Welcome to the Mighty Eighth Air Force Campaign!

The campaign will run from 1 June, 2019 through 1 July, 2020.

If you haven't signed up yet, or want to see the rules, go here.

Please post your initial and in-progress photos as well as campaign discussion in this thread. Please post your finished build photos in the campaign gallery.

Looking forward to some great builds honoring the pioneer of strategic bombing in WWII!

Michael

I'm in. Just gotta finalize my choice. Probably stick with the Academy 1/72 P-47 razorback.

Don't have any B-17s in stash, so I'll also build an escort fighter:



I'd prefer the Little Buckaroo, but it's not 8th Air Force. So this one will be Major Joseph Myers's P-38 from November 1943.

I wanted to do an airplane from the early days of the Eighth. The 91st, 303rd, 305th and 306th along with the 44th (B-24's) WERE the Eighth Air Force through the winter of '42/'43. I have decided on 41-24605, "KNOCK-OUT DROPPER" of the 359th BS/303rd BG. This was an original 303rd aircraft. I initially thought it was in contention for the first to 25 but there were a lot of abortions on this bird in her early missions. So she didn't get to her 25th until late in July, well after the Belle (and others). But the ground crew did get a handle on the issues and this became one of the first (or maybe the first) airplanes to fly 50 and then 75 missions with the Eighth. The markings typically seen on this bird show her late in her career. I plan to show her as she completed the first 25. There were some changes in markings and nose armament and I will show the earlier versions. Since the waist will be closed, I won't spend a lot of time and effort in that area. Same with the bomb bay. I do plan to dress up the nose, cockpit, and radio compartments a bit.





Compare this late photo with the one above. Different nose, the mission markings started almost to the cockpit, the "?" is not on the original.

Revell 1:48 B-17G Flying Fortress "Little Patches"





Oh what the heck, since we get a year I may actually manage to finish this. I'm in with a B-17, Monogram's 1:48 G model reboxed under Revell's banner. I have wanted to work on this kit for a couple of years now so no more excuses! I'll be going OD/Grey rather than NMF, in the guise of "Little Patches" from the 91st Bomb Group.

Here's a bit of history from the USAAF Nose Art Research Project:



The name "Little Patches" was acquired after the aircraft's first combat mission with Lt William Major's crew when Frankfurt flak put many splinters through the ship. The damage was primarily cosmetic but the skin required numerous small aluminium patches prompting Lt Major to name the ship. Starcer's original pin-up painting portrayed a blonde wearing an Air Force cap.

"Little Patches" was considered a 'gas-hog' by the Major crew who were concerned on long haul missions that they might not make it home. The 21st Feb 44 mission to Poland prompted plans for an emergency landing in Sweden should it become necessary but the weather closed in that day and dictated a closer target.

After the 29th Mar 44 mission to Brunswick, "Little Patches" caught fire during maintenance and was so badly damaged that it was removed from operations and sent to the sub-depot for extensive repairs. It was not fit to return to combat flying until early in May when it was re-assigned to the 401st Bomb Squadron.

At least 34 different combat crews were assigned to "Little Patches" during its operational tour. The first pilot to take the ship after it was transferred into the 401st Sqn was Sam Newton -- immortalised in Bert Stiles' famous book 'Serenade to the Big Bird.' Stiles later flew as co-pilot with John Green on 29th July to Leipzig when "Little Patches" took 20mm cannon hits, caught fire and was forced from the formation to return alone. It flew to all the toughest targets including Schweinfurt, Regensburg, Augsburg, Munich, Merseburg, Frankfurt and Berlin (at least 8 times). Serious battle damage over Merseburg on 2nd November put the ship out of action for most of that month. Repaired, it was put back into combat and continued flying missions until the end. In the final month of war, "Little Patches" notched up nine raids -- the last being to Brandenburg on 20th April 1945.

Finally when it was all over, "Little Patches" landed just north of Berlin on 8th May to collect RAF prisoners of war and ferry them back to England. One month later, it took off from Bassingbourn for Valley in Wales on the first leg of the return flight to the USA and ultimate scrapping, piloted by Francis Breidenbach. After landing at Bradley Field, Connecticut, it passed on to Romulus Field, then Topeka and finally Kingman RFC, Arizona.

KitsWorld makes a nice set of decals for the scheme, I also picked up their insignia and maintenance stencil set so I can toss the kit decals.



I've had this project planned for so long I just kept grabbing up more and more aftermarket sets for her. At this point I think I have just about all I could want to build a nice display model. I have no intention to cut it open or super-detail it the way others have managed to do, other than maybe to give the nose section some attention since it will be easy viewed.



I'm not sure how much of that stuff I will actually end up using, but it gives me some options! Now to actually complete her by next June...

Really??? I thought Major Major Major was in the 15th AF in Northern Africa???
ROTFL

Hi All,

Looks like we're off to a great start!

I'll be jumping in with Revell's classic 1/48 B-17F, and will be doing it up as "Memphis Belle".

Good thing this one is for 12 months, as I've a few items to clear off the bench!



And yes, I've still got a few big ones left in the stash!

