Crimea_River
Marshal
Username: Crimea River
First name: Andy
Category: Judge – Non competing
Scale: 1/48
Manufacturer: Hasegawa
Model Type: Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk Mk III
Aftermarket addons: Eduard Belts, and cockpit detail set
Decals: Iffy - May need to make them
For this build, I will attempt to depict Kitthawk Mk III coded HS-B s/n FR350 flown by James F. "Eddie" (as he was known at the time) Edwards while he was with 260 Squadron in the Western Desert Air Force. FR350 was Eddie's personal mount for many of his kills with 260 Squadron. Shown below are some pics of HS-B as they appear in "Kittyhawks Over the Sands - The Canadians and RCAF Americans" by Lavigne and Edwards, which is an excellent account of the air campaign in the desert.
HS-B is in the foreground in the next 2 pics:
The kit I'll use (if and when it arrives!) will be the Hasegawa kit shown below. Decals will be an issue as I have not seen any for this scheme that are still available. I've resigned myself to the likelihood of making my own or painting them.
From Wiki:
Flight Sergeant Edwards was posted to 94 Squadron RAF of 223 Wing in January 1942 flying the P-40 "Kittyhawk". On March 23, he flew his first operational trip, during which he shot down his first enemy aircraft, a Bf-109. In May, he was posted to 260 Squadron, and saw intensive action for the rest of 1942. By September, he had 6 "kills" and was commissioned. A Distinguished Flying Medal and Distinguished Flying Cross were awarded by the start of 1943, by which time Edwards was a Flight Commander. His tour finished in May 1943, total claims made being 13 (some say 14+1 shared ?) aircraft shot down and several ground kills. One of Edward's victims during the North African campaign was famous Luftwaffe experten Otto Schulz (51 victories), who was shot down by the Canadian ace on June 17, 1942.
In November 1943, he was posted to No. 417 Squadron RCAF, then No. 92 Squadron RAF, flying the Supermarine Spitfire VIII; while serving on the Italian front with 92 Squadron, he added 3 FW-190 and a Bf 109 to his score, all shot down over the Anzio beachhead, three of them on a single day. At the beginning of March 1944, he was posted to the UK, flying operations over Europe with 274 Squadron, a fighter unit equipped, at the end of Edward's tour, with the Hawker Tempest.
After leave in Canada, Edwards returned to the Western Front, flying Spitfire XVI's as 127 RCAF Wing CO in 1945. On May 3, he shared in the destruction of a Ju-88, just a few days before VE. He finished the war with a total of 373 operational sorties, during which no enemy pilot ever succeeded in shooting him down.
According to Shores and Williams's Aces High, his final wartime score was 15 + 3 shared destroyed, with 9 more destroyed on the ground. Brown and Lavigne's Canadian Wing Commander credits him with 19 victories, 2 shared, 6.5 probable, 17 damaged and 12 destroyed on the ground. During an interview, Edwards himself specified that he had 19 confirmed victories during the war. (The transcript of this interview can be found on the site of Veterans Affairs Canada.) Many who flew with him have said that he only reported those "kills" he was certain of and that his real number of aerial victories was probably much higher than officially reported. 18 of Edwards' 19 victories, according to Brown and Lavigne, were enemy fighters (14 Bf-109s, 3 FW-190s and one Macchi 202).
[After the war,] Edwards stayed in the RCAF until after amalgamtion and retired from the Canadian Forces in 1972 as a Lt Col. In that time, he flew Vampires, Sabres and CF-100s both in Canada and overseas. Edwards was a key player in the post war air force as his experience and leadership was used to train new pilots.
In 1983 he and Michel Lavigne published a book about his wartime experiences entitled Kittyhawk pilot: Wing commander J.F. (Stocky) Edwards.
To commemorate his achievements, Vintage Wings of Canada has decorated their P-40N in the markings flown by "Stocky" in Africa. On September 19, 2009, Vintage Wings took him for a flight over Ottawa in this P-40 giving him a chance to fly it as well.
Also in 2009, Edwards was honoured as one of the 100 most influential Canadians in aviation and had his name included with the others on the 2009 CF-18 Centennial of Flight demonstration Hornet.
From Lavigne, a page showing Eddie's most productive period in which he downed 6 aircraft between March 29 and April 22, 1943.
Here's a pic of "Stocky" in the Vintage Wings of Canada P-40N painted up in the scheme of his Mk III Kittyhawk HS-B. Apparently he took it into the air - age 88!
