B-29 nose art ?

[Rockin' Rob]

I have a question for someone in the know. My dad flew b-29s in the 501st Bomb Group which was based in Guam who flew night missions with experimental high gloss black undersides. I was in the hobby store the other day and Lord have mercy there's a 172nd B-29. Boom baby, you're mine. So here's my question. If I send someone some pictures can they make a decal out of these three pictures? Maybe it's a wild hair up my butt but if it doesn't cost hundreds and hundreds of dollars I might get it done if you guys think it's feasible because I don't know anything about this stuff.

 

[Jakko]

It's certainly feasible to lift the nose art from the first picture, but not necessarily all that easy. The main problem is correcting for the curvature of the fuselage, because you need to "unroll" the artwork to print it as a decal that will be the right size for the model. Once that's been done, you can get it printed from any one of a number of (small) companies and enterprising individuals who offer this service.

I would definitely recommend using the first photo for this instead of the mural, BTW, because the one on the bomber is the actual nose art rather than a later reproduction of it.

 

[Rockin' Rob]

Yes that first photo is the best one. I'm thinking I might just try free handing it. But then again by the time I get to the end of the build I might just go the heck with it and use the decals that came with it

 

[Jakko]

If you can paint that well, I would say that's probably your easiest option For myself, I would be trying to turn the photo into a decal, but like I said, this is not as simple as it would be with a marking that's on a flat surface.

 

[BarleyBop]

free handing

I've never done it, but maybe a hybrid approach?
... a decal that is only outlines, then fill in with paint once applied and coated.
I find that printed decals are hard to get even, dense colour, but an outline should be no problem. I'd draw one, then copy with several slightly different sizes on the same sheet, then print on plain paper to test against the model.

As for estimating scale, place a piece of tape on the plane side, then make two marks: one where you think the top of his hat would go ( in line with bottom of side window), the other at the bottom of his shoe toe.
Remove the tape, place flat, and measure.

A scan of your photo would need to be distorted a bit to make up for perspective and the cylindrical shape of the fuselage, but you should be able to get something half decent.

 

[Jakko]

Removing perspective is simple enough in Photoshop, but getting the curve out … Other than eyeballing it or laboriously working out by hand how far to stretch each row (or rows) of pixels, I don't have any suggestions.

 

[Rockin' Rob]

I think it was a good idea to start with but I knew from the get-go it was going to be a hassle. Me no like hassles. I'm retired. But I do appreciate the feedback.

 

[Jakko]

You could always model the plane as it was before the nose art got applied