This is what the top of the fuselage looked like in 2008. The paint is perfect, but I noticed at the time that it was noticeably lighter than the paint on the sides. I wonder if it was some water-based touch-up that has been removed since she was moved to Udvar-Hazy.
And here you can see what nearly four decades of being molested by the grubby hands of thoughtless tourists have done to the original paint..and as you can see, the abuse was still going on (I pixelated the faces as they may be minors.)
The museum eventually put up some plexiglass barricades, but not until after significant damage was done..that bare spot is where countless tourists put their hands so they could lean over and look into the nose compartment. I was thrilled when I heard that they were finally moving her out of the downtown museum.
SN