Night Fighter

You are correct Jean-Michel. I mis-posted. They were originally flat black when made at the beginning. The Army Air Corp had them repainted to resemble the standard color pattern of OD Green over Neutral Gray. Later, when different color schemes were experimented with, it was found that high gloss black rendered the aircraft virtually invisible at night... even with search lights pointed at it. From then on they were painted high gloss black. Many pilots have walked right into their planes claiming they couldn't see it.

Let me know if I can help with information. I have a bit of information on these types of planes.

So, how is the build coming along?

So did you finish this plane? Its 2020 already.

Anything new yet? Its 2020

The P61 radome was made of fiberglass. It was never made of plexiglass. In its original form the dome is somewhat transparent. To prevent ground interference, the lower part of the dome was painted with a lead base paint. The rest was painted in normal aircraft lacquer paint. The nose length was for two reasons. One to accommodate the new radar system, the other for ease of maintenance, note the added access doors on the rear portion of the dome area. To get the proper length of the nose, you are going to have to do a little math. Find a profile of a P61B and measure something you see that you have a corresponding view of on your model. Create a ratio to determine the multiplication factor. Once you know what that is, measure the length of the radome and multiply it by the factor you came up with and this should give you a decent measurement for your model.

Hi guys, first time back in over a year. I have loads of source material on this aircraft and will help where I can. Cockpit and radar operator's station were chromate green. Wheel wells were yellow chromate. Engine compartment was green chromate. Gun bays were yellow chromate. "Black" widows were originally painted high gloss black. This was because it was found harder to see at night than flat black.

Let me know if there is something I can help with. P61's are one of my specialties.

Thanks, that is good to know. I have no references to fire extinguishers except whatever color photo I can find. The flightline extinguishers were red, I have color photos of them, but didn't really know about inside the aircraft.

Curious, what color are fire extinguishers in England? American fire extinguishers are bright red.

Fantastic, but I believe the ceramic conduit holders were light coloered if not white. I'm going to be saving photos of your plane for future references. Very well done. Will you be adding the decal on the right side, like in the photo you show at the top of the page, that says, "AN-AP5-13 RADIO"?

Finally read through the thread... I made the same mistake others made on this aircraft. Well done. Will

I hate to tell you this but the left side of the spook said anonymous III.

On that last photo of the lady, the nose and cowl flaps are red... The squadron markings.

That was the second iteration of Bat outta hell. Flown by flight leader capt. William Dames. A/C number 25609 if my sources are correct.