In studying photos of the Doolittle Raider B-25s - most of which are black and white ones I glommed off the web - it looks like the propellor tips do not have the usual yellow tips. Anyone know for sure?
And the serial numbers appear to have the common “stenciled” look, with the vertical lines down the middle of the numbers. Some sources indicate the numbers were white, others say they were yellow, most decals for Doolittle’s plane are yellow and the numbers are solid. Anyone know?
Picky little details, I know, but for my first airplane model in a longggggg time, I want to do as good a job as I can.
To my knowledge, and I’ve read about the two most diffenative books on the Doolittle Raid (“Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo”, and , “The Doolittle Raid”), ineach book, the aircraft were described as having standard USAAC ‘camoflage’, and markings. Meaningthat the a/c were overall standard USAAC olive drab on all top and side surfaces of the aircraft, and neutral gray below with a ‘feathered’ wavy edge where it met the topside color. Outside of national insignia, the aircraft only displayed the a/c serial number on the outside of the vertical tail with three numbers forward of the rudder/stabilizer seperation line and three numbers aft of it, and ‘U.S. ARMY’ in black on the lower surfaces of the wings, with the ‘U.S.’ being on the lower right wing, and the ‘ARMY’ being on the lower left wing.[2c][2c]
The Doolittle Raiders were definitely dressed down. The props did not have the yellow tips. On the Accurate Minatures kit the numbers on the rear stabilizer are yellow, with the typical dark stencil line in the middle. I think this is accurate.
Thinking way back, if I recall correctly in “30 Seconds” there is mention of the Navy sanding down the edges of the props to take out nicks and such. They were then re-painted without the yellow tips. Just something that sticks in my mind.