1/48 Tamiya P-51B and P-51D |
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Gallery Article by Sinuhe Hahn
on Aug 1 2003 |
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Switzerland - Foundation of the Swiss Confederation
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P-51's in Swiss Air Force service
P-51B
On 19 July 1944 Ist Lt. Curtis Simpson had to make an emergency landing with his P-51B in Switzerland. This aircraft was restored to airworthy condition and tested extensively by the Swiss Air Force, who found the flying characteristics of the aircraft to be exceptional, surpassing anything in their inventory at that time.
This aircraft was flown in a variety of schemes. My interpretation of the B&W photos suggests that the D-day stripes were retained in combination with the Swiss neutrality stripes, the reason being that the bands are of different widths (metric vs imperial?). Although allocated a Swiss serial number (J-900), this never appears to have been
implemented.
Click on
images below to see larger images
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The aircraft was handed
back to the USAF after cessation of hostilities on 20 Oct. 1945, Lt. Simpson
taking the liberty of a very low flypast over Zurich as he bade farewell to the
city that had been his home for over a year.
I used the excellent Tamiya P-51 B for my model. Paints were a mix of Alclad and
Gunze acrylics. The white Swiss crosses were printed on an Alps printer.
P-51D
The Swiss Air Force was so impressed with the P-51B, that they readily
made use of an offer of the USAF for the purchase of a large number of P-51D's
following cessation of hostilities. Probably cheaper to sell them than scrap
them! The model shown depicts the testing on an experimental camouflage scheme,
whereby the top part of the aircraft was sprayed a dark green. The natural metal
scheme was retained on the lower wing surfaces. As the exact shade of this green
is not known, I used Gunze Black Green as an approximation. Decals for
this aircraft were provided by Topkit (www.modellshop.ch).
Although printed on an Alps they are of excellent quality, and even provide the
silver backed serial numbers. Once again, I used the excellent Tamiya P-51D for
my model, and Alclad for the metal finish.
Sinuhe Hahn