Anyone building Lou IV out of the new Revell P-51 kit?

[Martinnfb]

Thank you so much for sharing this Dana, your work is priceless and much appreciated .

May I propose a question.

Can we agree on the fact that the fuel tanks were in some shade of aluminium finish ? Then compare the Lou's fuel tank with the rest of the aeroplane. Any thoughts ?

 

I wold say , there is a full overcast, therefore almost pure bright base underneath the aeroplanes reflecting the bright sun, plus blue surrounding of the clear sky. Result: fuel tank looks like three tone corsair.

Thanks for the input

Martin

[John1]

Nice work Dana. Heartbreaking that so many of those original pics have been lost / stolen out of the archives.

Edited January 30, 2018 by John Irwin

[Padraic Conway]

Thank you Dana for an excellent, balanced, objective analysis of the slides you have studied. No hard lines taken, and you are open and honest about the limitations of photo slide interpretation after all these years. What a shame about some of the responses to your ideas on the 'other site' where crew recollections are cited as an absolute rebuff to your proposals - how many of us could now accurately pin down the precise colours of a car we first drove 30 or 40 years ago (let alone an airframe that might have only lasted a few weeks)? Veterans recollections are undoubtedly helpful, but your evidence presented with the slides also has considerable merit in this argument balanced debate between reasonable adults and deserves fair and reasoned consideration in its own right.

 

Your insights, thoughtfulness and open mindedness are much appreciated. I'm convinced - my E2 @ C will be blue and green.

 

Padraic

[DonH]

If my understanding is correct, blue was the squadron colour?

 

If so, it seems plausible to me that a "quick cover up the top invasions stripes" order might be met by using whatever paint was to hand. I assume that the squadron colour would be more readily available than "standard" factory colours.

 

I really like the look of one of the planes where it looks like the paint has been scrubbed off so there is a polished fuselage section.

 

Not that I will ever build one.

[Guest Smitty44]

Some heads are exploding over there.....

[Shawn M]

this debate is as old as flat vs. round earth lol

 

I for one like the idea presented that its BOTH blue and green

[williamj]

Personally never bought into the blue theory ..They were painted a camo colour to be obscured while being viewed from above.either in the air or on the ground.

Olive drab or a greenish OD would make more common sense. The old photos(THE MUSTANG PHOTOS IN QUESTION) can not be trusted for a definitive colour answer(EVER),think about what would have made more sense to air crews at the time.

Just one persons opinion. cheers.WJ.

Edited January 30, 2018 by williamj

[Mark P]

Yes, an old debate. One point I would like to put forward based on my experiences:

 

First, memories are never to be trusted. PERIOD. Even from tose who were there. That is very difficult to do, especially when confronting those veterans as it requires tact and respect. After all, who are we to question? We were not there!

 

I was at an IPMS meeting when asked by a modeler what color the trim was around the emergency exit on the aircraft I flew as he was building a model of it. At the time, I had been flying it for years, probably that week even. I couldn't remember. Had to go look for myself. (Metallic silver at the time, BTW). Honestly, colors are pretty low in the list of things we remember when acting as a crew member.

 

Secondly, I assisted an artist in research, re-creating Bob Johnson's P-47. Mr. Johnson and I discussed the engine cowl and tail band colors at great length. At the time, he was adamant that the 8th Air Force ID band on the tail of his Jug was red. This despite the fact that photos exist showing the band to be white, and specified to be so by orders. His probably would have been the only P-47 in the 8th with red tail bands!

 

HTH

 

Mark Proulx

[Dana Bell]

Hi folks,

 

I'm glad you're enjoying the piece - it's been a fun dig for me!  I noticed a few questions above:

 

-- My take is that the invasion stripes were originally overpainted with blue, and that the other surfaces (predominantly) were later painted green.  There may be cases where green was used to overpaint the blue, but I've no evidence either way.

 

-- I had never looked at the drop tanks before Martin mentioned them.  I assumed aluminum, therefore saw aluminum.  I checked some other photos and found that as the aircraft moved, what would have been the demarcation lines moved too, so I suspect we are looking at reflections of the sky and underwing invasion stripes.

 

-- I am only guessing that blue was used as a squadron color, but it appears on the wingtips of at least two squadrons.  Perhaps flight colors?  Personal preferences?  I don't know, but I suspect the 361st specialists out there will have much better data.

 

Well, time for me to get back to the writing.  There's a book to complete!

 

Cheers,

 

 

 

Dana

[1to1scale]

I think its green. There is no evidence other than conjecture that it is blue, most likely it was a dark green that might have sun faded, and the oxidation made it appear hazy, but no way it was blue. 

[D Bellis]

I think its green. There is no evidence other than conjecture that it is blue...

An attempt at humor?

 

As graciously posted in Dana Bell's article with an expert's analysis:

 

Not much better evidence than color photographs of the subject at the time in question.

 

D

[Martinnfb]

We know that the fuel tanks are not blue and yet they appear to be blue so as the rest of the aluminium surface. 

[1to1scale]

The whole image is skewed towards blue, that photo is poor evidence.

[Guest Smitty44]

blue or green...won't make a bit of difference if you glue the landing gear on crooked.     

[Tnarg]

Beauty or Blue, all in the eye of the beholder. If you know in your heart it can't be blue, than you see green. If you really want it to be blue, then that's what you see. If you want to measure and understand it, that's a whole different problem. As Paul Jenkins said in his book, Curioddity, "After all, your eyes only see what your mind lets you believe". That has a lot more truth than many of us are ready to admit.

 

I still like Blue and Green, and various points of fading and wear. Tough to paint in miniature, but it would look really fine.

 

Tnarg