"The Dam Busters" - Movie aircraft. Finished pics & back story (at last!) pg 18.

Devilfish · July 16, 2024, 10:11:25 PM

AMAZING!!

As I said earlier in the thread, I had planned to do this very build, but I could not have done it the justice you did!!

The only thing I would have done though is stick with the original names, sort of......
"Gus" Gibson
"Buck" Wallis
etc....

zenrat · July 17, 2024, 04:39:11 AM

Thanks mate.

FWIW Joe McCarthy and Mick Martin were both members of 617 sqn during Operation Chastise.
McCarthy was Canadian and Martin was an Aussie.
McCarthy piloted T-Tommy and attacked the Sorpe dam.
This attack differed from the previous ones in two ways: the 'Upkeep' bomb was not spun, and due to the topography of the valley the approach was made along the length of the dam, not at right angles over the reservoir.
...the flight path led over a church steeple in the village of Langscheid, located on the hillcrest overlooking the dam. With only seconds to go before the bomber had to pull up, to avoid hitting the hillside at the other end of the dam, the bomb aimer George Johnson had no time to correct the bomber's height and heading.
McCarthy made nine attempted bombing runs before Johnson was satisfied. The 'Upkeep' bomb was dropped on the tenth run. The bomb exploded but when he turned his Lancaster to assess the damage, it turned out that only a section of the crest of the dam had been blown off; the main body of the dam remained. (wikipedia)

scooter · July 17, 2024, 04:44:17 AM

Quote from: zenrat on July 17, 2024, 04:39:11 AMThanks mate.

FWIW Joe McCarthy and Mick Martin were both members of 617 sqn during Operation Chastise.
McCarthy was Canadian and Martin was an Aussie.
McCarthy piloted T-Tommy and attacked the Sorpe dam

I was thinking of a different Joe McCarthy. The delusional one from Wisconsin who saw communists everywhere in the US.

zenrat · July 17, 2024, 05:05:57 AM

Nah, The Joe McCarthy mate. DSO, DFC & Bar, CD

Reading further, he was an American (born on Long Island) who joined the RCAF in May '41. He obtained Canadian citizenship after the war.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_McCarthy_(RCAF_officer)

DogfighterZen · July 18, 2024, 01:56:54 AM

Excellent whiffery, Fred!!

zenrat · July 18, 2024, 03:44:55 AM

Thanks mate.

Scotaidh · July 21, 2024, 09:27:54 AM

Quote from: Weaver on July 14, 2024, 01:14:07 PMNice one Fred: this deserves an Oscar, never mind a Whiffie...

Nice to see good use made of the Upkeep: now I'll have to do something decent with the Lancaster it came off.

Any objection to me posting some pics and the backstory on Twitter ("X")? I can think of a few people who'd get a chuckle out of that. (Hushkit and Dan Snow for starters...)

Maybe fit it with either a Tallboy or a Grand Slam, as happened in real life?

Love the model and the backstory ... the Paul Brickhill book was a staple of my library - I must have read it about 8 times. IIRC, McCarthey's Lanc was "Q for Queenie"

zenrat · July 22, 2024, 04:37:38 AM

Thanks mate.
I must have read my old man's copy of The Dam Busters about that many times. It fell apart. I've got my own copy now.
Also Max Hasting"s Chastise, although that isn't as good and doesn't cover events after the Dams raids. I've only read that once.

Old Wombat · July 22, 2024, 06:04:23 AM

"Enemy Coast Ahead" is my go-to for Op Chastise reading.

"The Dam Busters" is more for general WW2 617 Sqn history.

zenrat · July 23, 2024, 05:48:41 AM

Enemy Coast Ahead is Gibson's book isn't it? Not read it.

NARSES2 · July 23, 2024, 05:57:03 AM

Quote from: zenrat on July 23, 2024, 05:48:41 AMEnemy Coast Ahead is Gibson's book isn't it? Not read it.

Yes it is. We read it at school.

I seem to remember seeing that one of the recent prints is an "uncensored" version ?

Rick Lowe · July 23, 2024, 10:48:59 PM

Quote from: NARSES2 on July 23, 2024, 05:57:03 AM
Quote from: zenrat on July 23, 2024, 05:48:41 AMEnemy Coast Ahead is Gibson's book isn't it? Not read it.

Yes it is. We read it at school.

I seem to remember seeing that one of the recent prints is an "uncensored" version ?

Probably the same part uncensored that has held up the release of the Peter Jackson movie...

What. ten years in Post now?
Unless there's any other reason folks know of?

zenrat · July 24, 2024, 03:14:07 AM

Quote from: Rick Lowe on July 23, 2024, 10:48:59 PM
Quote from: NARSES2 on July 23, 2024, 05:57:03 AM
Quote from: zenrat on July 23, 2024, 05:48:41 AMEnemy Coast Ahead is Gibson's book isn't it? Not read it.

Yes it is. We read it at school.

I seem to remember seeing that one of the recent prints is an "uncensored" version ?

Probably the same part uncensored that has held up the release of the Peter Jackson movie... What. ten years in Post now?
Unless there's any other reason folks know of?

Gibson's dog's name? If historical accuracy is important it should be used...

NARSES2 · July 24, 2024, 06:16:45 AM

Quote from: zenrat on July 24, 2024, 03:14:07 AMGibson's dog's name? If historical accuracy is important it should be used...

Whilst I agree, as a compromise you could simply avoid using it's name. Just "here boy" etc. I'm not sure any of my dogs had their actual names used that often. It was normaly "come here you little sod"

Rick Lowe · July 24, 2024, 10:29:15 PM

Sadly, IIRC it was used as the Code Word for a successful strike, so...

While I agree with historical accuracy, I also see the Problem with it. So, 2 minds... neither of which necessarily work any better than the original...

But OTOH, just finish the d*mn* movie and let us see it!!!

*Sorry Chris, didn't see that one coming either, before it was committed to pixels...