P-63F at Cavanaugh

[Xrayist]

I agree with a previous poster. If you don't like the paint job, then whip out the old check book and agree to cover the cost of a new paint job. I bet the CAF would even let you have say in what scheme was going on the aircraft. Personally, it is a real pleasure to see these aircraft fly, and if a stencil is 2mm off, or the insignia is 4mm too far forward, or a shade and a half off of "correct" color, well then I won't lose any sleep over that. Enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of these magnificent machines....and as was once said, "don't sweat the petty stuff and don't pet the sweaty stuff."

P.S....I really like warbirds in a "civie" scheme...sort of wish they were still red, white and blue....and really miss Mike Dillon's P-40N when it was painted bright red with the shark mouth on it! As for the P-63F, bring back the white/yellow/black scheme!!!!!

[pontiac58]

P.S....I really like warbirds in a "civie" scheme...sort of wish they were still red, white and blue....and really miss Mike Dillon's P-40N when it was painted bright red with the shark mouth on it! As for the P-63F, bring back the white/yellow/black scheme!!!!!

I was pretty much going to say the same thing.

Forget about all those perfect paints, just paint them all back to civie schemes. I totally wish more had those paints on them. A mustang with the right civie scheme looks bad a$$. I so wish the bulls would paint there 38 back to white. She looks great polished, but that red white and blue paint can never be beaten.

[bdk]

Lots of excuses in this thread!

Here's hoping that more attention to detail is put into the maintenance, which I'm sure it is.

[Taylor Stevenson]

You’re right, bdk. I guess it is an excuse that $30-50k hasn’t been allocated from the packets of the two sponsors so everyone can sleep well at night knowing the aircraft is painted 100% correctly.

As for civvy schemes, my vote goes:

Last edited by Taylor Stevenson on Tue May 29, 2018 10:05 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Lon Moer]

Yes, the same argument "not your plane, not your money", but that doesn't mean that we can't have our own opinions and that is the purpose of a discussion board.

In this case the "F" is a more rare example of a rare example and it has an extensive and well documented history from NACA to the Thompson to racing at Mojave, Reno and Miami and a couple of previous associations with the old CAF.

It would be very disappointing for it end up as a pinball.

And I am partial to civiltary warbirds.

[JFS61]

Yes, the same argument "not your plane, not your money", but that doesn't mean that we can't have our own opinions and that is the purpose of a discussion board.

In this case the "F" is a more rare example of a rare example and it has an extensive and well documented history from NACA to the Thompson to racing at Mojave, Reno and Miami and a couple of previous associations with the old CAF.

It would be very disappointing for it end up as a pinball.

And I am partial to civiltary warbirds.

Well said. There was no intent to be negative for the sake of being negative.

As for the P-63F, painting it in a Pinball scheme would be akin to painting the P-40Q-2A (had it not been wrecked in Cleveland) in Chinese nationalist markings.

[bdk]

You’re right, bdk. I guess it is an excuse that $30-50k hasn’t been allocated from the packets of the two sponsors so everyone can sleep well at night knowing the aircraft is painted 100% correctly.

The star and bar marking layout is in the markings Tech Order which is readily available. No telling if the book was actually used on any specific aircraft in the field and any given marking might not be located in the exact same position from one aircraft to another. Even from the factory there were likely variations. These were combat and training aircraft- not many cared.

As was stated, you can spend your $50K and do it right or do it wrong. Do we know what "right" actually is?

I guess I find this all very funny!

[Taylor Stevenson]

[Mark Allen M]

Hard to screw up the star & bar ..... or is it?














I'm a big fan of authentic paint schemes because it makes the airplane's appearance look authentic. If one doesn't bother to be accurate with their paint the airplane sometimes may not look like the real airplane. If you look at the example below you'll notice that the owner unfortunately did not apply his paint accurately and because of this error his authentic WW2 North American P-51D Mustang just doesn't look right for some reason.

[Pogo]

Mark, that was great, thanks for the laugh!

In the meantime, I'm wondering why nobody has said anything about it being a P-39 with a spinner painted orange in the OP, and not a P-63? Am I missing something here?

[C VEICH]

I'm wondering why nobody has said anything about it being a P-39 with a spinner painted orange in the OP, and not a P-63? Am I missing something here?

There is a P-63 in the photo as well which, up until very recently, also had a red spinner. As can be seen, said spinner is now black which might indicate a change to "pinball" colors since those Kingcobras were usually painted bright red-orange with black spinners.

[Pogo]

Got it - thanks!

[Stoney]

is that replica P-51 the one that used to be based in SW WA?

[C VEICH]

Hard to screw up the star & bar ..... or is it?

As your photos attest it is not hard at all to screw up the US national insignia. It came to be through a rather convoluted series of changes and I would offer that you would be hard pressed to get it right by simply "eyeballing" it. For those who don't know, here is a link to a good discussion on the correct proportions for the "star and bar" and how they came to be.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/rc-warb ... ignia.html

This subject is something of a pet peeve of mine and I experience something similar to the "nails on a chalk board" reaction when I see it done incorrectly. I take absolutely no issue with anyone painting their airplanes any way they see fit but I don't think it's too much to ask that the national insignia be done correctly. Maybe it is too much to ask, seeing as how often it is done incorrectly. I will add that errors are not nearly as common as they used to be on restored vintage aircraft and are now the exception rather than the rule.

[CraigQ]

For the insignia obsessed here is a jump start for you. The following crops are directly off the NAA P-51D drawings.