B-17G "Sleepy Time Gal" 381st BG

[oboe]

Fencer51 originally skinned this aircraft.  I think the 381st BG has one of the best-looking liveries in the 8th AF.  Not many specifics on this plane.  I know there were multiple B-17s that carried the name "Sleepy Time Gal".

Delivered Tulsa 24/2/44; Gr Island 3/3/44; Grenier 24/3/44; Assigned 532BS/381BG [VE-O] Ridgewell 6/4/44; 47+m Returned to the USA Bradley 29/5/45; Reconstruction Finance Corporation (sold for scrap metal in USA) Kingman 18/11/45. SLEEPY TIME GAL.

[Nefarious]

Amazing Bare Metal work. Great job.

[Vraciu]

Nicely done, Oboe.

[Devil 505]

I love it.

[lyric1]

 

[FTJR]

 

[Greebo]

Great looking skin Oboe, well done.

[whiteman]

A1

[oboe]

Thanks all.   

A few things I'm just noticing now - the leading "2" of the serial number should extend rearward off the tail onto the rudder.   And I think I need to square off the corners of the "O" ID letter on the tail.   It really looks more square-cornered in the photo than the AmarilloUSAF font provides.  I've already sharpened it I bit but it looks like I need to square it off further.

The cowl flaps appear to be painted, maybe with anti-glare paint, around the entire circumference of the engine.

And the main exhaust grime streaks that sweep rearward across the wing top appear to be on the inboard side of the engines only - I have them evenly split between inboard and outboard side.

I can't decide - it looks like the "L" in the triangle on the top of the right wing is cut out of the black triangle, showing the aluminum skin underneath, rather than painted on with white paint.  I've never heard of this but it looks like it.   Mine is white but I faded it way down.

[Volron]

I'm going to point out a couple of things I've noted and in response to one of your notes:

The L on the wing appears to be metal to me, my reasoning is: look at everything else painted white on the aircraft.  It's very clearly there (which brings me to another point after this), while the wing L has no white to it.  Even at an angle, you'd still be able to make out the white.  Further reference is with the 2 on the rudder.  It stands out, and that is on metal.  If the wing L was white, it would really stand out due to the surrounding black.

The L on your wing is thicker, slightly "longer"?, and appears slightly off (a bit far to the right inside triangle) vs the L on the wing in the photo.  The one in the photo is thinner, shorter (smaller), down slightly, and over to the left more inside triangle.  This is what I'm seeing anyway.

The other point: The "white" de-icing stripe is missing from the tail on your aircraft, where it's quite visible in the photo.  At the very least in the photo the strip matches the color of the L and serial number on the tail.



Mind you, I've only gone off the photo you posted as comparison. 

[oboe]

Good eye Volron, thank you.  There are a few other photos taken around the same time I can use for comparison also.

Never heard of a white de-icing strip...I thought they were made of rubber and could be inflated slightly to break off ice trying to form, but perhaps its just white trim paint on the leading edge of the tail?   What a job it would be to paint that!
 
Check out this version of the picture.  I was fiddling with the viewing angle on my laptop screen with the screenshot still up, and the color of the image changed as the screen viewing angle decreased.  I found I could duplicate the effect by increasing the contrast and decreasing brightness by 50% in Photoshop.  Just thought it was sorta cool:

[LCADolby]

Never heard of a white de-icing strip...I thought they were made of rubber and could be inflated slightly to break off ice trying to form

Yeah, I've never seen white Boots. The white on the tail looks more like a painted surface

[Vraciu]

The Gulfstream 200 jet has boots.  It was not a good look so they started painting them silver to give the illusion of a heated leading edge like a "real" jet has.  Lol.

[Drano]

Looking good!

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

[Vraciu]

One source says that de-ice boots on B-17s were often removed once in the theater, save for the vertical stab.   Photos of various formations show a mixed bag--some with, some without.