In all fairness to the B-17 Alliance Foundation, IIRC, the "restored" nose was effectively a "new build" using the rotted out original for patterns for parts. Many of the other sections of airframe are also badly rotted out and will need to be replaced entirely. While the inside paint may not be "period and/or factory correct" they are still spending the time and $ to preserve & restore the air frame that was otherwise scrap. Had they left the aircraft alone, there would be nothing left to save.
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I understand all of that -- the problem is, they had to replace the sheet metal and if they left the metal bare (or clear coated), it would have been period correct.
This is 1960's mind set that ALL American aircraft were 100% zinc chromate... Anybody that built monogram from that time frame remembers that the interior was supposed to be green (according to the instructions)
If the B-17 Alliance Foundation had somebody on staff that knew what they were doing, they could have save a lot of money NOT painting (hell, just the disposal fees as extremely high).
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Again, in all fairness to the B-17 Alliance Foundation, the nose of the plane was restored in what '97 or '98? Its been 20+ years already. "Restorations" of eighties/nineties vintage, "period correct" was not so much of a concern. We are still talking about a time when the internet was in its infancy, and the technical manuals containing period correct knowledge were all still on microfiche. Keep in mind Shoo Shoo baby was "restored" in the same manner of "not period correctness", around the same time, by USAF personnel. Give it time, the Lacey Lady has a long way to go.
