraft were customized in the field.

P-400 Airacobra, Portuguese Air Force, Esquadrilha Airacobra (after Esquadrilha 4)

 

 

Portugal obtained its twenty Airacobras in the strangest way: 15 P-400 model aircraft, belonging to the 81st FG and the 350th FG of the USAAF, in transit to North Africa, landed or crashed in Portugal. The aircraft were repaired and put into service, serving for many years.

After negotiations with the United States, the latter agreed to sell the aircraft to the Portuguese, and added some new P-39Ls, but refused any kind of technical assistance; the aircraft served until 1950.

There are several discrepancies regarding the number of Airacobras that arrived in Portugal. Apparently, there were more than served in the OK squadron, as the mixed squadron was called by its pilots. Some Airacobras crashed in Portuguese or Spanish territory. It is thought that at least 24 aircraft may have arrived in Portugal, and three in Spain, about which almost nothing is known.

The P-400s were undoubtedly painted in green and earth tones, as they were aircraft diverted from British orders, with red or yellow spinners. The newer P-39Ls were painted in VO on the upper fuselage and GN on the lower fuselage. However, there are references indicating that the P-400s were painted in a mild camouflage pattern.

 

MODELISM

This is the old Lodela 1/144 scale model, produced in the early 1980s in the H-1000 series, a peculiar series that was only fully produced in Japan, more or less fully in Mexico, and very irregularly in Germany. It was an extraordinary model for its size, representing a Q model very well.

GALLERY

This was one of my first Airacobra models. I assembled it in the early 1980s. It was the first model I assembled and modified its livery by simply cutting the bars of the American insignia from the decal sheet and painting it with the P-400 scheme. In the 1990s, I repainted it with Pollys paint, as the Testors paint I originally used had become scratched. Finally, I decided to change the livery, and since the Portuguese aircraft were interned P-400s, I decided to take advantage of the fact that it's the same camouflage and painted the Portuguese insignia on it, using new codes, and then applied a coat of varnish.

 

P-38 LIghtning, Droop Snoot, Conversion, part 2

 

The P-38 Droop Snoot doesn't exist in 1/72. Here, I continue its conversion. I made the mold of the bomber's nose and thermoformed it with acetate from a supermarket meat tray.

 The pieces were now in place, adhered with white glue, and reinforced with epoxy modeling clay.

The nose was filled with acrylic filler to match. 

With the basic paint job complete, several coats of varnish are applied. I begin with the insignia.

Now for the air intakes. The Airfix model is a P38F, and the Droop is a conversion of a P-38J. I also built them with epoxy modeling clay. This sculpting process is quick and easy, but the drying time is not. I'm almost finished with the stars. The last correction is the toothpick tips.

I build the propellers on a metal axis (a nail), using acetate and epoxy modeling clay.

 

Once the model is finished, I apply another generous amount of varnish, in several coats, and place it inside a clear box to dry.

Ya terminado el modelo, le aplico otra generosa cantidad de barniz, en varias capas y lo pongo dentro de una caja transparente a secar

Mirage IIIE, Revell, 1/72, RAAF

 

 

I really like Australian-themed models. I already have a respectable number of models on that subject. One of the first was this Mirage III, from Lodela, one of Revell's lost molds. I assembled it in the 80s when the model came out in Mexico, based on the image of a RAAF aircraft in a book by Gunston.

I don't remember what paint I used, possibly Pactra, as at that time, the aftermarket didn't exist, I painted the badges, the only way to have models that didn't have the standardization of mass production. This became customary, so much so that I think that in my collection of Mirages almost none are direct from the stock market.

B-29 Enola Gay

 One of the most important planes in history, it is also one of the most controversial, particularly in recent years, of the politically correct, in which the launch of the Atomic Bomb is seen, as something bad, ugly, there have been protests against This, the most famous, some liberals threw a bucket of blood on the plane, which is curious, if the bomb had not been dropped, and the US troops had had to invade Japan, it was very likely that the grandparents of these activists, possibly would have dead, so in a way, they are protesting against their own existence.

