Warbird Information Exchange

I saw this auction on ebay for "Painted Insignia Cut From Bomber". The seller claims both of these nose art panels were cut from a bomber. The pieces sure look fake to me ...anybody know what type of aircraft the aluminum skins might've come from?

John

http://cgi.ebay.com/Painted-Insignia-Cu ... dZViewItem

Neat but fake, IMO.

BOGUS!!!!


Who would ever paint their serial number on a plane??

If you look at it, there is paint in the countersunk rivet holes. Which means they painted it after the rivets were drilled and removed.

Still, they would look OK hanging in the den with all that other aviation stuff (props, airplane pieces, I've got some Bell 47 tail rotor blades, a spare horizontal stabilizer, an AS350 StarFlex Head) and before you ask. I am divorced, so I can do that.

Mark H

I agree...they do look neat and would look cool hanging up in a den or something. What upsets me is when this stuff is passed off as being authentic. It reminds me of the loser that did something similar about a year ago by placing a couple of ads in barnstormers for "authentic nose art panels" from bombers which were in fact cowel panels from a T6. Some people will sink pretty low to make a quick buck!

John

I did notice the "white looking" primer. to think that someone unrivited the structure from the skin....then a good point of the flush rivets being painted............Definate fake.


My den has, well lets see.
OH-6A skid in the crate NOS from Hughes dated 1969.
UH-1 Left pilot door
UH-1 Tail rotor blade
De milled M-60
(4) Inert 2.75 inch rockets
4 empty 81mm Mortar Boxes
14 sand bags filled with shipping peanuts

various other militaria & airplane parts & books & manuals & Uniforms

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Long Live the N3N-3 "The Last US Military Bi-Plane" 1940-1959
Badmouthing Stearmans on WIX since 2005

Ummm...let me guess. You're divorced too?

I concur with P51Mstg about the paint in the rivet holes; also, I noticed that the back of one panel appears to be stamped "2024 T3" (denoting the alloy/heat treatment of the aluminum). Was 2024 used during WWII, or did it come along later? I know whatever alloy was used for skins then was similar to, if not actually, 2024.

looks real, but i could have my aviation artist buddy paint the same thing, beat it up some, throw it out to mother nature for weather exposure for a few weeks / months, & come up with the identical thing. i did an article on collecting trench art for "military trader magazine "a few years back, & believe me i found out that there is quite a cottage industry out there cranking out all kinds of phoney baloney memorabilia from painted ww 1 helmets, to ashtrays supposedly from the ww 2 battlefields, etc, all recently made in joe six pack's garage a few months back, & sold as the real deal. without historical provinence or actual documentation it's as fake as the day is long.

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

Still Married, she is a keeper!!!!! Though the bulk of the collection, I had before I met her.
This being the deuce & a half and a 3/4 ton dodge. But the 5ton wrecker, 5ton tractor, 5ton cargo and 2 more deuce and a halfs, and my limited edition montecarlo ss & the bulk of my NASCAR collection with her by my side!!!!!

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Long Live the N3N-3 "The Last US Military Bi-Plane" 1940-1959
Badmouthing Stearmans on WIX since 2005

I hope you realize that you are one of the luckiest guys in the world.

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Hang The Expense

Somebody should tell Ebay and the three bidders.

I'll add another nail to the coffin on the fakes. That serial number on the "Pat Hand" panel belongs to CPT John F. Schumick, Intel Staff Officer of the 330th Bomb Group - not a flyer . It's listed on the following web site.

http://www.rootsweb.com/~ny330bg/459%20personnel.htm

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Bob

You can also see that some of the rivets on the "Pat Hand" piece were removed with a grinder, then painted over. These are totally bogus.

Richard

I thought they were fake the moment I saw the images. All the details described in the above posts are accurate, but the first thing that hit me is the "artwork" fits to perfectly into the available space.
Text neatly follows the edges, everything is too contrived. Most real nose art that I've seen has a lot of "raggedness" to it because it was removed or cut from an aircraft.
They still might look cool on my wall, but if I'm going to the trouble of hanging a fake, I'll make my own that has more of a personal style and subject to it!
Blue skies,
Jerry

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"Always remember that, when you enter the ocean or the forest, you are no longer at the top of the food chain."