It's important to remember with invasion stripes, as with so much else WWII-related, the only accurate answer is "it depends". There's plenty of evidence of really sloppily-done invasion stripes, and plenty of evidence of carefully-done invasion stripes, and all ranges in between.

For example...some done with more care than the Spitfire shown above.

I imagine it was probably a matter of several factors - advance notice, availability of masking materials, of spray guns vs. brushes, persnicketiness of the crew chiefs, etc.

Remember that the order came down overnight and the various crews did what they could do, however, it's quite likely that most of the stripe-jobs were "tightened-up" a few days after the 6th, when the OPTEMPO slowed a bit (and the crew chiefs decided they couldn't stand to look at sloppy stripes anymore)...

One that was initially sloppily-applied could easily be properly masked and repainted starting around the 9th or 10th...  In reality, it doesn't take but a couple/three hours to paint them on, depending upon the size of the aircraft... Obviously, a Spitfire or Mustang can be done quicker than a C-47, Sterling, B-26, etc...

stikpusher

God bless Google

The closest 61 in this shot looks like it is OD/NG, while the other two certainly look black...

Was looking through that Wings of Fame issue again, and that photo's in there.. The OD bird is "Hustlin' Hussy", and the decals for it come in the Monogram kit..

Hans von Hammer

Remember that the order came down overnight and the various crews did what they could do, however, it's quite likely that most of the stripe-jobs were "tightened-up" a few days after the 6th, when the OPTEMPO slowed a bit (and the crew chiefs decided they couldn't stand to look at sloppy stripes anymore)...

One that was initially sloppily-applied could easily be properly masked and repainted starting around the 9th or 10th...  In reality, it doesn't take but a couple/three hours to paint them on, depending upon the size of the aircraft... Obviously, a Spitfire or Mustang can be done quicker than a C-47, Sterling, B-26, etc...

Yup... D-Day was originally scheduled for June 5th (a Monday) and was postponed for 24 hours on the evening of the 4th (a Sunday). So the original orders for the stripes had to have come down around on the 3rd or so to have the aircraft marked in time. Now this is just a SWAG, but its the weekend, all passes off base have been canceled because of the upcoming mission, and you are handed buckets of paint, brushes and told to go paint stripes on planes. Do you think you will be overly happy and doing your best work at that point?

I heard a rumor that the world might end this December, if it doesn`t, count me in!

Len

Yeah, they couldn't give the order to paint the stripes too far in advance, not with Jerry still flying photo-recon missions and suddenly seeing hundreds of aircraft appear with black & White stripes on 'em.. The weather DID work in the Allies favor for that particular thing..

Now this is just a SWAG, but its the weekend, all passes off base have been canceled because of the upcoming mission, and you are handed buckets of paint, brushes and told to go paint stripes on planes. Do you think you will be overly happy and doing your best work at that point?

Oh, I can just hear the belly-achin' goin' on from the ground crews, with the exasperated line-chief finally telling his P/O'd crew-chiefs and armorers, "I don't CARE about you and your effin' passes bein' canceled, just go paint the the effin' stripes on the planes..

NOW, dammit!"..

*Grumble-mumble-mumble-grumble*

Gamera

Hans von Hammer:

Badge One- For Allied figures and Infantry dioramas and vignettes..

Planning on Armor, Aviation, Naval ship,  for both sides, Allied and Axis.. (""Der Längste Tag"...)

 

Hans looks great to me! If you want to add more great but I think this one gets the point across quite well.

After thinking about it, I decided that your're right, but will go with the one Allied, and one from the German POV:

Doogs, persnicketiness, really. I thought you were making that up, but no, its a real word. What you do, swallow a bloody dictonary

Suits me on the GB badges Hans, can get a bit to much with to many.  That German one is spot on

~bump!~  Listening to CBC Radio with a special report on the infamous Dieppe Raid. Apparently there was another objective beyond just a trial-run for Overlord.

COUNT ME IN! Long time to actually settle on a kit too but the term DUKW comes to mind. Not 100% on that but pretty sure that's what I'll end up doing.

Vance, Overlord was still a very nebulous concept at the time of Dieppe. While many lessons learned there were later applied in Overlord, it was never intended as such a rehearshal for the main landing. It was actually more of "lets see what we can do with this force" type of thing. And a demonstration to the Soviets that the Western Allies were able to raid Europe but not able to hit and stay as they were demanding.

Mike, Italeri makes a very nice DUKW in 1/35.

Yup it's been sealed in a public storage locker since it came out....just no excuse to build it until now

Even though this is a few months away, I'm a starter for sure.  At the moment I'm thinking of Tasca's M4A1 Sherman with Hedgerow cutter although I will probably change my mind before the start date. These marking come with the kit so this is probably what I'd go for.

Hans, I love the badges, both of them are very dramatic. But....The American helmet for allied figures...it represents only Americans. There were lots of other nationalities and Brits and Canadians had significantly different helmets. IMHO, this badge kinda exludes them, especially since the GB is about all allied participants. Can the badge be modified? Maybe add a British style helmet?

