StuartMont Posted February 9, 2023 Report Share Posted February 9, 2023 I am currently building the Trumpeter 1/32 P-38L. There are no indications of the color scheme for the HVARs and there are no decals for the rockets and bombs. I found the attached photo on the web and it is captioned as pertinent to later versions of the P-38. I really like this look and plan to proceed forward. My question is whether anyone knows where I might find decals appropriate for the HVARs. Any suggestions would be appreciated. As always, thanks for the help for a very needy modeler. 😀 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stikpusher Posted February 10, 2023 Report Share Posted February 10, 2023 I don’t know where they came up with that red and white scheme for the 5” HVARs. The rockets came out of the ordnance factories in standard colors with OD warheads and depending upon Navy or Army use, light gray or bare metal rocket bodies. Presumably the gray paint on Navy rockets was for corrosion prevention at sea in the damp salt air environment. Yellow stenciling is seen on the warheads, and the fuse is in bare metal. USN USAAF/USAF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartMont Posted February 11, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2023 Well thanks very much for your reply. Happily no red has been laid down and I have yellow decals from a separate weapons set. I’ll use the army scheme for the P-38. The photo looked real and I did not delve any further into it’s origins. I appreciate your pointing me in the right direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stikpusher Posted February 11, 2023 Report Share Posted February 11, 2023 You’re quite welcome. That photo is quite real, but it most likely came from either somebody’s restored warbird, or a museum aircraft with somebody’s artistic impression of how they thought the rockets might look. I did a bit of read up on the 5” HVAR, and it turns out that the Army and Navy rockets had different electrical firing connections, so that would be another reason to have the motor casings in different colors for the ordnance armorers. Apparently there was also an adaptor kit available for the firing connections to make the Navy rockets compatible with the AAF connector wiring. I imagine that in some theaters of war, such a thing would come in useful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartMont Posted February 12, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2023 Thanks for the additional information, cool stuff. I did some more digging also and found this . . . Yikes! Not sure what game they are referring to but perhaps that was the genesis for the incorrect red/white color scheme. Based on your AAF photo I will be painting the tail fins the same color as the warhead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Bell Posted February 12, 2023 Report Share Posted February 12, 2023 Any chance that the red indicated they are inert rounds? They could be used to test loading/weight distribution/aerodynamics/etc. or for photo ops. Just a shot in the dark, so to speak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartMont Posted February 12, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2023 Well I’m not sure. They did look cool so the photo op worked for me 😀 I went with colors similar to the USAAF photo that was posted here with the tail fins the same color as the warhead. thanks for weighing in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartMont Posted February 12, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2023 (edited) I still have to ask if anyone knows where I might find appropriate decals for the 5 inch HVAR. I thought I had a set of yellow stencils for weapons, but they are just for bombs. It looks as if the motors/bodies also had stencils applied. I have searched quite a bit and can only find modern weapon sets. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Edited February 12, 2023 by StuartMont Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stikpusher Posted February 15, 2023 Report Share Posted February 15, 2023 On 2/12/2023 at 9:44 AM, StuartMont said: I still have to ask if anyone knows where I might find appropriate decals for the 5 inch HVAR. I thought I had a set of yellow stencils for weapons, but they are just for bombs. It looks as if the motors/bodies also had stencils applied. I have searched quite a bit and can only find modern weapon sets. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. In 1/48 yes, in 1/32 no. But… ProModeler made a 1/48 decal set of markings for US WWII/Korean War ordnance, including 5” HVARs. Now if you were to get that sheet, scan it, then enlarge the appropriate percentage up to 1/32 and then print those decals for yourself… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartMont Posted February 16, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 Great, thanks for the tip, I’ll start looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartMont Posted February 16, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 15 hours ago, Stikpusher said: ProModeler made a 1/48 decal set of markings for US WWII/Korean War ordnance, including 5” HVARs. I found these on Ebay and also bought a pack of decal paper for inkjet printers. Seems like a straightforward procedure but if there are any “warnings” please feel free to post. Thanks again, Stuart 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BWScholten Posted February 18, 2023 Report Share Posted February 18, 2023 On 2/16/2023 at 7:57 AM, StuartMont said: I found these on Ebay and also bought a pack of decal paper for inkjet printers. Seems like a straightforward procedure but if there are any “warnings” please feel free to post. Thanks again, Stuart Scan the decals and save the file. Check youtube for videos on making your own decals. It was hit and miss (more miss) for me when I started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartMont Posted February 18, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2023 Will do, thanks for posting!!! Waiting for the decals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stikpusher Posted February 18, 2023 Report Share Posted February 18, 2023 On 2/12/2023 at 7:12 AM, Ron Bell said: Any chance that the red indicated they are inert rounds? They could be used to test loading/weight distribution/aerodynamics/etc. or for photo ops. Just a shot in the dark, so to speak. No. Actual military inert ordnance is painted blue. An inert, blue, warhead can be fitted onto a live, NMF or Gray, rocket motor for practice firing. Or if the rocket motor and warhead are both inert, they will both be painted blue. Blue has been the standard color for inert US ordnance since before WWII. here is an inert warhead rocket at Smithsonian that came from the USMC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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