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Sydhuey

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Everything posted by Sydhuey

  1. Your getting there, couple of points , the tropical cowls have 8 holes in them no more , these were a bit of a grey area a couple of years ago and some thought it was 12 , (6 in each lower cowl) in fact it is 8 , 6 in lower outer cowl and 2 in the inner lower cowl, I found a picture of the cowls in an old manual that confirmed 8 holes. The inner cowl only has 2 holes and they are below the oil cooler intake , if there was 6 in the cowl hot air from round the engine would exit the upper holes and put hot air down the oil cooler intake. Also the intakes on the top of the wing on the A-20G these are late flow thru particle separator intakes not supercharger cowls, Early A-20's up to the early G had tropical intakes that go down to the leading edge of the engine cowl these slightly reduce performance , the A-20G introduced a multiuse intake incorporating a particle separator with no decrease to performance in these intakes a door on top towards the rear is opened on the ground allowing air to flow thru being forced thru by propeller wash , once off the ground the door closes forcing all air into the carburetor .
  2. F-3A photo reconnaissance version of the A-20J/K (46 converted) , all armament removed , a perspex dome replaced the turret , nose guns removed and faired over, used for night photo recce work , still had 3 man crew , pilot, navigator in nose, and observer in rear .Cameras mounted in rear of bomb bay into rear crew compartment with para flares carried in front half of bomb bay .
  3. Yes the RAAF museum Boston is in the wrong colours, there were a few comment's on colour after the painting but it was too late , there are a few colour pics of RAF Boston III's available, the RAAF Boston's are exactly the same as them after all the RAAF Boston's came from the tail end of the AL series Boston's from Douglas and Boeing. The RAAF Museum machine was colour matched to paint chips then converted to a mil spec paint and painted gloss, this gives it a differant shade to the original US shades, the US colours are slightly lighter than the UK colours , The A-20G at Amberley is painted in Matt paint and is alot more accurate as its not owned by the RAAF it was painted in more authentic colours , RAAF heritage has this stupid rule of painting all preserved aircraft Gloss for longevity , Ok for a/c stored outside but for inside display I see no point in painting them in what are wrong colours and shades. Look at ADF serial website newsletter Volume 11 Issue 2 Autum 2021, I did an article on RAAF DB-7B's in RAAF service including artwork , Vol 11 Issue 3 has A-20A and A-20C in RAAF service and I am currently finishing A-20G in RAAF service .
  4. Ok mission log confirms late 43 (4 rows of mission markings) so RAAF Sky Blue, upper colours are std Dark Green /Dark Earth , RAAF Boston's didn't get the std RAAF scheme applied stayed in DG/DE their whole lives till post Jun/Jul 44 then the remaining DB-7B's went into an all over Foliage Green scheme . Sky Blue Sqn codes is ok. I hate posting pics here but if you look online you will see photo's of the nose of "She's Apples" about this time frame showing the correct amount of DE on the L/H nose , there is a photo with a fitter standing on the MG blister and a clear view of the scheme and the mission markings. "She's Apples" was scrapped in Port Moresby in early 1945 with all the other spare DB-7B's A-20A's and A-20C's. A-20G's handed back to USAAF.
  5. Good choice Gerard, She's Apples is my favorite DB-7B, she flew approx 77 missions , up until approx mission 69-70 (Late Aug 43) it was in the std Dark Green/Dark Earth over Sky, on 30 Aug 43 on a mission over Gasmata it had the hydraulics shot out and bellylanded back at base , it was then out of action for approx a mth, coming back to the Sqn in mid Oct 43, during repairs the undersurface was repainted RAAF Sky Blue, so depending on the mission markings decal in the kit will depend if its Sky or Sky Blue , total mission markings were in 4 rows , top row 24, second row 23, third row 22 and forth row 7 or 8, so up to 3 full rows Sky undersurface, if a forth mission total row then Sky Blue . Also the scheme in the kit of the L/H fwd fuselage is wrong , the Dark Earth covers a bigger area , look at photo's of "She's Apples" on line it shows the L/H nose clearly . All RAAF DB-7B's went to Sky Blue under side colour , the trick is working out when , they were not all painted Sky Blue at once but only got repainted when they were damaged or belly landed , when they got to NG in late 42 they were all Sky , by the end of 43 the remaining ones were RAAF Sky Blue.
