Couple of recent commissions ...

[Chicoartist]

Black Sheep Patrol
14 x 36 in. Oil on linen
Completed 2013

A four-plane division of US Marine Corps Corsairs of VMF-214, the famous "Black Sheep," turn into a rising sun as they begin an early morning patrol. 9-victory ace and Navy Cross recipient 1Lt. Chris Magee, one of the most colorful fighter pilots in a squadron of strong Type A personalities, is featured in the nearest F4U. I was inspired by Chris's story in the book by his son Robert T. Reed, "Lost Black Sheep - The Search for WWII Ace Chris Magee."




The Duxford Boys
20 x 42 in. Oil on linen
Completed 2013

The 8th Air Force's 78th Fighter Group moved to their permanent wartime home at Duxford, Cambridgeshire, in April 1943. The Group flew P-47 Thunderbolts until December 1944, when it converted to that "wizard kite," the P-51 Mustang. Instantly recognizable by their bold black and white checkerboard noses, the aggressive fighter pilots of the 78th were credited with 326 confirmed aerial victories. They earned a Distinguished Unit Citation for operations over Holland during September 1944, and a second DUC for their actions over Czechoslovakia in April 1945.

Maj. Richard A. "Dick" Hewitt, seen here in his Mustang nicknamed "Big Dick," ca­me to the 78th in September 1943 and served until the end of the war, logging 426 hours of combat time. During his second tour Dick was promoted to commander of the 82nd Fighter Squadron. His awards include the Silver Star, 4 Distinguished Flying Crosses, and 13 Air Medals. His P-51's moniker alludes to his name and of course the traditional Craps call of ten. Dick's postwar book "Target of Opportunity" is a fascinating read.

Flying close formation on Hewitt is 1Lt. Larry Nelson in his "Heavenly Body".

[The Inspector]

Nice representation of the reflection on the bottom edge of the P-51 canopies!

[TOM WALSH]

Wade,

A superb tribute to Christopher Lyman "Maggie" Magee. He was, in my mind, the quintessential member of the "The Black Sheep Fighter Squadron". Out of 51 pilots who served three tours with 214, five got their start with the RCAF before transferring to the Marines. They were C. L. Magee, Fred V. "Lighthorse" Avey, Donald J. "Deejay" Moore, William D. "Junior" Heier and Henry S. "Notebook" Miller.

This Canadian connection to this famous group of Airmen is not well known. It is now!

Cheers,

Tom Walsh.

[Dan Johnson II]

Wade, you do have a way with Mustangs.

Someday I'm going to have enough to commission one of a pair of 364th FG Mustangs from the Fall of 44....someday

[Chicoartist]

Thanks, guys - much appreciated! Interesting tie-in, Tom!

A little more info - the Corsair painting is still drying, and will hopefully hang in a couple of exhibitions in the next year. The Mustangs will hang at BWI this summer (somewhere in the airport) at the American Society of Aviation Artists annual juried exhibition. Here's a quick pic recently after I picked it up at the framer ... the P-47M you see is already on its way to another collector:




Current projects include a WWI scene I've been working on for a long time - this is the final mockup assembled in Photoshop. It combines a sky from my photograph in Colorado with a landscape from a drawing I did with a 'hangar' I freehanded into the scene with 'mechanics' from past photo shoots for other projects, and finally multiple poses of my poorly-built SE5a model! I'm working on the final - final - concept drawing for this now.




I get a rash if I stay away from Mustangs too long, so this will be a huge (commissioned) painting featuring Gentile and Godfrey approaching a crippled B-17 with a vast cloudscape behind. The story is loosely based on a narrative in Don Gentile's logbook. Here's the concept mockup, sans 'vast cloudscape':



Cheers!
Wade

[Lynn Allen]

I could see the nose art "Big Dick" on tour .... Outstanding work Wade as always and will look forward to seeing your next project on the walls at CAE over at DFW...

Lynn