This is AMT/ERTL’s A-20G kit in 1/48 scale.  The markings are for an aircraft from the 416^th bomber group from the 9^th Air force in Europe.   

I can't comment on the build up of this kit as I only painted it for my next door neighbour whose father flew this exact aircraft during WWII.  My neighbour approached me after feeding my cat while I was back in Australia recently and noticed that I built plastic models and asked if I would be able to finish off his model to represent the plane his father piloted during WWII. 

I was more than happy to do this as I was looking for a kit do to before I left Singapore to return to Australia to join the RAAF, which was about a 2-month time frame.

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Painting

The model came to me finished in overall olive drab with the lower white invasion stripes painted on as well.  I started by finishing off the invasion stripes by masking and airbrushing the white stripes with Tamiya flat white as well as the 416^th ID stripe on the rudder. When this was dry I sprayed on the black stripes again with Tamiya flat acrylics.  The next day I gave the model another wash and masked the solid demarcation line between the neutral grey and olive drab, and let me tell you, this was exhaustive at first until I made a quick run to the local shopping centre (of which there are many in Singapore!) and bought some Scotch tape.  I found it much easier to just apply a single strip down the fuselage sides/nacelle’s and with a new blade CAREFULLY cut down the tape along where the demarcation line should be.  I then sprayed on two thin coats of Tamiya neutral grey and realised that I would have to do a few more when dry as I was painting over the existing olive drab.  This went without many hassles and the plane was looking more and more like an A-20.  When the grey was dry I sprayed on the green irregular patches on the wings leading/trailing edges as well as the leading edges of the tailplane and fin (the trailing edge of the fin had the ID stripe covering it).  After looking through a few books and speaking to people on the Internet, I decided to spray various panels different shades of olive drab mixing in pale green or using MM dark olive drab (FS34086 I think) I mainly concentrated on panels around the cockpit and the panels covering the machine gun breach’s.  I then sprayed on a few coats of Future and let the model dry for a few days.  When dry I gave a concentrated wash of Tamiya smoke ,thinned down with metholated sprits, around the engines, both above and below the wings.  I didn’t want to go to overboard in weathering the aircraft, as my neighbour didn’t want it too dirty.  Using Humbrol silver enamel I also simulated paint scrapings around various panels around the cockpit area.  I have heard that the decals that come with the kit aren’t too good so I masked and sprayed the wing walkways my self, this wasn’t too hard, more tedious I think, as it took two hours to mask, and five seconds to spray the red!  I also made a mixture of Tamiya smoke and red brown to simulate engine exhaust stains on the upper and lower wing and exhaust ports around the cowls.  This was sprayed in the direction of airflow and was a fairly thin mixture.  After sealing this all in with another few coats of Future it was time for the decals. 

Decals

The decals used are Three Guys Replica sheet for the A-20G, this sheet is superb, all decals went on extremely easily with microset decal solution, I did however encounter a slight problem with the US insignia on the port wing (top) but I am sure it was my fault and not the decal’s.  The radio/squadron numbers (5H*E) are for my neighbours dad’s aircraft as it was seen during D-day, I’m not sure which is right as the decal sheet states that this call sign was given to the aircraft with “Le France libre” nose art.  I have however seen a lot of documentation stating that it was aircraft 310226 with this call sign (as seen on my model).  I mixed and matched the serial numbers that were included on the TGR sheet to form my neighbours dad’s aircraft, 310226.  As there isn’t too many decals at all on this model it only took a short time and by the next day I was safely able to wash the model and apply the final flat coat which I used Humbrol flat coat to achieve.  This was sprayed in several thin coats over three to four days. 

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Final assembly

 As I said before, my neighbour had already assembled the kit so all that was left to do was attach the extra bomb racks on the outer wings which were scratch built by my neighbour using the kit supplied 20mm cannon barrels and kit sprue.  KMC 1000 or 500lb (I think) bombs were then attached with superglue and painted/installed in their appropriate locations, which was established by looking at many photographs and scale drawings.  The props were also painted up, firstly the yellow tips then they were masked and sprayed flat black.  The 50cal MG’s were painted Humbrol gunmetal and glued in the nose cone/fuselage sides.  The model was now complete.

Hope you enjoy the photos, and please remember I am by no means a photographer!

Andrew