Howbat
this
was fun !
Then entire bike was
painted in honor of Major Gregory "Pappy"
Boyington C.O. VMF-214, Black Sheep Squadron winner of the Congressional Medal
of Honor
"Just
name a hero, and I'll prove he's a bum."
- Pappy's self-assessment
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pappy_Boyington
http://www.freewebs.com/blacksheepone/
Undoubtedly the most colorful and well
known Marine Corps' ace was Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, commanding officer of
VMF-214.
Great effort was made
to research the actual tail markings from the VMF -214. The famed "Black
Sheep" squadron, fought above the Northern Solomons
and Rabaul, from August, 1943 through January, 1944.
They shot down 94 Japanese
planes, and counted 8 aces, in addition to Boyington.
-
The tins body work
was done with an inset gas cap and seam fill - then etching and grey primer
-
The color is AutoAir
Midnight Blue
-
The rivet and bolt
pattern matches as close as possible to that of an F4U-1A flown by COL
Boyington in 1943
-
Tail markings and
stenciling matches as closely as possible to that of the 214 -
actual data was
hard to obtain documentation and historical information is quite erratic for
that time period
-
then the whole thing is
overshot with 21 coats of a 3 part
Polyurethane clear coat
-
the neck covers and side panels are painted to match
-
Custom Speedometer done
-
Hypercharger painted and installed to match
Special thanks goes out to John (MadDog) for the assist in
research at the Air and Space Museum
Also a special thanks goes out to:
LTC Chris A. McPhillips
U.S. Marine Corps
Commanding Officer
Marine Attack Squadron 214 Marine Aircraft Group 13 |
