Originally posted by LuvBipes
If it were applied to a sport plane, however, I would wonder about the owner's motivations... [/B]
If the decals were applied in the same fashion and location that the aircraft in WWII had the emblem displayed, the motivation is to create the illusion the sport airplane is resembling the real thing! Thats the MOTIVATION, nothing more! If you leave off standard emblems of that era, than you can't make it appear like its FROM that era.
With a little creativity you can transform most low wing sport aircraft into "Stand way off" scale aircraft. Changing the shape of the wing tips and tail surfaces, reshaping the turtle deck and a new canopy that resembles the one on the aircraft you are working towards, will change the airplanes appearance considerably. But to make it work, you need to carefully find a photo of the airplane you are trying to resemble and replicate the colors and markings.
A couple of years back I built a Senior Telemaster and changed the landing gear to a taller more sturdy one. A friend of mine commented that it looked like a Fiesler "Storch" recon aircraft from Germany. I found numerous pictures of this plane and covered the telemaster in olive green and gray. I used trim material to change the appearance of the cockpit window layout and replicated the markings from the pictures I had, right down to the specific designation number. I added nomenclature decals in the same fashion that the real aircraft displayed them and ended up with a very original trainer type airplane, that by the way, won my clubs building contest.
A bunch of years back I took an ACE 4-60 monoplane kit and kit bashed it into a two seater and with a little work on the wing tips and tail surfaces I created a sorta PT-19. I used the Army Air Corps yellow and blue color scheme and replicated the markings from a picture of a real one in my area. I had dozens of people come up to me while I was flying it and ask "what PT-19 kit is that, it fly great".
I have done numerous aircraft like this from all different origins. There are many other modelers that are just like me, who use good modeling skills, and a little imagination to create a one of a kind, good flying aircraft that looks like the real thing without taking the time to build a "scale" aircraft.
My latest "illusion" is the Great Planes Pete and Poke. The more I look at it, the more it looks like a WWI sorta airplane. The right color scheme, decals, machine guns and wire wheels.........well you get the picture.