  6. Hey Tony the A-26's were going to the Med , Boston (13,18, 55), and Baltimore (15 SAAF, 454 and 459 RAAF) units were all to convert to the A-26 in 1946
  7. there are two photo's in front of "L" with the US crew one each side of nose , "K" may have been a previous code , std markings on RAF Boston's in Europe were the 2 letter Sqn code fwd of the roundel on the Fuselage side and the individual aircraft code letter on the nose 88 RH 107 OM 226 MQ 342 OA
  8. The photo in warhawk's link are in the right scheme and the narrative said the 6 x US loaned Boston's had stars added, you can see where the fin flash is painted over and the individual letter under the cockpit also appears it could be painted over ,I will go thru the national archive and see if I can ID the 12 aircraft on the mission.
  9. A-20B or C, open gun position , smaller intake of the B/C , G ran a larger intake incorporating a tropical filter going back from front of engine cowl, also G's were only solid nose , Glass nose didn't come in till the J model which had a turret, only real way to distinguish is to have the nose uncovered to see if it is a stepped (B) or slopped (C) nose.
  10. yep RAAF senior Office attitude was abysmal early in the war. "On 27 April 42, Jackson met with his pilots and revealed that some senior RAAF officers had expressed dissatisfaction with the way in which No. 75 Squadron was avoiding dogfighting with the Japanese Zeros. Jackson and his men had generally eschewed such tactics owing to the Zero's superiority to the Kittyhawk in close combat. The senior officers' comments had evidently stung him, as he declared to his pilots: "Tomorrow I'm going to show you how". According to journalist Osmar White, who saw him on the night of the 27th, Jackson's "hands and eyes were still and rock steady" but he appeared "weary in soul" and "too long in the shadows". White concluded: "He had done more than conquer fear—he had killed it". The next day, Jackson led No. 75 Squadron's five remaining airworthy Kittyhawks to intercept a force of Japanese bombers and their escort. He destroyed an enemy fighter before being shot down and killed". Geoff Fisken scored 6 kills in Buffalo's over Singapore and said they were not as bad as made out to be , Hurricanes also performed well I think there were 8-10 Hurricane aces over Singapore, main problem was once again operational deployment by Senior Offices underestimating the Japanese, equipment and pilots sufficient for task if they were used properly. After combat experience most IIB's (particularly over Burma) had their outer 4 x .303's removed and 1x other from each side to allow hardpoints to be fitted and improve role rate 6 x .303's were more than sufficient against Japanese aircraft.
  11. Agree Graham, I just did an abbreviated post , attitude and training were probably the two biggest factors in A to A combat in WW2, acceptance of Axis capabilities by Allied commanders, improvement of training of allied pilots and decline on axis side. One of the most stupid attitudes of allied commanders was the attitude of superiority over the Japanese early in the war , Buffalo sufficient for any Japanese opposition over Singapore and RAAF Command ordering P-40 pilots over NG to mix it with Japanese aircraft over Port Moresby as hit and run technics not considered aggressive enough.
  12. air combat is all about using your aircraft advantage against your enemy's disadvantage , every one knows Japanese aircraft are maneuverable but only at lower speeds , below 300 knts Japanese aircraft out maneuvered and out climbed all allied fighters but above 300 knts and right turns Japanese aircraft had weaknesses and couldn't keep up with any of the main allied fighters in a dive , above 300 knts Hurricanes and P-40's could turn better than Japanese fighters , the problem early in the war was the Allies got slow and dirty with Japanese aircraft and got badly beaten , when flown properly even early war fighters like the P-40 and Hurricane could more than hold their own with Japanese fighters (case in point June 44, 16 x RAAF P-40N took on 12 x Ki43 and 2 x B5N bombers and shot down 7 x Ki43's and both B5N's for the loss of 1 x P-40)
  13. Peter I'm pretty sure IIB AP894 was flown in 43 not 42 it had the interim white markings
  14. yep the old "A" models operated as delivered for awhile , I was involved in the upgrade program, wheel and brake assy replaced and extended wingtips and flaps added, all F-111 wings are the same the C and G had extended tips , when the RAAF bought spare replacement wings from the US they bought short wings off A/D/E/F models and added long tips , they got replacement short wings as the shorter wing copped less stress than the long span wings (the long wing was ordered specifically for the F-111C for use in the tropics for better takeoff and payload ability in hot weather ). After the 4 x F-111A's were converted to C models I overhauled all the F-111A wheels and Brakes and these were sold back to the US as spares for their fleet.
