You know... it's funny how you start down certain rabbit holes and find sudden spurts of motivation and interest in something seemingly so random and specific... but that's what happened to me with this odd little project.
Background:It all started in an antique store in Massachusetts... Sturbridge, Massachusetts to be specific. Home of the famous "Sturbridge Village", a living history town set in the 1790s through 1830s. We visited this attraction quite often growing up in the 90s, as it was little over an hour away from home. During the long weekend, we'd also stop at some local stores, including a large three story antique center where individual retailers could rent out their own booths. It was there, in a glass case on a shelf in the back I spotted a beaten up little diecast P-39.
P-39 "Miss Connie"Now for reference this was probably in 1999/2000 when I was 13, and I was still building up my collection of 1/144 warbirds to play with, and I didn't have a P-39 yet. The only option at the time was the old Revell kit which I didn't even know it existed then! So this was the next best thing. I later discovered that this diecast toy was made by Playart, a toy company from Hong Kong that were similar in size and style to Hot Wheels, Matchbox, etc. It had retractable main gear, and a spinning prop.
Here is a complete example
MINE however didn't have anything. No canopy, landing gear, prop, or even a nub FOR the prop, and weirdest of all... there were two perfectly small circular holes punched in the wings for some reason. So I set about overhauling the little toy. I glued a chuck of plastic sprue to the front and then sanded and shaped it to look like a spinner. I also filled in the holes in the wings with putty. While still searching for a canopy I decided to paint it as basically the only flyable P-39 there was at the time. The Confederate Air Force's "Miss Connie".
A seemingly easy and straightforward scheme of OD and grey, along with a yellow decal band around the tail, and some stars from a decal sheet. The nose was painted red and it was basically done until I found a canopy... fast-forward 25 years to today... I still didn't find a canopy. I had recently opened one of the drawers of my misfit and broken 1/144 planes and picked up this weathered and beaten little toy. Some paint had rubbed off, the spinner broke off, and it was looking rather shabby to say the least. So as a simple and quick exercise I decided to redo this model one more time. I found the spinner had relocated to my parts box so it was reunited once again. The paint was touched up along with new stars and a donor serial number from another kit. Its not the exact number but its close enough for me. I also had filled in the landing gear bays as she would be in flying mode. But what to do about the canopy?
I decided after looking at my Corgi CAF P-51D and P-47N that came with the B-29 "FiFi" set, that I would simply make a solid plug and paint in the canopy to match the other two CAF birds I already had. Making it an unofficial addition. I cut and fitted a piece of thick styrene into the well where the original canopy would go, and then began trimming and sanding it down to match the silhouette side profile of the P-39 canopy. Acting as a sort of spine, I laid think gel superglue to both sides to "fill out" the space and add dimension. Once dry, I began alot of sanding to shape done the new canopy plug into a more accurate shape. Once done I touched up the paint, added the dark blue color of the glass, clear coated it, and I was done.
P-51C "Tuskegee Airmen"I had enjoyed the small but satisfying (and fairly quick) process of redoing the P-39 so much, I decided to look around and see what else I could add to this emerging series. It quickly dawned on me that I had actually a second Playart diecast plane in my collection. A razorback P-51B/C.
Here is a complete example
Once again mine came without a canopy, but it did have one of the landing gear and a broken prop with a few missing blades. And those weird holes again... Keeping with the CAF theme, I decided that this one would just have to become the P-51C "Tuskegee Airmen".
I set to work by removing the stickers, sanding / puttying to smooth over seams from being cast, once again made a styrene spine for the canopy, added superglue, and then sanded it down quite a bit. I filled the gear bays in as well as the holes with putty, and sanded smooth. I also added a plastic spin on the top of the razorback to bring it up a bit as it seemed fairly low initially. After it was all said I painted it in all aluminum silver, and added the OD for the antiglare panel, black and grey where needed, as well as the red nose, tail, wingtips, etc. Decals came from Draw Decal. They went on pretty easily EXCEPT for the red and yellow stripe pattern around the nose, that was a pain. Granted its supposed to fit on a Revell or Sweet kit, not some hunk of metal from the 60s-70s. I clear coated in semi-gloss and after that I was done.
And here is a shot of both from the underside.
So now with two under my belt I was "jonesing" for another plane to add to this collection. It was at this time I started to grasp fully the theme of what I was making here. Essentially the CAF aircraft fleet from my childhood. I decided to call it:
CAF in Transition: (1994-2004)Within those ten years the CAF went through alot of changes. Both structurally, finically, as well as publicly with changing the name from "Confederate" to "Commemorative". A good PR move in my humble opinion. In that timespan, planes had been pranged, crashed, been rebuilt, repainted, and transferred to other wings. So now that I had a clear idea, and a specific decade to work within, what would be the next plane to replicate?
P-38L "White Lightin"While at my parent's recently I sifted through a box of diecast toy planes I played with as a kid. These were the REALLY lost and misfit planes of my youth, as they were swapped out for more accurate 1/144th scale planes. But one plane did catch my eye. This P-38...
A bit of an odd toy, this P-38 originated from the (Road Tough Super Airforce) toy line. I found them in a Christmas Tree Shop we frequented.
Needless to say I collected all the WWII birds and most of the jets too. By the way, who ever friggin' thought to make a diecast Storch?!
Seeing as it was the only diecast F model P-38 I ever ran across, I knew it would be the perfect base to recreate the CAF associated plane known as
"White Lightin"!
The toy itself was super close to 1/144th scale (similar to the two playart planes) so this worked perfect for me. I started by cutting off the wheels, grinding the stumps down, and puttying the entire plane to once again smooth out the diecast seams and rivet holes. After multiple passes of primer, putty, sanding, and repeat, I got to something I thought was decent. I ordered the decal set for this aircraft from Draw Decal once again and anxiously wait for it to arrive!
FG-1D CorsairNot being satisfied with working on just ONE plane, I purchased a Johnny Lightning Corsair off of eBay that was missing the engine cowling and prop.
This one would be reborn as the CAF's one and only FG-1D Corsair.
Always up for a challenge I knew I could work with this. First thing was to cut off the centerline bomb rack and bomb. Then I used a Crown/Minicraft B-25 engine as I have some spare Cobra B-25 engines I will probably use eventually for those. I also used plenty of putty to cover the screw holes, seams, etc. I also used an aftermarket radial engine to put in the hollowed out cowling.
After some sanding and primer work, I shot it with dark navy sea blue, and need to go back and do a few touchups before proceeding.
So now you're all caught up to where I'm at with this project! And I have no idea how many more I'll be able to add to this collection before my steam runs out (JL P-40?
)but I'm enjoying the process and relatively ease that they are flying together. There is a certain amount of relief when all you have to do is paint the windows onto the model. But probably the biggest question in regards to this whole project is... why? Why on earth would I dedicate the time, energy, and effort to inferior shaped planes when there are far more superior examples out there. I mean... I have some unbuilt Sweet P-51Bs and AFV Corsairs. They would look ten times better than any of these, Why would I put so much lipstick on so many pigs?!
The answer... I don't know. But I am certainly enjoying it. Maybe it's a harken back to my childhood or something, or just wanting to finally have an entire collection of these planes with the skill and know how to get it done more easily. Either way I hope you've enjoyed this journey so far and look forward to the updates!
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