B-24D "The Blue Streak", Bond Tour Veteran, Monogram 1/48th

Started by Walt · 221 · 3 months ago · 376th Bomb Group, 41-11613, B-24, Florine JuJu, Halpro, Halverson Project, Monogram, Ploesti, Teggie Ann, The Blue Streak
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    John vd Biggelaar said 10 months ago:

    Never knew there were various camouflage schemes for the V2, Walt @luftwaffe-birdman
    Personaly I like the test scheme a lot, but that is definitely not the easiest one.

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    Louis Gardner said 10 months ago:

    Walt (@luftwaffe-birdman)
    The V-2 is going to look great in this splinter scheme ! It would be very cool if someone did make a transport trailer for them...


    This is what I found in the book by Dana Bell. This information is located in the Air Force Colors, Volume II on page 69.

    This is the artist’s rendering and is showing the tail colors as being a mixture between Yellow and Black.

    It is possible that the colors were the same earlier in the War. These colors and geodetic patterns appear to be used later on in the War.


    However I have not had the spare time to do some reading about the colors yet. All I have found so far is this illustration work.

    Hope this helps.

    But to my eyes, the colors look more like the same ones that were used for the RAF style fin flash. Red, White and Blue, and that would be my guess if I had to make one.

    It’s so hard to tell from a Black and White photo.

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    George R Blair Jr said 10 months ago:

    Paint looks great, Walt (@luftwaffe-birdman), and nice recovery on the workbench accident. I just had a similar thing happen where I had some alcohol sitting on my workbench and I managed to knock it over and splatter it on one of the wings of the F-16 I was building. It sucked the paint off everywhere it landed faster than I could utter some creative language. Talk about great memories...I haven't looked at my Squadron Air Force Colors for many years. Time to go dig them out again.

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    Louis Gardner said 10 months ago:

    Walt (@luftwaffe-birdman)
    I'm not sure if I have sent you the correct information. I believe I was wrong.


    However, I did run across this. It shows "The Blue Steak" as it was flying over Mt. Vesuvius in 1943. You can see the same stripes on the bottom of the Port side rudder.

    I have discovered the colors of their Unit Crest were Red, Yellow, and Blue. So this might also be one of the possibilities, as the center stripe is very similar in color as the main background color of the map of the Mediterranean that is visible on the nose..

    Wasn't the main color of the map done in a Yellow ? I remember the decals on my childhood Revell 1/72 scale kit as having a Yellow colored map.

    But it also looks to be very similar as the White does in the US National insignia does on the fuselage markings.

    This is going to be a tough one to figure out...

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    Walt said 10 months ago:

    George, @gblair, I hope the alcohol wasn't a good glass of Bourbon! I can tell you the MrColor Leveling Thinner cut through the paint faster than you can say $#!+. Surprisingly it really didn't do anything to the plastic, not like the lacquer thinner. I don't have the edition Louis, @lgardner, shared. I should probably consider getting it.

    Louis, This plane was part of the Halpro detatchment, so the initial markings predate the ones in the pages of the book you showed. I appreciate you trying though, it is just tough to know. Eduard must have gotten a good picture of the port side of the plane and tail because they have decals for the aft section of the fuselage that my sheet does not have. I have the picture you showed of the plane flying by Mt Vesuvius and looked at it closely, even though it isn't too clear. I don't see the darker bands above or below like the starboard rudder, but it is hard to tell with such a grainy picture. I guess in the end I will just have to ask someone to prove me wrong. I will keep looking for documentation, but for now I think I will leave them with the white stripe.

    I also thought I would share some of the cool things that came with the book "The Liberandos" that I have been reading. At some time the book was in the possession of either someone who was in the 376th Bomb Group, or a relative of someone. There was the Twenty Second Annual Reunion year book with it and it contained a few copies of Memorial Card from a funeral, news paper clippings and a couple News Letters also. For me it is a real historical treasure.

    7 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    capt. R said 10 months ago:

    Very interesting this tail colors!

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 10 months ago:

    Indeed, it is a historical treasure, my friend @luftwaffe-birdman!

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    John vd Biggelaar said 10 months ago:

    Excellent information, Walt @luftwaffe-birdman

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    Walt said 9 months, 4 weeks ago:

    Well, this weekend I finished getting the V-2 painted. It is amazing, it actually took me longer to paint the kit than to build it. The masking an trying to mimic the splinter scheme required a lot of masking. I started with the cream white, which is just a custom blend I did. I am pretty happy with the results. The yellow is a panzer color and the green is RLM71. When I unmasked it I have to say I was pretty happy with they way it looked. This will not be a show winner but it is a fun build.

    I also got an email telling me my decals from MicroScale have been shipped and they should arrive Tuesday. I am excited to see how they look professionally printed by a good company like MicroScale. I have been waiting for months for this.

    6 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    John vd Biggelaar said 9 months, 4 weeks ago:

    The splinter camouflage looks great, Walt @luftwaffe-birdman

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 9 months, 3 weeks ago:

    The V-2 looks fantastic, my friend @luftwaffe-birdman! Can imagine your anticipation for the decals!

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    Walt said 9 months, 3 weeks ago:


    I stayed home today not feeling well, but my spirits were lifted when the Special Delivery showed up. My decals arrived from MicroScale today! I have to say they look incredible. All the words are completely legible and clear. I amm very happy and have also learned much. I hope my next sheet is even better.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 9 months, 3 weeks ago:

    The decals look wonderful, my friend @luftwaffe-birdman!

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    John vd Biggelaar said 9 months, 3 weeks ago:

    Impressive looking decals, Walt @luftwaffe-birdman

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    James M @A20havoc said 9 months, 3 weeks ago:

    Hi Walt, this my inaugural post here. Your project is looking great. Microscale vs alps printed decals should be awesome. My 2 cents on the tail marking. I suspect the tail marking was being applied or evolved to what you see on Strawberry b***h, or Flame McGoon of the 376th bomb group. Mike did a great job on this decal set. https://mikegrantdecals.com/product/b-24d-strawberry-b***h/ I have pics somewhere in my b24 stuff.

    I didn’t come across those tail marking photos until I had finished my build. I am slowly whittling away on a freightliner. Those tires will look great.