dmorrissette Posted September 13, 2014 Report Share Posted September 13, 2014 Gents: Trying to help a gent who contracted a kit to be built. can anyone tell me what squadron, ship location this helldiver elonged too? Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghodges Posted September 14, 2014 Report Share Posted September 14, 2014 (edited) Dave: I cannot find much on this sparsely marked airplane. Since it's apparently an -1 in tri-color camo, but no red surround to the stars, it's probably very late '43 or early '44. There's no G markings or other carrier Id markings that came into use during '44-'45, so I can only guess. It doesn't match the decal markings provided in the Pro-Modeler kit, nor could I find a picture or side view of this particular plane in the couple of books I have that cover the Helldiver. I don't have any after market Helldiver sheets; perhaps someone else does. What's really confusing is I can find plenty of pics with white numbers on the cowl, but none with black numbers on the cowl. My best guess would be Essex, Yorktown, or Lexington in early '44. However, there is a very similarly marked crashed Helldiver (except for white cowl numbers) captioned "USS Card, June '44 carquals" in one book. Since there's no side markings to indicate squadron, only what appears to be an individual a/c#, I have no idea as to what group it's from. Perhaps this indicates a stateside training plane, with no need for squadron or carrier markings. Hopefully someone with these decals (and the instructions) will be along shortly to give definitive info! GIL Edited September 14, 2014 by ghodges Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmorrissette Posted September 14, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2014 Thanks Gil! Having trouble nailing it down myself Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Bell Posted September 14, 2014 Report Share Posted September 14, 2014 It was easier in the 30's. All the colors and numbers allowed you to pin point where an a/c belonged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmorrissette Posted September 14, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2014 Thanks! This was Ed Kinney's last commission build and he didn't quite get it done before he passed Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeAdamczyk Posted September 15, 2014 Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 Black cowling number were used by VF-8 on their F6Fs. If paralel order were executed in other CV-17 Bunker Hill squadrons, that might be a SB2C from that carrier - Marianas Operations, 1944. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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