The Blue of the Blue Nosed Bastards

[Mav87th]

Fell over this small piece of information while investigating for a skin.

 

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Later in 1945 the blue was changed to RAF Deep Sky Blue. Sam Sox, a former 352nd crewman recounted how the latrines at Bodney were painted with the same blue paint as the noses. Someone checked and sure enough, the latrine was still standing and still painted blue. They used this color to repaint "Miss Helen" a restored original 352nd P-51D.

 

and this as well...

 

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The reader will notice that in two instances the shade of the blue under aircraft names is lighter. As Sam Sox Jr of 352nd Fighter Group Association explained to the authors:
“The ‘name’ panels for Moonbeam and Eleen were medium blue. The medium blue had gotten some lighter since blues during the ‘40s was very prone to oxidizing. When all 352nd Mustangs were repainted in September of ‘44 to the darker blue, the RAF color Deep Sky Blue, any Mustang which had been previously painted the medium retained the original name plates rather then have the squadron painter, Sgt. Sam Perry, repaint them, hence the lighter back ground of the name panels. Petie 3rd was received by Meyer after mid-September so it had never been painted the medium blue and the name panel and aircraft was Deep Sky Blue”.

 

EDITED 5. november 2020

Added a little more info on the 352nd. From Crazy Horse Aviation Photography about "Sweet & Lovely" http://www.crazyhorseap.be/Mustangs/Mustangs/N451DSweet&Lovely/N451D.htm

 

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The paint scheme
The 352nd FG was assigned to the 8th AF on July 6th , 1943, and was stationed at Bodney in Norfolk, UK. They converted to the P-51 Mustang at the end of March, 1944. It was at that time that all units in the 8th AF were assigned different Group colours.

The 352nd FG applied a bright sky blue shade to the noses of their P-51s, which were B- and C-models at that time and which were all delivered in the two-colour camouflage paint scheme of Olive Drab and Neutral Grey. However, the light blue coloured spinner and 12-inch wide nose band provided insufficient contrast with the camouflage finish, so the blue paintwork was extended back to a point approximately halfway below the exhaust stacks and then swept up and back to the windshield.

The following month, the 328th and 487th FS began receiving their replacement Mustangs, all in a natural metal finish.

For a very brief period the 352nd FG attempted to identify its new aircraft by replacing the white QIM cowlings with a substitute application of a medium blue paint. This particular procedure was quickly abandoned when it was determined that there was insufficient contrast between either finish to be functional as a group marker.

In May of 1944 the 352nd FG selected an RAF Azure Blue shade of paint to replace the original Medium Blue Group colour. The distinct blue colour earned them the name “Blue Nosed Bastards of Bodney”.

On June 3rd , SHAEF issued an order for the application of the infamous D-Day stripes (aka Invasion Stripes). With the hastily application of the stripes on all operational aircraft, the second unit code letter was almost completely over painted, as was the unit call letter. The 328th FS and 487th FS elected to relocate the call letter to the tail fin, while the 486th FS chose to reposition it just above the wing root and slightly back from the exhaust cut-out. This was short lived however and by late June the 486th FS also repositioned the letter to the tail fin.

In October of 1944, the 8th AF issued an order for additional squadron identification by means of coloured rudders. The 328th FS (unit code “PE”) was assigned Insignia Red as a rudder colour, the 486th FS (unit code “PZ”) wore Identification Yellow and the 487th FS (unit code “HO”) adopted the same shade of blue as that used for the Group nose marker for their rudders.

As the war progressed some unit markings and colours changed slightly, some to offer better visibilty, others for a more esthetic reason. Starting in the summer of 1944, the 352nd applied a slightly darker shade of blue as they started receiving bare metal finished P-51Ds. The shade used was probably British Deep Sky Blue, which was similar to Insignia Blue.

The name “Sweet & Lovely” was white shadowed in yellow with black outlining and is displayed on both sides of the cowling. The crew names on the port cowling were black and the pilot's name on the port side of the canopy frame was painted in red. The 6.5 swastika kill markings are also applied in red.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 5, 2020 by Mav87th

[Hoss]

Nice