Author Topic: Helluva Skin (Read 1442 times)

cav58d · « **on:** June 21, 2006, 03:47:03 PM »

I know we have a lot of Mustang skins, but I would love for this to be added

anyone take a stab yet?

Guppy35 · « **Reply #1 on:** June 21, 2006, 03:51:11 PM »

Not even remotely historically accurate.

Gotta be careful when using current warbirds as an idea for an AH skin. Some are completely by the book. Others, like this one, are someone's idea of a paint scheme but not historical.

cav58d · « **Reply #2 on:** June 21, 2006, 04:52:37 PM »

Dang! I really like that skin....Stupid non historically accurate paint jobs =(

Knite · « **Reply #3 on:** June 21, 2006, 05:28:05 PM »

I know it's not the same plane cav, but I'm working on a P-51D skin that's pretty colorful and different from those out there, so I'm hoping I can get it snuck in the rotation.

It's a P-51D, from the 374th FS, 361st FG called "Bald Eagle" and flown by Lt. Robert Eckfeld who had 7 kills.

Here's a "modern vision" of it

and my very VERY early skin work (a sneak peek). I've done a bunch since then, but I'm kinda in crunch time at school, so I'm expecting completion to not be until late july/early august.

Krusty · « **Reply #4 on:** June 21, 2006, 06:12:03 PM »

One suggestion: The upper surfaces aren't blue. They're more charcoal. The nose color is used for all the other parts. The nose color SHOULD be olive drab, a dark shade of green. I think that the modern version isn't correct in having it all charcoal.

Knite · « **Reply #5 on:** June 21, 2006, 07:04:18 PM »

Hi Krusty :

I thank you for the suggestion. The reason I have it blue as I do (and I keep forgetting to change the tail color), is that a few profiles I've found had it as blue. Although I think you may be right that i'm going a little too blue. Unfortunately, the 2 D pony references I found that weren't modern restorations are coming up "file not found" so I deleted the bookmarks. But I can show a B illustration showing it as all blue. Although, most references I find point to the plane being B7-E and not P7-E as this illustration is showing.

I'm also wondering if I should do this as a 51B instead of a 51D, since I no longer have good 51D references other than the "repaints"

Widewing · « **Reply #6 on:** June 21, 2006, 07:23:14 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Guppy35
Not even remotely historically accurate.

Gotta be careful when using current warbirds as an idea for an AH skin. Some are completely by the book. Others, like this one, are someone's idea of a paint scheme but not historical.

You see some sky-blue paint jobs simply because the old Kodachrome negatives suffer from color shift when exposed to heat and humidity, turning most greens into blues. A few warbird owners have spent less time researching the paint schemes than they do examining a menu...

"But, I have a picture...."

My regards,

Widewing

Guppy35 · « **Reply #7 on:** June 21, 2006, 07:28:20 PM »

Also understand that there is a small group of folks who believe the 361st FG used blue in thier camo. NO vet recollections support this. It has been argued in the model building community forever and clearly some of the warbird owners have bought into it.

The camo should be OD

Here's an image of the wartime Bald Eagle. It should be a B model with the early hood. The camo was OD. The trim was blue and yellow.

Guppy35 · « **Reply #8 on:** June 21, 2006, 07:32:21 PM »

This would be a better bet for a yellow nosed 361st bird. It's the B model of the Group Commander Thomas Christensen. It's color photos of his later D model that have caused all the speculation on the blue camo.

Guppy35 · « **Reply #9 on:** June 21, 2006, 07:40:36 PM »

One of a series of color photos taken of Lou IV and 3 other 51s of the 361st. They are some of the most well known wartime 51 shots out there.

The film used, the aging of the color in the images etc has lead some folks to believe that it was insignia blue or something similar used to camo the upper surfaces.

The pilot of the 2nd plane in the flight is Urban Drew, a well known 51 ace. He's stated, on many occasions that the camo was OD. I asked him myself an an airshow years ago. At this point they were flying ground support missions over Normandy and it helped to have the OD to make them harder to spot from above. Col. Christensen in Lou IV was killed on one such mission.

Again, it's the danger of using warbird photos to support a historical skin.

Knite · « **Reply #10 on:** June 21, 2006, 07:42:24 PM »

As always Guppy, you have an insane amount of information. =) Thanks as always. Us lowly skinners appreciate the hard work you help us with more than I can express. =)

I completely understand what you mean about the "discussions" about the color used. I've read some that say blue was used. Others saying olive drab. I've seen mention of olive drab, with blue and yellow trim, except along the nose which was white striping over the olive drab (in the case of Bald Eagle anyway).

Ok, so if I switch to a B, then along the nose and the trim panels, would that still be blue/yellow, and on the nose it'd be a blue/yellow wedge down the sides of an OD panel?

Also, no offense meant, but there's something about the straight lines and contrast (especially the nose) that are in the Bald Eagle's paint scheme (Not to mention it's named after our national bird

) that I like, so I'd prefer to stick with this one, unless you all with more knowledge think the importance of a different plane would be a large enough issue? I really want to make sure i do things properly and repectfully enough. =)

Fencer51 · « **Reply #11 on:** June 21, 2006, 09:14:45 PM »

Unless I am wrong the "Bald Eagle" was never on a P-51D. It was a P-51B scheme that the owner of that plane like so much he put on his D model. So before you go through all the trouble of doing that skin on a D please make sure it is historically accurate.

Don't get me wrong I hope it is a D model as its a neat scheme.

See the following for more pics of it.

1st Pic
2nd Pic
3rd Pic
and of course Mustangsmustangs.com

Cheers

Guppy35 · « **Reply #12 on:** June 21, 2006, 10:12:40 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Knite
As always Guppy, you have an insane amount of information. =) Thanks as always. Us lowly skinners appreciate the hard work you help us with more than I can express. =)

I completely understand what you mean about the "discussions" about the color used. I've read some that say blue was used. Others saying olive drab. I've seen mention of olive drab, with blue and yellow trim, except along the nose which was white striping over the olive drab (in the case of Bald Eagle anyway).

Ok, so if I switch to a B, then along the nose and the trim panels, would that still be blue/yellow, and on the nose it'd be a blue/yellow wedge down the sides of an OD panel?

Also, no offense meant, but there's something about the straight lines and contrast (especially the nose) that are in the Bald Eagle's paint scheme (Not to mention it's named after our national bird ) that I like, so I'd prefer to stick with this one, unless you all with more knowledge think the importance of a different plane would be a large enough issue? I really want to make sure i do things properly and repectfully enough. =)

No prob by me Knite

The more skins the merrier. I appreciate the work you gents do getting em to look so good

Here's a better profile of Bald Eagle showing the upper wing and tail too.

Guppy35 · « **Reply #13 on:** June 21, 2006, 10:13:32 PM »

Closer view of the profile

Knite · « **Reply #14 on:** June 22, 2006, 04:53:25 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by Guppy35
No prob by me Knite The more skins the merrier. I appreciate the work you gents do getting em to look so good

Here's a better profile of Bald Eagle showing the upper wing and tail too.

Amazing. I got more information in 24 hours by you than in a couple months of occasional looking myself.

Is there any skin you're hoping that gets done that hasn't yet? I'd be more than happy to work on a skin specificially for you to try to pay you back a little bit. Doesn't have to be a P-51 either. Could be anything we have on the roster. I can't garuntee expediency of completion unfortunately, but I'd be more than happy to do a request. =)