Has anyone found/seen any pictures of a B-29 Superfort in olive drab? I thought I had one a long time ago, but can’t find it. I’m considering building a second one (my first was done in NMF, and poorly at that I might add) and I thought it might be fun to do something different. Anyone, anyone? [?]
I have the same problem i have seen them in olive drab but i cant remember where something to do with them being in europe some propaganda stunt i wish i could be more help now my curiosity is peeked ill do some digging.[8D]
I know I have a picture of one that was used to bring gasoline to china, it had esso express writen in yellow in the side and all the turrets removed, and if I remember right the prototype was O.D. with three blade props.
This website should have everything you need.
http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/URG/images/b29-009.jpg
http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/URG/b29superfortress.html
Scott
Go to the post from yesterday entitled B-29 in Europe. I posted a picture of one there. Although this one is an OD YB-29 there were other production B-29’s delivered in an OD scheme.
Heres some XB-29’s with 3 bladed props:http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/research/bombers/xb29-4.jpg
http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/research/bombers/xb29-3.jpg
These are two YB-29’s :http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/research/bombers/yb29-1.jpg
These are B-29’s :http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/research/bombers/b29-23.jpg
Only very early Wichita models had the OD over Neutral Gray scheme. I’ll have to check a few books out but I believe they went to natural metal from block-5 onward.
Thanks everyone!
The ol’ gal just don’t look natural in green.
Squadon’s B-29 in Action has a couple of pictures of operational OD/Neutral Gray 29s - including one of the three B-29s Tupolov used to “reverse engineer” the Tu 20 Bull
Actually the “Ding Hao” copied by the Russians was natural metal.
The author of Squadrons book must not have thought there was more than one B-29 with this name however.
The OD “Ding How” pictured at the front of the book was a Boeing Wichita Block 1 sn: 42-6225 while the “Ding Hao” that landed in Russia was a Boeing Wichita Block 15 sn:42-6358.
I’ve posted some images of the #1 XB-29 as well as a couple of YB-29’s and a B-29-1-BW over at ETO. You can check 'em out HERE.
I’ve also posted one shot of a 462nd BG formation which includes a single OD/gray Superfort; see it HERE.
Fade to Black…
Squadron Signal B-29 in action has one picture in black and white plus a color profile on the center page. The aircraft is olive drab upper surfaces with grey under surfaces. The airplane’s name is under the pilot’s cockpit and the font looks like something chinese and should not be to dificult to recreate.
The good thing about this particular aircraft is that it used standard four blade propellers. Some earlier versions of the B-29 were also finished with live drab but the used three blade propellers.
Hope this helps!
Found this one just today paging through one of my books. This was a B-29-1-BW stripped of its armament and used to fly fuel over ‘the Hump’ to B-29 bases in China.
How much do you think the paint weighed. I heard somewhere that B-29 were left with bare metal skin to reduce their weight.
Don’t know about the B-29, but I’ve been told a 747 has a ton of paint on it. Take that for what it’s worth, which isn’t much because I don’t know where I read/heard it. Sounds high. And now that I think of it, our man Robert is a professional aircraft painter, and if he’s with us, he will know what the paint weighs. I read somewhere else that it took 200 pounds off the B-17 when the OD/NG were removed toward the end of the war, but I don’t know if that weight includes the chromate or any other paint applied for anti-corrosive purposes.
BTW – Anyone know what Ding Hao means? I’ve seen it in on a couple of Mustangs too. Popular name. When LeMay had been there a while, just before the end of the war, he ordered all that beautiful nose art removed from the B-29s, replacing it with his special logo, that long arrow-type flash with a globe or something painted near the point. Crews didn’t like it and referred to it as “the ball and shaft.” Don’t know why, they just did.
Well… one of the reasons American Ailines goes with the NMF is to reduce weight. Also a lot cheaper if you don’t have to continuously repaint your planes much. You’d think a bankrupt United Airlines would figure that one out now that they are introducing yet another paint scheme. White is the heaviest paint of them all.
Silver (or NMF) is the official racing color of German race cars for this same reason as well. Less paint , less weight, drag, etc.
Shark,
Ding Hao or Ding How is Chinese for Very Good or Excellent. At least thats what I’ve always read. I’ve also read it means Good Luck too but I did an internet search and it kept coming up as very good and excellent.
Ding How, Old Battler, Monsoon Goon and Lady are three olive drab b-29s that make excellent modeling subjects. I am currently making Monsdoon Goon in 1/48 scale and the paint scheme is impressive. There were 100 OD b-29s in combat, according to my research, so why not get decals for ‘em? For the past 10 years I’ve been trying to get decal companies to market a sheet of decals for 1/48 scale OD B-29s but no luck. So I’m doing it myself’: handpainting the Monsoon Goon moniker and the hump missions onto my model. I’m using the Monsoon Goon profile on the back of Squadron Signal s B-29 on action bk 1. I enlarged the Billy Mitchell Group logo via computer and slapped it on both sides of my model. Then I had to fish for yellow serial numbers and mission markers from my box of old decal sheets. It’s all been fun but an official decal sheet or two would be really nice.
I would really like to see some pics of these 1/48 B-29 's on here,any takers? I am also looking for the Eagles Talon X-1- B-29 1/48 conversion kit .I have a few pix of O/D B-29 's as well .
Actually, it’s closer to “Work Together”, according to Tex Hill… Depends on whether you’re translating or transliterating…
Here’s the most famous “Ding Hao” (IMHO). P-51B “Ding Hao”, piloted by then LTC Jim Howard.
One of the few Mustangs that carried both German and Japanese kill marks… Major Howard scored early on with the AVG and later against the Germans, and also received the Medal of Honor ending off about 30 Me-110s, amaning to shoot down at least three and damaging most of the others. The last kill was accomplished with only one gun still working…
When Monogram first released it’s P-51B, back in the “Blue Box” days, “Ding Hao” was it’s subject and the kit is still one of the great ones, when Monogram got serious about scale models having great details rather than the “working features” earlier 1/48th kits…
