[size=150]Warhawks of the CBI[/size] 
When the AVG received their first batch of aircraft,the planes were Curtiss Hawk 81-A2's.
An export version of the P-40 B/C fighter.
The aircraft were originally destined for Britain as a part of the Lend Lease Agreement,however due to the emergency these two orders of some sixty aircraft were re routed from their original destination of England and sent to AVG in China as fast as possible.
While being assembled and painted according to RAF guidelines at Curtiss, the company did not have the actual RAF paints on hand so Dupont paints were used that approximated the colour description given to them by the RAF.
The uppersurfaces were to be painted Dark Green and Dark Earth and the Dupont paints were fairly close, but the brown colour had somewhat of a softer almost yellow hue which really became evident when fading occured in the field.
When Rock and I started on this project we looked on a number of sites and gathered together paint chips of that time frame that were published by Dupont, then when the master Template was assembled, we went through the bunch of Paint cards and chips (some Unmarked) and began matching them up to the colours 71-065 Dark Brown and 71-013 Dark green which Tom Tullis and Dana Bell had settled on for Toms book "Tigers Over China" on Eagle Files as well as several other very close matches. From there, we repeatedly tested them out in Olegs world and finally after a time came up with what we both thought was what we were looking for. Lastly, one of the most controversial and desputed concerns of the painting of these aircraft was the undersurface colour. The RAF used a greenish-blue colour called Sky Type S.There wasn't any Dupont colour that matched it. A cool grey colour was used and this was most likely F.S.473 Aircraft Grey which had a very greenish hue. When one looks at early Kodacolor film this color often looks quite blue but in our opinion it is more soft grey.
The original plan was to adapt Leadspitters P-40 B/C template to our needs and then add bits as we went along however it was decided that it would be more rewarding if we built the whole template our selves. That being said, The internals from Leadspitter's template have been used in our final version. This template features new Lines, Rivets, Lighting, Stressing and Textures from Rock with new, unique weathering for each individual aircraft by RDDR. We believe that after several months of hard work we have come up with the closest representation of these aircraft yet!
The AVG unit was made up of three Pursuit squadrons:
The first Pursuit was represented by a White Fuselage band,the 2nd by a Blue band,and the third by a red band
Other markings Squadron markings
Most 1st Pursuit Hawks were marked with the Adam and Eve Green apple insignia.
In the apple, Adam and Eve were represented usually by two stick figures or at times, a more detailed painting of Adam and Eve.
Second Pursuit insignias were often represented by a Black and white Panda bear, or a small cartoon Cowboy.
Lastly,the Third Pursuit aircraft were often marked with a sultry red lady in a red dress.
All three Pursuits were marked with shark mouths often referred to as Tiger teeth . The earliest paint versions of thes teeth was not a American idea, but rather that of British RAF origin.
Some of the early versions of these teeth had blue lips,but within a few months the norm was that the lips were to be painted black.
If you look at the surviving photos of AVG fighter aircraft you will see occasional aircraft that had unfinished teeth art. A closer look and you will see the chalk markings still showing in the unpainted areas.
The Tiger insignias seen on the fuselages of many of these Hawks was a present from The Walt Disney Studios. They were Decal transfers that were created and sent over to The AVG. Unfortunately these Decals had a habit of ripping off the aircraft in flight so ground crews painted laquer around them to seal the decal,however even that didn't work all the time.
From it's inception in August 1941 by executive order of the President of The United States AVG personal were a collection of pilots and ground personal who had resigned from the US Army Airforce, US Navy,and Marines temporarily to Fight for the Chinese against Japanese Forces who had invaded China. The AVG Flying Tigers were led by US Army (Temp Retired) Colonal Claire Lee Chennault until the Group was disbanded on July 4th 1942 and absorbed into the 23rd FG USAAF CBI.
Aircraft Skins in this A&A Pack represent the P-40B, Hawk81-82 Fighter aircraft flown by
Pilots Thomas RT Smith, Robert Neal,Tommy Haywood, Charles"Chuck"Older Dick Rossi,
Tex Hill, Gregory Boyington, John Petach, and William Bill Reed.
All the best,
RDDR and Rock
Available here:
http://www.axis-and-allies-paintworks.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1387
Author
Topic: A&A AVG Warhawks of the CBI (Read 3202 times)
