In case anyone was wondering, the action report is Grosshuesch's own words, actually. I just added "and 20mm cannons" and replaced "P-51" with "P-61". That really happened, and with considerably less firepower and airframe heft at his disposal!
http://cobraintheclouds.com/colonelleegrosshuesch.htmlSo, how far along was this when I started? Short answer: not very. Talos actually got me the layers for the 110 gallon drop tank before I finished Bong's "Marge". Unfortunately, I just didn't have time to do it justice then. About a week ago, I decided it was time to finish the job. I'll post the progression below:
So, I think that turned out well. It's actually a P-51D's long-range tank, commonly used in the Pacific. They pretty much stuck to the standard 75 gallon drop tanks in Europe.
Wait, what are those black bars? D-Day Invasion Stripes? And why were they removed from the final profile. So, quick history lesson here. The Fifth Air Force in the Philippines painted black stripes on the wings and fuselage of their single-engined fighters in that theater. This was to prevent their pilots from mistaking other US aircraft for Japanese aircraft. Many units carried this practice over to Okinawa and the 35th FG did this with their P-51s. The Fifth Air Force did NOT, however, do this with the P-38 Lightning. Why not? Well, how many Japanese fighters look like the P-38? Exactly. Well, the same would have held true for the P-61F, so I deleted them from the final profile. They may yet make an appearance, however.
Cheers,
Logan