discussion Exotic camo?

[Guest]

Afternoon All anyone tried any of these? have a feeling the spotty one would be hard.

Cheers Paul

 

[Guest]

They are really exotic...for me, the most difficult is the third

 

[Guest]

I'm thinking....you can propose it for a GB....."Strange or Exotic Camouflages"

 

[Guest]

could do Pink.

why would they have these paint jobs was there any logical explanation? I get way ships had zebra camo but why these paint jobs on something that moves a lot faster?

Cheers Paul

 

[stona]

Here's one of these assembly ships done by a friend of mine. I'm sure he won't mind me borrowing a watermarked picture, there will be more over on Aeroscale, as the mark suggests, if you can find them. This was from a few years ago.



Yes, it did leave him seeing spots

IMHO the third one down would not be that difficult to mask. It's all straight lines and no stripes or other markings with a different coloured border. I won't be doing it though!

Cheers

Steve

 

[Gern]

could do Pink.why would they have these paint jobs was there any logical explanation? I get way ships had zebra camo but why these paint jobs on something that moves a lot faster?

Cheers Paul

Like Steve said. These were assembly ships that used to guide aircraft into their formations etc on large bombing raids.

 

[papa 695]

Well worth a group build idea

 

[Guest]

Like Steve said. These were assembly ships that used to guide aircraft into their formations etc on large bombing raids.

Ah I see but was this a good idea? surely they stood out more then the others and made them a target for enemy fighters?

Cheers Paul

 

[stona]

Ah I see but was this a good idea? surely they stood out more then the others and made them a target for enemy fighters?Cheers Paul

They were used to help assemble the formations of bombers before they set off across the North Sea for targets in occupied Europe and Germany. This typically happened over East Anglia, well away from the unwanted attentions of the Luftwaffe. The assembly ships did not fly on the raid itself. It was not necessary and would have been folly for the reasons you have mentioned.

Cheers

Steve

 

[Guest]

Ah I see get it now.

 

[Guest]

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[Alan 45]

I struggle with a normal camo so I won't even attempt this

 

[stona]

These aircraft were first authorised for use used by the B-24 Groups of the 2nd Air Division of the US 8th Air Force in February 1944. They were also known as 'Formatting Aircraft' or informally 'Judas Goats'. Judas goats lead a herd to the slaughterhouse, but are spared themselves to repeat the job another day. Most of these units were based in the Norwich area, hence my reference to East Anglia. A few B-17 Groups also used them.

The assembly ships were seen as a solution to the problem of crews joining up with the wrong formations. The shape, size and integrity of a USAAF bomber formation at this time was a vital component of its defensive tactics. There was also a high accident rate amongst inexperienced crews attempting to formate in the wrong formations.

I have seen it asserted that some assembly ships did fly missions, but I don't believe it and have never seen any real evidence for it. The aircraft converted for use in this role were war weary aircraft which were deemed unfit for operations by the units flying them. They were also unarmed and unarmoured, fitted with extra lights (for Group identification) garishly painted to aid identification (their raison d'etre) and flown by a minimal crew. It beggars belief that they would have set off on an operational mission over enemy territory.

At least four B-17s were used by the 303rd, 379th and 384th Bomb Groups. There were many more B-24s used. The 448th BG used four, as did the 458th. The 491st used three. The 466th and 467th used two each. The 489th and 491st used one each. There were certainly more, I'm no expert on the 8th AF.

When the heavies of Bomber Command started flying daylight missions late in the war they also adopted colourful markings, usually on the vertical fins of a unit's aircraft. These were not Judas goats, and they did fly the raid.

Cheers

Steve

 

[Adrian "Marvel" Reynolds]

Hmm, I like unusual schemes I may just have a go at one of them, I did this a few years ago as a talking point on the club table, slightly copied off an old Black and White picture I found, but really want to try and do one of those polka dots schemes

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Adrian

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