Jump to content

Grumman Wildcat, Curtiss Hawk 75


Recommended Posts

These are a pair of vintage kits, assembled with minimal tweaking. Both represent planes involved in fighting over Casablanca during Operation Torch.

 

 The first is a Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat of VF-41 on USS Ranger, piloted by Lt(jg) 'Windy' Shields.

 

5PI022f.jpg

 

ChMVcdT.jpg

 

7aWPVPQ.jpg

 

F2ZwJ35.jpg

 

7vzvlAV.jpg

 

The second is a Curtiss Hawk 75 of GCII/5, operating from Cazes aerodrome outside Casablanca in French Morocco, piloted by Lt. Yves Fabre-Garrus.

 

47FU74n.jpg

 

u94JwyJ.jpg

 

QcH7Dw2.jpg

 

xr1GK0y.jpg

 

O3i8RO6.jpg

 

Over Casablanca at the start of Operation Torch, fighters designed for the US Army fought against fighters designed for the US Navy. The Army's Curtiss design was flown by French pilots against Navy pilots in Grumman's design. The Wildcat and Hawk were of roughly the same vintage, being products of the late thirties, with the Hawk coming into service not long before the Wildcat began production. Among the Vichy units at Cazes operating Hawk 75s was GCII/5, which continued the heraldry of the Lafayette Escadrille of American volunteers during the Great War. USS Ranger carried two Wildcat squadrons, VF-9 and VF-41. VF-9 strafed French airfields unopposed. GCII/5 put up the first French fighters, which drove off Navy observation planes spotting for the fleet's bombardment of French warships in harbor. These Hawks returned to Cazes with VF-41 at their heels, even as more French fighters were taking off. The result was a sprawling fight fairly near the ground. Six Wildcats failed to return to USS Ranger, though two pilots survived in French hands. Seven French pilots of GCII/5 were killed, others wounded, and many planes managed landings but could not be repaired. After the first few hours of fighting the French could offer little opposition in the air. The decisive result owes much to VF-41 having such a tactical advantage, but the Wildcat was sturdier and more heavily armed than was the more maneuverable Hawk.

 

Lt(jg) 'Windy' Shields of VF-41 is credited with two French fighters downed. He was then bounced by a Hawk, and bailed out of his burning machine into brief captivity.

 

Lt. Yves Fabre-Garrus of GCII/5 was wounded over Cazes and managed a successful belly landing.

 

The Vichy Hawk scheme is a guestimate, based on descriptions of the usual dark grey on uppersurfaces being repainted in a 'sand' color. There was apparently a French color dubbed 'Sahara Yellow' at the time.

 

Here's the build thread, in the Revell/Monogram Classic group build:

 

 

 

Edited by Old Man
  • Like 17
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Once again it just goes to show that even old kits can produce very nice models if in the hands of  a skillful modeller. Very well done.

 

The background story is interesting and rather  unfortunate. Lafayette Escadrille flying an American fighter in battle against the US Navy. The whole  Vichy interlude was rather tragic.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Old Man,

 

both models are winners.

I am glad to see that you have vanquished the curse of the red and yellow pyjama! Everything is nice and tidy, as it should when dealing with Vichy stripes..

Both planes are iconic, and both your builds deserve congratulations!

 

JR

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 hours ago, stevehnz said:

Nice those. Sorry I missed this build during the GB, no excuses, just not paying enough attention, so nice you've put them up in the RFI, they are very well done. 👍

Steve.

 

Thanks, Steve. It was easy to  miss, it got put aside a while, and only finished in a deadline press.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, georgeusa said:

Nice pair of airplanes and really appreciate the history lesson regarding the two kits modeled.  Thanks for sharing.

 

 Thanks, George.

 

It is an odd little passage. Probably the P-40 is a bit more contemporaneous than the P-36 with the Wildcat, but they were pretty close. The Hawk really got around, fighting on just about all sides of the Second World War.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, noelh said:

Once again it just goes to show that even old kits can produce very nice models if in the hands of  a skillful modeller. Very well done.

 

The background story is interesting and rather  unfortunate. Lafayette Escadrille flying an American fighter in battle against the US Navy. The whole  Vichy interlude was rather tragic.

 

Thanks, Noel. I worked with the raised lines and rivets. I brush on acrylics cut with Future. Between each thin coat I go over everything with a 5000 grit pad. By the time the color is solid, there's nothing too proud of the surface left. I use the raised lines/ rivets as a guide, drawing in the lines in ordinary pencil before each coat, and it shows through nicely, I think.

 

I've always wondered how much use squadron emblems were, whether things like that could be noticed in action, but in some of the radio chatter I've seen quoted, somebody called out 'Hey, didn't that used to be an American squadron?'

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, jean said:

Hi Old Man,

 

both models are winners.

I am glad to see that you have vanquished the curse of the red and yellow pyjama! Everything is nice and tidy, as it should when dealing with Vichy stripes..

Both planes are iconic, and both your builds deserve congratulations!

 

JR

 

Thanks, Jean.

 

It came right in the end. I scuffed the stripes up a bit with some washes.

 

It is a snazzy finish. I'd like to do a Vichy Morane 406 in Indo-China, that was an odd bunch with some history behind the machines.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...