Description
PYND72015 includes nose art and other non-standard markings for FOURTEEN (14) B-24Ds!
This set covers the TIDAL WAVE markings for fourteen of the most interesting 9th Air Force B-24Ds that participated in the mission. Ships from both the 98th and 376th Bomb Groups are included.
Especially note the three of only five 376th Bomb Group Liberators that made any attempt to attack the Ploesti refineries (while the remainder of the group flew in a huge circle around the city—well outside the Flak belt—and salvoed their bombs in open fields and streams on the way back to Benghazi) are included in this decal set. Major Norman Appold in G.I. Ginnie led his two wingmen, Per-Diem The Second and Brewery Wagon to very successfully attack the 93rd Bomb Group’s briefed target, WHITE II (the Concordia Vega refinery). Ginnie and Per-Diem made it home but Brewery Wagon crashlanded just south of Ploesti and her crew was captured.
With a handful of exceptions, the two 9th Air Force bomb groups did not perform well that day, but their airplanes sure had some great nose art!!
| Nickname | Block | Serial | Code | Gp | Sq | Pilot |
| Bashful/Jersey Jackass | B-24D-CO | 41-11776 | O | 98 | 343 | McGraw |
| Black Jack | B-24D-1-CO | 41-23661 | U | 98 | 415 | Hahn |
| Brewery Wagon | B-24D-25-CO | 41-24294 | 36 | 376 | 512 | Palm |
| Chug-A-Lug | B-24D-CO | 41-11766 | V | 98 | 345 | Morgan |
| Daisy Mae | B-24D-CO | 41-11815 | G | 98 | 415 | Ellis |
| G.I. Ginnie | B-24D-85-CO | 42-40657 | 74/U | 376 | 514 | Appold |
| Hail Columbia | B-24D-CO | 41-11825 | V | 98 | 344 | Kane |
| Per-Diem The Second | B-24D-CO | 41-11935 | 60 | 376 | 514 | Storz |
| Sneezy | B-24D-5-CO | 41-23795 | I | 98 | 344 | Lebrecht |
| Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | B-24D-53-CO | 42-40364 | Y | 98 | 343 | Gunn |
| Teggie Ann | B-24D-85-CO | 42-40664 | 100 | 376 | 515 | Compton |
| The Sandman | B-24D-55-CO | 42-40402 | W | 98 | 345 | Sternfels |
| The Vulgar Virgin | B-24D-20-CO | 41-24198 | C | 98 | 344 | Taylor |
| The Witch | B-24D-CO | 41-11840 | P | 98 | 343 | Darlington |
Note this set includes a 44-page history/configurations/markings booklet!
Here are some quickie profiles so you can see what’s included:
This ship carried the name Jersey Jackass (its original name & artwork) on the right side nose, and Bashful on the left side nose. The decal set instructions go into detail about this.
Black Jack received a replacement fin from a green B-24D right after returning to Benghazi after teh TIDAL WAVE attack due to serious damage to the original fin. The decal set includes the green fin markings confirmed by color photos.
Hail Columbia was Col John R. Kane’s ship he used to lead the 98th Bomb Group into Ploesti for their minimally successful attack against the largest and most important refinery in Romania, Astra Romana. Kane added additional fixed .50 machine guns in HC’s nose to bring the total forwarrd firing guns to either seven or eight (the instruction sheet goes into this detail). Was he a frustrated fighter pilot??
Per-Diem The Second was one of only THREE 376th Bomb Group B-24s to successfully attack a refinery on 1 August 1943. Her camouflage finish was really torn up, which will make a really eye-catching model!
Teggie Ann led the entire TIDAL WAVE formation from takeoff to the formation separation over Albania or Yugoslavia.Under mission commander Brig Gen Uzal Ent, it also led the first formation (376th Bomb Group and 93rd Bomb Group) through the early turn at Targoviste, Romania, that turned the formation towards Bucharest rather than Ploesti. As a quite new airframe, note Teggie’s Sand camouflage was markedly darker than the faded Sand on most other 9th AF B-24Ds.
(Note all artwork here is intentionally distorted for copyright purposes. The actual decals and instructions are not distorted, of course.)
