Next, here are some Ki-44s from the 47th Sentai, 3rd Chutai. I was unable to find names for any of the pilots - as with many records pertaining to WWII Japan, finding four matching aircraft proved to be a challenge in itself. I think it took more time to find the info than it took to paint them. Here they are:
For today, here are a few A6M2s from the Tainan Kokutai. The markings are somewhat basic, but the pilots each have quite a story. They were piloted by: Saburo Sakai (V-103), Hiroyoshi Nishizawa (V-171), and Toshio Ota (V-191).
Nothing wrong with basic paint jobs when you've got a great flight to put on the table. Where did you get the telescoping rods? I have some, but they only get the aircraft to altitude 5.
Those who don't remember their history are bound to do something or other...
I got the rods on ebay a few years back. Technically, these were replacement radio antennae (I searched by number of segments and overall height to find what best suited me). I unscrewed the swivel joint at the base, glued a rare-earth ring magnet to the top of each rod, a coated steel ball to the bottom of each plane, and that allows for elevation and banking. If I remember right, they shipped from east Asia for about 0.79 each (magnets and balls from a company here in USA).
For today, here are some P-51s reposted from my old thread, but now with a better photo. This was my first or second set of repaints ever. I didn't get nose art proportions right on "Ding Hao," but I didn't want to make a mess of it by attempting to redo it.
They are piloted by James Howard (AJ-A), Richard Turner (AJ-T), Frank O’Connor (AJ-O), and Robert Goodnight (AJ-G), all of the 356th Fighter Squadron.
Up next, here are a few more 109s of JG/ 51 from the Battle of Britain. They are piloted by Werner Molders (<-+-), Victor Molders (Black 1), Ernst Wiggers (Black 6), and Wolfgang Teumer (Black 12). The three numbered aircraft are of 2./JG 51.
Do you perhaps have a Gunther Rall Bf-109 in your collection anywhere. He was a 109 Ace several times over & flew on both fronts, East & West...just curious, you do some good research on your paint schemes & who they belonged to.
I don't have a Gunther Rall 109 at this point. I made some custom pilot cards for each country with him being one of them, but I have yet to do a paint job for his. If I end up acquiring more 109F/G models, I'd certainly consider it, though.
Next, here are some Ki-43s of the 64th Sentai. The three with red arrows on the tail are of the 2nd Chutai, and the blue and white arrow is the CO of the whole Sentai. They were piloted by: Tateo Kato, 64th Sentai CO (white wing stripes), Saburo Nakamura (diagonal yellow fuselage stripe and white band), Masuzo Ohtani (diagonal white fuselage stripe and band), and Hideo Miyabe (white and red fuselage bands).
For today, here are some He 111s from KG53. Aircraft came from ArmamentsInMiniature. I don't have info on pilots/crew, but aircraft ID are A1+BT, A1+JT, and A1+HT. I set up a 109 for comparison.
Today I got a chance to take pictures of my British, Russian, French, and Finnish planes. There are still more U.S., German, and Japanese, Italian, and Chinese planes to come, but now I'll be able to post a bit more national variety.
On that note, here are some Russian P-39s of the 30th GIAP. They were piloted by Mikhail Renz (CO, #84), an unknown pilot (blue #86), Alexander Filatov (#93), and Khasan Ibatulin (#95).
Next up is a flight of Tempest Vs (I modified Typhoons to make these). These are from the 486 Sqn of the RNZAF, shown here led by the WingCo of the 150th Wing.
They were piloted by Roland Beamont, CO of 150th Wing (R-B), Jim McCaw (SA-Y), Harvey Sweetman (SA-A), and Jack Stafford (SA-L).