My Father's C-47 - FlyModel Repaint

[Sakrison]

My father was a C-47 pilot in Europe in World War II. I bought and scanned a copy of Fly-Model's C-47, and used Photoshop to change the serial number and unit markings to match my father's airplane. Dad and his crew ferried a new C-47 from the US to England a couple of weeks after D-Day, so his plane had no invasion stripes. I had replace those with the olive drab of the rest of the aircraft, then redraw some of the panel lines. I also recolored the interior wall panels to a more accurate color. Next step is to print and build the kit.

In each of the photos, Fly-Model art is on the left, my repaint on the right.

[-Jim G]

I want to follow this thread. I love C-47s. I hope as you build it you can share some of your Dad's stories as well.

[Don Boose]

A wonderful Sentimental Journey modeling project!

The repainting has gone very well.

Don

[WVA]

Looks perfect to me. I greatly appreciate airplane recolors to recognize the people who flew them. Gives real meaning to the model.

I am particularly interested in how you assemble the interior parts with the exterior, so I hope there will be a build thread. I have had nothing but disasters in "double hull" builds.
Jim

[Rubenandres77]

The FlyModel is a beautiful kit and a favorite of mine. I've had it for some time but never dared to build it.

Will follow with interest your repaint and build. Surely it will be a pleasure to see.

[Sakrison]

Originally Posted by -Jim G

I want to follow this thread. I love C-47s. I hope as you build it you can share some of your Dad's stories as well.

My Dad enlisted in the Army Air Corps in early '42, passed flight school with high marks and requested transports. He was assigned to C-47 training. At the end, they took the best students and made them C-47 instructors; Dad was one of them.

He spent a year at Randolph Field in Texas, teaching others to fly the Gooney Bird, then got orders to take a new C-47 to England. He arrived there in late June of '44 and was almost immediately in the thick of it. He already had 500 hours in type so he drew "front row" on a lot of the tough missions -- St.Lo, Bastogne, Holland, and the Rhine -- hauling paratroops and supplies, towing gliders, bringing back wounded and POWs. He spent a few weeks chasing Patton's 3rd Army, his plane loaded with drums full of aviation fuel.

After VE day, he moved to the C-46 ("great plane, a handful to land"), he got orders to lead a squadron on Okinawa. He was home on leave when the Japanese surrendered.

Dad planned to join the airlines and had standing offer for a left seat with Capitol Airlines, out of D.C. But his old man, a bitter, selfish, SOB, bullied him into coming home and working in the family restaurant.

[Sakrison]

I've probably posted this before, but I have a personal connection through my Dad to the FLY-MODEL kit.

FLY-MODEL's C-47 is the "Argonia," the personal plane of Col.Charles Young, CO of the 439th Troop Carrier Group. It's on permanent display at the Airborne Museum in St.Mere-Eglise, Normandy. Dad was in the 93rd Squadron, 439th TCG. Newly arrived in England, he flew his first combat missions as copilot to Col. Young in the Argonia.

[dhanners]

What a treat to be able to model something that you have an abiding personal connection to. That is rare.

I look forward to watching the build. I'm sure it'll be a great job.

(My late father was stationed at Bovingdon during WWII and helped paint invasion stripes on airplanes the day before D-Day. When I would build models as a kid, I'd mask the black and white stripes to make them straight. Dad told me none of their stripes were straight, as they were painted with mops and brooms. They were after speed, not neatness.)

[Sakrison]

Originally Posted by dhanners

(My late father was stationed at Bovingdon during WWII and helped paint invasion stripes on airplanes the day before D-Day. . . Dad told me none of their stripes were straight, as they were painted with mops and brooms. They were after speed, not neatness.)

The history of the 439th TCG (Into the Valley, by Col. Chas. Young) tells a similar story about painting the stripes with mops and brooms. But try to tell that to someone who has spent hours on a meticulously detailed aircraft model!

[Wyvern]

Great information, will look forward to seeing your model come together, and a tip o’ the hat to your father.


Wyvern