Oddball57

Wonderful job on the Cat! It’s always been one of my favorite aircraft. I wanted to add a note about the markings, specifically the dark surround on the national insignia. The dark blue surround is actually correct for the three colour camouflage you chose. In 1943, the American insignia was changed from a simple white star in a navy blue roundel to the star, roundel, and bars. However, the folks in charge of the change insisted that the insignia also include the colour red, as in the American flag. Since red was also the colour of the Japanese insignia, most American units in the Pacific Theater chose to paint over the red surround, having found earlier in the war that gunners and fighter pilots would fire on anything with red markings. The blue paint used for overpainting the red was whatever was in stock, so often it was darker than what was on the factory painted insignia. The government finally got wise a few months later, and eliminated the red from the insignia altogether. Academy did their homework!