Massimo Tessitori Posted November 11, 2021 Share Posted November 11, 2021 Hi all, Tapani is working on profiles of Soviet A-20, and now he is facing photos of a plane with the U.S. slogan 'We dood it' and many paintings that was delivered to SU. I've asked to Andrey Averin, that answered that this is a gift from Richard Red Skelton - an American comedian and actor, best known for his radio and TV shows of the period 1937-1971; in particular, for "The Red Skelton Show". He added four links: http://ava.org.ru/bap/1gm.htm# https://bellabs.ru/51/Photos/1GMTAP_WeDoodIt-01.html https://bellabs.ru/51/Additions/Article_Pravda-277.html https://ok.ru/nashiioni/topic/63553187897416 Now, this photo shows a lot of strange marks, probably of American origin. Increasing the contrast, I think to see: a light 32, an horizontal line and an angled one on the oval on the nose; the painting of a sort of painting and a dark-skinned woman behind it, and her legs and skirt under the painting; close to it, the head of a blonde woman; a round with a sort of clover inside a circle. Could these be marks of fuel, oil firms, or any sort of mark of a firm or association? Can anyone recognize any of the marks? Regards Massimo 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWM Posted November 11, 2021 Share Posted November 11, 2021 Hi Massimo, Richard Skelton played a main role in a movie "I dood it" from 1943 (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036025/) so it is very likely, that the paintings refers to characters and the situations from this movie ("We" instead of "I" only...) . A dark skin lady could be Lena Horn, who played there as well. The painting looks for me more like a flag, especially that left from it there is a vertical line suggesting tree-tree. The flag has for sure one diagonal in three colors... Maybe one should watch this movie to get mere inputs. Regards Jerzy-Wojtek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWM Posted November 11, 2021 Share Posted November 11, 2021 P.S. Here is trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILkVIoFOHWs And here is whole movie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzPDzddXi8Y Since it is a musical the ovals could be notes??? Regards J-W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbob Posted November 11, 2021 Share Posted November 11, 2021 Some of those "ovalish spots" look vague enough that they could just be blemishes on the photograph? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackG Posted November 11, 2021 Share Posted November 11, 2021 1986 article from The New York Times Archives https://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/06/world/soviet-recalls-red-skelton-gift-a-warplane.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Massimo Tessitori Posted November 11, 2021 Author Share Posted November 11, 2021 Quote Richard Skelton played a main role in a movie "I dood it" from 1943 (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036025/) so it is very likely, that the paintings refers to characters and the situations from this movie ("We" instead of "I" only...) Looks a good idea. They have some resemblance to two of the actresses, but I don't know if they were the main female characters. The square thing could be some fabric thing taped to the plane over the painting. Strangely it is not visible in another photo, but it is real without doubt. This could be put by Soviets. Quote Some of those "ovalish spots" look vague enough that they could just be blemishes on the photograph? the ones on the nose and cowling appear in more than one photo. The doubt can be on the supposed women. Quote 1986 article from The New York Times Archives https://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/06/world/soviet-recalls-red-skelton-gift-a-warplane.html Good, this is much clearer than the article in Russian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dervish Posted November 11, 2021 Share Posted November 11, 2021 4 hours ago, gingerbob said: Some of those "ovalish spots" look vague enough that they could just be blemishes on the photograph? Exactly what I was thinking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kari Lumppio Posted November 11, 2021 Share Posted November 11, 2021 Hi! "We doo'd it" decals are available in 1/72 Authentic Decals sheet: https://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Rev6/5501-5600/rev5567-Authentic-Decals-AD72-44/00.shtm May need some hunting. Cheers, Kari Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Massimo Tessitori Posted November 12, 2021 Author Share Posted November 12, 2021 Hi, Quote Exactly what I was thinking. I don't think. The one high on the fuselage, close to the wingroot, is partly covered by the prop blade and the profile of this is sharp, so it could be a defect of the plane but not of the photo. Just, I think that the place is very hidden for an artistic painting. Quote "We doo'd it" decals are available in 1/72 Authentic Decals sheet: https://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Rev6/5501-5600/rev5567-Authentic-Decals-AD72-44/00.shtm Good suggestion, I see that Ruchkovsky has worked on this sheet, I'll contact him. Regards Massimo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackG Posted November 12, 2021 Share Posted November 12, 2021 (edited) Having difficulty seeing any semblance of a pinup image on aircraft. Anyhow, wiki names two actresses that starred in the discussed movie, Eleanor Powell and Patricia Dane. For both can be found images that could be categorized in the pinup genre, but neither had major Hollywood careers compared to some of the other personas of the golden era. Combined they had a total of 27 movies, 4 of which Patricia Dane was not given credit. regards, Jack Edited November 13, 2021 by JackG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Massimo Tessitori Posted November 13, 2021 Author Share Posted November 13, 2021 Hi, thank you, I pass to another question. I would know what were the visual differences between the Boston III and the A-20C. The cut of the glazing should be the same, is there another way to distinguish them? Thanks for any suggestion. Massimo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWM Posted November 13, 2021 Share Posted November 13, 2021 19 hours ago, JackG said: Eleanor Powell and Patricia Dane. Hm,... Both are not blond hair so do not match the blondie figure, and darker skin lady could be Lena Horne, who stared there as well . Regards J-W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tempestfan Posted November 15, 2021 Share Posted November 15, 2021 On 11/13/2021 at 2:06 PM, Massimo Tessitori said: Hi, thank you, I pass to another question. I would know what were the visual differences between the Boston III and the A-20C. The cut of the glazing should be the same, is there another way to distinguish them? Thanks for any suggestion. Massimo The Boston III has a collector ring with single stack exhaust, the C has (IIRC) a part collector ring with both combined and individual "jet" exhaust ports, well visible on the close-up above. The one above also appears to have the larger carb air intakes with rear-mounted dust filter, which I think were a feature of mid and late Gs. The gunner's position is not visible, but I'd say this is a G (in case you did not ask that III/C question for a different purpose...). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Massimo Tessitori Posted November 19, 2021 Author Share Posted November 19, 2021 Thank you all. Now I've collected some books to deepen the differences between the variants. I will credit Alex Ruchkovsky for having shared his researches on the Soviet conversions of A-20G to add a navigator cabin. Regards Massimo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Learstang Posted November 19, 2021 Share Posted November 19, 2021 Even if women were painted on the aircraft in America, I don't believe the Soviets would have allowed any kind of 'pinup' women on an aircraft serving with the VVS (or ADD, or AVMF, or PVO). Best Regards, Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Massimo Tessitori Posted November 19, 2021 Author Share Posted November 19, 2021 Quote Even if women were painted on the aircraft in America, I don't believe the Soviets would have allowed any kind of 'pinup' women on an aircraft serving with the VVS (or ADD, or AVMF, or PVO). Probably. But it could explain the paper or fabric sheet taped on the side as a censure for photographic purposes. An alternative explanation for what seems the head of a blonde woman could be a Guards mark, that should have a similar look and seems more likely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWM Posted November 19, 2021 Share Posted November 19, 2021 The ladies are dressed up very properly, so the Soviet censors could have no objections to it. What is named the "fabric sheet" for me is an illusion - this is painted a kind of a flag. Left from this (so toward nose) there is also tree-tree painted. Regards J-W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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