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The Staff of SOH
Douglas A20 Havoc
- Thread starter Milton Shupe
- Start date
Here is a list of conversions for the Navy. There was one more not included here.
Attachments
Mick
SOH-CM-2025
OK, here's a look at 'em.
I have to write readme files and credits, and pack them up for uploading, so that might not happen today.
First, a P-70 (no suffix letter) from the 6th Night Fighter Squadron, the first squadron to take the P-70 overseas, and for a while the only Army night fighter unit in the Pacific. On the nose is the squadron insignia designed by Walt Disney Studios. This plane was photographed at squadron headquarters in Hawaii. The insignia doesn't show in any of the many photos I saw of the detachments sent to the combat zones. Like all straight P-70s, it has the 4x22mm cannon pack, and the chin guns retained from its A-20 origins. The chin guns were loaded with tracers and boresighted to converge with the cannons at firing range.
I usually shoot screenies of planes in the air, but P-70s flew at night and we couldn't see 'em.
I have to write readme files and credits, and pack them up for uploading, so that might not happen today.
First, a P-70 (no suffix letter) from the 6th Night Fighter Squadron, the first squadron to take the P-70 overseas, and for a while the only Army night fighter unit in the Pacific. On the nose is the squadron insignia designed by Walt Disney Studios. This plane was photographed at squadron headquarters in Hawaii. The insignia doesn't show in any of the many photos I saw of the detachments sent to the combat zones. Like all straight P-70s, it has the 4x22mm cannon pack, and the chin guns retained from its A-20 origins. The chin guns were loaded with tracers and boresighted to converge with the cannons at firing range.
I usually shoot screenies of planes in the air, but P-70s flew at night and we couldn't see 'em.
Mick
SOH-CM-2025
This one's from the 6th NFS's Detachment A, based at 12 Mile Drome, near Port Moresby, New Guinea in the summer of 1943.
This the the camo scheme I mentioned earlier, the one the Brisbane depot put on the first batch of P-70A conversions, the ones fully designated as P-70A-1. Only the cowlings and the neutral gray undersurfaces were sprayed in flat black, with the rest of the plane left in the original olive drab. The skin is an authentic camo scheme applied to the twelve (one source says thirteen) planes of that first Brisbane batch, but my assigning it to Det A of the 6th NFS is presumptive, as I could find no photos of these planes at either of the operational locations, so who knows if any A-1's actually went to a combat unit. If they did it had to be one of the 6th's detachments because at that time there weren't any other night fighter units in the Pacific.
The P-70A-1's were conversions of conversions. They were built as glass nosed A-20 bombers. Early in the war "Pappy" Gunn and his folks got to work on the 3rd Bomb Group's A-20's and turned them into strafers, with four more forward firing .50's in the painted-over nose above the two that were already there. Then, when they were traded in for B-25s, the Brisbane depot added radar, sprayed the cowlings and undersurfaces black, and they became P-70A's. Later Brisbane and stateside conversions were made from early A-20G's from before the Martin turret was introduced, and then the two sub-variants became A-1 and A-2.
So here's a P-70A-1 in the unique camouflage of that sub-variant. Whether it ever really joined the 6th NFS is, to the best of my knowledge, a matter of speculation.
Steve, this one uses your 3rd Bomb Group A-20 for the base textures. I just sprayed black paint where the Brisbane depot did and gave it a serial number. I put those mid-1943 insignia on it because I like that stye of insignia, and the plane was around at that time.
This the the camo scheme I mentioned earlier, the one the Brisbane depot put on the first batch of P-70A conversions, the ones fully designated as P-70A-1. Only the cowlings and the neutral gray undersurfaces were sprayed in flat black, with the rest of the plane left in the original olive drab. The skin is an authentic camo scheme applied to the twelve (one source says thirteen) planes of that first Brisbane batch, but my assigning it to Det A of the 6th NFS is presumptive, as I could find no photos of these planes at either of the operational locations, so who knows if any A-1's actually went to a combat unit. If they did it had to be one of the 6th's detachments because at that time there weren't any other night fighter units in the Pacific.
The P-70A-1's were conversions of conversions. They were built as glass nosed A-20 bombers. Early in the war "Pappy" Gunn and his folks got to work on the 3rd Bomb Group's A-20's and turned them into strafers, with four more forward firing .50's in the painted-over nose above the two that were already there. Then, when they were traded in for B-25s, the Brisbane depot added radar, sprayed the cowlings and undersurfaces black, and they became P-70A's. Later Brisbane and stateside conversions were made from early A-20G's from before the Martin turret was introduced, and then the two sub-variants became A-1 and A-2.
So here's a P-70A-1 in the unique camouflage of that sub-variant. Whether it ever really joined the 6th NFS is, to the best of my knowledge, a matter of speculation.
Steve, this one uses your 3rd Bomb Group A-20 for the base textures. I just sprayed black paint where the Brisbane depot did and gave it a serial number. I put those mid-1943 insignia on it because I like that stye of insignia, and the plane was around at that time.
Mick
SOH-CM-2025
This one is a P-70A-2 from the 6th NFS's Detachment B on Guadalcanal in the summer of 1943. The A-2's were converted from A-20G's and they came from the factory with their nose guns installed. They were converted from early A-20G's that didn't have the Martin turret, so all that they needed to become P-70's was radar. Brisbane made some or all (depending on what reference you read) of these conversions and others may have been converted stateside. Whether they were converted in the States or shipped back home from Australia (lots of empty cargo ships sailing est in those days), they were definitely present, because there are photos of some of them in stateside locations.
