Tips on the US National Insignia
#51


I beleive it was 1943 that the red surround was used for a short period. It was discontinued because some pilots just saw the red in a dog fight and shot at it thinking they saw a meat ball. So it was discontinued.
#52

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Luft-Ganster,
Chris' post #9 covers the period of red surround. "by 14 August 1943; just over 2 months after the red surround was directed."
But that is not what I noticed. want to try again?
Chris' post #9 covers the period of red surround. "by 14 August 1943; just over 2 months after the red surround was directed."
But that is not what I noticed. want to try again?
#53

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ORIGINAL: FireBee
Chris, others,
I need some help here, I may someday do my giant corsair as VF-17 (skull and crossbones) with either side # 3, 8, or 31.
tonight while loking at #3, I finally noticed something strange? are my eyes just tired? is the photo really showing a diff insignia?
I won't state it just to see of others also note it.
Chris, others,
I need some help here, I may someday do my giant corsair as VF-17 (skull and crossbones) with either side # 3, 8, or 31.
tonight while loking at #3, I finally noticed something strange? are my eyes just tired? is the photo really showing a diff insignia?
I won't state it just to see of others also note it.
#54

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Chad,
that is what I noticed!! the left inside of white bar has a red outline where normally only blue is!
Since I'm just a Warbird Rally and not competing, I'll just go with more well known red surround.
that is what I noticed!! the left inside of white bar has a red outline where normally only blue is!
Since I'm just a Warbird Rally and not competing, I'll just go with more well known red surround.
#55
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I used to teach the Navy's Paint and Finish course in Norfolk. We taught the old fashioned way to lay out the national insignia on an aircraft. One of the things we did was make a "ruler" with holes in it at strategic lengths, so we could simply scribe the circle, the border, and all the stripes. Made life much easier. I must have graded hundreds of final exam boards, which included either a tri color insignia or single color insigina and letters, plus someother incidental stuff. I've actually, somewhere, got instructions for laying out most of Nato's national insignia.
Actually, you can find it on the web... MIL-STD-2161. Also has instructions for painting the US insignia, but I think just the latest versions. Haven't cracked that book in years....
Actually, you can find it on the web... MIL-STD-2161. Also has instructions for painting the US insignia, but I think just the latest versions. Haven't cracked that book in years....
#58

Couple of notes.
Many P-47s (especially in Europe) wore insignia on both bottom surfaces of wings. This was an anti fratricide measure. Don't assume all P-47 s did though. This was also an exception and not the norm. It is very rare to find any other aircraft type done that way, and many P-47s did not.
In addition to the red color used being confused with the Japs, one of the primary reasons the red surround was painted over with blue was the complication of supporting it in the field. Often it was simply applied incorrectly as in the photo on this thread. The other issue was red fading and paint quality issues. In addition, stocking another paint color for maintenance added complication.
It is risky to over generalize but...if the insignia did not include bars, as in the very early part of the war you will probably find them placed in all 6 positions. Either with red meatball or just a star on blue circle. Unless a rare photo shows otherwise, assume only 4 positions used if the insignia has the bars.
And yes you will find what are called "transition" insignia. Insignia like the star and bars with no surround. These are cases where the squadron misinterpreted the directive or hadn't finished the work yet!
Many P-47s (especially in Europe) wore insignia on both bottom surfaces of wings. This was an anti fratricide measure. Don't assume all P-47 s did though. This was also an exception and not the norm. It is very rare to find any other aircraft type done that way, and many P-47s did not.
In addition to the red color used being confused with the Japs, one of the primary reasons the red surround was painted over with blue was the complication of supporting it in the field. Often it was simply applied incorrectly as in the photo on this thread. The other issue was red fading and paint quality issues. In addition, stocking another paint color for maintenance added complication.
It is risky to over generalize but...if the insignia did not include bars, as in the very early part of the war you will probably find them placed in all 6 positions. Either with red meatball or just a star on blue circle. Unless a rare photo shows otherwise, assume only 4 positions used if the insignia has the bars.
And yes you will find what are called "transition" insignia. Insignia like the star and bars with no surround. These are cases where the squadron misinterpreted the directive or hadn't finished the work yet!
#64
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it's funny I read this thread couple of weeks back as I was about to apply the paint masks for the insignaia on my 85" P47 build.
Promptly forgot all about it.
50:50 chance of getting orintation of the mask wrong way and I managed to do so ended up using decals instead!!
Promptly forgot all about it.
50:50 chance of getting orintation of the mask wrong way and I managed to do so ended up using decals instead!!
#65

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Just revisited this post. Great information. Do you guys have correct color info for the red, white, and blue used on the insignias? Even better would be corresponding color names for companies such as Tamiya, Testors Model Master and others in acrylic or enamel for those who want to paint their own.
#66

Note on the sheet the 3 FS paint numbers thus:
Insignia Red FS11136 or 31136 semi-gloss Model Master #1705
Insignia White FS17875 Model Master #1745
Insignia Blue FS15044 or 35044 semi-gloss Model Master #1719.