Upon reaching Japan, Captain Greening’s bomber inadvertently flew over an active enemy air base, and ten minutes later came under attack from four fighters. The gunner believed he shot down one of the enemy fighters and damaged another before the B25 reached its targets to bomb a large oil refinery and storage area. The crew also fired on three enemy patrol boats at the mouth of Tokyo Harbor before heading west to China. The crew bailed out 200 miles inland from the coast. Lt. Reedy broke his kneecap and suffered a scalp wound and Sergeant Gardner sprained both ankles. The entire crew made it safely to Chuhsien where the two men received treatment.
The build:
This is the Accurate Miniatures kit which has been discussed and described for many years. This build was more of a fight than expected and I looked forward to being done with it. I chose to depict ship number 11 due to nose art and “Ruptured Duck” has been done quite a bit. If you notice the darker OD in front nose Art it was decided before the flight due to security concerns, the actual name “Hari Kari-er” has been painted over” I used an Eduard etch set and Master Models barrels for the top turret. I used Model Master paints exclusively on this build. I found quite a few photos from the Hornet and was surprised at the wear that these aircraft had. They were not pristine in the least. Thanks for looking.