Well, as we're making declarations, here's what I WANT to do:



I made a very slight start on it for the Bombers 2 campaign then stalled out.



(Interesting family resemblance to the B-29, by the way.)

I have a fair amount of info on the B-17:



including this little gem that my son found for me:



I plan to do the Belle also and have collected a lot of pics both from the period and from the very careful restoration done by the Museum of the U.S. Air Force. We'll see if I can actually stay on task this time!

Michael

Here's what I want to finish for this campaign:

I may be bumping on the 25% rule, the fuselage is closed up.
Can I use this one?

I've got a second 8th AF P-47 that's still got the parts factory bagged if this one's too far along.

Greetings,
This is my start photo for the Mighty Eighth Campaign.



Cheers,
Firstsergeant

Tamiya P-51 (Still Shrink-wrapped) : Check
Decals for Urban Drew's ride : Check
Seatbelts....cause we ALL need seatbelts! : Check



Let the fun begin!!

Ok I'm in. I agree with Chaz - what's not to like about the Mustang?!

This one is the diminutive 1/144 scale bird from Minicraft. This 2018 release is actually a reissue of the old 1974 Crown kit which has been sold variously over the years by Revell, Academy, Trumpeter, Mini Hobby Models, and now Minicraft Models. This little beauty has certainly been around! Minicraft has added some value, though, with a new clear display stand, a pre-painted canopy, and some excellent Cartograf decals.


The small size, low parts count, and pre-painted canopy should make this a fast build.

The little Mustang’s outline is accurate and the model goes together with a minimum of fuss, but small size means a number of simplifications. One of these is the cockpit, which is just a flat recessed area completely devoid of detail. To address this, Minicraft took the unusual approach of including a decal to represent the interior.


Placed over a green & black painted cockpit tub, the decal is surprisingly effective – especially under the thick canopy.

Tim, your Mustang is looking really good. Really crisp moulding for a kit of that vintage.

I might join in with a Liberator I've been meaning to build for ages. Just have to check that the markings are for the 8th AF first.

Maybe a bit off topic, but why don't we have an affordable kit of the Liberator anymore? Come on Revell, do a new tool.

Stephen, thanks, and yes, the old girl's panel lines are surprisingly sharp for a kit of that era. She's not perfect, though.

The intercooler and rectangular coolant matrix were just square depressions in the fuselage halves; I made simple sheet plastic improvements.

The assembled Mustang now has its coat of Tamiya rattle-can AS-12 Bare Metal Silver.

A really cool feature of this 2018 Minicraft release is an optional pre-painted canopy. Unfortunately, I rubbed off some of the paint while blending the windscreen with the fuselage, so I still ended up masking and painting it along with the rest of the aircraft.

Tim great work on the canopy. Masking is tricky enough at the best of times, but 1/144 must need the patience of a saint! Good thing the P-51D's is fairly simple.

Had a good rummage in my stash today and found a Minicraft B-24J/H, Academy's B-17F and a lovely decal sheet by Iliad Design in the Liberator's box. Jimmy Stewart's B-24 'Male Call' and B-17 'The 8 Ball', which Clark Gable is said to have flown on as a gunner, both flew with the 8th. Torn between which to do.
The other two are Pacific based, but plan to build if and when I get the kits.



I also found an Airfix Liberator, but that's not a serious contender for building.

Thanks Stephen! The masking on the P-51 was actually pretty straightforward, if a bit small. As for your own build, I think you should do Jimmy Stewart’s plane - the markings look cool, and plus, we don’t see very many B-24 builds!

Thanks. I was thinking that. As I said in previous post, why don't we have a widely available and reasonably priced B-24 at 1/72? The Hasegawa kit looks really nice, but quite expensive in the UK. Minicrafts is now hard to find and a few online sellers I found were asking for MORE than the Hasegawa!
I'm sure Airfix and Revell could put a new tool out for around £30 and they'd sell like hotcakes. I know I'd buy a few!

I know what you mean about the affordable B-24... one of the advantages of 1/144 scale, I suppose!

My little Mustang came with decals for two different USAAF birds, but I opted instead to use aftermarket markings from Draw Decal.
The model will depict “Twilight Tear,” an aircraft of the 8th Air Force’s 78th Fighter Group, 83rd Fighter Squadron flown by 1st Lieutenant Hubert Davis out of Duxford, England, in 1945.

The Draw Decal markings look great – can’t wait to try them out!

Looks really good. Always wanted a checker nosed Mustang in my collection.

Thinking about Liberators, I think it will only be a matter of time before we see a new one. In recent years Revell and Airfix have done most of the Allied bombers between them. And a good job they've done too. I think only the B-24, 26, 29 and Hampden are yet to be done. I'm optimistic.

Your optimism is justified! Airfix released a new tool B-26 last year - I hear it is very nice.

After the initial silver, I applied Tamiya rattle-can AS-6 Olive Drab USAAF for the anti-glare panel followed by red wingtips and a white spinner.

With the application of the decals, a radio mast, and the finished spinner, the P-51D Mustang “Twilight Tear” (named after the 1944 Racehorse of the Year) is complete!