The Candy Coloured Air Force - Argentine P-47D complete

[comrade harps]

We start with a colourful RAF Mustand IV, Korea, early 1946, vs Japan and later they'll be an equally colourful French Tempest V, same bat time, same bat place.

Those are Operation Downfall invasion stripes.

[Taiidantomcat]

Nice!! looks great

[comrade harps]

Phooey, Mustang IV, 17 Sqd RAF, Taegu, Korea, 6 April 1946


The Red Army's swift advance in to Manchuria and northern Korea in the first week of August 1945 panicked the Western Allies.  The big question was, Would the Reds stop at the agreed 38th Parallel? To help provide an assurance that they would, the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff presented the Commander in Chief with Operation Titan, a contingency plan for the invasion of southern Korea at Inchon. With the Reds advancing swiftly, it was apparent that the Japanese defenders of Korea were poorly trained, equipped and lead. These were all good arguments for Titan being a better option than the planned Operation Olympic, the intended seizure of the southern third of the southernmost main Japanese island of Kyūshū. With fewer losses, a base close to Japan could be established whilst at the same time heading off the Red Army. After urgent trans-Atlantic consultations, the idea was approved and the Inchon beach head was established on the 15 August. Unable to either withdraw or reinforce its position in Korea, the Peninsula was rid of the Japanese by mid-September. Red Army soldiers shook hands GIs at the 38th on the 21 August. Surrounded, blockaded and subjected to massive conventional and atomic air strikes, the Japanese fought on.



With Olympic no longer necessary and Korea secured with less than expected casualties, it was been planned to bring Operation Coronet, the invasion of the Tokyo plain, forward from its planned spring 1946 launch to November. However, on October 9, 1945, a typhoon packing 140-mile per hour winds struck the American staging area on Okinawa, causing considerable damage. The typhoon's impact delayed Coronet preparations by around 45 days, placing its start past the 1 December winter deadline. Another damaging typhoon struck important staging areas on Luzon on 4 April, 1946, but by then Coronet was underway. With the Japanese government seeing The Divine Wind at play in saving the nation from foreign invader, they defended vigorously, buoyed with a sense of divine intervention. Coronet was finally launched on 6 April, 1946.



On the evening of 5 April, 1946, orders were issued that all aircraft operating in support of missions against the Japanese home islands be painted with special identification stripes. These invasion stripes differed from those applied for D-Day in Europe partly because white was to avoided. Japanese fighters based in Japan featured white fuselage and wing bands signifying their homeland defence role. Instead, colourful stripes were chosen that would be visually striking on both darkly painted naval and aluminium finished air force aircraft. Several schemes had been tested on a USAAF Thunderbolt and a USN Hellcat and the best on both was an orange-yellow-orange arrangement.



17 Sqd, RAF, deployed to Taegu in early October 1945 and commenced fighter missions over Japan soon after. Retaining their low-visibility, red-less SEAC markings, the unit operated successfully until the eventual end of hostilities in the Pacific on 4 June, 1946. Squadron Leader Clarence Donald, flying Phooey, joined 17 Sqd in late March, 1946, earning 5 confirmed kills against the Japanese by X-Day (6 April, 1946). On this day he claimed another three planes, including two Nakajima Ki-115 kamakazi planes and an escorting Kawasaki Ki-100. His eventual total would be 17 Japanese planes, adding to 3 Italian and 1 German kills from earlier in the war. On 14 April, he was killed when his aircraft was shot down by Japanese flak.

[Taiidantomcat]

That was fast!! 

[pyro-manic]

Indeed it was! Looks very nice indeed.

[comrade harps]

That was fast!!

I'm on holidays! I only started it this week - just got the kit last week. Actually, I purchaseD it to get the rockets I need for the Marine Corps Douglas Invader I'm planning. I was thinking about a colouful invasion of Japan option when I saw this GB and went straight at it. It's a simple build, I'm not a detail person and the paint job's pretty straight forward, so, it's a quick job.

Hope you all like it.

[Stargazer]

Very nice and original color scheme! 

[Taiidantomcat]

I love it! And as a slow builder myself I envy your speed 

[comrade harps]

French Tempest V, 1946, vs Japan
started

[pyro-manic]

Camouflage or natural metal?

[Taiidantomcat]

This will be good! 

[comrade harps]

Camouflage or natural metal?

It's gunna be bright: metal, with the yellow and orange stripes and a blue and white tail and a black anti-glare panel.

I thought about adding camo to just the upper wing surfaces, but scrapped that as too much,

So far I've got the fuselage assembled, with wings next up.

[Weaver]

That Mustang looks good - nice one! 

[comrade harps]

I'm toying with the idea of adding a ventral drop tank to the Tempest V - probably a teardrop shaped one from a P-51, to go along with the under wing tanks. I'm concerned that if it's based in Okinawa then it won't have a sufficient radius of action to reach Honshu, do it's combat thing with 4 rockets and return.

What do people think? Would an extra tank be necessary or feasible?

Any comments for or against welcome.

[pyro-manic]

I've put a centreline tank on my Typhoon. I used one from the Airfix Mig 15, after removing the fins.