I am recovering a 1941 PT-13B for a client and he will be going for the all over silver dope and light grey on all metal pannels for the colour scheme.
From what I can see in the very few pix I can find is that the standard location of the national insignea is the side rear fuselage and the top of left wing and bottom of right wing.
Does any one maybe have an actual schematic of exactly where these markings went (with measurements ect) , the exact dimentions and colour of the markings?
It looks like standard “insignea white and insignea blue”
The star and bars with insignia blue circle were surrounded with insignia red (no red dot in the star). This order was issued sometime in 1943 if I recall correctly. The size, and colors, of the markings would usually have been the subject of a Technical Order for the aircraft type, e.g. PT-13, and place and type (e.g. training) of operation.
Try looking for Technical Orders for training aircraft, specifcally the type you are interested in, in 1943. Sorry I cannot be more helpful at the moment.
Theuns, are you wanting to do an accurate painting like the one in your photo? That photo is set at July-September 1943 with the Insignia Red surround on the star and bars. The other colors used are Insignia White and Blue. The Red was replaced by Blue as specified in September 1943. For an idea on placement, you can see drawings on the formula needed for placement in Dana Bell’s Air Force Colors, volume 1 and 3. For the best bet as mentioned by Rangerj, buy a digital copy of the maintenance TO as this would give you specific placement of the markings. There are a lot of places that sell these manuals. You can write the cost off as part of the build.
Theuns, did you want to do a USAAF PT-13, or a USN N2S-5 trainer? That photo is of a US Navy N2S-5.
Theuns, you want T.O. 07-1-1. I have the information on my computer at home but I will be away until the 28th. If no one has helped you by then PM me and I will get it to you.
My ckient likes the colour scheme of the one I posted, there are a few of the yellow and blue or grey PT 13/17’s with the “roundal tipe” insignea as per the fisrt replyer’s pic.
The plane will be rebuilt to represent a similar one like I posted.
I did think the colours would have been insignea blue and white, that now seems to be correct.
I will try find the technical specks WRT the size and placing od these markings, the service manuals we have do not give this info.
I must admit that for a 1941 built plane the wood is in really good shape, I stripped the old fabric last week and started to cover it again, next week I will be rib lacing the one wing…with my body nit being “a youngster” anymore it is always fun LOL
One can clearly see that Boeing desgned this for ham fisted pupils, it is really sturdy and well built. I recently built a DH-82 Tigermoth wing and does not even compare to the PT 13, granted the 82 is smaller and lighter - could it be that commenwelth pupil pilots were “lighter on the controlls” LOL!!!
Can you use that photo for the fuselage, anyway? Use a graphics program to size the image so that the fuselage is the exact length in the scale of the model. Then, measure from that photo.
For the wings, you may not see many -13s in that later marking, but I doubt that the positions varied from those on the -17, and pictures of wings of the later can maybe get you close.
The blue surround on the white bar was specified in use after August 14, 1943, so that gives a time period of use. Combat aircraft were required to change much quicker from the red surround due to the possibility of having it confused with the Japanese hinomaru. Trainers were very slow to get their markings changed. Aluminum dope was specified for trainers on July 20, 1942. The black US Army under the wings was specified to be deleted by manufacturers early in 1942, so in your case, it would have been covered by the next doping of the fabric.
