Another stunning creation by Al Merkling, "Photo Queen!" portrayed the mission of the 20CMS in a new and very appealing light to men incarcerated on remote Pacific islands. His work on the titling style alone would have been a fine embellishment to any aircraft but his figure work was simply magnificent. It is hard to appreciate the extreme conditions under which he worked. Burning temperatures instantly dried the paint which was a mixture of shellac lacquers, house paint and USAAF official airplane paint, thinned with high-octane fuel and applied with a rough and ready collection of available brushes. In spite of all this, Merkling's skill reigned supreme and he produced some of the finest examples of nose art to be seen in the Pacific region.

"Photo Queen!" flew its first combat photo mission on 16th April 1944 and completed a further 13 sorties before being retired due to combat damage. If anyone has information on the dates and targets of those missions and the circumstances of the aircraft's demise, please make contact.

© Ray Bowden