F-14 FLIR CAT

Military nose artist is very rare, during Pel's time in the Navy he had the privilege to work on various types of art projects for the squadrons that he was part of ranging from a hand-painted plaque in front of the F-14 training facility on NAS Oceana in Virginia Beach, VA. to art in the ready room for VF-103 on the USS Saratoga.  The F-14b FLIR cat nose art painting is his most notable to date.  The art later became a collectible model by the Franklin Mint and made into decals by various companies.

PELNYC - Pel painting VF-103 FLIR catPELNYC - VF-103 FLIR cat

PEL picked his color scheme from each side based off of graffiti lettering color palettes of the time. He did two different colorways on each side because he didn't have enough paint to make them match. PEL used One Shot Lettering paint to ensure the durability of the artwork especially in-flight, but also to give a contrast against the flat matte paint used on all F-14s.

 

 The test flight of this plane with the Lantrin system on it was flown by Capt. Dale "Snort" Snodgrass, who was also a consultant on the movie "TOP GUN" starring Tom Cruise.  The artwork later was made into a limited edition die-cast metal collectible by the Franklin Mint.