Questions on making replica of the Enola Gay

[AtomicBomber]

Hi,

I'm trying to make a replica of the B-29 Enola Gay from the Monogram 1/48 kit.

Since the kit comes with the Little Boy and Fat man bombs I figured why not.

But I've run into the problem of figuring out what color was the Little boy bomb

painted. I've seen museum pictures of it painted in steel blue and then I've read

it was really painted a gloss dark Olive Drab. Internet searches have not

giving me much help for some odd reason.

So does anyone know the true color the bomb was painted in?

Also if there was any special markings put on the bomb before it's use?

Last question I have is does anyone know where one could get Enola Gay decals

for the 1/48 scale B-29 or would I have to make something up myself?

Thanks for any information,

Best Regards.

Edited December 18, 2008 by AtomicBomber

[Andre]

The initial Monogram issue of this kit came with both Enola Gay and Bockscar decals - someone may have a spare set.

One thing to look out for when making a Silverplate B-29: Monogram cut a few corners when designing their kit. The instructions would have you place flat 'dustbin lids' over the raised rims where the gun turrets go in vanilla Superfortresses, while on the real thing these were smoothly faired over.

If you use the search function on this forum you can find a couple of good discussions on these bird - f'rinstance, here, here, here and here.

HTH,

Andre

[timc]

A sister bomb to "Little Boy" in the museum of the air force is painted in, what is to me, a semi-gloss olive drab. The black and white photos of another similar bomb show it to be a color that is not black. There are no markings on the bomb of any kind (that I can discern), on black and white photos or the color photo at the USAF museum.

If someone has the original kit with the instructions, they should be able to tell you what color Monogram tells you to paint the little boy. IIRC, Fatman was to be painted a "mustard" color. I have no idea whether this is correct or not.

Someone might have a set of old Monogram decals that you may be able to scan/copy and print on decal paper. I wouldn't use the originals as they probably will shatter when placed in water (there is a fix for that by spraying the entire sheet w/clearcoat or microscale liquid decal film) but since the original Monogram decals were "user unfriendly" I'd make my own. Microscale had a set of Enola Gay decals (sheet 48-569) but are long since out of production. Someone might have a set they're willing to part with but that's up to the people that have them.

FYI: IF (and that's a big if) you can find a Silverplate conversion set for the Monogram B-29 by Cutting Edge, you might invest in that to make a more accurate replica. However, since Meteor Productions is out of business, most everything that has a cutting edge label on it commands premium prices. Otherwise, get yourself an old set of Monogram instructions from the original release and follow them to convert the B29 into a silverplate bomber.

HTH

TimC

[Dave Williams]

I thought that the 1/48 B-29 came with two sets of turret covers. One was the "easy" version where you just placed flat discs over the turret flanges, and the second set was a set of flush curved covers that required you to cut off the turret flanges.

[stubbyhouse]

I have the original kit in the stash I think I will check later this evening and see if it is Ican scan and send them just let me know email stubbyhouse@sbcglobal.net Gary

[timc]

The kit does come with two sets of covers but neither is an accurate rendition of the actual spot(s) on the aircraft. The real aircraft did not have "plugs" put in place where the turrets were. They were simply skinned over with sheet metal and there were no visible indications that turrets, or holes as the case may be, were ever there. The gunner windows are somewhat different than the turret locations having an outline of the original window/bubble.

I just picked up an original issue of the kit today with the decals intact (for $20...what a find). The instructions say to paint the little boy bomb black...I believe that's incorrect. I think OD is the correct color as most, if not all, U.S. bombs were painted OD in WWII. I'm sure there are exceptions but most of the eggs I've seen in pictures seem to be OD.

If you'd like, I can scan the set of decals and email it to you to make your own decals if you'd like. let me know.

HTH.

Tim

Edited December 19, 2008 by timc

[WymanV]

Something else to be aware of, if you feel the need to know-Enola Gay didn't carry the bomb and the nose art at the same time. The nose art came later...

FYI

Ken

[Tom Glowacki]

Try these for info on the bombs:

Little Boy:

http://www.clubhyper.com/reference/littleboydba_1.htm

Fat Man

http://clubhyper.com/reference/fatmanba_1.htm

[timc]

Something else to be aware of, if you feel the need to know-Enola Gay didn't carry the bomb and the nose art at the same time. The nose art came later...

FYI

Ken

I think Enola Gay did but Bock's Car did not.

[Murph]

Trinity and Beyond has color footage of the Hiroshima bomb being wheeled out of its storage bunker; it's black.

I think Enola Gay did but Bock's Car did not.

Correct.

Regards,

Murph

[richter111]

Yep the dawn of the bombing, I believe the co-pilot came out just as the painter was putting the finishing touches of Enola Gay on the plane, and wanted to know what the heck was that, Tibbets explained that it was his mothers name, and if I remember correctly, he was upset over it years later.

