As for the white edges I literally flipped a coin. It came up white. Fellows painting is the only source that shows them and Jack might have put them on for artistic effect. That said, some 7th squadron fighters had them, and DeHaven's might have also. What I never did find was a black strip of some kind of protected material that the pilot would use on entry and the ground crew while working, so that I left off and laid it on pretty heavy with colored pencils.
Books. Spending a decade learning and writing about the Pacific War has done absolutely nothing to help my modeling. Although I admit that when I got back into the hobby I decided I'd do a kit of every aircraft and ship type that I wrote about and only now think the results are tolerable enough to proceed.
I'm semi-retired now, although I still confuse students teaching history for a few classes. I still do a fair amount of writing but it's minor stuff like essays and book reviews. A major book is a real mouthful and it would have to be on Vietnam (the topic on which I started writing) because the time for oral histories of WWII is sadly past. I've got four books in print and I think they are all good in their way. Life is pretty sweet right now I'm actually having a fine time playing with models and chasing striped bass. Never say never I suppose, but I'm not sure I'd even want to gather the intensity and concentration required for a project that would take two years of intense work minimum. That's even longer than it takes to build a Dragon tank. Thanks for the kind words.
Eric