US Navy and USMC Between The Wars in 1/100

[Rata]

Just finished this one: Scissors & Planes Boeing O2B-1. The O2B-1 was essentially a development of the WWI DeHavilland DH-4 bomber.
Needless to say the rigging was the most time consuming aspect of the build but a model like this just wouldn't look right without it.
Here's Don to tell us about the full size.

[Don Boose]

This paper model by Garry Gillard is of U.S. Marine Corps Boeing O2B-1 observation plane, Bureau of Aeronautics Number (BuNo) A-6903 as it appeared when assigned to Marine Observation Squadron 2 (VO-2M), First Aviation Group, Quantico, Virginia in 1925.

The O2B-1 was the Boeing-built version of the De Havilland DH-4M1 (“M” = “modernized”), derived from the Liberty-engined DH-4 “Liberty Plane” manufactured by the Dayton-Wright Company during World War I and flown by the 9th and 10th Marine Squadrons based at Dunkirk in France. The Army Air Service progressively improved the aircraft after the war, exchanging the pilot’s cockpit and the fuselage fuel tank to improve pilot survivability in the event of a crash (the DH-4 had previously been known as the “Flaming Coffin”) and to improve coordination between the pilot and observer/gunner. With this improvement and the covering of the fuselage with plywood, the aircraft was re-designated DH-4B. In 1923, Boeing began modernizing DH-4s with welded steel tube fuselages under the designation DH-4M-1 (Fokker-Atlantic built similar aircraft under the designation DH-4M-2). The DH-4Ms were built for the U.S. Army, but the last 30 Boeing-built DH-4M-1s were diverted to the Marine Corps in March 1925, painted in Navy colors, and designated O2B-1. Under the new Navy aircraft designator system, this would normally have meant that they were the second observation (“O”) aircraft built for the Navy by Boeing, but the designation “OB-1” had already been assigned to a projected Navy-designed amphibian to be built by Boeing.

DH-4Bs and O2B-1s were the mainstay of Marine Aviation in the early 1920s, being used as “dive bombers” (they actually delivered ordnance in a steep glide), light transports, observation aircraft, and, modified to carry a stretcher, for aero-medical evacuation. The first O2B-1 was delivered to the Marine First Aviation Group at Quantico, Virginia, in 1925, and by February 1926, 16 O2B-1s were serving with that unit, while eight O2B-1s were with Marine Observation Squadron Two (VO-2M) in Port Au Prince, Haiti.

Garry’s model depicts O2B-1 A-6903 during late 1925, before VO-2M was deployed to Haiti. At the beginning of the decade, Marine aircraft were variously doped in Forest Green, Olive Drab, or Navy Gray, but by 1925 the colors had been standardized to overall aluminum paint with the upper wing and horizontal stabilizers painted Chrome Yellow for visibility. In November 1922 the Commandant of the Marine Corps directed that the “Marine Corps device” be painted on the fuselage or hull of every Marine airplane, seaplane, and flying boat. The device was to be “identical with the officer’s collar ornament” and painted in red with yellow North and South American continents (quoted in Elliot, p. 88). In addition to the red and yellow eagle, globe, and anchor, A-6903 carries a winged star on the fuselage behind the Marine Corps device, which appears to have been a VO-2M emblem, and a major’s oak leaf on the cowling, which may mean that this was the personal aircraft of Major Edwin H. “Chief” Brainard, the head of the Aviation Section, Headquarters, Marine Corps, from 1925 to 1929. The characters on the fuselage side reflect the system adopted in 1923 to identify aircraft. The “2” stands for Second Squadron, the “O” with an internal slash identifies the unit as a Marine observation squadron (Marine units had the mission letter - F-fighter, B-bomber, and so on – inside a circle, except for observation squadrons, which used the slash-in-a-circle), and the final number indicates the aircraft within the squadron.

Boeing O2B-1s served the Marine Corps with the First Aviation Group (re-designated East Coast Expeditionary Force in 1927) at Quantico from 1925 to 1929, VO-2M (re-designated VO-9M in 1927) in Haiti from 1926 to 1929, with VO-1M (re-designated VO-7M) in Nicaragua in 1927, and with VO-10M as part of the USMC Expeditionary Force, China, from 1927 to 1928. By 1930, all the O2B-1s had been replaced by Vought O2U-1s and Curtiss OC-1s and OC-2s, and the Marine DH-4 and its successors were a memory.

