Great striping indeed, Louis @lgardner

Louis, @lgardner, I have to say I think your cockpits look incredible and your efforts have really paid off. These should be two really nice builds when you are done.

Spiros, @fiveten
John, @johnb
Thank you for the compliments on the striping. I still have some more work to do on the fuselage. Hopefully those stripes will look good once completed.

Stephen, @stephen-w-towle
You brought up some excellent points. With that in mind, I decided to do some more digging, and I have located a virtual treasure trove of pictures of Mustangs from the other "sister" units. Some of these pictures were also in color... This is also why I have not made any more progress on this one as of lately.

Here's a link to the website where I gathered these pictures.
https://www.americanairmuseum.com/unit/307
You can search all kind of units and they have some GREAT pictures posted, along with descriptions.

My thoughts were these Mustangs from these "sister" units would have had very similar mechanical traits (and likely the same or very similar colors) as do the ones that were used on "LOU IV".

One mechanical thing that immediately stood out was the air intake plate on the nose was the solid one... without exceptions... like these

on the planes that I could clearly see this section of the nose on. These next pictures show how the paint scheme evolved on "Ferocious Frankie"

Notice how the upper wing and fuselage D Day Invasion stripes have been painted over. You can see where the stripes are "bleeding through" the upper surfaces. It also appears to be a shade of Olive Drab color was used here, as it is very similar in appearance as the anti glare panel in front of the cockpit.

Now at this point, the upper D-Day Invasion stripes have been removed / or chemically stripped from the airframe, leaving behind bare metal, (or possibly painted in "aluminum" color on the wings).

This one is a color picture of "TIKA IV" the same plane I posted a picture showing how the stripes looked from under the fuselage earlier. By this time, the upper stripes were removed, exposing the bare metal underneath. Now I wonder if the wing surfaces were puttied and refinished again ? (Like what was done at the North American factory when new.).

Yet this Mustang still does not have the nose painted to where the majority is yellow...Hmmm The nose is mostly all yellow on Ferocious Frankie and LOU IV by the time these upper stripes were covered it seems. This is likely due to the idea the Unit Commander's plane was likely taken care of and painted before the rest in the unit were.

This shows the underside of "TIKA IV"

The "B7" Squadron code was for the 374th Fighter Squadron, which was part of the 361st Fighter Group just as "LOU IV' was.
"LOU IV" was part of the 375th Fighter Squadron, and it had the fuselage code of "E2".

The 376th Fighter Squadron had the fuselage code of "E9".

The 374th, 375th and 376th Fighter Squadrons were all part of the 361st Fighter Group. This sounds a bit confusing, especially when you consider they also flew P-47's prior to swapping over to the Mustang.

This chart below might make it a bit easier to understand for our readers.

Fuselage code and Fighter Squadron
Fuselage Codes "B7" aircraft belongs to the 374th Squadron
Fuselage Codes "E2" aircraft belongs to the 375th Squadron
Fuselage Codes "E9" aircraft belongs to the 376th Squadron

Walt, @luftwaffe-birdman
Thank you for the compliments on the cockpits. I hope to get the rest of the planes finished soon, so please stop by and see what is happening.

David, @davem
Thank you for the kind words ! 🙂

As always, comments are encouraged. Thanks for stopping by. 🙂

I agree with our friend @johnb, my friend @lgardner : this is spectacular research!

Remember the website I mentioned a few postings before ? This one show here by following this link.

https://www.americanairmuseum.com/unit/307

This is a searchable database, and it has a lot of original WW2 pictures, with many being taken using color film. Almost every one of these pictures I am about to post came from this source, so all credits are due to them.

With this next photo shown above of "LOU IV", you can see the wing root area is painted in a very dark color, possibly black. You can also see how the upper invasion stripes have been thinly painted over, and the D Day invasion stripes are still slightly visible. Also shown is how the upper wing surface color bleeds over on top of the wing fillet near the leading edge. This is just ahead of the Black (or another very dark color) wing root area. I'm leaning towards a Black color, simply because it has an almost identical appearance as the fuselage codes, which we know were black.

Here's another Mustang, but this time it's from the 376th Squadron, since it has the "E9" fuselage code, and is named "My Buddy". I have included this one, because it shows beyond a doubt that the Mustangs in this group had a solid carburetor intake cover. It also has shrouded exhausts, just as LOU IV had.