First name: Andy
Category: Judge – Non competing
Scale: 1/48
Manufacturer: Hasegawa
Model Type: Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk Mk III
Aftermarket addons: Eduard Belts, and cockpit detail set
Decals: Iffy - May need to make them
For this build, I will attempt to depict Kitthawk Mk III coded HS-B s/n FR350 flown by James F. "Eddie" (as he was known at the time) Edwards while he was with 260 Squadron in the Western Desert Air Force. FR350 was Eddie's personal mount for many of his kills with 260 Squadron. Shown below are some pics of HS-B as they appear in "Kittyhawks Over the Sands - The Canadians and RCAF Americans" by Lavigne and Edwards, which is an excellent account of the air campaign in the desert.
HS-B is in the foreground in the next 2 pics:
The kit I'll use (if and when it arrives!) will be the Hasegawa kit shown below. Decals will be an issue as I have not seen any for this scheme that are still available. I've resigned myself to the likelihood of making my own or painting them.
From Wiki:
Flight Sergeant Edwards was posted to 94 Squadron RAF of 223 Wing in January 1942 flying the P-40 "Kittyhawk". On March 23, he flew his first operational trip, during which he shot down his first enemy aircraft, a Bf-109. In May, he was posted to 260 Squadron, and saw intensive action for the rest of 1942. By September, he had 6 "kills" and was commissioned. A Distinguished Flying Medal and Distinguished Flying Cross were awarded by the start of 1943, by which time Edwards was a Flight Commander. His tour finished in May 1943, total claims made being 13 (some say 14+1 shared ?) aircraft shot down and several ground kills. One of Edward's victims during the North African campaign was famous Luftwaffe experten Otto Schulz (51 victories), who was shot down by the Canadian ace on June 17, 1942.
In November 1943, he was posted to No. 417 Squadron RCAF, then No. 92 Squadron RAF, flying the Supermarine Spitfire VIII; while serving on the Italian front with 92 Squadron, he added 3 FW-190 and a Bf 109 to his score, all shot down over the Anzio beachhead, three of them on a single day. At the beginning of March 1944, he was posted to the UK, flying operations over Europe with 274 Squadron, a fighter unit equipped, at the end of Edward's tour, with the Hawker Tempest.
After leave in Canada, Edwards returned to the Western Front, flying Spitfire XVI's as 127 RCAF Wing CO in 1945. On May 3, he shared in the destruction of a Ju-88, just a few days before VE. He finished the war with a total of 373 operational sorties, during which no enemy pilot ever succeeded in shooting him down.
According to Shores and Williams's Aces High, his final wartime score was 15 + 3 shared destroyed, with 9 more destroyed on the ground. Brown and Lavigne's Canadian Wing Commander credits him with 19 victories, 2 shared, 6.5 probable, 17 damaged and 12 destroyed on the ground. During an interview, Edwards himself specified that he had 19 confirmed victories during the war. (The transcript of this interview can be found on the site of Veterans Affairs Canada.) Many who flew with him have said that he only reported those "kills" he was certain of and that his real number of aerial victories was probably much higher than officially reported. 18 of Edwards' 19 victories, according to Brown and Lavigne, were enemy fighters (14 Bf-109s, 3 FW-190s and one Macchi 202).
[After the war,] Edwards stayed in the RCAF until after amalgamtion and retired from the Canadian Forces in 1972 as a Lt Col. In that time, he flew Vampires, Sabres and CF-100s both in Canada and overseas. Edwards was a key player in the post war air force as his experience and leadership was used to train new pilots.
In 1983 he and Michel Lavigne published a book about his wartime experiences entitled Kittyhawk pilot: Wing commander J.F. (Stocky) Edwards.
To commemorate his achievements, Vintage Wings of Canada has decorated their P-40N in the markings flown by "Stocky" in Africa. On September 19, 2009, Vintage Wings took him for a flight over Ottawa in this P-40 giving him a chance to fly it as well.
Also in 2009, Edwards was honoured as one of the 100 most influential Canadians in aviation and had his name included with the others on the 2009 CF-18 Centennial of Flight demonstration Hornet.
From Lavigne, a page showing Eddie's most productive period in which he downed 6 aircraft between March 29 and April 22, 1943.
Here's a pic of "Stocky" in the Vintage Wings of Canada P-40N painted up in the scheme of his Mk III Kittyhawk HS-B. Apparently he took it into the air - age 88!
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