CV-13 Air Group

[Zad Fnark]

Hi Fellas,

I'm trying to figure out the colors of Franklin's air group in 1944, when she wore the splinter scheme. Pics on the subject seem to be few, with even NavSource not having much on the topic.

Were the diamonds on the tails at this point? Also, were all aircraft in the tri-color scheme. I'm not sure if the F4Us were being delivered all dark blue at this point. I don't think aircraft were ever repainted in the field to the new specs.

Thanks

Ed-

[Tracy White]

Arbitrarily choosing July 4, 1944, since there were a couple of months in 1944 that satisfy your criteria, her air group was:

Air Group 13
CAG - F6F-5 x 1
VF13 - F6F-5 x 36
VB13 - SB2C-3 x 36
VT-13 - TBF-1D x 18

The F6F-5s were most likely all Glossy sea Blue
The SB2Cs and TBFs were most likely tri-color.

She still had Air Group 13 aboard in October when hit by a Kamikaze, but the fighters were a bit more diverse. We see VF13 with:
30 x FF-5
1 x F6F-3 (probably tricolor)
3 x F6F-3N (probably tricolor)
1 x F6F-5N (GSB)
4 x F6F-5P (GSB)

Franklin's damage report for her October 1944 hit has some incidental photos of the air group in the appendix I created. Photos 3980-44, 3981-44, 3982-44, 3986-44, and 3988-44 show a mixture... I'll pull out the highresolution copies I have at home and see what I can make out of the SB2Cs on 3981 & 3982.

[Zad Fnark]

Thanks, Tracy.

I know it's that odd period between tri-color and Gloss Sea Blue. I figured they were probably mixed.

As far as SB2C, I'm not sure they were gloss blue until the -5 came out. -5 Hellcats would probably be all blue.

A '45 Franklin might be interesting and would probably simplify things, but after I finish Independence, I don't know if I could handle another Ms. 21 carrier in the cabinet.

Just notice the airwing sub-forum. Probably could have moved this there.

Ed -

[Tracy White]

I had somewhat of the same thought and am leaning towards an early '45 Yorktown myself. She came out of her late 1944 overhaul in dazzle and didn't repaint until may of 1945. So, you get the later war fit and air groups with the dazzle scheme.

With regards to Glossy Sea Blue - it was ordered for fighters on March 22 of 1944 and for all carrier-based aircraft on October 7 of that year, so there was a roughly six-month lead on Hellcats. The SB2C-4s first made it to the "fleet" in the summer of 1944 (by this I mean squadrons working up, a glance at the weekly location of aircraft for mid November shows only SB2C-3 models on the carriers) and the -5 very late in the war. So -4s were in both tri-color and GSB, with the possibility of GSB maybe in November?

Looking online, I see some GSB -4s (Randolph, Shangri-La, Ticonderoga, etc.) but they're all spring/summer of 1945.
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/R ... 09/00.shtm

[Zad Fnark]

I found a couple extra pics. A mix of tri-color and GSP Hellcats would probably look interesting. The impression I'm getting from the '44 pics is that they didn't carry the white diamond yet at this point. I'm guessing this didn't happen 'til '45.

Warbird Information Exchange has lots of good pics from the posters there.

http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.o ... 35&start=0

Ed

[Tracy White]

No, the G Symbols didn't come into use until January of 1945. Franklin was out for repair from October through January, so even if some carriers started the G symbols early, she wouldn't have been in a position to be one of them.

[Zad Fnark]

Thanks Tracy. I wasn't aware that it wasn't until '45.

I'm up in the air about doing '44 or early '45. Numbers on the tails would be interesting, too.

I bought the Starfighter Decals USN national marking set. I would rate this right up there with what came with Dragon's CVL-22 kit. I wasn't happy with Trumpeter's aircraft decals. The proportions on the star and bar looked off. That's probably the one thing I'm fussy about. Sometimes the blue is too light also. Until recently, having built nothing but airplanes, I tend to carry that over to the 1/350 and 1/700 ones.

On CVL-22 I was inclined toward the '42 style paint scheme on the planes while on the shakedown cruise. Seeing the '43 markings with the red surround and how well they were done sold me.

Decisions, decisions...



Ed

[Tracy White]

Bird farms are good like that - many different reasons to choose from!

1944 = dazzle
1945 = non dazzle.

There's some changes you'd need to do for the 1944 version as well based on features that were added in her November '44 - Jan '45 overhaul & repair. That's more for the Calling All Ship Fans - WWII Essex Class thread though.