Very cool! 

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

Nice fix! Looking great! 

From an e-mail I received:

Greetings to Members, Family and Friends of the 325th Fighter Group!

Attached you will find the Registration Form for the 65th Annual Reunion of the 325th Fighter Group “Checkertail Clan” to be held in Dulles, Virginia on September 23 - 26, 2010.  We have worked hard to bring you a wonderful collection of celebration, history, entertainment, camaraderie, and special guests at a wonderful location for a very reasonable price.

The turnout has already been greater than we have expected so we encourage you to book your room as soon as possible - it may be cancelled up to 24 hours prior to the reunion. Our special room block rate has been extended through Sunday night - many plan to stay an extra day.

We have prepared a list of Reunion activities and events that you may reserve on an “a la carte” basis  and must be reserved with the Registration Form. If you cannot attend a given activity, you do not have to pay the food or transportation cost for that activity. Please know also that if you have family and/or friends living in the area that you wish to invite to one or another of the activities, they need only pay the fee the activities they attend. And we encourage you to encourage their participation!

Completed Registration Forms and payment checks are to be sent to Patrice Manget (Jerry Edwards’ daughter), either by postal mail or electronically directly to her email with payment through Pay Pal. Complete instructions are on the Registration Form.

We still need some help with the Saturday afternoon event - people with laptops and scanners (and some computer skills) to record photos and documents. 

If you are told that there are no rooms left in the block, please contact Azza Bell immediately and directly at the Embassy Suites. 

We would like to hearing from you even if you can't attend this GRAND CHECKERTAIL FAMILY REUNION!


The 2010 Reunion Committee

Jerry Edwards, Chairman

Kathy Evans Cluff, Coordinator

Patrice Manget, Admin-Registration

Below you will find addresses and links to many of the events and attractions listed in the Flyer. 

Questions & Information: checkertail325@verizon.net
Registration and Payments: pmanget@centurytel.net
Hotel Registration: www.embassysuites1.hilton.com/en_US/es/hotel/WASNLES-Embassy-Suites-Dulles-North-Loudoun-Virginia/index.do
Hotel Registration Issues: azza.bell@hilton.com
Memorabilia Show: kathleencluff@verizion.net
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=174579884765&ref=ts
Documentary Film Trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpJTdu4hjFA

Smithsonian Air & Space Annex: www.nasm.si.edu/udvarhazy/
O'Faoláin's Irish Pub: www.ofaolains.com
World War II Memorial: www.wwiimemorial.com/
Register an Honoree: www.wwiimemorial.com/registry/edit/donor_nameaddr.asp
US Capitol:  www.visitthecapitol.gov
Veterans History Project: www.loc.gov/vets/

Thanks guys!  Yep, a perpetual 40 although sometimes the old body and eyesight feels like about 90! 

I don't have any specific answers for you, just some general answers.  P-40's for the RAF were painted in those colors at the factory, the factory didn't use specific colors specified by the USAAC or the RAF, they just had their paint supplier get it as close as possible.  They would throw masks over the aircraft which gave a hard paint separation line.  Aircraft was routinely painted in the field as well, so you just need to find out what paint scheme the aircraft were wearing at a particular point.

I haven't seen any pictures of P-40's with a yellow stripe on the front of the wings like Spitfires and Hurricanes used.

Yep, it's me, Brad.  I used to be one of the editors on LSP.

I have a number of factory drawings that I could e-mail you, please e-mail me at

wolf427@comcast.net

I can then get the drawings to you.

That's looking really great Derek!  A good number of years ago I tried converting the Revell to a L which didn't go all that good, there really is a tremendous amount of work involved in this and finding accurate drawings isn't all that easy either.  I have some factory drawings of the nose as well if they would ever help.

Hi Derek, welcome aboard!

It's been a long time since I talk to you, I used to be one of the editors on LSP.  Really looking forward to your conversion, I saw it on the LSP message board.

I will dig through the factory drawings that I have and see if there are any for the propellers, if they are, I will let you know.

That looks really nice!  Great job!  Nice paint scheme, one you don't see very often.

Forgot, good luck on the book! Please let us know when it is published. 

I have a book that has a nice breakdown at the back of the different groups and the different countries, I can't remember if it says exactly which variants each group or country used.  I will look for the book and if I can find it, I will give you the title and author.  I still have a lot of stuff boxed up from when I moved.

Take care in Afghanistan and keep your head down!  Here's to your safe and speedy return. Thanks much for serving and helping to keep us safe!

Thanks for the write up on how you do your painting.  Whenever you do your next model, whatever it is, when you get to this stage, could you post a couple pictures of the different stages you use in your painting, I think that would be a big help as your final results are really good!