Anyways, it's black 29, flown by First Lieutenant Jefferson DeBlanc of VMF112 on Guadalcanal. On January 31st, 1943, Deblanc lead 8 Wildcats on an SBD Dauntless bomber escort mission over the Solomon Islands. He quickly sprung a fuel leak and knew it was a one way mission. He considered turning back dereliction of duty, so he pressed on. He told the other to send out rescue because he'd be "down there with the sharks". Well, DeBlanc then proceeded to shoot down 2 FM1 Petes and 3 Ki-43 Oscars in a matter of 5 minutes. He was ultimately shot down himself and managed to evade capture for 3 days. In his ordeal he was eventually bartered from one tribe to another for "1 ten pound sack of rice" and eventually made it back to base. Deblanc would win the Medal of Honor for his selfless actions on that day and shoot down a total of 9 enemy aircraft in 2 tours during the war.
"My job was to protect the dive bombers. Now I'm not a hero, but I have to live with my conscience. If I didn't do what I was supposed to do I was derelicting my duty". Jefferson DeBlanc
....he said as he went on to shoot down 5 enemy aircraft on a one way mission with a leaking full tank. I wholeheartedly disagree, you are a hero. Lesser men would have turned around. Here is my homage to DeBlanc and the rest of those brave men who held the line in those early days in the Pacific.
This is the only kit I've ever been able to do this with.....nice effects ehh?
Some in-progress pics. I used some Photoetch in the cockpit, an Ultracast seat, wired the engine and drilled out the fifties. That's about it.
