Yesterday I added some information to a post about B-25 decals and sexy nose art girls.
I'll repeat the details: There was a B-25J-1, s/n 43-27769, called "Miss Fancy Pants", tail number 19, belonging to the 445th BS, 321st BG in the MTO. There are a few photos showing the fancy (sexy) nose art and they survived - check
here.
Here is a photo of the a/c with a GI , standing in front of it.
I was not satisfied with the 2 photos of the nose art only and without any idea who did it, was any particular pin-up model copied etc. I couldn't sleep! But I had luck and with some help (ChatGPT - AI can do good job as well, just has to be guided properly), I think the mystery of the "Miss Fancy Pants" nose art is finally solved.
After comparing dozens of posters, wartime lingerie ads and telephone-themed pin-ups, I found the original source of the brunette with the phone. She comes directly from a George Petty illustration made for a Bestform lingerie advertisement published in LIFE magazine on August 14, 1944.
The squadron artist copied Petty's girl amazingly faithfully — the face, the hair band, the smile, the perky tits, the ribcage structure, the telephone and even the characteristic Y-shaped phone cable flourish are all there. He then "customized" her for the aircraft by removing most of the clothing and adding the transparent sexy "fancy pants," probably inspired by another lingerie ad, burlesque costume or simply from imagination.
See another George Petty pin-up girl with all these details + transparent clothing:
What is fascinating is that this was not copied from a famous Vargas or Petty poster at all, but from a commercial underwear advertisement that happened to circulate among servicemen during the war.
The local artist deserves enormous credit too. He was not just tracing a pin-up — he adapted the artwork beautifully to the curved B-25 nose section and created one of the most memorable Mediterranean Theater nose arts in the process.
Check the comparison between original add and nose art below:
Cheers!
