With ominous signs
that the United States was definitely going to be drawn into the ongoing war in
Europe, the U.S. War Department sought and was granted an immediate military
expansion program for defense of the homeland, territories and allied
states. New Air Corps units were created rapidly and normally much faster
than the Army could equip them with front line aircraft. At the time,
advanced aircraft like the P-38, P-39 and P-40 were still unavailable in large
quantity. As a temporary measure until sufficient quantities of modern
aircraft were available, the U.S. War Department equipped the new Air Corps
units with obsolete aircraft such as Seversky's P-35. Another option
exercised by the U.S. War Department to equip the new Air Corps units was
the seizure of combat aircraft already on the assembly lines that had been
purchased by other nations. One of these seizures was the last sixty P-35s
on the Swedish EP-1-106 contract with Republic (formerly Seversky). These
sixty EP-1-106s were confiscated by the U.S. War Department and
forty-five were assigned to the 24th Pursuit Group at Clark Air Base on the
Philippine Islands as a stopgap defensive measure in December 1940. These
aircraft arrived in their bare-metal finish with Swedish national insignia and
metric flight controls. The Army Air Corps designated these sixty aircraft
as P-35As that flew alongside the well worn P-26s and other obsolete
aircraft at Clark Air Base. When additional P-40s became available at
Clark Air Base in mid-1941, many of the forty-five P-35As were assigned to
pilots of the 17th and particularly the 34th Pursuit Squadrons. In the
fall of 1941, many of P-35a assigned to the 17th and 34th Pursuit Squadrons were
hastily camouflaged in Olive Drab over Neutral Gray. Absence of primer
plus tropical moisture caused the freshly applied paint to chip and fade very
quickly. This hodgepodge of P-26s, P-40s and P-35As were the first line of
defense when the initial wave of Japanese aircraft attacked the
Philippines on December 8, 1941. Many P-35As were either destroyed on
the ground or shot down by 'friendly fire' since they resembled Japanese
Zero's. Though easy prey for the much faster Japanese fighters, the handful
of remaining P-35As fought on until the battle of the Philippines ended in
May 1942. The Battle of the Philippines was the only time the United
States used the P-35A in combat. Remaining P-35As were relegated to
training units around the United States for the remainder of World War II.
(Information obtained from Larry Davis' P-35 Mini in Action).
I used the 1/48
Academy kit as the basis for representing P-35A, 125-34P, of the 34th Pursuit
Squadron, Philippines in late 1941.
Click on
images below to see larger images
I enhanced Academy's
kit with:
-
1) Reheat Model's
Seversky P-35 Detail Set RH076
-
2) Decals from my
spares box
-
3) Rigging with 4X
Tippet
-
4) Squadron
Vacuform Canopy
Construction was
straightforward with only minor filling along the wing root/fuselage join near
the leading edges. I constructed a floor for the fuselage cargo area
equipped with sleeping role and backpack near the door which is difficult to see
in the photos.
Reheat's old P-35A
detail set dramatically improves the bare bone Academy cockpit. The
cockpit was painted aluminum followed by a lamp black oil wash and dry brushing.
Model Master buffing Aluminum was applied for a bare metal finish undercoat.
I covered selected areas with salt followed by flat black on panel lines.
The ventral surfaces were given a light mist of Neutral Gray whereas dorsal
surfaces received light mists of Olive Drab. Tints of the aforementioned
colors were applied to select panels for weathering. I also applied
Khaki Drab to random dorsal areas to represent paint touch-ups. After a
coat of future, the salt was removed with a cloth to simulate paint chipping.
The few available photos of camouflaged P-35As show extensive paint chipping,
though I chose to represent a moderately chipped aircraft. Raw umber oils
were used for the pin wash applied to panel lines and as a filter applied to the
entire aircraft. Mixtures of raw umber and lamp black oils were used to
simulate fuel and oil streaks. The P-35A did not have self-sealing fuel
tanks and so streaking from fuel leaks was common on the central ventral surface
of the aircraft. Mixtures of gray and black pastels along with the Tamiya
Weathering Master A set was used for final weathering. A coat of thinned
Flat Clear completed the model.
Photographic
evidence of camouflaged P-35As is rare and so this project provided me with a
bit more artistic license. This was an enjoyable build of a nearly
forgotten aircraft that was the precursor to the P-43 and eventually the famous
P-47.
Eric Hargett
Click on
images below to see larger images
|