Aftermarket Decals for Monogram 1/48 B-29

I recently saw Enola Gay at the Udvar-Hazy Center in D.C., the letters are pretty standard, but, don't forget that they were painted on with brushes. In the right light, you can see brush strokes, so you may want to see if you can find a way to do this. But, anyways, I'll see if I can post some of the pics I took, does anyone have a good way of posting pictures on these forums?

You have an original release that included all of the A-bomb materials prior to all of the controversy and political correctness that came about back in the mid-90s when the Smithsonian displayed portions of Tibbett's Enola Gay.

Maybe it's the age of my stashed. Monogram 1/48th B-29 but the included decal sheet has markings for

the Enola Gay, Bock's Car, and a non 509th bird called "Thumper".  It also has the parts to do a silverplate

conversion, instructions for two methods of doiing the conversion and a Shep Paine diorama booklet as

well as both A-Bombs...

Ray

I just joined the FORUM... a few years latter for this but Super Scale decals has the 509th decals if youcan gettem. ...48-627 Enola Gay, 48-628 Great Artiste, 48-44 509th numerous nose art...but no Bocks car, I'm looking for one too.      Dale

Those are great references, Chris. A book on the 509th with over 350 photos... Amazing.

Still can't believe there aren't decal sets for the Hiroshima and Nagasaki mission aircraft (all political-correctness issues aside). Also, as a previous poster on this thread pointed out, the 1/48 B-29 is practically a billboard for creative nose-art. Your book only strengthens that perception. What a great big, shiny canvas to work with!

However, the kit build is not for the faint-of-heart... I think I'm gonna stand on the sidelines and watch for awhile...   

Here's the pics

I have a great book "The 509th Remembered" Autographed by the navigators of the "Enola Gay" and "Top Secret" and one of the survivors of the U.S.S. Indianapolis.  It has all the history and specs. of the a/c as they were built.  It also has full color shots of the nose art of the a/c.   I'll see if I can figure out how to post.

                                                                                                     Chris

Thanks, 2-7. Lots of info abt that I've just been through tonite. 67 B-29s converted/ built for atomic weapons. wow!

bondoman wrote:

For both Enola Gay and Bockscar, and I would imagine Great Artiste, the turrets have to go, except the tail.

Atomic bomb B-29s were called Silverplates.  Meteor had a conversion kit for this but we all know what happened there.  Here's a book on the Silverplate B-29s. 

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&endeca=1&isbn=0786421398&itm=8

For both Enola Gay and Bockscar, and I would imagine Great Artiste, the turrets have to go, except the tail.

Back again...

Have checked out FeldMarSchall's build and it's pretty inspiring! Almost makes me want to pull the trigger on my own project...

Been researching 'Enola Gay' - and the nose art for the aircraft is simply that name in block letters. Apparently, Lt. Col. Tibbets, who flew the mission, was not the regular pilot of that particular B-29, but rather the 509th's wing commander. He decided at the last minute to fly the mission to Hiroshima, and had his mother's name painted below the cockpit window to honor her only the night before... I'll leave each of you to your own opinions of the appropriateness of that gesture!. For the record, Tibbets later stated publicly that he regretted christening the bird as such... Hindsight is always 20/20.

And no, Enola Gay wasn't his mother-in- law!!!

With all that said, can anybody direct me to a resource on making your own decals? I know some of you guys do that, but it's way beyond my experience. If my research is accurate I would just need to do block lettering in the proper font and scale... The rest of the markings should be easier to source.

Thanks for your help!

DWR 

PS - FeldMarSchall - Keep Going! 

The historic significance of the the Bocks Car and the Enola Gay needs no explaination...

But if I had a big model of a big bomber, I'd adorn it with a juicy, pin-up gal... Gawd knows there were a lot chickees put on the Superfort...

 (imo) of course...

As far as finding those decals, I don't know if there made at anymore.  My guess would be looking over ebay, I bet they would be hard to find.  But for the kit I must say, its truly at BIG bird.  I'm pretty close to putting a NMF on mine, I'm doing a in flight display.

DWR,

If you're not too hung up on the Enola Gay 'cals, consider heading over to meteorprod.com and check out the B-29 decals there.  They are pretty nice.  The standard insignia decals are better than the kit 'cals.  The corrected cowlings are a nice asset, too.  Just type in B-29 on their search and everything you need will pop up.  Forewarned though, Meteor is going out of business on the 18th.  Shop early.   

Thanks everyone who had a look - and for the reply post. It's as I thought; there doesn't seem to be much available as far as 'Enola Gay' or 'Bock's Car' decal sets go...

I figured I'd scout out the situation before I committed to purchasing the kit (although it looks like a great build in and of itself). I really wanted to model one of these two aircraft as I'm an avid student of history. I hoped I could have one of thosetwo warbirds flying over the rest of my workbench...

Thanks again & God bless,

DWR