1:48 B-26C Marauders

Marauders of the 391st and 386th Bombardment Group

The Ninth Air Force built its tactical striking power on Marauders. They flew low, fast and against bridges, marshaling yards and the launching ramps of V-1 missiles. Crews rotated at a pace that seems unbelievable today, and personal artwork on the noses was one of the few ways to give every machine a face of its own.

Two units, two hands

The first machine on the sheet is an aircraft of the 45-MO series with the tactical code TA-6, which belonged to the 573rd Squadron of the 391st Bombardment Group and carried a personal name meant as a joke. The second subject is a machine of the 15-MA series marked with the code AN-Q and the name Our Baby, which served with the 553rd Squadron of the 386th Bombardment Group. Side by side they show how differently two neighboring units could handle the size and placement of code letters.

• two sets of tactical codes at exact spacing
• personal lettering including shading
• scale 1:48
• national insignia separately for both subjects

The code letters: they are printed on the sheet as a whole rather than character by character, so measuring out the spacing is dispensed with. Cut them out with a sufficient border of film and before laying them down check that they are at the right height on the fuselage relative to the cockpit. A shift of a millimeter is clearly noticeable in this scale.

During the war tactical codes were a practical aid for the ground crews; by them people recognized which machine was coming back and whose it was. On a model it therefore pays to place them accurately, because it is they that give an aircraft its particular identity. The rest of the markings only fills in the background.