P-40C Tomahawk, 47th Pursuit squadron, Haleiwa airfield, 1941 Pearl Harbor
SOME HISTORY
HALEIWA"
On the 3rd of December 1941 the 47th Pursuit Squadron was assigned to this base. It is of great interest that this was the only base and organization that was able to put planes in the air on December the seventh. This was not a regular runway, just something comparable to an old country road rather than an airstrip. From an old history of Wheeler Field compiled by Capt. KISTLER RHOAD the following information was extracted. 2D Lieut GEORGE S WELCH and KENNETH M TAYLOR left the officer's Club the morning of December 7th at 0800 and travelled 100 MPH to the airstrip at Haleiwa where the ships of their squadron had been assigned only four (4) days before for aerial gunnery practice. In P-40B's Lieut WELCH was credited with shooting down four (4) Japanese planes. Both Lieutenants were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Lieut. HARRY BROWN in a P-36A shot down one plane. Each of these officers were members of the 47th Pursuit Squadron. The 47th left the base on February 22, 1942"(source:
www.hiavps.com)
THE HEROS
Kenneth M. Taylor, 86, an Army Air Forces pilot who managed to get airborne under fire near Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, and shot down at least two Japanese attacking aircraft, died Nov. 25 at an assisted living residence in Tucson. He had been ill since hip surgery two years ago.
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above on left is Ken Taylor (left) and George Welch posing for the camera
shortly after their epic air battle over Pearl Harbor.
He was a new second lieutenant on his first assignment, posted in April 1941 to
Wheeler Army Airfield in Honolulu. A week before the Japanese attacked, his 47th
Pursuit Squadron was temporarily moved to Haleiwa Field, an auxiliary airstrip
about 10 miles from Wheeler, for gunnery practice.
After a night of poker and dancing at the officers' club at Wheeler, where the
dress code required tuxedoes, 21-year-old Lt. Taylor and fellow pilot George
Welch awoke to the sound of planes flying low, machine-gun fire and explosions.
They learned that two-thirds of the U.S. aircraft at the main bases of Hickam
and Wheeler fields were demolished or unable to fly.
They quickly pulled on their tuxedo pants and, while Welch ran to get Lt.
Taylor's new Buick, Lt. Taylor, without orders, called Haleiwa and commanded the
ground crews to get two P-40 fighters armed and ready for takeoff.
Strafed by Japanese aircraft, the pair sped 10 miles from Honolulu to Haleiwa.
At the airstrip, they climbed into their fighters, which were fuelled but not
fully armed, took off and soon attracted fire from the Japanese, who had not
expected to be challenged in the air. Suddenly, they were in combat, two pilots
against 200 to 300 Japanese aircraft.
Soon out of ammunition, Welch and Lt. Taylor landed at Wheeler to rearm. Senior
officers ordered them to stay on the ground.
"He had been wounded by that point and was bleeding," said Lt.
Taylor's son, retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Kenneth Taylor Jr. "But while
ground crews were rearming the planes, and he was being lectured on his
behaviour, the Japanese attacked Wheeler again. That scattered the crowd, and
[Lt. Taylor and Welch] took off. My dad actually hit some ammo carts as he was
taking off and fired his guns before he was off the ground."
His father told the Army Times in 2001: "I took off right toward them,
which gave me the ability to shoot at them before I even left the ground. I got
behind one of them and started shooting again. The only thing I didn't know at
that time was that I got in the middle of the line rather than the end. There
was somebody on my tail.
"They put a bullet right behind my head through the canopy and into the
trim tab inside. So I got a little bit of shrapnel in my leg and through the
arm. It was of no consequence; it just scared the hell out of me for a
minute."
Official records credit Lt. Taylor with two kills. His son noted that his father
thought he had two more, although in the heat of the battle he didn't see the
planes hit the ground, and potential witnesses were too busy to keep track.
Welch was credited with four downed Japanese planes. American aircraft losses
were estimated at 188 destroyed and 159 damaged, and the Japanese lost 29
planes.
For their service, Lt. Taylor and Welch were awarded the first Distinguished
Service Crosses of World War II. Lt. Taylor later received the Distinguished
Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Air Medal and other decorations. He
also received a Purple Heart for his injuries.
(source:
www.e-pedia.com
)
THE KIT
Definitely, the Kit can help a
modeler to build a good model. Actually the kit need modeler’s help! When I
first bought the kit, I was disappointed. I had read some reviews already, I
knew what to expect, but when I touched it…I said….oh my God!!!
Anyway, I do not blame VFS, aA small
manufacturer, who managed to reverse her quality with the new P-47.
The P-40 Kit, has hundreds of
mistakes, inaccuracy, and is missing of major sections. The worst point of the
model is its surface!!!!
Many famous modelers tried for a
good looking result. Some of them, managed to achieve that.
Lets see what we can do for that.
I spent many months collecting
various information, stuff, to build a good P-40. When everything was ready, I
started the construction phase.
CONSTRUCTION
For the construction, I used 8 parts
of the Kit. (look at the picture following). I bought the Scale Caliber’s
Alison 1710-33 (resin) and their EXCELLENT flaps. Eduard’s seatbelts are used
also. See photo 04 above
Some samples of the extreme make
over can see here.
Whoever is interested in taking a
deeper look at my step by step construction, you can go to this link http://www.helmo.gr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=600&Itemid=42
) See photo 05 above
PAINTING
Personally I dislike the color Green.
Not my favorite. I try to avoid it always… When I had to decide what camo
scheme would be better for all this effort, I was between a British grey-green
and an O.D of Pearl Harbor. I decided to build an Historical bird. Kenneth
Taylor’s one.
Monochrome Camo are not easy as they
seem. To achieve a natural paint effect, you need to study the weather
conditions where the object flew. According to my friend Rodney Williams, the
Hawaiian sun is the worst enemy to colors. As far as I can remember, he told
me…Buy a brand new car in red color. Leave it to Hawaii for 8 months.
You will have a Pink car!!!
I collected much information for the
painting also. Many B&W pictures of 47th pursuit Sq. P-40s, showed many
heavily weathered P-40s. Not clipped of course. The USAF’s primers were
very
strong.
The painting steps can be seen here:
See photo 06 above
I used Lifecolor’s Zinc Chromate
Yellow for primer.
I chose O.D. of Gunze H-78 and H-304
and a combination of both of them.
For the undersides I used Neutral
Grey of Gunze.
When primer applied, I draw some
salt on selected areas. I left it for 12 hours to dry enough. Then I start
painting it with O.D. tones.
When the colors dried, I removed the
salt.
The photos below show the detailed
areas.
SPECIAL THANKS
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I wish to thank my masters and good
friends Rodney Williams, Brian Cauchi and Guillermo Bazan, for their Help.
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Special thanks to my friend Patrick
Spitaels for providing to me many stuff.
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Great thanks to all guys of www.P40warhawk.com
, Brad Hagen and Mark Joyce.
Cheers,
Alex
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