This one has no unique or interesting markings. I painted it because I like how it looks with the mid-1943 insignia on the black finish.
This one has no unique or interesting markings. I painted it because I like how it looks with the mid-1943 insignia on the black finish.
wellis
SOH-CM-2025
wellis
SOH-CM-2025
Wow, that is colorful sir. Great looking paint!
Mick
SOH-CM-2025
P-70 (no suffix) "Black Magic" belonged to the 547th Night Fighter Squadron, based at Salinas Army Air Base, California in early 1944 for night fighter training. The squadron would go to war with the P-61. Black Magic posed for a well known publicity photo in loose formation with a successor, a P-61 with the name Black Widow in the same style and location. This is the plane on the Revell kit box top.
Mick
SOH-CM-2025
Sweet! I'm fond of Vichy identification colors and I really like RAF desert camouflage, which that is close to, so that really grabs me!
I wish I was artist enough to draw hat Black Widow artwork. Maybe someone more talented than I will see it and be inspired.
Mick
SOH-CM-2025
OK, that's probably all the P-70's I'll paint. They tend to look an awful lot alike. Wells has given us the most colorful P-70 of all, and the next most colorful one that I've seen is beyond my ability to paint. Beyond that, I think I've found all the excuses I can to put a dab of color on a P-70.
I should get them up in the next day or so.
I should get them up in the next day or so.
Mick
SOH-CM-2025
Hmmmmmmm... Does anyone know if they were painted in Navy colors or retained their Army scheme? The only pics I ever saw were in black & white, so I couldn't tell.
wellis
SOH-CM-2025
I was thinking about giving that one a go a while back Mick, although I would argue with you about your talents sir...those are excellent renderings!
Mick
SOH-CM-2025
They're excellent because you painted them! All I did was change the markings.
Steve painted the only one that isn't on your base colors
I thought I'd mentioned that in what I wrote with one of the skins, but I see that I didn't. My apologies!
For all the black skins, I started with the "Dusty" skin, used a little digital paint remover to take off the nose art and name, and used that as a base for new markings as needed.
Changing the markings is easy. The hard part is painting the colors, details and weathering. I'm not much good with detail and hopeless at weathering. I can usually do OK with colors if they're not too complex, but all I'm really good at is the easiest part - markings.
Miss Laid
The A-20G 43-9224 is most likely one of the best known Havocs. As "Miss Laid" it was the first A-20 to complete 100 missions without a failure or abort. After this success she was renamed "La France libre" (what a boring name.....) to participate in a ceremony to celebrate this accomplishment.
But before it completed 100 missions, it somewhere in time completed the first 49 missions and somebody took the picture below......
After the aircraft had completed 100 missions another picture was taken.
By this time the aircraft had invasion stripes added and when you look closely you will see the invasion stripes were only applied at the lower side of the wings.
The A-20G 43-9224 is most likely one of the best known Havocs. As "Miss Laid" it was the first A-20 to complete 100 missions without a failure or abort. After this success she was renamed "La France libre" (what a boring name.....) to participate in a ceremony to celebrate this accomplishment.
But before it completed 100 missions, it somewhere in time completed the first 49 missions and somebody took the picture below......
After the aircraft had completed 100 missions another picture was taken.
By this time the aircraft had invasion stripes added and when you look closely you will see the invasion stripes were only applied at the lower side of the wings.
Mick
SOH-CM-2025
Mick
SOH-CM-2025
OK, one more. I wondered if the P-70A-1 might look a bit garish with the red surround to the national insignia against olive drab. It looks better against black! So I painted an alternate version of it as it appeared earlier, at any time from late 1942 through spring 1943. It's the same plane; the only difference is the insignia style.
Oops!!!
Most of the repaints, profiles, decal sets and even paintings show "Miss Laid/La France Libre" as 5H-E. However I checked the site from 416 Bomb group and learned that "Miss Laid belonged to 670th Bomb Squadron with code F6, instead of 668th Bomb Squadron with code 5H.
As I wanted to be sure I checked the photographs and indeed when you look closely to the picture below you will be able to see the people from 416 Bomb Group were absolute correct about their "own" aircraft. So it will be F6-E and as you most likely already can guess "La Libre France" will be next in line!
Isn't it a bit strange that when one person makes a mistake everybody keeps copying this mistake........
So I have to make some small changes before I can upload.......
Cheers,
Huub
Most of the repaints, profiles, decal sets and even paintings show "Miss Laid/La France Libre" as 5H-E. However I checked the site from 416 Bomb group and learned that "Miss Laid belonged to 670th Bomb Squadron with code F6, instead of 668th Bomb Squadron with code 5H.
As I wanted to be sure I checked the photographs and indeed when you look closely to the picture below you will be able to see the people from 416 Bomb Group were absolute correct about their "own" aircraft. So it will be F6-E and as you most likely already can guess "La Libre France" will be next in line!
Isn't it a bit strange that when one person makes a mistake everybody keeps copying this mistake........
So I have to make some small changes before I can upload.......
Cheers,
Huub