B-26B-25-MA Serial Number 41-31773 was completed off of the Assembly line in late April 1943. She was flown across the Atlantic and assigned to the 8th Bomber Command in England, 322nd Bomb Group in late May 1943. This group had just introduced the B-26 to combat in the ETO. The 322nd had just stood down after all the B-26s dispatched on a low level strike into Holland had been shot down by fighters and flak, save one which aborted en route to the target.
She would fly over 200 combat missions in the ETO without an abort (207 or 208 depending upon the source), more than any other American bomber in the ETO. Aptly named by her first pilot, Lt. Farrell (after his brother’s dog “Flea Bait”), she took over 1000 holes in her airframe during the course of these missions. During the span of her combat career she would return to base twice on only one engine, survive an engine fire, have her hydraulics shot out once and electrical systems twice. But she always came back, for a total of 725 combat hours in the ETO while assigned to the 449th Bombardment Squadron, 322nd Bomb Group. She would be forward based in France and later Belgium after those areas had been liberated, and end her flying career in Germany before being selected to be sent home for preservation at the Smithsonian due to her distinguished combat career.
On June 1st Flak Bait flew her 100th combat sortie. On June 6th she would fly two more as part of the “maximum effort” put forth by the Allies to support the Normandy Invasion. On the morning of June 6th, the 322nd would dispatch three 16 ship “boxes”. Two were assigned to strike gun batteries near Ouistreham, opposite Sword Beach, while the third box was assigned to strike gun batteries near Utah Beach at Montfarfille. The overcast weather and icing conditions forced the Marauders to fly in under the cloud ceiling at 8000 feet. Many would abort, but not “Flak Bait”. In the afternoon, the full 322nd Bomb Group would fly a strike near Caen. Just a small part of the huge operation that the Normandy Operation was, but overall the B-26s of the 9th Air Force would put in the most effect close air support against the German coastal defenses of any of the Allied bombers that day, especially at Utah Beach.
This is Monogram’s venerable 1/48 scale kit, first issued in 1978. I added a scratch built radio/navigators compartment, tail gunner’s compartment, and added detail to the waist and top gunner’s compartments. All colors used are based off of WWII era color photos of Marauders, and of the actual Flak Bait herself in storage at the Smithsonian Institute.
Thanks for looking! Comments and critiques welcome!
Gotta remember to ignore those late night inspirations next time... 
But the basic kit is nowhere near as bad as some folks on the internet make it out to be. A little test fitting and corrective action ahead of time goes a LONG way here. Keeping those Quick Boost barrels on hand is a real good idea for future projects of this sort.
