By John Ratzenberger, #40196
Intro 1 2 3
 

I live on the Outer Banks of NC and attended most of the First Flight Celebration in December 2003. Tuesday, 16 Dec, was the best weather day of the event so I got an early start by going over to the Dare County Regional Airport on Roanoke Island. DCRA was the flight base for most everything with a prop, to include hundreds of private aircraft belonging to visitors -- we were well over capacity and, of course, under high security.

When I go photographing at air shows, museums, etc, my primary purpose is to get shots useful for modeling detail. I tend to view color schemes as suspect or better addressed in the literature of history and the hobby. Please also see the technical notes at the end of this article.

There are exceptions, and this is one. As I walked down the ramp in the "Warbirds" area, the only place open to wandering at that time due to the overcrowding & flight operations, I looked around the nose gear of a really nifty DC-4 and there it was -- the P-51C I had seen in a fly-over the day before!! A thought hit me and I said to myself, "Self, even though this is a very rare bird, you don't need Mustang detail, it's everywhere. You don't need to worry about the authenticity of markings, because you want to build a model of this exact airplane, not what it might represent!"

And so, here is the Commemorative Air Force's P-51C, in markings to honor the Tuskegee Airmen. The aircraft is a P-51C-5 with USAAF S/N 42-103645. It was used as a trainer during the war and did not see overseas service nor does it have any tie to the Tuskegee program. It is one of only four P-51C's in the world, and one of two flying. It is currently based with the Minnesota Wing of the CAF. I have provided tw0 web links that discuss the history, restoration, and operation of this aircraft.

www.cafsmw.org/smw-aircraft/Mustang.html www.redtail.org/airplane/narrative.shtml 1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/Dumigan/2101.htm

Note these websites differ in markings from the subject aircraft -- specifically the badges under the cockpit do not appear in many shots, giving an out if they prove too hard to replicate.

Captions:
Pix#01-02 aren't great, but are all I could get for in-flight shots.  They vaguely show the location of wing markings, something my detail photos don't achieve.  Pic#02 has been sharpened in an effort to get the wing bands to show better.  The web links above have much better shots and are probably helpful to pin things down.

Pix#03-09 show the right side markings:
Pic#03 is the view walking down the ramp that led to the "Self" monologue above.
Pic#04 shows the nose markings and a good example of exhaust discoloration on NM.
Pix#05-08 focus on the markings and badges below the cockpit.  The badges are from the 477th Bomb Group, a "Tuskegee" outfit that trained on the B-25 & B-26 but never went overseas.  The badges, in order from the front, are for the 616th BS, 617th BS, 619th BS, and 618th BS -- yes, they are out of sequence.
Pic#09 shows the CAF "markings" under the tail.  Note the NM rivets on the red tail.  That is the pilot wiping morning dew off the aircraft.
Pix#10-18 do the same for the left side.
Pic#10 is just a partial view of the fuselage, but the rest is covered in the pictures below.
Pic#11 shows the nose in detail.
Pix#12-16 focus on the markings around the cockpit -- unfortunately the open panel partially obscures the badges.  These are, from the front, for the 99th FS, 100th FS, 301st FS, and 302nd FS of the 332nd FG -- the Tuskegee Airmen everyone knows about.
Pix#17-18 have tail marking detail; note the yellow trim tabs and the NM rivets by the hinges.
Pix#19-21 cover the nose from the front and each side. 
Pic#21 shows the air scoop, exhaust, oil cooler, pitot, and cockpit covers -- an interesting variation for modeling (and a way to avoid detailing one more cockpit).
Pix#22-29 are modeling detail of the scoop, gear, and wheel wells. 
Pix#22-24 are from the left side and Pix#25-29 from the right, although they are pretty much interchangeable.  Note the white add-on antennas under both wings; I am unsure what they are, other than modern nav/comm gear.
Pix#30-33 provide shots of the wings showing markings and etc.  These aren't great because of the angles, and frankly I forgot to take some shots.  Note that the gun/ammo bays exist, but are used to carry luggage, tools, etc -- don't show this baby with guns in open bays.  Note the difference in markings on the flaps at the left root (Pic#30) versus the right (Pic#33) due to cockpit access from the left.

If you build this, it gleams -- no weathering, no pre-weathering/shading, no post-weathering, nothing but bright natural metal and gloss paint rubbed daily (and lovingly) with a big soft chamois.

I welcome any comments on style, content, or technique that would improve future submissions.

Model On !!!!

April 2004