765th Bomb Squadron Sign
Wed Jul 09, 2008 7:37 pm
I thought some of y'all might like this...
We've been working on an exhibit highlighting the last B-24 built in Tulsa, called the "Tulsamerican." It flew in the 15th Air Force, 461st Bomb Group, 765th Squadron. It was in combat from October -December 1944, before being lost on December 17.
At the Tulsamerican's base, three squadrons were based- the 764th, 765th, and 766th. Each squadron had its own encampment, and at the entrance to each encampment was a sign with the unit's insignia. We have photos of some of the Tulsamerican's crew posing with this sign, and thought it would be fun to recreate it. So, without further ado...
First, you have to have a good photo of the sign (thanks to the 461st Bomb Group website)
Then, you do some rough carpentry and make a sign out of scrap wood. Then, you take your handy-dandy laptop and projector, and project the image onto your new sign:
Then, someone like yours truly takes a pencil and traces out all of the detail.
It should look something like:
Then, you get a curator who (unlike you) knows a little something about how to paint. He starts.
You then stop, scratch your head, and try to figure out what colors should have gone on the sign. Lacking any period color photos, you grab the original A-2 patch that you've got for reference.
You then consider the version that you've digitally recolored.
Aw crap! You just realized that you've got ANOTHER original 765th patch, and its colors are nothing like the other original! What to do?
Then your curator, the painter, solves your problem by unilaterally declaring that the second patch was "butt ugly" and that the first patch would be the definitive reference point. He nicely declines to give you the proper paint codes and chemical breakdown of the paints to satiate the inquiring minds of WIX-ers that are into that kind of stuff. He hand mixes some of the paints on the fly, makes some executive decisions, and voila! A sign.
You step back, happy, and look at the photo that inspired you. Jan Wroclawski in the first photo:
Charles Priest, who died in the Tulsamerican's crash, Red McLemore, and Oklahoma native John Toney in the last.
Some of the families get to see the exhibit this weekend. We're pretty excited.
kevin
We've been working on an exhibit highlighting the last B-24 built in Tulsa, called the "Tulsamerican." It flew in the 15th Air Force, 461st Bomb Group, 765th Squadron. It was in combat from October -December 1944, before being lost on December 17.
At the Tulsamerican's base, three squadrons were based- the 764th, 765th, and 766th. Each squadron had its own encampment, and at the entrance to each encampment was a sign with the unit's insignia. We have photos of some of the Tulsamerican's crew posing with this sign, and thought it would be fun to recreate it. So, without further ado...
First, you have to have a good photo of the sign (thanks to the 461st Bomb Group website)
Then, you do some rough carpentry and make a sign out of scrap wood. Then, you take your handy-dandy laptop and projector, and project the image onto your new sign:
Then, someone like yours truly takes a pencil and traces out all of the detail.
It should look something like:
Then, you get a curator who (unlike you) knows a little something about how to paint. He starts.
You then stop, scratch your head, and try to figure out what colors should have gone on the sign. Lacking any period color photos, you grab the original A-2 patch that you've got for reference.
You then consider the version that you've digitally recolored.
Aw crap! You just realized that you've got ANOTHER original 765th patch, and its colors are nothing like the other original! What to do?
Then your curator, the painter, solves your problem by unilaterally declaring that the second patch was "butt ugly" and that the first patch would be the definitive reference point. He nicely declines to give you the proper paint codes and chemical breakdown of the paints to satiate the inquiring minds of WIX-ers that are into that kind of stuff. He hand mixes some of the paints on the fly, makes some executive decisions, and voila! A sign.
You step back, happy, and look at the photo that inspired you. Jan Wroclawski in the first photo:
Charles Priest, who died in the Tulsamerican's crash, Red McLemore, and Oklahoma native John Toney in the last.
Some of the families get to see the exhibit this weekend. We're pretty excited.
kevin
Wed Jul 09, 2008 7:42 pm
Awesome Kevin, well done.
Wed Jul 09, 2008 7:48 pm
Kool!
Wed Jul 09, 2008 7:50 pm
Beautiful job! great execution as well.
But, I respectfully disagree with your curator!
Best of lucjk with it,
Paul
But, I respectfully disagree with your curator!
Best of lucjk with it,
Paul
Wed Jul 09, 2008 8:11 pm
Thanks, guys. It was fun. More to come as I can get to them...
kevin
kevin
Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:34 am
That looks great! 
Why did you do the legs differently than in the photo?
Why did you do the legs differently than in the photo?
Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:49 am
This is one of those moments when I am truly amazed at the creativity of some of the members of this site! For an "Old Dude" like me, I am inspired!
Thu Jul 10, 2008 12:12 pm
Django- Honestly, I think the legs/feet were done differently because when the painter had the paint in his hand, he just started painting. Once it was painted, he looked back, saw what he had done, and said, "Aw, no one will notice." Little did he know, there was an expert nose art painter lurking out there...
Thu Jul 10, 2008 12:40 pm
I don't know about expert... PITA maybe. 
Hahaha!
Fri Jul 11, 2008 6:06 pm
Truly Inspirational and I know they are looking down from the edge of a cloud and smiling!
Fri Jul 11, 2008 6:24 pm
Thumbs up .... great job ...