I thought I would share two subjects I can never get enough of. The 56th FG and the Tamiya P-47, in this case the razorback version which I backdated to Robert S. Johnson's "Half Pint", which was a C model. Some may be familiar with the incident of June 26th 1943 where Johnson, while escorting bombers in Half Pint, was badly shot up by an FW 190. Engine on fire, he managed to pull out of a spin, stabilize the aircraft, then miraculously stay airborne. His windscreen was covered in oil, canopy damaged and he couldn't eject, so he had no choice but to try to limp back to England. Unfortunately JG2 Ace Egon Mayer stumbled upon Johnson's stricken Jug and decided to go for the easy kill. Mayer pumped all of his ammo into Half Pint but the fighter shrugged it off, essentially denying him his 69th kill. All he could do was salute Johnson and fly away. Ironically Mayer would succumb to the guns of a P-47 in March of 1944.
Here I pay homage to Johnson, the 56th FG and the other 8th Air Force Fighter Groups that protected the bombers over the skies of Europe. This included my Grandfather, a B-17 ball turret gunner in the 390th BG.
I built the kit out of the box except for Eduard seatbelts and Ultracast tires. I made the necessary modifications to the cowl to back date it to a C. I didn't mess with the keel as most of these were modified to include the belly tank plumbing when they reached the ETO. Other modifications included a wired up engine and gear brake lines. Should I find a suitable belly tank I'll add one. I hate the 108 papers. I may hork a 75 galloner from a Mustang kit.
Some in progress pics...
Thanks for looking,,,
Can you fly this plane and land it? Surely you can't be serious? I am serious, and don't call me Shirley
