Jim MacDonald wrote:
NNOOOOOOOOOOO!! Not that. If that's what a museum needs/wants, just take a bunch of photos of it now & commission a modeler to make a large scale MODEL diorama for display. To me there is nothing more pathetic than to see a wrecked Warbird that could at least contribute a few parts and an identity for a flying restoration (replica, new build, or whatever term you prefer to use) used as a museum diorama. Well actually there is something more pathetic...a flyable Warbird relegated to a museum static display. In my mind, I can see these planes being in a vegetative state, but aware that they should be in the air & wondering why the heck they're stuck on the ground.
Ready for the roasting.
Mac
There is one cool thing about this wrecked fuselage...maybe im weird, but when I look at the original paint, specifically around the insignia..you can see the different applications of paint modifying the insignia as it changed through '42 and '43. There was a mx crew member applying that paint so the insignia conformed with the new regs. Send the hulk to a shop for a rebuilt and you'll lose alllll that originality.