Tora, Tora, Tora SBD Wind Machines & P-40 Mock-up photos

[Jerry O'Neill]

I recently got this image on Ebay. It's of the water tank at the 20th Century Fox Malibu Ranch when they were preparing to shot the night scenes of the Japanese model fleet approaching Pearl Harbor for the film "Tora, Tora, Tora".
There are three SBD wind machines in the photo and the last one (furthest away) looks like an engine pod off a blimp. I think the one with the complete fuselage in the middle is the one NEAM once owned and is now owned by Kermit Weeks. The other two are interesting to me since I was unaware that there were any cut down and modified that much. I've only seen photos of five or six complete fuselage versions. I thought most of them were complete fuselages with no wings or tail surfaces. Does anybody have other photos of the modified SBD' machines and of the mystery one in the background? Did any of the half SBD's survive?
Jerry



Also,
Here's another photo from the same batch of the P-40 mock-ups being assembled. Note the full blown front windscreens on the ground and the instrument panel details. All just to blow up!!!

[RMAllnutt]

Hi Jerry! This is a fascinating photo! I worked on one of the cut down SBD's for a number of years when it was in Fredericksburg, Virginia with Kevin Smith. I couldn't tell you which one of the two shown was his, but it is an RA-24B Banshee, rather than an SBD. I forget the serial number, but you can easily look it up. Kevin moved his project to Phoenix, Arizona a few years ago when he left Virginia. I think he's still working on it. He has gathered a lot of parts to go with it of course, including wings via the Navy Museum. I am sure he will be excited to see this photo!

Cheers,
Richard

[CoastieJohn]

Those last two look like sheetmetal and plywood mockups?? Aside from the spray painted hulls, I see the 3 pieces at the bottom of the pic that look as though they have just been spray painted olive drab green.

[Jiggersfromsphilly]

Look there is a vacuform windshield next to them.

[Jerry O'Neill]

i don't know how many P-40's they made for the film, but it has to be upwards of 15-20 mock-ups. they used C-45 outer wing panels and T-6 landing gear. At least two were "taxiable' to be destroyed in take-off scenes during the attack.

Also notice the Japanese destroyer in front of the P-40's with the air tanks underneath for ballast.
Jerry

[Jiggersfromsphilly]

Sea Classics and Air Classics did great issues on the behind the scenes of this movie. Like back in 1969 or so !

[Matt Sharkey]

That Coupe deVille is pretty close to the Tornado in that second picture.

[Jerry O'Neill]

I like the white T-Bird in he background!

[Chris Brame]

That Coupe deVille is pretty close to the Tornado in that second picture.

Neither Tornado nor Toronado - it's a '66 Buick Riviera.

And I'll take the white '64 Continental over either of 'em.

Seriously, thanks for posting these photos - what a diorama subject those wave machines would make!

[cooper9411]

And I'll take the Buick Riviera or the Impala next to it!

[Chris Brame]

Sea Classics and Air Classics did great issues on the behind the scenes of this movie. Like back in 1969 or so!

October 1969


If you have that issue, pages 34 and 35 were printed with a red overlay that made most of the photos too dark. Here they have been fixed:




These two shots were taken in the '70s at the Fox backlot and posted on a site which has since been deleted; hope it's OK to post them.




Note the canopy framing without plexiglass on the P-40 mockup; it's probably the one used for the process shots in the dogfight sequence. (The airliner behind it is the DC-6 "jetliner" from Fate Is the Hunter; also used in the "Crime Wave" episode of The Green Hornet.)

[lmritger]

This is utterly fascinating to me... whatever became of those massive and incredibly well-done ship models? Did any of them survive? How about the P-40 replicas, are any of them extant today?

Wonderful stuff!

Lynn

[Dan Jones]

How ironic that they had SBD wind machines filming "Tora - Tora - Tora". I think I "might" have seen one of the cut down SBD's in the POF yard about a year ago but I'm not certain (couldn't quite get a clear look at it).

[Jiggersfromsphilly]

This is utterly fascinating to me... whatever became of those massive and incredibly well-done ship models? Did any of them survive? How about the P-40 replicas, are any of them extant today?

Wonderful stuff!

Lynn

Apparently some of them were destroyed in a fire at the lake site that Fox had. It was near the site of the MASH compound used for exterior shots. They Did a episode about "Bugging Out" that was shot else where due to the fires that swept through the Fox Ranch.

I think that some were auctioned off. I just remember a picture of Battleship row and there is a scuba diver standing next to one of the ships and he is tiny.

[Vagabond]

Lynn -

The Armed Forces Military Museum in Largo, FL has a number of the ship models from Tora.

You can see some of them at our Smugmug gallery here:
http://www.vgbimages.com/AFV-Photos/Arm ... 046_zMbkcz



Also The Aerosciences Museum in Glenville, NY has the model of the Akagi. She looks great!

Cheers,
VB