This next picture is of a Mustang from the 374th Squadron. It is named "Ferocious Frankie", and is coded "B7*H". It too has a solid carburetor intake cover. One more interesting point is this photo shows the evolution of the "Yellow Nose" that the 361st Fighter group had. Initially the yellow nose was not nearly as prominent.

This next picture is in color. It shows 3 Mustangs as they are starting the take off roll. The closest plane is named "Small Fry IV", and it is coded E9*Q which was from the 376th FS. The leading edge of the wing has a different color where the wing mounted .050 MG's were located. It's very hard to tell, but it "could be" Olive Drab. If you look even closer, there is an area that appears to be painted with either Red or possibly Yellow. This is located on the muzzle of the inboard .050 caliber machine gun. This too seems to be a prominent feature on many Mustangs from this Group.

Here's another color take off photo. This time it is again B7*H. This time the MG cover looks as if it was left in natural metal, or possibly painted in a shade of aluminum color. One thing that is also visible, this plane has the inner most MG barrel opening painted red...

This next picture shows another one of my favorites. This time it's "Detroit Miss" as flown by LT Urban Drew. I have a well researched set of 1/48 scale Lifelike decals for this particular Mustang. In the decal's comment section, it is stated the sliding canopy is painted using a Blue, not Red as is often depicted. The rudder is also painted using the same color. Blue was the color for the 375th FS. I remember building this exact same plane as a kid, using the old Monogram 1/48 scale kit. Look for another one to show up from me someday, if the Good Lord is willing that is. 🙂

Keep this "Blue" color in mind for a future picture I am posting... 😉

Here is another picture of one of the planes that was originally in the famous in flight photo session. This one is "E2*S" .

What is so interesting about this picture is it shows it has a solid carburetor intake cover, and the MG cover on the leading edge of the wing is a different color, possibly Yellow. The leading edge cover has a very similar appearance to the yellow nose. This is why I am leaning towards it being Yellow like the nose is.

This next photo is also color. It shows 4 Mustangs as they are ready for take off. What I find interesting with this picture, is that the first two Mustangs appear to also have the solid carburetor cover. This particular photo had the caption that read
"P-51 Mustangs of the 361st Fighter Group prepare for take off at Bottisham". The closest Mustang has a dark color carburetor cover that looks to be very similar (if not identical to) the one on "LOU IV". I'm going to make an educated guess here and say that I think these covers were painted black.

Remember reading above when I said something about the Blue color and how it was used on the Mustang flown by Urban Drew and how it had a Blue rudder, along with the matching Blue sliding canopy frame ?

Here's a color photo that shows the actual Blue. Granted these pictures have aged, possibly affecting the color values, but you get the general idea.

Here's another great picture. This time it shows Mustangs ready for take off. The Mustang in the foreground is E2*Q "Small Fry IV". I also think this is a decent representation of the Yellow color as used by the 361st Fighter Group. Take a closer look at the MG openings in the wings. Here again we see something that is yellow, (or possibly even Red), in appearance on the innermost MG. "Small Fry" also appears to have a dark colored (possibly Black) carburetor cover, as have the rest of the planes we have seen so far from this unit.

I think I am safe to say the solid carburetor cover is correct for "LOU IV".

Next up we have a Mustang 44-13704 fuselage code B7*H named "Ferocious Frankie" again. I find this picture to be a great source of information, especially if it is studied for a while. This particular picture was taken shortly after the P-47's were swapped out for the Mustangs, and not too long after the D Day stripes were ordered to be partially removed or covered. This plane has also the early rendition of the "Yellow Nose". Not too long after this picture was snapped, these units started painting more of the nose section using yellow, and they eventually ended up looking like "LOU IV" did.

If you take a good close look at the way the upper Invasion stripes were covered, it appears as if the paint was used sparingly, just as it was done on "LOU IV", because the underlying invasion stripes on the upper fuselage deck behind the canopy, and on the wings, are still partially visible.

This picture also exhibits the exhaust stain trail, and how it flows down the sides of the fuselage towards the tail section.

One more little observation is about the wing mounted .050 MG leading edge muzzle cover. It has what appears to be a Yellow color barely visible at the muzzle opening, only visible on the inboard .050 MG. This feature has been visible on a lot of Mustangs from this Group.

