A bundle of three skins for Shessi's B-17D Flying Fortress. They depict "The Swoose," the only surviving shark-finned B-17, as it appeared at three times in its long service as a staff transport in the western Pacific and the Panama Canal Zone.
THIS VERSION CONTAINS THE FIX for the 1945 skin.
The Swoose escaped from the Philippines in January 1941 and upon arrival in Australia it acquired a fresh coat of camouflage, the tail from another aircraft, and the name "The Swoose," inspired by the tail transplant and taken from the name of Alexander The Swoose, Half Swan And Half Goose, a popular cartoon character and the subject of a hit song. Retired from combat, it became the personal transport of General George Brett. It flew such dignitaries as General MacArthur and future President Lyndon Johnson. One skin depicts it as it appeared late in January, 1941.
The second skin depicts the plane as it appeared in 1943, all fancied up for a war bond tour with fresh camouflage and anachronistic national insignia with red centered stars and no bars. On the nose was a panel showing the flags of the many lands The Swoose had visited. (Or the the colonial powers that ruled them.)
Gen. Brett then took The Swoose to the Panama Canal Zone, where it flew military and diplomatic flights throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. By 1945 the plane had been overhauled and brought up to B-17E standards except for the gun positions and the shark-fin tail. Its camouflage was stripped but the flag panel and the Swoose artwork remained on the new shiny natural metal finish.
Skins by MIck, who just pasted the appropriate markings onto Shessi's base textures and slathered black paint on the undersides where appropriate.
THIS VERSION CONTAINS THE FIX for the 1945 skin.
The Swoose escaped from the Philippines in January 1941 and upon arrival in Australia it acquired a fresh coat of camouflage, the tail from another aircraft, and the name "The Swoose," inspired by the tail transplant and taken from the name of Alexander The Swoose, Half Swan And Half Goose, a popular cartoon character and the subject of a hit song. Retired from combat, it became the personal transport of General George Brett. It flew such dignitaries as General MacArthur and future President Lyndon Johnson. One skin depicts it as it appeared late in January, 1941.
The second skin depicts the plane as it appeared in 1943, all fancied up for a war bond tour with fresh camouflage and anachronistic national insignia with red centered stars and no bars. On the nose was a panel showing the flags of the many lands The Swoose had visited. (Or the the colonial powers that ruled them.)
Gen. Brett then took The Swoose to the Panama Canal Zone, where it flew military and diplomatic flights throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. By 1945 the plane had been overhauled and brought up to B-17E standards except for the gun positions and the shark-fin tail. Its camouflage was stripped but the flag panel and the Swoose artwork remained on the new shiny natural metal finish.
Skins by MIck, who just pasted the appropriate markings onto Shessi's base textures and slathered black paint on the undersides where appropriate.