  15. Also the F-111C run the bigger F-111G main wheels and Brakes. Basic config , F-111A fuselage with F-111G wings and Wheels/brakes gives you basic F-111C pre pavetack.
  16. Ok I have used almost exclusively for years Model Master paints, I like going straight to the ANA or Mil spec number , well after Testors announced they were dropping them I promptly buried my head in the sand and said ," Ah stock will last, i'll be ok", well it hasn't and I have to look for new paints as most stores here in Australia are just about out of stock ,what do most guys use now ? Thanks
  17. Jason, RAAF PBY-5A's were not used in the mine laying "Black cat" role , PBY-5A's used in WW2 as ASR role as their range was too short for mine laying , most converted to PBY-5A(M) spec (ie , converted back to flying boats) with undercarrige removed to lighten them for the mine laying role , most RAAF PBY-5A's converted to the (M) spec. Of interest the un modded PBY-5A's were the model kept after the war as they were the most utility/multi role being Amphibians , almost all the pure flying boats were retired quickly after the war.
  18. Thanks guy's just looked at a couple of reviews and it looks ok , may try one of them .
  19. Has anyone actually made an accurate F-35 model yet without the ridiculous raised RAM panel lines, the F-35 is quite smooth not with the large panel lines like every model I have seen so far , the panel lines raised on the models should be decals not molded in.
  20. Fuselage only Black/white ID stripes were added to Mitchell and Boston's of 2 TAF I think in Oct 44 and removed in Jan 45 as they kept getting attacked by US Fighters (Mitchells confused as Dornier 217's and Boston's as Ju88's !!!) , so Aug configured A/C no stripes at all ,Oct-Jan Fuselage ID stripes.
  21. The serials I listed are straight off the 88 Sqn Operational Record history and match the serials on the pictures, the pictures I have are about 40+ MB high rez photo's and when you blow them up the serials are as clear as a bell.
  22. No airbrushing , photo is as it looks , as I said earlier 3 types of fin flash in use at this time , May 42 as they transitioned to the later style with narrow white band , I have a series of colour and B&W photo's of 88 Sqn on that day that show all this and the shadow under the tail but its to much of a pain to post them I only post direct now not threw another site. 88 Sqn operated AL289, AL690, AL692, AL693, AL721, AL740 and AL775 and 13 Boston III's in the Z series in May 42
  23. All Douglas build DB-7B's in that picture, not even 6 mths old. AL690. AL693, AL721, AL775, other photo's show earlier Bostons as well in the Z series.
  24. There are a series of colour and B&W photo's taken at 88 Sqn on the same day , I will look up the date, interesting shots of the transition of roundels and code colours , at least one photo shows the RH in red and the individual code still in grey and vis versa . The area under the stab is Dark Earth not Dark Green it just looks dark , in one photo of seven machines in a row you see 3 versions of the fin flash , original equal portions of red/white/blue, field modified with more blue added to reduce the white and the later fin flash when the C1 roundels added with equal red/blue with the narrow white band , interesting mix of markings , believe taken in May 42.
  25. To do a MLD DB-7B just use the std cowls from the kit not the tropical resin cowls , the 8 small cover plates (to form the Tropical cowl) were not removed before capture, photo's of captured DB-7B's also show them fitted and early RAAF Boston photo's also show them fitted, they were removed when RAAF Boston's went to New Guinea. Dutch DB-7B's retained their RAF serial under the tail (ALxxx) the Dutch D-xx number was on the nose , std RAF paint scheme DG/DE over Sky, Dutch triangles applied to fuselage sides and under wing over RAF roundels, not applied to upper wing, RAF roundel on upper wing and fin flash over painted, side gun blisters also not fitted before capture (as noted on aircraft when delivered to RAAF).
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