Tuskegee Airman B25 Pilot, 477th Bombardment Group (Medium)

I am not going to get in to a history lesson here but, since I have made an effort to build and display African Americans service our country, I thought I it was worth while to start display a few from my collection. I case you were wondering, the B-25 bomb group, the 477th Bombardment Group (Medium), was forming in the U.S. but completed its training too late to see action. The 99th Fighter Squadron after its return to the United States became part of the 477th, redesignated the 477th Composite Group.

Thanks Guys for looking!

A fantastic piece of our history and a fantastic tribute thereto. Nicely done.

Maaaaaaaaan I just had that same Figure in Mind yesterday,while reading Ospreys African Americans in WWII book!!! Looks Great...I really need to aquire one of those Leather jacket and a pair of pants....Nice Figure :devilhnd:devilhnd

Wow, now that is really incredible, fantastic job man and you know, same with SSG Felder, i have something fairly similar/yet different in the works too! Wonderful figure, really is outstanding, well done!! :thumb
-mike-

Great looking figure,

Is that the DML Skip gear?

CHEERS!

SSG Felder Funny you would bring that book up. I had this figure sitting in my room for some two years (a bit different of course). Then a friend gave me the Osprey book and now I am thinking, OK revisit your figure and make corrections.

I have Dave Tadasco of "Patch Hut" make the unit patch. Although it is not the correct patch for the 477th (it is really the 99th made for another figure) I had to use it anyway.

Here is the items list to help you locate the B3 jacket:
Figure: USMC Maritime Special Purpose Force Curtis Kyle (DR# 70161) (2002)

B3 Jacket, M1936 Wool Shirt, Neck-tie, Officer Peak Cap, Watch, Gloves, and A6A boots (modified) are from US Army Air Corps B-17 Bomber Captain: "Skip" (DR# 70138) (2002)

Leather Pants (A3 not!!!): (BBI-21201) Korean War - Chinese Mig 15 Piot: Wang Hai (BBI) (2003) modified and weathered.

S-5 Parachute: (BBI-34333) W.W.II USAAF P-40 Pilot, Perl Harbor: "Doc" Miller (BBi) (2001)

M1911 Pistol w/M7 Holster: Cotswald Gearbox (2004)

Glasses, Aviator: USAF, Op Swift Freedon, Afghanistan, AFSOC PJ: Jose Santiago (DR# 70143) (2002)

Iron Mike and Rogerbee, Thank You Sirs! BTW, I put the kit in SSG Felder reply.

Excellent !

There are not enough AA figures in the hobby. I am always happy to see someone do a bash with an AA, especially when it is done as well as this one.

Great figure !!!

I love the work on the boots! Great figure:)

Totally sweet bash!!!

@STALL STUFF...No way this cant be "Skip`s" Jacket.....I just looked at my Tuskegee Airman..and damn why does that Jacket look so crappy,compared to yours????
EXTREMELY good work on and with that stuff you had available,like the Jacket/Pants/Boots!!
OH BTW...the boots are a pain in the A$$.....I had to cut them in the back to get them on again...I tried heating,lubing and what not....NO chance at all to get them back on after I took them OFF the original Figure...

Amazing looking figure and an awesome tribute to some truly brave individuals!

Remember watching the movie about these airmen. How they were discriminated and assigned to dangerous duties like ground attack mission. There was one scene how the white pilot was disgusted that he was rescued by a black pilot. The black pilot managed to shake a ME109 or FW190 off the white pilot tail. Didn't know there were bomber pilots cos the movie featured P51 pilots. Great bash. Luv B3 sheepskin jacket.:own

Very nice figure

That looks fantastic! Those jacket and pants look amazing with that weathering, and as SSG Felder said, it's hard to recognize them!

Nicely done.

Great bash! Tuskegee airmen are favorite subjects as well! :thumb

Wonderful job on the figure.

SSG Felder, All I can say is I used the majority of the stuff in DML's "Skip" figure and that is the jacket that came with it. Now, I have weathered the jacket and pants. Here is what you do.

For the B3 jacket it is really shinny, so, I took some paint thinner on a rag and gave it a (1 or 2 times) wipe (No, rubbing! You may remove the color). I then used a very fine sandpaper and gave it the once over. One or two passes, just enough to tone down the shine but not break the material. The BBi pants will not need this treatment, you can go straight to the pastels.

Then I took some brown and flash color pastels and went over all the seams and areas that looked like they would wear. The pastels are like chalk and so, it will give you a gritty worn look to it when applied to the leather like material. If you make a mistake (unlike paint) just wipe off with water and start again.

Then I took some Fixative (You can get it at Michael's in the art section) and sprayed over the areas. Fixative is a substance that keeps pastels from rubbing off. While the Fixative was drying I touch up the weathered areas again. Fixative dries flat so there is no worries!

The boots are a big pain and they get hard as hell! So, I had to use a hair dryer on high and rub olive oil on them to get them soft. I also made a small cut at the rear of the boot just above the boot ankle support belt around the ankle to allow movement of the figure's leg to stand straight. The fake fur fabric I got from Michael's also and used Tac-glue to shape it and the applied it to the boot.

Hope that helps!

A really Great bash, I was wanting to do a bash of GEN Daniel Chappie James as soon as i can find someone to do the HS in both Dress Blues and Flight Gear. I would had hope Hasbro done one and or if maybe Dragon or even Sideshow or TS would do one. we will see.