Five skin packs will follow shortly.
When I painted the -5 last year, I painted all the section leaders from both squadrons that flew the -5 before the adoption of camouflage. Despite my compulsive tendencies it was impractical to do that with the early, round-tailed Cats as they were flown by more than twenty squadrons. I tried to mix up the squadron and section colors and to minimize (though not completely eliminate) duplication in tail markings, and still came up with nineteen skins.
By the end of the pre-camouflage identification system there were six different patterns for tail colors specified to identify squadrons: solid color, 1 horizontal band, 2 horizontal bands, one vertical stripe, 2 vertical stripes, and checkers. Each pattern was to be applied in each of the Navy's six identification colors: Insignia red, Insignia White, True Blue, Black, Willow Green and Lemon Yellow. there was also a seventh color, Aluminum, that was only used as a solid color. Finally, towards the end of the period the squadrons in the Philippines replaced their identification colors with red-white-blue rudder stripes to put themselves in full compliance with the Hague Convention, which still listed the rudder stripes as part of the American national aircraft insignia.
The same six colors, in the order listed above, were used to identify sections within the squadrons. Most of the older patrol squadrons had four sections (red, white, blue and black.) Many newly formed squadrons only had two sections (red and white.) A few had five sections (adding a green section.) No patrol squadron had enough planes for a sixth or yellow section.
Every one of the possible tail color/pattern combinations was assigned to a patrol squadron, but not all of those squadrons were operational on the PBY before the adoption of camouflage ended the system. Some old squadrons were still flying older equipment like the P2Y, and some new squadrons hadn't received their PBYs yet, or hadn't even been established yet, when the old system was discontinued.
I painted one plane from each patrol squadron that I could find reference material for (two for VP-101 in the PI because I especially like the way two of the section colors look with the red-white-blue rudder stripes.) I could have produced more skins if I'd painted planes from utility and training squadrons that flew the round-tailed Cats, but that would've duplicated tail colors in use by patrol squadrons, and with nineteen skins already, I felt no compulsion to paint more - especially ones that wouldn't look much different from some that I'd already done.
Anyway, the skin packs are on their way up the pipe and should appear shortly after the model does on the download list.
Enjoy!
Thanks a bunch guys 
This is a nice complement to the Alpha PBY-5 and 5A I already have installed. Saw the tail light right off, it's location is for the original PBY-5A. Thanks for the fix!
....ha ha! Really glad you like it, as I say wouldn't be here without Alphasim.
