MAAM P-61 Gets Nose Art – Introducing “Moonbeam Dream”

By Nick Chismar

Just over a month ago, in June 2024, the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum (MAAM) unveiled a brand-new paint job on their Northrop P-61B Black Widow, USAAF #42-39445 / N550NF. The massive fighter sat proudly, fully covered in gloss black paint, as visitors from around the country stopped to take photos during the museum’s 33^rd Annual World War II Weekend. Just recently, during the museum’s members’ day picnic on July 20th, there was another unveiling to do. After 79 years, their P-61 has its own identity and nose art; Moonbeam Dream.

Work was well underway just two weeks before the member’s day event. Tucked inside the main hangar, Hummelstown, PA artist Jennifer “Hot Rod Jen” Thomas was steadying her hand against the side of the P-61. Jen’s interest in warbirds began with family ties as both her uncle and grandfather had flown Stearmans and worked alongside her father on the Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation’s Douglas C-54 Spirit of Freedom. While Jen is well known for her automotive pinstriping, the P-61 is not her first piece of aviation nose art.

Recently, Jen painted the nose art on the Wings of War’s Cessna T-50 Bobcat, known as Bamboo Betty, which made its this year’s WWII Weekend. Not long after completing the T-50’s nose art, a photographer suggested she contact MAAM President Russ Strine. It wouldn’t be until this year’s WWII Weekend that she could pass a card along, but it wasn’t long after that she was in contact with Russ, and things kicked off from there.

As Jen would tell me, there are some times when clients may not know exactly what they want, but not in this case. Having nose art on the P-61 has long been something Russ wanted to do. Since the aircraft had crashed only four days into its career, the crew never had the opportunity to properly name their aircraft. So, Russ set out to find something that he felt fit the project. Selecting from a book of Vargas pin-up girls, Russ looked for one that wasn’t too risqué or similar to that on their B-25 Briefing Time. The moon and stars were selected to symbolize how the P-61 fought in the night sky. He then chose the name Moonbeam Baby and added a full-size cutout to the aircraft which many visitors may recall seeing over past years. This name, however, was only intended to be a placeholder for inspiration.

The name Moonbeam Baby never really sat well with Russ, and after some time he decided to change the name to Moonbeam Dream. As he would tell me, “I was never really comfortable with the name ‘baby’, and I thought about it. I thought that the P-61 was a dream of ours, not only in acquiring it but restoring it to flying condition.” With the nose art already selected by Russ, Jen went to work.

With the full-size cut-out at home, Jen began by making tracings of the artwork and letters. Patterns and an electro pounce were made of the letters while the surface was thoroughly cleaned to begin painting. The image of the girl was first hung and then transferred using Saral paper for the outline and to be blocked in white to make it easier for skin tones to be painted. Using urethane and sign painting enamel paints Jen began the process of painting the nose art. Jen would use the Axalta urethane paint for the lettering and to block in the white and yellow on the pinup as well as for the moon. As a more aggressive paint, it bites into the black paint of the fuselage offering a sturdy base. For the rest, Jen would use 1-Shot lettering enamel to complete the nose art on the aircraft. Working from roughly 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM, and with an immense amount of skill and a steady hand, the nose art would slowly go on over the course of three days.

When member’s day came around and the first visitors rounded the tail of the museum’s replica Aichi D3A Val there was a sense of awe as they spotted the nose art. Comments could be heard about the level of detail and simply how impressive it was. As visitors continued and made their way to the other side of the P-61 they immediately took note of the emblem of the 550^th Night Fighter Squadron, painted completely by freehand on the aircraft. Painted to the emblem’s left however were three names. Beneath the cockpit could be seen the name “Annie” in honor of Russ’ late mother, painted in bright red. Below that and in a more subtle blue was the image of the iconic “Kilroy” with the words “Pappy was here. Brenda too.”: a tribute to Russ’ late father Eugene and Brenda Saylor, both of whom had spent countless hours to make their shared dream a reality.

 

After 79 years, the P-61 now has its own unique identity. For Jen, this would be a special moment. After moving to Allentown years ago, friends soon told her about World War II Weekend.  Jen said, “2006 was the first year I came here and I was hooked ever since.  …coming here for years and the amount of work that is going into this aircraft is amazing. I’ve seen it when it was just barely anything and I loved the story, and I’m just blown away to be a part of it…it feels like a dream.”

As Russ would tell me, “We needed to give the airplane our own identity, and this nose art, I think, accomplishes that.” With the names of the pilot Logan Southfield and radio operator Ben Goldstein who had been onboard during the fateful crash, the nose art is the final piece of the aircraft’s identity.

Special thanks to the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum and Jennifer Thomas for allowing me to photograph the process of painting the nose art. Thank you to Russ Strine and Jennifer for taking the time to talk about their process in this latest part of the restoration.

It has been a few years since we last reported on restoration progress with the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum‘s Northrop P-61B Black Widow #42-39445. As most of you will remember, a team from the museum recovered the aircraft from the side of Mount Cyclops in Hollandia, New Guinea during the late 1980s. They have made great strides in their effort to rebuild the WWII night fighter to airworthy condition, and we thought you would like to hear (and see) some of the work that has been going on with the Widow of late. Below are our two latest reports.

Mid-Atlantic Air Museum’s P-61 Black Widow Summer 2024 Update

Northrop P-61 Black Widow – July 2023 Restoration Update