CHRISTMAS PRESENT TO ME!
Thanks to our full-house of guests for letting me "go into my hole" to work on the P-39Q. (See previous blog post for more context).
I'll be brief.
For one, the numbering on the nose is remarkably crude; one would think that the lines would have been stenciled precisely but they're really not. So, I've been channeling my inner "1943 USAAF line crewman" and painting with appropriate imprecision.
You can see for yourself from an actual photo of the Airacobra in question
As was the tail (serial) numbers. They had a bit more uniformity, but that's as to be expected; the serial numbering went on as part of a manufacturing process, the nose numbers were done as assigned to units.
Notice too in the photo above how the red band looks 'black' - that's a quirk of black and white film; the band was actually red (but reproduces darkly in b/w processing). Of course, this bit of photographic alchemy can change pending type of photo paper, lighting, processing...
Back to work before I get hauled up for Holiday Poker.