Jump to content

P-51D "Sky Bouncer" Upper Wing Colors


Recommended Posts

I have a question regarding P-51D 44-13568 marked E2 A "Sky Bouncer"  from the 375th Fighter Squadron.   This is one of the Mustangs in the famous (infamous some will say) photo of the Bottisham Four.   Can anyone tell if the outer upper wing panels are silver paint in this photo?   To my untrained Mk I eyeballs, they appear to be silver from the start of the star and bar to the wing tip.   Not debating the blue vs. green camo color but whether the entire upper wing was painted green vs. just the inner part.  The P-51B E2 H "Suzy-G"   looks to have the same silver outer wing panels.  Suzy-G was the fourth P-51 in the Bottisham Four photo.

Skybouncer.jpg

SuzyG.jpg

Edited by Drifterdon
Link to post
Share on other sites

No reason to think they were anything other than the factory finish.  The green (or blue, or mauve, or khaki, or puce - your choice) paint was used to paint over the D-Day stripes.  The rest of the wing looks to be stock factory finish.

Link to post
Share on other sites
13 hours ago, Sleepy said:

No reason to think they were anything other than the factory finish.  The green (or blue, or mauve, or khaki, or puce - your choice) paint was used to paint over the D-Day stripes.  The rest of the wing looks to be stock factory finish.

I think you nailed it.  They're covering the upper wing invasion stripes.  They appear to have done the same thing with the invasion stripes on the upper fuselage.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I would think natural metal would reflect surrounding colors. Not like a mirror since it is not polished.  So blue skies blue reflection.

To me it looks like the non painted areas have a blueish tint to it.Reflection from the sky?

Oh well these P-51's colors will be discus for years to come.

Rick  

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Blue camouflage paint could be haze paint from a photo recon unit but I think that's a bit of a stretch.  It's possible but I think the solution is probably simpler.  The difference in color could merely be a difference in the age between applications of the paint sections.  Older painted area would fade faster, have different reflectivity than a newly applied area.  Paint formulas shift in color as they fade, too.  If I remember correctly, US olive drab tended to shift to a purple/brown color when exposed to UV light at high altitude.  Could also be the same paint color from different batches or different manufacturers.  Or could be one section painted in US olive drab and other in RAF dark green.

 

With all the debate over blue or green or blue and green, it might be interesting to try some color filters on those photos to see if the different painted areas show marked color shifts.

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for sharing Yoxford.  Interesting perspective.  I don't think this green vs blue debate will ever be resolved.  Personally I see green and that's how I plan to paint the uppers in on my builds.  My primary question was how far out the "color" went on Sky Bouncer and Suzy-G.  

 

I truly love this photo and these planes.  One of these day's I'd like to have a large framed print of the Bottisham Four.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Reading the Dana Bell article linked above, to me there is no question that blue and green were both used on some aircraft.  Can't say for sure about Sky Bouncer.  Are you building her?  She's a particularly pretty Mustang IMO.

 

A fascinating subject for sure...

Edited by 11bee
Link to post
Share on other sites
13 hours ago, 11bee said:

Reading the Dana Bell article linked above, to me there is no question that blue and green were both used on some aircraft.  Can't say for sure about Sky Bouncer.  Are you building her?  She's a particularly pretty Mustang IMO.

 

A fascinating subject for sure...

The plan is to build all four of the Bottisham Four in the pic.   At least my interpretation of them.  :cheers:

Link to post
Share on other sites
2 hours ago, HistnScale said:

Here is my version of Suzy G based on Dana Bell's findings.  Cheers, Dave

 

 

Nice build Dave.   When I was a kid I built Lou IV in 1/72 using these colors.  Any other pics?

Edited by Drifterdon
Link to post
Share on other sites

After reading Dana Bell's article I was very surprised to learn how much stuff is missing from the National Archives.  Mr Bell was only looking at a very small section of items and how many of those were missing?  Extend that average out to vast quantity of items in the archives and the total of missing items must be incredible.  Very sad that those irreplaceable items may be just walking out the door and will probably be lost forever.

Link to post
Share on other sites
On 7/16/2019 at 5:14 PM, Drifterdon said:

Nice build Dave.   When I was a kid I built Lou IV in 1/72 using these colors.  Any other pics?

 

Thank you, Sir.  If you search the model pix section on HyperScale for Suzy G, you will find the rest of the gallery.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...