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However the nose strip doesn't seem to be white but yellow. Two next shots of the "Sweet Seventeen" reveal that clearly. Please that the B-17 seen in the background ( in the first image ) had the strip of the same colour. Also these three pictures show that the B-17G got the name firstly and then the art was added.
The colour pic posted above by you presents the art without the name that seems to be removed or overpainted. If it is an origin colour shot but not a coloured one, the strip might have been re-painted with the white for some reason and the name of the plane removed. But why? - I don't know. It is my opinion.
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Hi Wurger,
Appreciate the Input I hadn't noticed in those other pictures that the name was already on. Curious why it's not in the color picture maybe that section received some damage? ...
I see. I would like to pay your attention to the 441 number applied at the B-17 nose. It was an ending of the plane serial applied there often. However there is no strip of any colour seen there. So it might have been different kite. Could you get a better scan of the pic with the "Z" tail and your Grandfather? The serial there isn't seen at all.
OK. Having better scans of these images we could use the Photoshop or another graphic program in order to minipulate shades, colours etc. Sometimes it helps a lot.
Is the pic below an enlarged one of the "Gallipolis Special" factory data?
I would say the serial was of 43-38874 to 43-39079 range what was for B-17G-100-BO batch. There is "1" at the end of the serial and the digit before the "1" seems to be "5". As a result the serial may be 43-38951 or 43-39051.