Major Michael Jackson's Teddy

The kit

This is the venerable Tamiya P-47D with Aeromaster decals. The paints are also Aeromaster. They stir up well years, or could be decades at this point, after purchasing them. The decals did not tear or shatter. I did have serious silvering on the name Teddy and no amount of Micro Set or Sol seemed to tame it. The proprietor of my LHS recommended Solve a Set, and bibbidi-bobbidi-boo problem solved.

It appears he had three Teddies in all.

Maj. Michael Jackson of the 62nd F.S., 56th F.G. flew three different P-47s all named Teddy. The first two were D models. The last was an M model. I could not determine at what point the cowl would have been painted red on this D model though I did find reference to an Eighth Air Force directive stating the cowls for each fighter group would painted their designated color as of March 1944. Having said that, I found a photo in Classic Colors, P-47 Thunderbolt Units of the Eighth Air Force, of one of the D model Teddies with the camouflage out to the cowl lip. What to do, what to do?

I also flouted conventional wisdom by painting the underside Medium Sea Gray. I am not saying it is correct, but there it is. The lower cowl back to the wing in the Classic Colors photo looks painted to me and the shade appears lighter than the upper surface gray. Yesterday, I found a photo of s.n. -80 in Osprey Aviation Elite, 56th Fighter Group, undergoing maintenance and lower fuselage D-Day stripes are evident. I believe they are only the white stripes. Aeromaster's decal instructions indicate varying stripes at different times, so I might have more work to do.