Images:

1. Boeing O2B-1 BuNo A-6903 (2-Ø-6) of VO-2M, flying in formation with 2-Ø-6 (BuNo unknown to me) with the USMC First Aviation Group at Quantico, Virginia, in 1925. Source: U.S. Navy photographed reproduced in Larkins, p. 16; a version that shows both airplanes is reproduced in Bowers, The American D.H.4, p. 3.

2. Painting by Peter Freeman of Boeing O2B-1 BuNo A-6903 with the USMC First Aviation Group at Quantico, Virginia, in 1925. Source: Freeman, p. 14.

3. Boeing O2B-1 BuNo A-6904 with VO-10M at the Marine landing strip, Tientsin, China. 1927. The enlisted pilot has painted his name and that of his observer under the engine and added a dragon to the rear fuselage. Note the Boeing FB-1 of VF-10M (formerly VF-3M) in the background. Source: Elliot, p. 96.

Sources:

Joe Baugher, “US Navy and US Marine Corps BuNos, First Series (A6002 to 9999),” available at http://www.joebaugher.com/navy_serials/firstseries2.html

Peter M. Bowers, Boeing Aircraft Since 1916, London: Putnam, 1966, pp. 56-59.

---, The American D.H.4, Profile Publication 97, Leatherhead, Surrey, UK: Profile Publications, 1966.

Thomas E. Doll, Berkley R. Jackson, and William A. Riley, Navy Air Colors: United States Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Camouflage and Markings, Vol. 1 1911-1945, Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal, 1983.

John M. Elliott, The Official Monogram US Navy & Marine Corps Aircraft Color Guide, Vol. 1, 1911-1939, Boylston, MA: Monogram Aviation Publications, 1989.

Peter Freeman, Wings of the Fleet: US Navy & Marine Corps Aviation 1919-1941, On Target Special, Ardington, Oxfordshire, UK: The Aviation Workshop Publications Ltd., 2010, p. 14.

Edward C. Johnson, Marine Corps Aviation: The Early Years 1912-1940, Washington, DC: History and Museums Division, U.S. Marine Corps, 1977, reprinted 1991, available at https://www.marines.mil/Portals/59/Publications/Marine%20Corps%20Aviation%20The%20Early%20Years%20 1912-1940%20PCN%2019000316800_1.pdf

E.R. Johnson, United States Marine Corps Aircraft Since 1913, Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2018, pp. 21-25.

William T. Larkins, U.S. Marine Corps Aircraft, Concord, CA: Aviation History Publications, 1959.

[papermate]

Great job with the rigging. Just curious about what material for the rigging did you use to finish that?

[Rata]

It's called heat element wire papermate. Comes in varying thicknesses (this model is done with .32 thou) and is cheap as chips on ebay. Downside is it comes on a reel and is thus curved and needs to be straightened first though it's easy to to handle and cut. Nowhere near as hard as music wire, it's about the consistency of the wire in those little twist-ties that come with freezer bags etc.

[jeffbail]

Rata
Something I learned long ago with getting short pcs. of wire straight,
Glue a pcs. of 180 grit sandpaper to a good flat palm sized block of wood and
roll the wire between a flat table or glass top a few times and you get very straight pcs. of wire. Also if you glue a different grit of sandpaper to the other
side you have a very handy sanding block for edges.
Love your builds Jeff

[Rata]

Now that is one piece of handy advice jeffbail. I'll be definitely trying that on my next biplane build.

[Vinalssergio155]

Magnificent work for your collection of Garry yellow wings. Fabulous work. Complemented by the interesting information of Don Boose. Thanks.

[elliottsprings]

Brilliant work! You can't tell how really small this model is from your photos . . . which makes it even more amazing! Keep up the great work--love seeing the photos.

[Butelczynski]

Excellent Boeing Rata.I didn't know DH-4 was build by Boeing.

That model reminds me of Polikarpov R-1-licenced version of DH-9 but that's another story.

[Rata]

Thanks for interest and compliments folks. This hobby is it's own reward but it sure doesn't hurt having people saying nice things!