Originally posted by Krusty
What's the deal on that? Do they fully 100% close? Or is there some opening even when fully shut? Are they painted when shut, then they shift when in use?
Should we take this into consideration when skinning them?
Proper terminology is the "intercooler doors". There's a great 8 panel or so set of pictures that show the operation of the door in Bert Kinzey's book "P-47 Thunderbolt, In Detail and Scale" that shows the effect of the doors on the insignia in particular. The door was made of one part, and the 3D model has the door in the full open position, while the aft ducting is closed flush with the fuselage. In real life, the ducting portion was recessed into the fuselage. IMHO, I'm skinning the intercoolers in the 100% open position, which means the aft ducting should be shaded a good bit to simulate its open/recessed position. Without a good picture showing the effect on the insignia, its tough to describe, and I think the model would just stretch the insignia over the door anyway, so it may just be a personal preference type of deal. Basically, the door shifted forward to about the half-way position, then started moving out as it continued forward. Some units continued the insignia paint on the inner ducting to preserve a portion of the insignia with the door in the open position, some did not/did not have to given the designs of the insignias over the course of the war. When the door is open on a plane that has the "bar" type USAAC insignia, the forward vertical red or blue border is concealed beneath the fuselage where it slides forward, and you only see the horizontal border and a piece of the white bar. Its a very difficult detail to achieve given the model and the way the skin is stretched over the door. Again, I'd say any variation that at least gives some consideration to the effect would be appropriate, if it doesn't turn into one of those diminishing return type of things...
