McDonnell P-67B Moonbat
Czechmaster Resin, 1/72
Following the failure of their daylight bombing campaign in 1944 and the subsequent switch to night operations, the USAAF found it had a whole new series of required mission profiles. High on this list was the need to counter the growing Luftwaffe nightfighter force. The top brass looked favourably on the RAF's Havoc and particularly their Mosquito intruders, and began investigating American options as a high priority.
At first glance the options - apart from borrowing Mosquitoes - were limited. The Northrop P-61 Black Widow had run into significant problems at the flight test stage (finally found to be associated with buffeting around the turret), and the only other real long-range fighter that could house two crew and the necessary radar equipment was the Lockheed P-38 Lightning. After a feasibility study it was decided that the proposed P-38M - with a second crewman hunched in the back and the flash of the guns directly in front of pilot - was really not a viable option for long nocturnal patrols. However, there was another option.
The McDonnell XP-67 had completed basically satisfactory trials by the end of 1943, with the exception of declining performance at altitude. This had slowed development for its intended role as a daytime escort fighter, but the enterprising executives at the new company were keen to secure a contract for the machine. They proposed that the design could comfortably accommodate a second crewman behind the pilot and AN/APS-4 AI radar equipment in the extreme nose with minimal engineering changes. At the company's initiative a mockup was produced and the USAAF was impressed. The development program was given high priority and service trials soon began.
The engines were a little temperamental, but their poor high-altitude horsepower was less of a problem because the aircraft would be operating at low level. There were some centre of gravity issues to sort out owing to the placement of extra equipment and the second crewmember in the nose, but to counterbalance this the armament was also reduced from the planned six 37 mm cannon to just four 20 mm cannon - as installed in most other allied nightfighters. It was felt that the higher rate of fire and extra ammunition capacity of these weapons would be more than enough for the intended mission. The blended wing-fuselage shape also provided a very effective screen for the cannon flashes when fired at night, with minimal effect on the pilot's vision. Similarly, the long nacelles with their ducted exhausts not only added thrust but also served as effective flame dampers - an issue that had actually dragged down the performance of many other nightfighters. While forward visibility was good and allowed for straightforward nocturnal landings, the large engines did obscure sideways vision while hunting for targets at lower altitudes or on the ground. The test crews, however, appreciated the propellers being ahead of the cockpit - unlike the Black Widow which had a tendency to shed its blades into the pilot during belly landings. A coat of satin black paint confirmed that the 'Moonbat' or 'Bat' moniker would stick to the P-67 when it hit the front line.
The first operational P-67A squadron deployed to Britain at the end of 1944, just in time to encounter the early Me 262B nightfighters. After early proving missions in occupied France and Belgium, the Moonbats began ranging further into Europe. Mounting a pair of underwing drop tanks, they could penetrate all the way to Germany, or loiter on patrol for some time over Holland. Initially they had accompanied the bomber streams - in some cases numbering 2000 RAF and USAAF heavies - but over time tactics changed. It was decided to copy a favourite Luftwaffe trick and attack the nightfighters when they were at their most vulnerable - takeoff and landing. This had the added benefit that the Moonbats were more likely to catch the faster Me 262s. Often two shifts were employed - a set of low-level raiders would go in ahead of the bombers and bounce the He 219s and Me 262s on takeoff, while a later group would patrol for weary Luftwaffe crews returning to base once the bombers had left. While Luftwaffe airfields were well protected by flak during daylight, the gunners were reluctant to fire at potential intruders during landings for fear of hitting their own aircraft.
One favourite tactic among the more daring Moonbat pilots was to come in under and slightly ahead of the landing nightfighters, then accelerate and drop delayed-action bombs along the runway, timed to explode as the enemy aircraft touched down. The strengthened wing of the P-67B version allowed carriage of 10 HVARs on a 'Christmas tree' launcher, and these could provide an astonishing spread of fire when launched at a field of nightfighters fuelled and revving prior to takeoff. They were also used occasionally as nascent air-to-air weapons, but although the odd victory was recorded this way, their unpredictable course and rapid drop with gravity made them poor interception devices.
As numbers of Moonbats increased their presence was increasingly feared by the Germans, who then had to allocate more nightfighters to anti-intruder patrols around their airfields - confusing the flak crews even more. Interestingly, the distinctive silhouette of the P-67 worked against it when caught against the moon or cloud, as German pilots and flak gunners could identify it immediately. Although various mixed-powerplant proposals were received from McDonnell, the USAAF preferred the turboprop-powered P-67E of late 1946 as an interim measure until dedicated all-jet intruders entered service. Due to their limited range, the latter would only be of use once a foothold was established on the continent; in the meantime, the Moonbats soldiered on …
Building the kit
The Czechmaster resin kit is a straightforward and apparently quite accurate rendition of the XP-67, and I bought mine for slightly less than the Rareplanes vacform (which was also on sale in the same shop!). It is broken down into two major assemblies - the fuselage/wings, and the tail section. There were a few bubbles in the wheels and a fine join line around the main structures, but clean-up was commendably easy.
The major modification I made was to hollow out the cockpit behind the pilot and cut off the nose tip. I then added an APS radar pod in a thimblenose fitting, a second seat and radar screen to the cockpit, and HVAR launchers under the wings. These extra parts - plus the decals - all came from a Dragon P-38M kit that I had actually converted to a P-38E. The only real problem I had with construction was that I didn't realise this would be a tail sitter until I had glued the tail onto the fuselage. I drilled out the engine nacelles and filled them with lead, but this still wasn't enough (I should have hollowed out the rear fuselage and tail section before assembly, although this is not suggested in the instructions). I therefore chose the lesser of evils and added a strut under the rear fuselage to keep the model sitting correctly - careful photography minimises its presence! A bit of extra detail to the cockpit and wheel wells was easily accomplished, the airframe was polished and the kit was ready to paint. I used Tamiya semi-gloss black, added the Dragon P-38M decals, then Gunze flat clear for a satin finish and voila! an operational Moonbat. The nose art is actually the Dragon logo which they print on their decal sheet - I liked the look of it so on it went! Although there was really no exhaust staining from the efflux pipes, I went over the model with a silver pencil and some dark grey pastels to highlight various areas, then added the HVARs and it was done. Probably one of the most straightforward kits I've built for ages, and a mean-looking machine at that!
Text and photos Copyright © 2003 Peter Hobbins
Page created February 26, 2003