The Green Angels: An X-Wing Tribute to Grandpa

Happy Veterans Day!

You might recall that I flew a squadron of T-65 X-Wings painted up as 1950s F4U Corsairs for the 2017 Campaign Against Cancer. I'd actually painted them up the 2016 event, but had misplaced some of the pilot tiles so I couldn't bring them out. I just realized, though, that I never highlighted them in them own blog post. 

My grandpa, Bob Abel, enlisted in the Navy in 1944 while World War II was still raging. He eventually became a naval aviator in 1948 and retired in 1976 as a captain in the Naval Reserve. In his lengthy career, he flew many different types of planes but really only talked about one: the F4U Corsair. My grandparents' house was decorated with photos and models of it, and whenever anyone in my family sees one we instantly think of Grandpa. I can remember talking with him once and even though he was incredibly sick, his face lit up when started talking and thinking about that plane. Even more than 50 years after he'd last flown one, Grandpa could still close his eyes and remember where every single switch and button was in the cockpit and what it did. It was incredible to see. 

So when I learned about the Campaign Against Cancer in late 2015, I knew that I wanted to paint some X-Wings up as Corsairs. I opted for a very simple design: blue hull with a yellow nose and appropriate decals. If I remember correctly, the ships were basecoated with some old GW Mordian Blue, given a bath of GW Nuln Oil, and drybrushed (a bit too heavily I recognize now) in GW Regal Blue. Not only were these my very first X-Wing repaints, but it was also the my heaviest use of decals at the time. I've traditionally avoided these like the plague and I viewed them to be too finicky and not worth the trouble. It was very much a learned experience and while my decal work isn't the greatest on these ships, I think they turned out alright.
 

After several nights of work spread out over a month, the squadron was finished! I opted to call them the Green Angels. Grandpa told me that his squadron called themselves that in contrast to the Navy's elite Blue Angels flight demonstration team.

At this point, these ships are nearly 4 years old and I think I can do a better job now. As I'm typing this, I have 4 T-65 X-Wings drying downstairs. They got a nice coat of Testors Glossy Black (I'm taking advantage of the season's low humidity and spraying paint like a madman) and should be ready for the next stage soon.
 

 

This Corsair was from Naval Air Station Los Alamitos in Los Alamitos, CA I was lucky enough to find this photo this morning and it will be the inspiration behind my new Green Angels squadron. Why? NAS Los Alamitos was where Grandpa was based out of during his Naval Reserve career That photo of him from earlier in the post was very likely taken there in the early 1950s.