Help! What was the Correct Tail Number for P-61A 'The Creep'? 42-5594 or 42-5560?

[Tokyo Raider]

Hi Guys, I am on my long awaited P61A Project 'The Creep' in 1/48.  I had custom decals made with the black widow spiders for the spinners too!  It is a favorite P61 scheme...

 

I have the old microscale decal sheet from the 1980's in 1/72 which has the tail number in RED and 25594 for the creep.

 

Observing the photos of the Creep, it is not a Gloss Black P-61A-10, it is earlier Olive Drab Scheme P-61A-5 or A-1, which would make tail number 25564 or lower.  Photos of The Creep have the last two digits unreadable do to dirt.  It kinda looks smeared and 94 like the old microscale sheet has, but its clearly an A-5 or earlier airframe.

 

I have since found photos calling out the famous The Creep photo as 25560,  Same source calls out Fearless Fosdick P-61A as 25560 also!  But FF is a gloss black P61 so cant be 25560.

 

Does anyone know where I can confirm this?  Or is it the usual exercise of just a guess and build the model and have fun?

 

Thanks!

 

 

[Lawzer]

There’s a photo on Flickr originally titled as the creep 42-5560 but someone commented it should have been 42-5550. Guess that doesn’t help too much! 😬

[RAF4EVER]

Acc: http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1942_1.html

 

42-5560 (425th NFS, "Fearless Fosdick") w/o in landing accident at Etain-Rouvres, France Nov 22, 1944. Condemned salvage no battle damage Nov 24, 1944

 

42-5594 reclamation completed Oberpaffafe AB, Germany Jan 10, 1948.

 

 

hope this helps.

 

Geoff

[EwenS]

From one of the Hyperscale forums:-

 

More info on "The Creep", from Northrop's Night Hunter: P-61 Black Widow:
 

c/n 782 (ie: 81st P-61/YP-61/XP-61, 65th production P-61A) P-61A-5-NO 42-5550
Available 3/17/44. Accepted 3/15/44. To Sacramento Air depot 3/20/44. To Newark, NJ for deployment 4/25/44. The aircraft left the U.S 6/1/44 for England. To the 422nd NFS 6/14/44. To the 425th NFS 8/20/44 Aircrew included; Lt. Richard R. Gray and R/O Lt. Jack W. Robinson. The Crew Chief was Sgt. C.J. Seale. The aircraft was credited with two kills - a Ju 188 by Lt. Gray and Lt. Robinson 12/29/44 and a Me 110 Lt. Ormsby and Lt. Howerton on 12/31/44. Put into storage 4/12/45. Stricken 11/19/47. Named The Creep.