This picture shows "TIKA IV". If this picture looks familiar, it's because it was posted earlier in this journal. It's coded B7*R, serial number 44-13357 and was flown originally by LT Vernon Richards. Tragically, this aircraft was lost later, after being assigned to Lt. Alfred B Cook Jr., who renamed it "Sailor Girl Shirl" .

He was KIA (Killed in Action) on 16 Nov 44 when he crashed near Kelshall en route to Little Walden.

What I really like about this picture is the Bluish Green color shown on the wing tips, and top of the vertical fin.

Could this be the color I have been looking for ? The second color that was described as being a Blue and used on the fuselage and upper wing surfaces of "LOU IV". This is now a possibility. 😉 It's also possible the color hues could have shifted over the years, and it could be more of a Blue than a Green.

This next Mustang is a P-51D serial number 44-13717, coded "E9-D" and named 'Golden Wave' It flew as part of the 376FS, 361FG, 8AF USAAF. What is see odd with this picture is several things. It has the early style Yellow Nose, the upper fuselage stripes have been covered, as have the upper wing surfaces. It has what looks like a White stripe (or fresh Aluminum color) paint on the fin and rudder. This White color was supposed to have been used on camouflaged aircraft, not natural metal planes. They used Black stripes. If it was painted using Aluminum, it was done to cover the Black stripe we commonly see on Mustangs in the ETO.

This one also has the outer wing tips and outer leading edge of both wings in either a painted aluminum color, bare metal, or a combination of both.

This Mustang also has a solid style carburetor intake cover. If we look even closer, we can see a two tone appearance on the upper wing surface. This Mustang could have had the Invasion Stripes painted over sparingly as have several of the other aircraft I posted above.

This last photo included "Sky Bouncer" which was photographed with "LOU IV" in color as part of the Bottisham Four. I find the two tone paint on the upper wing surfaces very interesting. It also has what appears to be two different tones showing up on the upper wing surfaces.

Are these colors the usual Olive Drab, with RAF Dark Green, or are they Olive Drab, and a shade of Dark Blue or "Royal Blue" as Dana Bell and others have mentioned ? Or is it simply a factory aluminum color with the Invasion Stripes painted over using a Dark Green color like Olive Drab or RAF Dark Green ? The wings were painted in an aluminum color and the rivets and some panel lines were filled and sanded smooth to preserve the laminar airflow of the wing.

These pictures gave us a very good idea as to how and why "LOU IV" was painted as it was.

As always, comments are encouraged. 🙂

This is a most deep historical research, my friend @lgardner! Thanks for sharing!

Tom, @tcinla
Thanks for the information on Detroit Miss. I do indeed have plans for building a Detroit Miss, sometime in the near future. However as of late, between doctor appointments, physical therapy and trying my hardest to finish Sandy's truck restoration, I have had little time for our hobby.

Pedro Rocha was kind enough to send me some decals to build up several 1/48 scale Mustangs. He and I are going to be building several Mustangs, so I will likely be firing up the old "Iron Werke" and start popping them out assembly line style. I took your advice a while ago and picked up a few of the Eduard "Over trees" plus I have quite a few of the new(ish) Airfix kits also in the stash. I have yet to build a Mustang using either of these two kits. I know the Airfix kit has several different dorsal fins in the box as extra parts. I'll have to take a closer look at what's inside the 1/48 Eduard kits.

Meanwhile I had located this very plane in the same website I mentioned above. Here's a link to it.

https://www.americanairmuseum.com/aircraft/18428

This is what they had to say about this Mustang. You were spot on about it being a D-10-NA, and I have placed quotation marks around what was stated.

"Nicknames Detroit Miss, Phyll
Production block number P-51D-10-NA
Manufacturer North American
Markings and paint scheme/livery Natural Metal finish, yellow nose, coded (E2-D)(bar under D).

With Drew as pilot: "Detroit Miss" written inside a bomb shape on port side."

Here are a few pictures I took that are close ups showing the "business end" of the Mustang. You can see how the inner MG is indeed a little different from the middle and outer two MG barrels. This is likely due to the staggering of the weapons, so the ammunition belts could feed properly.

I know this is a restored War Bird, but I'm wondering if somehow they used a small plastic cap or was it simply red tape ? I have seen a lot of photos with Corsairs, Spitfires and Hurricanes where the muzzles were taped over.

Do you have any thoughts about this ?