B-26 One Last Mission Across The Atlantic
By
The Model, Text and Photographs are provided by Allan Jones, member of IPMS-RI Bong & IPMS-Steve Wittman.
The story is that Dean Chapman’s Uncle, 1st Lt. Howard R. Hartley, was the pilot of the plane. On June 14th 1944, the B-26 serial 296210 from the 394th BG got hit by Flak from Bricy airbase. It crashed at St Peravy-la-Colombe, killing its six crew members. A memorial of sorts has been set up at that town in France. Dean will fly to France on Monday, June 8, to present the model to the Memorial.
Dean, having obtained my name from Greenfield News and Hobby, called me on Friday, May 29, and asked if I could put a model together in 10 days. I told him that he was crazy. Then he explained why he wanted the model and what he was going to do with it. He wanted a model in 48th scale and thought he had one for the project. I agreed to meet with him at GNH later that evening to see his kit. What he had was an Air Lines kit, a Frog kit, an MPC kit, and a Revell kit. . . . all in 72nd scale. Anticipating the problem, I had surveyed my basement and found an old water soaked AMT kit and had it with me. He agreed to buy my kit if I would build it in 10 days. I agreed to try.
The kit, obsolete by today’s standards, fits surprisingly well, if, perhaps, a bit sloppy. I assembled the cockpit and gun positions, sprayed everything zinc chromate and stuck the fuselage halves together. The first piece to get SnJ paint was the vertical fin. I was able to mask and add the white flash after about an hour of drying time. The numbers are from Eagle Strike sheet no. 48048B US 45 Degree ID Numbers & Letters (Black).
Once the fuselage seams were set up, I sanded and filled where necessary and, after masking and installing all the windows, I sprayed the fuselage. With the paint dry, I was able to mask for the invasion stripes and paint with Testors Gloss White followed by masking and painting the black portions with Floquil Engine Black.
Next came the wings and nacelles. The upper and lower wing panels fit quite well. I had enough room to wiggle the nacelles while the glue was wet so that they fit pretty well. The air intakes on the tops of the cowl were very clunky. I cut away some of the plastic at the entrance of the scoops to make them more realistic. The engines in this kit are inaccurate having an insufficient number of cylinders. I used them anyway. Once the model is closed up, no one will ever see anything inside the cowls except for the front of the cylinders. The engines are assembed each in a different manner. One engine has a fire wall; the other doesn’t. It took a few minutes to figure out which parts went where. After painting the assemblies black with gray crank case covers, I dry brushed the fins on the cylinders with SnJ.
The wings have built-in spars which lock into the fuselage above the bomb bay. Fit of the wings to the fuselage was strong and perfectly aligned. The wings were painted in the same manner as the fuselage and fin. All four national insignia decals are from Micro Scale sheet no. 48-23.
The 5W-P fuselage codes were hand drawn in reverse on Frisket Paper, cut out with fresh #11 blades and sprayed on the model with Floquil Engine Black. The antiglare panels were masked and sprayed with Model Master Olive Drab.
Finally, all the detail parts were assembled. Guns were sprayed with Metalizer Gun Metal, landing gear struts with SnJ, tires with Floquil Grimy Black, wheels with Metalizer Magnesium, and canopy frames with SnJ after dipping in Future. All clear parts were attached with Micro Scale’s Kristal Klear. The nose gear strut, being a very sloppy fit, was glued in with CA. The propellers are Floquil Engine Black with Model Master Yellow tips and SnJ hubs. The cheek guns have Metalizer Gun Metal barrels with SnJ barrel tips. The clear parts and all masking was done with Tamiya Masking Tape. I made two parts not included in the kit. The back of the nose machine gun is held be two yellow stretched sprue “bungee cords” as in the full scale aircraft.
I spent 46 hours working on the model. Those of us who do this work know that much of that time is spent masking, cleaning the airbrush, and making sure that the caps on the paint bottles will come off easily the next time that bottle is needed. I hope that this very fast build will meet the needs of Mr. Chapman. I do not envy his job of packing the model for the trip to France. aj
Thanks Al this is a fitting tribute to those who served so gallantly to protect the freedom of so many. May The Belle inspire others to not only build scale models but to also remember those who served and are serving our country in the armed forces.
For being in a hurry it`s a great job. May I ask were did the nose art came from¿
We’ll see if Al chimes in to answer that. Otherwise I will ask him tomorrow night at our club meeting in Milwaukee.
June 11, 2009: Fine looking model, Hawkeye. I would like to see some details about cutting masks from Friskit, as well as where you buy the stuff. Also, I would like for some decal maker (hint, hint) release these in 1/72 scale.
Horton
Hello,
I am French who drew B-26 and his nose art.
Concerning the nose art here its origin:
The photograph comes from M. Brown. I also received a beautiful photograph of Brian Gibbons showing this B-26. Brian Gibbons made research to know with precise details the number of missions of this B-26 at the time when it was shot down.
Dean Chapman offered this B-26 to the inhabitants of Saint-Péravy la Colombe
3 days of ceremonies in Saint-Péravy la Colombe in France, were very moving. There was a mechanic chief of the 394th BG which had worked on this bomber.
Best Regards,
Christian Dieppedalle from France
Thanks Christian,
It helps to know the rest of the story. Could you email a picture of the model as it is displayed at the memorial?
Gerald
Hello Gerald,
Do you want a photograph of your model, original plane or photographs of the ceremony?
Best Regards,
Christian