Battle of the Bulge USAAF aircraft help

[James B]

Hi all,

 

I'm after some assistance please. I have done a fair amount of searching today and my brain is fried with me barely any further ahead than when I started.  As well as scale modelling, I play a ww2 miniatures game and figured I would combine the two hobbies. I am wanting a USAAF aircraft to support my Winter American troops. I like that the Americans adorned their craft with nose art as this has the potential to let me create something with a bit of colour on it, compared to the rest of my scale models being their typical camouflage or light grey. It needs to be something with ground attack capability, and flown during the Battle of the Bulge ~December '44 - Jan '45... and of course American.  My searching has turned up an engagement during the early days (Dec 17), while the weather was atrocious and had grounded most aircraft. Two P38 Lightnings identified a German battle group with ~3500 men and ~150 tanks in Belgium and these were promptly halted by an attack from P-47 Thunderbolts from 365th and 368th Fighter Groups.

 

The trouble I'm having is finding any reference to what version P-47s these would have been, and what serial numbers would have flown. This is mostly down to my lack of knowledge on the subject, this being the 1st time I have ever researched USAAF aircraft at all. The USAAF structure itself is throwing me, let alone the sheer volume of different aircraft they flew during the war years, and then number of versions of each is staggering. (I'm sure it's not too many more than the R.A.F. but I've been interested in that and absorbing information for a few decades now!) I'm waffling now. The gist is that I'm not set on it being a P-47, and am after a nice kit, with aftermarket decal options for some nice nose art, possibly even push the boat out with some pin-up nose art if I find the right one, but I'd like to know it flew sorties over winter Europe at the end of 1944.

 

Really appreciate any help.

 

Cheers all.

James

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Well i can tell you it would have been a P-47D either a later model razorback or a bubble topped D. As for sqaudrons google 9th air force WW2, 9th air force fighter command, 1st and 2nd tactical air forces. With those four you should ger some hits on the internet. Besides looking at just the standard hits look at the image sections and see if you can get more ideas/tips. Also try each individual type of aircraft cross referenced with the following words. Camouflage, colors & markings, and colorschemes. That usually helps me get quite a few images to search through. 

       As for types that flew at the end of '44. Just to name a few i would say P-51's both B/C/D varieties The above mentioned P-47's, P-38's for USAAF single and twin engined fighters. The twin engined light/medium bombers were The Douglas A-20G's, A-26A and B, North american B-25J's, and the Martin B-26 marauder. All would have some form of noseart. The RAF had Spitfires of multiple types, P-51'a of varios types as well, late hurricanes, typhoons and Tempest's in the single engine category and the Mosquito, Beaufighter, Westland whirlwind, also american types in use like the B-25 and B-26. Not all british or american aircraft had noseart but the majority did. The USAAF used medium bombers for both level bombing and fast attack low level raiders, much like the british did with Mosquito's and Beaufighters.

hope this gives you an idea. 

[James B]

Thank you @Corsairfoxfouruncle that's a great start and I'm sure will help get me in the right direction. 

 

I forgot got to mention that I'm specifically looking at 1/48 scale kits. I'll do a bit more research now that I have the type and look at decal options. I guess this wouldn't be a bad time to also ask if anyone has any recommendations for New Zealand decal and aftermarket suppliers, rather than ordering from the UK?

[stevehnz]

http://www.venturapublications.com/store/

 

http://www.oldmodelsdecals.com/

 

http://www.kiwiresin.com/172-resin-kitsets-and-conversions

 

http://www.jaysmodelkits.com/jaysmk/

 

Try these for starters.

Steve.

 

 

[Graham Boak]

A couple of comments on aircraft usage.  For the USAAF:  B-25s were not used in this theatre, but B-26s were, and no such thing as an A-26A in this context.  Gun nose Invaders (A-26B) were used but units had to retain a handful of A-20s because the glass-nose A-26C was late.  For the RAF, the Whirlwind and Hurricane were long gone as was the Beaufighter outside of Coastal Command.  The RAF used the B-25 but not the B-26 in this theatre.  The most common British type in the Bulge would have been the Typhoon, with rockets.

 

I think the original idea of 9th AF P-47Ds was the best: many of these were quite colourful.

[Troy Smith]

1 hour ago, Graham Boak said:

 

I think the original idea of 9th AF P-47Ds was the best: many of these were quite colourful.

 

filmed a bit later,  but  colour footage documentary,   many of these will be 9th AF planes.

 

 

link posted on Hyperscale,  http://www.network54.com/Forum/149674/post?messageid=1502419454

 

and film was used as reference for various Barracudcals decal sheets.

eg

http://barracudacals.com/proddetail.php?prod=BC48002

 

Quote

"Kansas Tornado II" P-47D-25-RE, serial number 42-26742. 510th FS, 405 FG, 9th Air Force. Flown by Capt. Howard Curran. Based at St. Dizier, France, Fall, 1944. Natural metal finish with dark blue nose ring and canopy frames. Note cutback cowl flaps and Curtiss Electric 13' paddle bladed propeller.

"Angie" P-47D-27-RE, serial number 42-26860. 512th FS, 406th, FG 9th Air Force. Flown by Col. Anthony Grosetta. Based at Asch, Belgium, early 1945. Natural metal finish yellow trim and polished olive drab (not black) tailplanes. Note Curtiss Electric 13' paddle bladed propeller and lighter blue stripe on the tail.

"Little Ann" P- 47D-27-RE, Serial number 42-26922. 512th FS, 406th, FG 9th Air Force. Pilot unknown. Based at Asch, Belgium, early 1945. Natural metal finish yellow trim. Lower fuselage splattered with dried mud. Note Curtiss Electric 13' paddle bladed propeller and dark blue stripe on the tail (overlay blue stripe from addendum sheet).

 

Hyperscale  Plane Talking I find is often better for question on US subjects BTW.

Edited August 11, 2017 by Troy Smith
add details and links

[tango98]

James,

See if you can pick up a copy of To Win The Winter Sky by Danny Parker which contains a wealth of information on the air operations over the Ardennes during that period.

 

HTH

Dave

[tango98]

James,

To expand your fighter options, both 8th and 9th Air Forces were involved in fighter and fighter-bomber operations against German air and ground forces during the Ardennes offensive including, if memory serves, the 352nd, 359th and 361st FG's.

It is entirely likely that George Preddy of the 352nd took part in some of these operations prior to his being KIA in his P-51D "Cripes A'Mighty 3rd" by friendly fire on 25 December.

I'm not 100% certain but I believe that one of the 1/48 Tamiya P-51D boxings include the markings for his aircraft. If not and you do decide to do his aircraft, the most accurate available decals for it are those produced by Eagle Edition which includes all of his P-51’s.  See

http://www.eagle-editions.com

HTH

 

Dave

[James B]

Thank you all for your assistance, it has genuinely helped a lot. Frustratingly Barracuda models have a perfect sheet for the Hell Hawks, and it is of course out of stock everywhere. The gist of what I'm seeing is that there were hundreds of P-47s flying sorties during this period, in this theatre so I can't get it too wrong.

 

I'm looking for pilot/crew figures for the new airfix Stuka. If anyone has any leads, that would be great.

 

Cheers

Edited August 11, 2017 by James B
Removed P-47 pilot requirement, as one in box