Nose art ID help

MacF · **Joined:** Wed Jul 06, 2005 5:30 pm **Posts:** 3

Guys, I hope you can help. I'm looking for info on a piece of nose art in a UK museum collection that may be USAAF in origin but equally could be RAF or RCAF. I'm thinking USAAF because of the subject matter and the sheer extent of the work. You may have seen a couple of pictures of nose art on B-29s and 25s featuring one of the characters from the 1945 "Three Caballeros" Disney animated feature (usually the chicken 'Pancito'). This example features all three 'caballeros' plus three other Disney characters including Goofy, with the aircraft name "The Six Caballeros" which I can only think alludes to six crewmembers, but doesn't definitively prove much at all. The Pancito character is in the centre, with the others surrounding. I'm told the reverse carries an inscription of the letter W with three numerals, initially mistaken for an RAF serial number. The skin panel structure has dual rows of substantial flush rivets, and one pair of skins have an unusually diagonal 45 degree join between them rather than being butted together at right angles. The sheer size suggests something of B-24 size as a minimum. The surface finish is either very dark green or black (hard to tell in artifical light), not USAAF OD.

Any leads or thoughts gratefully received.

Tulio · **Joined:** Mon May 03, 2004 1:05 am **Posts:** 3236

Disney also did cartoon work for Canadian aircrew and squadrons; I did some research for someone here at WIX if I am not mistaken, a couple of years back, regarding some of these units that trained in the USA.

I don't know if I still have the scans that I made of those cartoons, but let me see what I can find.

A good source -but definitely not the most complete- is "When Disney Donned Tags" which is a study on the subject.

Saludos,

Tulio

MacF · **Joined:** Wed Jul 06, 2005 5:30 pm **Posts:** 3

Many thanks Tulio. Any idea where I might find the source you refer to? A Google turns up zip, as does a search on Abe books.

Tulio · **Joined:** Mon May 03, 2004 1:05 am **Posts:** 3236

MacF:

Try this:

http://www.mouseplanet.com/alex/dogtags.htm

the book I am talking about, and the one I have, appears on the left side of the page (small size) versus the one on the right, which I had not seen before.

Saludos,

Tulio

^^^^^^^^^

WOW!!!

I just went to Amazon, and the price they ask for a copy of this book (out of stock by the way) is $68! This is insane! I paid no more than 10 for mine, brand new. Half Price books had it, but don't know if they still do.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... ce&s=books

Tulio

bdk · **Joined:** Sun May 02, 2004 1:16 am **Posts:** 11324

Tulio wrote:

WOW!!!

I just went to Amazon, and the price they ask for a copy of this book (out of stock by the way) is $68! This is insane! I paid no more than 10 for mine, brand new. Half Price books had it, but don't know if they still do.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... ce&s=books

Available through a link on Amazon (drop shipped), not actually from Amazon directly. This is the same way ABE Books and Bookfinder does this. I think Amazon just adopted their methods to take advantage of the used and overstocked book markets.

MacF · **Joined:** Wed Jul 06, 2005 5:30 pm **Posts:** 3

Thanks again; this book looks like my best bet. If it's not in there I think it would take a veteran to see a photo of the artwork and recognise it. Pretty unlikely, sadly.

Tulio · **Joined:** Mon May 03, 2004 1:05 am **Posts:** 3236

Probably your best bet would be to try to contact the author of the book, don't you think?

Either he knows the information you seek, or he will connect you with someone who does.

Saludos,

Tulio

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