Dambuster Tribute

Sitting at the model desk contemplating the Dambuster raid which took place on this evening 75 years ago. The Lanc Project Part 2 will be both a Dambuster tribute and my own personal #RAF100 build. Now to decide which aircraft to model...AJ-F flown by Ken Brown, AJ-T flown by CanAmerican Big Joe, or AJ-N crewed by Canada’s last surviving Dambuster Fred Sutherland?

Slowly Turning Olive

The AZ Cobra rushes to the finish line.  Saturday saw final sanding, canopy masking, and Alclad Grey Primer applied.  After a tad more sanding on Sunday, I pulled out the Gunze Olive Drab acrylic and blasted paint.

I didn't have any masks for the kit, so I did it myself with Aizu masking tape.  Canopy masking is a modeling weakness, but the Aizu tape was a revelation.

Cobra!

AZ 1/72 AH-1G Cobra for the Museum of Flight’s Vietnam display is starting to emerge.  It needs to be done by May 3, so I better get moving!

RCAF Earthquakers

The eagle eyed modeler may have noticed in the new Airfix B-25C/D Mitchell that the “Desert Warrior” markings option lists a crew member as Pilot Officer Anthony Arthur Martin (RCAF). Why is there a RCAF crew member in a USAAF Mitchell?

In 1942, after Churchill and FDR’s Second Washington Conference, the 12th Bomb Group was transferred from the U.S. to North Africa and attached to the newly formed 9th Air Force. The 12th BG was tasked with assisting the British Eighth Army in their battle with Rommel's Afrika Korps. As the unit was inexperienced, it was decided to transfer 23 RCAF wireless air gunners to the unit to assist learning British radio procedures and to prevent friendly fire incidents. The Canadians served at two bases - Devesior in the 81st and 82nd Bombardment Squadron and at Ismalia with the 83rd and 434th B.S. Four of the RCAF WAGs were killed during their year with the 12th BG, and two, Alan James Mackie and Anthony Arthur Martin were awarded the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross. F/O Anthony Arthur Martin, from Squamish, British Columbia, was also awarded the American Air Medal and Six Oak Leaf Clusters for his ops with the Earthquakers.

It is assumed that when “Desert Warrior” returned to the United States for a bond tour, that F/O Martin was selected to join the tour due to him being the highest awarded RCAF WAG in the group.

F-Toys 1/72 Yokosuka D4Y2 Type 12 Suisei “Judy”

Read my F-Toys 1/72 D4Y2 Judy in box review at Model Paint Solutions.

Tamiya 1/72 Mosquito

David Knight has complained that I never posted a photo of the Tamiya Mosquito which I finished in December. I was waiting until I got the model back from the Museum for some glamour shots and a complete article. But to keep Mr. Knights happy, here is a quick iPhone snap of it upon completion before it went into the "Aerial Reconnaissance" display at the Museum of Flight.

RCAF B-29 Detachment

With the recent announcement of a visit by the Commemorative Air Force’s airworthy Boeing B-29 Superfortress "FiFi" to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in August, it is a good time to remember that the RCAF actually had a "B-29 Detachment" post war. In 1947, the RCAF's B-29 Detachment was created to assist with a joint USAF/USN/RCAF project to study low frequency LORAN (long range navigation) in the arctic.  In cooperation with the 4149th Base Unit, USAF, from Middletown, PA, Canadian and American personal flew over 100 B-29 missions over the north, some lasting almost 17 hours.  Three B-29s were assigned to the unit, which was headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta, including B-29Bs s/n 44-84035 (coded BF-035) and a/n 44-84021. In 1948, the Detachment was renamed the RCAF LF LORAN Flight, but the work continued.  On December 29, 1948, B-29 s/n 44-84021 crashed at Fairbanks, Alaska, during a flight for the program.

Modeler's Note:  There are only two options for a B-29 in 1/72; the ancient Airfix kit and the more recent, but still elderly, Academy kit.  It will make a rather large model, so this might be one of those times that considering 1/144 scale is a good idea.  If that is the case, search for the Fujimi kit.