First you need something to paint on. Anything will do. I chose this big old bomber. Haha, ok, this is what was involved in the painting of the CAF B-24 in April. In case you missed the original post I made, I submitted some nose art sketches for the new identity of Diamond Lil and the officers from the B-24/B-29 squadron unanimously picked one of my sketches. And then came the question from Gary Austin, crew chief of the squadron and the man in charge of Diamond Lils transformation back into a real B-24A... "so do you want to paint it too?" Hell yeah! So I took my Dad, and friends olemuleskinner (Sean, fellow Huckster) and mikey to help out. I couldnt have done it without them. It was a ton of work and we had a blast. The first thing that was done is that we put the transparency that we'd made of the noseart on the overhead projector and we all decided on the exact size and location of the artwork....... Once we all agreed on the exact position and size of the noseart, we started tracing the outline onto the airplane. The two pieces of blue tape you see in these photos were index marks so that both sides of the airplane had the artwork located in the same place........... And naturally, secrecy was of the utmost while this work was being done. The nose art was to be kept top secret until the unveiling on May 12. And since it is a working museum, there were people nosing around constantly.
Let the painting begin........ Gary Austin posted some commentary with the pics on another board. I really enjoyed his perspective on our work, so I wanted to share that with y'all... “Chad was all over the place with this project. While Sean was working one side, Mike was starting on the other. Gary would come in and assist when any of the others would need a break. It was neat to see them all work together as a team like that..........” “Eventually, it started to really come together. I know they had a very difficult time with some of the paint covering as well as it should...particularly the yellow. But they never quit trying, knowing that they had a very short period of time to get this completed. I reckon we could've just airbrushed it on, but Chad and his team were very much in agreement with me that it MUST be painted on by brush, as they would've done it back in the day.........” "It was kind of cool to see Father and Son working together on such a neat project........" Another coat, and another coat, and another coat.........
Starting to look pretty goooood.... ...But there's still more detail work left to do.............. Every artist has to step back and check out their work every now and then. Man, I would just have to stop and take it all in. I was actually painting nose art on a B-24! Unreal. “Poor ol' Sean was starting to stress a bit towards the end of the project. They only had about an hour or so before they had to leave for the airport, so when the delimma of how to paint the prop arcs on the artwork popped up, he took control and did an amazing job of pulling off the effect we were looking for, in a VERY short period of time.........” Final signature!
The exhausted crew with their finished work. Left to right, Mikey, Sean (olemuleskinner), me and my Dad. The exhausted crew with their finished work with Gary Austin. “I must say that I was completely impressed with what Chad, Gary, Sean, and Mike were able to accomplish in such a short period of time. They were great folks to work with and I think it's safe to say that we all came out of this little project wondering how the heck the guys in W.W. II had the time and patience to paint the amazing artwork on the airplanes of the day, many times, in horrendous conditions. This was indeed a great learning experience for me. Gary” And it was a great learning experience for me as well. Highlights of the trip include an aircraft "scrap" yard, crawling around FiFi, the B-29, which is something few ever get to do, making machine gun noises in the back of a Helldiver, seeing actual cut up nose art fuselage panels in the museum (unfreaking believeably cool and awe inspiring), and of course painting the plane! It took the 4 of us 3 LONG days to do the art on both sides, not counting the "field trips". Not only was it one of the coolest things ever to happen to me (I've seen this plane at airshows since my first in '78, age 7), and I got to spend 5 days with my Dad and that is something that doesn't happen nearly enough. Made a new friend as well. Gary, their crew chief is one hell of a guy. I'm proud to have made a new friend in the process. Here she is out in the sun! The CAF is getting ready for the Airshow season. I know they plan on taking Ol 927 to Vegas, Oshkosh, Indy, Belleville IL, some shows in Texas. They're still working on the schedule. So go check it out. She's a great ole gal full of history.
Here are some pics from the various field trips too... http://www.hotrodhucksters.com/chad/caf playing with airplanes, scrap yards and having more fun than allowed.
My Son is doing a project on 'Nose Art' for school, showed this post to him and he is really inspired now to create something of his own. I think you should give yourself a pat on the back, nice job! P.
Thanks Paul, and that is great. I know I sure was inspired at that first airshow in '77. And look where it got me.
Django - Way Too Cool! Probably a once-in-a-lifetime experience - for all four of you. Beautiful work. Thanks for sharing!
My Jealousy Meter just went through the friggin roof! What an honor to lay hands and your art on a magnificent survivor like that.. Good for you, Bro! friggin jealous....
Chad.......that has to be the COOLEST art I have seen in a LOOOOONG time ....awestruck in Palookaville.
My uncle flew B-24's in the South Pacific during WWII. I wish he were still alive to see this; he would absolutely love it!! Great job. Something you'll always remember, and something we'll always enjoy looking at. Sweet work-Congrats to all...
GOOSEBUMPS. Man, that is so incredible. How's it feel to know that you just painted the name that plane will be known by? You can't call it Diamond Lil anymore! Gary seems like such a neat guy, I'd like to meet him sometime. Also getting to crawl Fifi.. MAN! I'm so jealous. I'm just beside myself. You did an awesome job btw. That is just perfect.
Django... Cheers to you, great job! Nice design. Was it originally a glass nose b-24? What types of paint did you use? Jerome
Great art work!! My wife has been in the CAF for over 20 years, guess thats why she collects pinup art............OLDBEET
That rocks! Thanks for taking the time to share,and since you can now add "nose artist "to your resume would you mind if I pimp you out? Another B24 in Fl is lacking its nose art at the present time and could use your skills.
Thanks for sharing, great work. Those B24's are big on the outside, but kinda tight when you get in em. Those tailgunners had it lonely. Awesome stuff, keep up the good work
Great work.It must have been an honor to yourself to have been selected to do it.By the way,will you be posting any photos of the work you did on Shake,Rattle and Run?
The Jalopy Journal