The Enola Gay was not a normal B-29, it had been specially modified, removing the gun turrets, replacing most of the observation bubbles, with simple portholes, with a special bomb bay and with a dome next to the bay, which I have nowhere found what it was for.

The model had not been produced, until this year, when it was manufactured by Academy in 1/144, so I used one from Lodela, which was incomplete, it is the old mold from the seventies, so it is a magnificent model, which For some reason, it was never made again.

The Enola Gay had two decorations, the first, which is the one with which the bomb was dropped, has a huge R in the tail circle, which was later changed by an arrow, decoration with which it remained for many years, first in service. with the North American Nuclear Bombardment Wing and later in the Smithsonian Museum

It is an airplane surrounded by controversy, but in this era of victimhood, even one of its presentations was very controversial, since it focused on the effects of the bomb, rather than on the device itself, something that has been done more and more. popular, to observe the victims of the bomb, rather than the factors that led to its launch, sad stories of children burned by the bomb, manipulating Vulnerability (as if the Japanese Empire had been a poor vulnerable victim of the malevolent allies) to do cheap activism.

Or maybe simple ignorance, focusing on a single event, for ignoring the others, in fact more people died in the Bombing of Tokyo, on March 9, 1945, which left between 80,000 and 130,000 dead, against the 70,000 of Hiroshima, or the destruction of Manila by the Japanese, with 100,000 dead or the Nanking massacre, with 300,000 dead, perpetrated by the Japanese, the war is something terrible, it must be avoided, but we cannot judge it only with a simple moral, of victims and victimizers; In my opinion, the Japanese deserve such punishment, only for the crimes they committed against Australian nurses on Banka Island, let alone the others they did during the war.

The model is the old Revell mold, the paint El Viejo Marino, using brush, this model had been planned to be finished 75 years after the event, but the death of my mother made me postpone it for a whole year.

Revell's Freedom Fighters

 This box contains the three 1/72 fighter models, the rarest of Revell, they are the last molds of that series to have been manufactured, in the seventies, in a very short production, I think it was only once, the Cr. 42 I have only seen it in one edition of the seventies and in this package, the PZL 11 I think was produced more, even in Mexico, the only one that I am sure was produced here is the I-16, because I saw it at the Lodela offices, when they were in Berlin 34.

These molds must have had a problem, they were the last to be made, and had a very short life, in fact the old molds from the 50s and 60s were still used until the nineties, but these were not, maybe it was a technological step. Wrong, the models were much better made, the plastic was finer and they were very well made, perhaps that was achieved with less efficient molding metals, the explanation can only be hypothesis, these models have never been produced again, like this They are very expensive, these are in their original packaging, and I do not intend to open them until I have an event worth celebrating, or perhaps, like the Ar-234, I assemble them to remove the bad taste of these two terrible years.

F-84, Thunderstreak, Revell

 Among my old models, I found my old Revell Lodela F-84, the FS-366; I must have assembled it in the seventies, it is one of the oldest models in my collection, and you can tell that time has passed by, it had used decals and they were already peeling, the Pactra paint with which I had originally painted it It is already very worn and opaque, in itself it was not very bright and many years of having it exposed I finished with what little it had, the model required a tune-up.

And since I am using the Art of Painting to recover from my grief, stress and exhaustion, it was a great idea to repaint this old model, and taking advantage of the fact that its cabin was loose, I gave it a comprehensive review, fresh acrylic paint, natural aluminum from Last generation, repaint the badges, this is one of the S series models, which had their codes and badges highlighted, so you just have to follow the guides.

I liked the result, the interior of the cabin is already much more realistic, the metallic shine is very adequate, although it still does not convince me, I think that in metallic, oil paints are still much superior to acrylic paints, although Unfortunately, no one makes them in Mexico anymore and they cannot be imported legally; The mirror-like feeling that the metal of those times had and that only one painting represented well is missing, the old oil based Lodela paint.