The German badge, was it taken from the Saving Private Ryan? Do you think the German badge can be simmilar to Allied but with a Geman helmet? Just a thought.

Cheers...

Good idea, but the hedgerow cutters weren't used for a month or two after D-Day.

I`m in...if I don`t forget about it....

After digging around to see if there was something else that caught my eye, I officially decided on Italeri's 1/35 DUKW. With a swap coming up 1st week of October I'll see if I can find a decently priced howitzer to use as the cargo load and of course I'll probably add verlinden and eduard sets to it.

iraqiwildman

Good idea, but the hedgerow cutters weren't used for a month or two after D-Day.

I hear what you are saying Tim and agree.  I didn't plan on using the hedgerow cutter with the Shermy I plan to build, it's just supplied with the kit for one of the decal options.

Cheers

I might be interested in this GB.  And just to be different I would consider a Sherman.  I will be watching and waiting.

Kim

castelnuovo

Hans, I love the badges, both of them are very dramatic. But....The American helmet for allied figures...it represents only Americans. There were lots of other nationalities and Brits and Canadians had significantly different helmets. IMHO, this badge kinda exludes them, especially since the GB is about all allied participants. Can the badge be modified? Maybe add a British style helmet?

Well, I gave that some thought, and while I don't wanna exclude anyone, I can't put everyone in it either. Their were three distinct Allied helmet types, the American M-1 "Steel Pot", the classic "Tommy" helmet used by the Brits and British Commonwealth units, and the Brit Paras had their own helmet too... But, since Omaha Beach was arguably the bloodiest battle of the Day, and an American beachhead, I thought that the American helemt would convey that message better, and it IS associated quite readily with the movie, "The Longest Day", and the "helmet-shot" on the beach being the main movie poster... 

What I CAN do is add a bar to the bottom, with the flags of the various Allied countries with the highest involvement, that being the American, British, Canadian, and French flags.  If someone is good with Photoshop, I'd like a volunteer to do just that and submit it.

Here's a rough sketch:

The German badge, was it taken from the Saving Private Ryan? Do you think the German badge can be simmilar to Allied but with a Geman helmet? Just a thought.

Yeah, the photo of the German badge is from SPR.. I looked for a photo of a similar pose of a Stalhelm, but with no luck..

I bought Accurate Miniatures Focke-Wulf Fw-190A-8 Josef Priller on D-Day kit. Forgot to mention it in this thread. I think I read its a rebox of the Eduard kit.

Well Hans, I'm not from the UK/Commonwealth but I like the Allied badge. 

iraqiwildman

Good idea, but the hedgerow cutters weren't used for a month or two after D-Day.

Ironic too.. The steel used to make the hedgerow cutters was "supplied" by the Germans.. From their very own "Hedgehog) beach obstacles...

Good work on the badges Hans, fitting.

Cheers

Tony

Instead of trying to encompass every country through their flags, what about using one of the maps with the beach heads on it.

I'm not suggesting the below one, it's just to illustrate what I'm talking about.

Just a suggestion.

Hans von Hammer

Well, I gave that some thought, and while I don't wanna exclude anyone, I can't put everyone in it either. Their were three distinct Allied helmet types, the American M-1 "Steel Pot", the classic "Tommy" helmet used by the Brits and British Commonwealth units, and the Brit Paras had their own helmet too...

Actually, the Brits had three (or techincally four) helment types for Normandy:

The classic Mk II

The new Mk III "turtle style" which was first used by some of the British assault troops

The Para's helmet

and its' close cousin, the Tankers Helmet, also introduced into combat in Normandy

But I kinda like the GB Bdge map idea myself....

Not sure how to encompass the beaches into it...  Maybe a section of the map above (with the WW2-era Canadian flag though) in the bar under the photo?

Trouble is, I'll lose a lot of detail once the badge is shrunk to proper thumb-nail size..

stikpusher

Hans von Hammer

Well, I gave that some thought, and while I don't wanna exclude anyone, I can't put everyone in it either. Their were three distinct Allied helmet types, the American M-1 "Steel Pot", the classic "Tommy" helmet used by the Brits and British Commonwealth units, and the Brit Paras had their own helmet too...

Actually, the Brits had three (or techincally four) helment types for Normandy:

The classic Mk II

The new Mk III "turtle style" which was first used by some of the British assault troops

The Para's helmet

and its' close cousin, the Tankers Helmet, also introduced into combat in Normandy

Then I'd have to add US Tanker helmets, Brit berets, etc., and then I'd also get Flak from the USAAF, RAF, Luftwaffe, RCAF, etc. because I didn't have the flight helmets and "50-Mission Crushers"...

Let me rephrase that to be "steel helmets". None of this wussy non ferrous stuff on a troopers head 

We still got over a year to go boss. 

Yeah, and we've filled four pages already, lol..