Bockscar was painted after the bombing

RIc

[Dave Williams]

Bocks Car's nose art was definitely afterward. The destination of the train on the nose is shown as Nagasaki, and that wasn't know ahead of the time. Nagasaki wasn't even the primary target on that day, Kokura was. Also, Bocks Car wasn't originally slated to drop the second bomb, The Great Artiste was, but she had been fitted with instruments for the Hiroshima mission. Rather than move all of the instruments, the crew of The Great Artiste flew Bocks Car and the other way around.

[timc]

Trinity and Beyond has color footage of the Hiroshima bomb being wheeled out of its storage bunker; it's black.

Correct.

Regards,

Murph

Alrighty then...it's been determined. Black it is. The USAF Museum should repaint theirs....LOL.

Tim

[Murph]

Alrighty then...it's been determined. Black it is. The USAF Museum should repaint theirs....LOL.

Tim

Tim,

They have been known to make the occasional faux pas, such as the red lettering on "Memphis Belle II." Unlike the National Air & Space Museum, I tend to take the USAF Museum's research with a grain of salt.

Regards,

Murph

[Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy]

Adding to the weight of it EG being painted before, the famous photo of Col. Tibbetts waving out the window, with the lettering clearly visible below him was taken as they were performing preflight checks the morning of The Mission. I know this because this is what he said when I attended a breakfast with him. And yes, it was named after his mother.

[chriss7606]

Tim,

They have been known to make the occasional faux pas, such as the red lettering on "Memphis Belle II." Unlike the National Air & Space Museum, I tend to take the USAF Museum's research with a grain of salt.

Regards,

Murph

I was at the NMUSAF in June of 2008 and took 300+ photos. Among them were two of the Memphis Belle II. The lighting in that particular hangar is the best of the three and Memphis Belle II, the F-105, has black lettering not red. I also have a photo of the Little Boy replica. Unfortunately the lighting in that hangar is poor which makes photography difficult unless you have the best camera and lenses. The bomb is painted a dark color but whether it is dark green or black is hard to tell. I am also a history major specializing in aviation history. I spent quite a bit of time at the museum in June looking at the exhibits and examining the airplanes. I also do aviation sheetmetal work and have seen the museum's restoration efforts. I believe that the NMUSAF does a very fine, meticulous, job of restoring their aircraft and compiling their exhibits. Granted, some of the museum's oldest aircraft had accuracy problems, for example the markings on the B-24D 'Strawberry *****' and the N1K2 George. However the museum has since corrected Strawberry ***** and the George had just gone back on display from undergoing an in depth restoration. The museum has a limited number of restoration staff and lots of projects- some things may take time to get across Wright Field to the restoration shop. I would say that utilizing the NMUSAF as a tool for modeling and historical research is one of the best possible paths you can take.

[Steve N]

The lighting in that particular hangar is the best of the three

Not for long. Over the next few weeks they're painting the ceiling black, just like the new Cold War gallery. B)

SN

[timc]

They were simply skinned over with sheet metal and there were no visible indications that turrets, or holes as the case may be, were ever there.

I just ran across a photo of Enola Gay and it seems that the above statement I made is incorrect. There are, what seem to be, plugs where the turrets were. They are flush with the rest of the skin but the outline of the original hole is there.

Apologies for the oversight.

Tim

[jbryan911]

Here are a few shots of Enola Gay at Dulles. You should be able to see where the guns and observation blisters were faired over. There's some distortion from the sneeze shield. I think I have a few other shots from a higher angle to. I'll dig those out later.

Edited December 28, 2008 by jbryan911

[jbryan911]

Here's a couple more:

[richter111]

I remember the hoopla surrounding the Enola Gay, I am so glad they decided to put it out for display, and not just the nose or some little piece of it.

Ric

[11bee]

Thanks for posting those pictures. I still think that the B-29 is one of the prettiest aircraft ever flown, especially in Silverplate configuration without the turrets.

John

[mikeyis4dcats]

reviving this from the dead.....anyone have a scan of the Enola Gay 1/48 decals they could send me?

[Gwen Phoenix]

Very nice pictures, J! 

Mr Brian Watkins from Resin2Detail used to have a nice resin 1/48 conversion set for the Silverplate bombers before the lockdown owing to the WuFlu . I asked him about it twice, to no avail.

Also spoke to Kits World Decals once, with regard to why there was no love for the 1/48 atomic bombers, and they told me they would print some soon.

I rememeber having found some Enola Gay 1/48 decals somewhere in the US on the net, but ordering them was a sheer nightmare.

I'm sure it wasn't the old MicroScale sheet.

Perhaps we could organise and ask Mr Watkins and Kits World for a set and decals respectively, for the 1/48 Monogram B-29 atomic bomber versions.

Cheers,

 

Gwen

[habu2]

I remember seeing EG back when it was at Silver Hill, at the time they were testing protective paints during the restoration. As guests we were asked to go up to the actual fuselage ( fwd port IIRC) and actually touch each of the painted panels. It was an eery feeling touching that plane.....