Warning - rambling Editorial about to commence!
Shut up and go away if you don't want to hear me talk.
These thoughts and "facts" are based on what I have read on many forums and websites
as well as in various publications related to the Tuskegee Airmen, the 332nd fighter group
and the use of P47s in WW2. I am only relating the mix of details and information I have
found and do not claim anything as factual or historically accurate.
I started researching this topic because I wanted to produce a bare metal razorback P47 kit.
I also wanted to produce at least one tuskegee Airmen P47.
I am already aware of diecast models and profile artworks depicting bare metal Tuskegee P47s.
So, that became the goal...a bare metal P47 razorback 332nd FG aircraft.
Bare metal P47 Razorbacks serving with the Tuskegee Airmen fighter group
in Italy during WW2...?
highly unlikely unless the aircraft were stripped of paint before delivery?
But...I have seen photos of bare metal P47s...in 332nd use.
I have a photo of Benjamin O Davis climbing into a P47D razorback (probably #42-25280
which fits the type, delivery and time frame for that aircraft).
Doesn't mean it is a 332nd combat aircraft...just means Davis got into that aircraft.
Maybe just staged for a photograph?
Most P47Ds, in Italy and that area, during 1944 were Olive Drab paint scheme.
It is not disputed that the 332nd received P-47 Thunderbolts during 1944.
However, these aircraft were hand-me-downs from the 325th FG and were
only used by the 332nd for about four weeks. The 325th apparently had one,
maybe two, bare metal Razorbacks at that time.
The initial P47s received by the 332nd were all P47D Razorbacks...but there seems to
be much confusion over their paint schemes
...or at least how they were delivered to the 325th.
Every picture I have seen of the 325th P47 razorbacks (at that time) shows them as OD upper,
with a wavy edged gray lower paint scheme
with type 4 30/35" USAF bar and star markings (in factory placement - aft of the the intercooler doors).
Known as the "checkertail squadron", the 325th aircraft had a black and yellow
checker paint scheme across their tail Rudder and horizontal elevators.
The claim is that the "red tail" started with the P47s.
Reports of the first "red tail" 332nd aircraft rely on the idea of at least one 325th P47
having its tail artwork covered in red paint when it arrived.
[important to note...there are reports of no more than one aircraft getting the red tail paint job.]
If this is the case, why is only the vertical tail shown as being red (on all Tuskegee Airmen P47
artworks) and not the elevators?
Since "red tails" was not a thing yet, wouldn't the entire checker pattern been painted over?
But if the aircraft were bare metal finish...stripped of paint before delivery to the 332nd...
why would the tail surfaces still have the checker paintwork anyway?
Another common feature of 332nd P47 aircraft artwork is the addition of yellow stripes
and trim tabs on all wings...something that is common on later Mustang Squadrons.
Is this just a shout out to future design elements? I don't see why this would have been
added at that time.
According to one source, the P47s did not see any combat operations with the 332nd.
With only four weeks service with the 332nd this might be believable. However, isn't
patrol and recon considered to be combat? The reports of a 332nd aircrcaft sinking
a German Destroyer while out on a patrol mission are now known to be greatly misinterpreted.
A German "boat" was indeed damaged by an attacking 332nd aircraft and damaged enough to
not be able to continue and was forced to return to port. (It was later scuttled due to being
irrepairable). But it was not "destroyed". The "Destroyer" was later classed as a Patrol Boat
...some reports even say it was a small Tanker or supply boat...and the attacking aircraft was
in fact a P47 (not a P51 Mustang as depicted in the Red Tails movie).
So, if I am going to produce a "Tuskegee Airmen" bare metal razorback P47, it seems its gonna have
to be an invention of my imagination. I'm going to guess that the aircraft in that photo of B.O. Davis
is 42-25280 (a known P-47D-20-RE in bare metal finish)...and I will add a red vertical tail in honour
of the tuskegee airmen, as well as a red front cowling (commonplace anyway). I am going to use
the factory placement Type 4 insignia as depicted on most 325th P47s, but no side aircraft number.
I will also not install yellow bands on the wings as seen on later 332nd Mustangs.
Anyone got a problem with my theories and model design intentions?
Or, you got a better idea of what to do about a Tuskegee Airmen P47?
Please let me know.
...
AS A FOLLOW UP TO THIS COMMENTARY...
I came across this painting by Jerry Taliaferro.
Nice artwork by the way!
I don't usually use profile artworks as refernce, but this is the most accurate depiction I have come across yet.
(At least, thats my opinion)
The aircraft is painted OD with gray lowers...exactly as 325th P47s were.
The entire tail vertical and horizontals have been painted red (presumably to cover the checker artwork).
the nose has been freshly recoated red (to cover red or white banding).
The large 34 side numbers agree with most photos of the real 325th aircraft.
I think the side insignia is wrong...photos show 325th P47s with the smaller, aft placed insignia.
(The larger insignia was placed forwards, to make room for additional buzz codes at the tail.
And I am unsure about the use, at that time, of the black (100thFS) trim tabs.
Maybe, a Tuskegee Airmen tribute should look like this?
