Racy, nasty or just plain fun?

[Steve Nelson]

The pic is a little bit clearer in the original book, and appears to show her in a one-peice bathing suit (or maybe a teddy kind of thing) with dark or possibly fish-net stockings.


SN

[k5083]

Interesting.

Another thing that I have noticed about Strawberry Bitch is that her current paint job differs from when she was initially repainted at Davis Monthan:



Note the style of the "24", the middle horizontal bar in the "2" was further down, not like it was in either the pre-repaint photos or the current photos from Dayton. The current style looks more like the pre-repainting numerals than the initial repainted style did. In the modern picture that was posted to this thread I note a darker patch of desert tan that may indicate the boundaries of the repainting in Dayton.

I believe that the girl was repainted yet again also. Here is a closeup from 1959. More cartoonish than the current version.



August

[airnutz]

We all know the "usual" and well publicized nose art.

Now, I have seen -but rarely published- shots of aircraft bearing names or graphics, that sooner or later were forced to "become decent" by orders of the people with the pointy hats

Tulio, I tend to think the racier stuff was more prevalent in remote locations and all tended to get less-racey as the
war bore on and the art began to be exposed to public view, either by location(Europe) or press exposure(Pacific).

Jack has quite a bit of the sexier stuff from the South Pacific..primarily from private collections of the crews.
Things were so desperate in the early days of SoPac..the "other war"..I imagine commanders didn't dare do anything to diminish
the moral of the young crews..some of whom would die before having ever actually enjoyed some of the depictions gracing their aircraft.

Of course, The book-slingers eventually show up and remind the crews of what their "supposed" to be fighting for...mom, applepie,
and Mary-Lou next door..not Rita Hayworth or Veronica Lake!

Last edited by airnutz on Mon Apr 02, 2007 1:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Boneyard]

It's the part of the female anatomy on the opposite side as the butt. So, American engines turn a different way than British ones....Americans drive on the opposite side of the road as Brits....and the fanny in England is on a woman's front end, and it's on her rear in the US!

Hi Randy, I must congratulate you on your diplomatic way of explaining that! well done. How long did it take you to find out there was a difference in meaning?

[Former Member]

As you said, Standriver, I've heard stories that the SB nose art was originally 'au naturale,' but the only Wartime pic I've ever seen shows her with a bathing suit (and was much better done than the rather amateurish artwork she carries now.) That particular pose was a Varga Girl pinup, and was the basis of nose arts on several aircraft (many sans bathing suit.) If I ever build a model of the SB, I think I'll do the more riske version..just for fun.

If this is true I'd love to see an old pic of the nude "Bitch" complete with flaming carrot crotch. But then again there are one or two lurkers on this site that might get offended and emotionaly scarred for life if they see it (the old ball turret video thread comes to mind).

John

[Dave Fish]

At least WWII nose art was allowed by the USAAF...The Marine Corps did not allow it in the combat zone as they "determined" that nose art was defacing government property.

[Tulio]

My intention when posting the first message for this thread -and to make it 100 % clear- had NOTHING to do with racism; it rather pretended to bring up funny aircraft names or pictures, risque cartoons or phrases.

Neither was I asking for political slants, opinions or to see another thread hijacked by the thought police.

If I want to discuss religion, I will go to a religious forum.

If I want to discuss sports, I will go to a sports forum.

If I want to discuss politics, I will go to a political forum.

ENOUGH with the political stuff, already!

Tulio

Last edited by Tulio on Mon Apr 02, 2007 6:33 pm, edited 2 times in total.

[mustangdriver]

You are clear Tulio. There is a lot of learning going on here now with the Strawberry Bitch stuff.

[Steve Nelson]

Agreed, Mustangdriver. I'd never seen those pics of the SB after her initial restoration. It looks like the nose art was a little closer to the original when it was first repainted..the face in particular was much better executed.

I know at some point the left side of the nose was temporarily repainted with the nose art of "Hail Columbia," the plane that led the Ploesti raid (for some special event.) I'm not sure if the art was applied on both sides of the nose, but as K5083 mentioned, there is obvious evidence that some areas were repainted.

K5083, do you have any more SB pics? I'd love to add them to my collection.


SN

[k5083]

Yeah Steve, my late friend Dick Kamm was involved in the restoration. He was then a flight engineer on B-36s (previously B-29s). I have about 30 6x9cm negs and transparencies (for you digital guys, that's enough resolution to make the best DSLR look like an Etch-a-Sketch) from every angle and a few air-to-airs of the first stage of the ferry flight to Dayton. Hi-res versions are being reserved for an appropriate publication outlet but here are a couple more scans.

August

Last edited by k5083 on Tue Apr 03, 2007 8:58 am, edited 1 time in total.

[k5083]

Here is one more pic of the babe after initial restoration. Although b&w, it is sharper than the color pic that I posted yesterday.

August

[lmritger]

August, thanks as always for posting Mr. Kamm's pics, and Steve- THANK YOU for posting that B-26. I've finally found a Marauder I *REALLY* want to build in 1/48.

And Tulio- I think it's a good idea for a thread, I'm certainly learning stuff!

[hairy]

As missapplied to the MOTAT B-34, this was originally on an RNZAF Hudson. Artwork similar to this was applied to most of the Hudsons and Venturas from the Lockheed plant (alledgedly by Disney artists doing their bit for the war effort), before deployment to the Pacific it was all removed as there was a (justified) fear of retrebution against captured crews of a/c displaying such art work.

[Steve Nelson]

Fantastic pics, K5083! Thanks for sharing. I don't blame you for haniging on to them for publication..that's a book I'd definately add to my library!

Of course, it'd also be great to find more Wartime pics of the SB..but I suppose we're lucky to have the few we've got.

I've got a series of photos of the SB's interior shot around 20 years ago by a friend..before any "refurbishment" was done inside the nose. Unfortunately, the plane's interior has been indiscrimately blasted with "Interior Green" and Zinc Chromate Yellow..covering all the placards, wiring, hoses, etc.

SN

[wendovertom]

Of course there was the B-17 which, from what I understand, started the whole "PC nose art" issue. A B-17 flying from England was shot down and the Nazi propaganda machine made "HEY" with the nose art name painted on one of the crew members jacket - "Murder Inc."

Tom P.