a family P51 skin request

[Vraciu]

Can't seem to leave this skin alone.   I am only updating the progress for the OP.  Don't judge it just yet.  (No true spec or bump maps in these shots so apologies for that.)   I have learned a thing or two since I put JO-BABY out there.   Working on MOLLY as a follow-up to JB taught me a lot.   JO-BABY was/is my pride and joy but this skin will wind up being way better than her or MOLLY.   What I learned doing those I will apply now, then I will make MOLLY and JO-BABY better with what I have learned HERE.   Pretty crazy how it works.

Any way...

Will clean up the name on the canopy later.  Just trying to get the size right.

The upper wing skin looks choppy in parts.  I will fix that.  Ignore it. (I am trying to make the flaps appear different from the wing itself.  I haven't blended everything as yet.  It will look okay when I am done.)

[tmetal]

The progress looks great vraciu   I recieved a picture of his full plane whoo hoo The large letter on the tail is a "C" and the number is "463490".  I'll try to post the picture on Monday

[Vraciu]

The progress looks great vraciu  I recieved a picture of his full plane whoo hoo The large letter on the tail is a "C" and the number is "463490".  I'll try to post the picture on Monday

Great news.   I look forward to seeing it.   Figured the number would be 43 or 44 to start.  Italian Theater Groups did strange stuff though, markings-wise.

[tmetal]

as promised:

[Vraciu]

Terrific.   Very helpful.


Now we need to determine what colors the letters are...

[Saxman]

Probably either black or dark blue, comparing to the other markings.

[tmetal]

I think they are black, but it is anybodies guess as to what color the cut in parts of the stencils are. They seem to be a lighter color than the yellow of the tail.

Also, I don't want to seem ungrateful here but it appears to me that your placement of the "wee willie" on the nose is too far aft. "wee" seems centered under the exhaust stack and the first half of "willie" is also under the exhaust as well.  If it is too much trouble to move it then no worries. Thanks again Vraciu.

[Dragon Tamer]

I think they are black, but it is anybodies guess as to what color the cut in parts of the stencils are. They seem to be a lighter color than the yellow of the tail.

Also, I don't want to seem ungrateful here but it appears to me that your placement of the "wee willie" on the nose is too far aft. "wee" seems centered under the exhaust stack and the first half of "willie" is also under the exhaust as well.  If it is too much trouble to move it then no worries. Thanks again Vraciu.

Agreed that the nose art is too far back. It also looks like it should be black while the insignia and it's lettering should be insignia blue semi gloss.

As for the spacing between the numbers on the tail, I don't think they are painted. It is a different color but I think it might be bare metal instead of the yellow that would have been there. If it's not, it's possibly a shade of white.

As for the glare shield, it looks too black. I would try changing it to a more olive color. It looks to be a lighter shade so try RGB: 95/94/78. I would also put a black mark around the prop spindle near the back to simulate a gap there. This will keep the spindle from looking like it's fused with the rest of the aircraft.

[Vraciu]

Also, I don't want to seem ungrateful here but it appears to me that your placement of the "wee willie" on the nose is too far aft. "wee" seems centered under the exhaust stack and the first half of "willie" is also under the exhaust as well.  If it is too much trouble to move it then no worries. Thanks again Vraciu.

It is not in the right place.  Just a temp placeholder while I get the scripting down.   I will move it around to where it is supposed to be once I get the color and the font correct.

Constructive criticism is always welcomed.   

[Vraciu]

Agreed that the nose art is too far back. It also looks like it should be black while the insignia and it's lettering should be insignia blue semi gloss.

As for the spacing between the numbers on the tail, I don't think they are painted. It is a different color but I think it might be bare metal instead of the yellow that would have been there. If it's not, it's possibly a shade of white.

As for the glare shield, it looks too black. I would try changing it to a more olive color. It looks to be a lighter shade so try RGB: 95/94/78. I would also put a black mark around the prop spindle near the back to simulate a gap there. This will keep the spindle from looking like it's fused with the rest of the aircraft.

To me the WEE WILLIE looks like it is the same color as the spinner.   What say you?

[Vraciu]

Probably either black or dark blue, comparing to the other markings.

Insignia Blue was suggested.   You agree?

What squadron was this?   This group had black and red tail codes that I know of for sure.   

[Saxman]

Insignia Blue was suggested.   You agree?

What squadron was this?   This group had black and red tail codes that I know of for sure.   

Could be, it's hard to tell. The black and insignia blue markings look very similar here.

[Dragon Tamer]

To me the WEE WILLIE looks like it is the same color as the spinner.   What say you?

The problem is that the none of the colors appear to match in the photo. If we look at the tail, we know that it's supposed to be a yellow, but it's a dark color so it's probably a flat yellow instead of gloss. This makes it look in the photo like it's actually a shade of orange or possibly a light shade of red. This makes it hard to tell but I'm certain that the nose is red. I'm going to say that the "WEE WILLY" is a shade of black simply because that was the most common color used when just painting letters on the nose. Even when there is more complex art the letters are usually black. It's too hard to tell if it's a gloss or flat black so I'll leave that decision to you.

Edit: I made this quick reference with the colors that I usually use. The OD colors on the right were flat so they would appear much darker than what is actually shown.

[Vraciu]

Well, what about a black QP and a blue or red C ?

[tmetal]

The C looks red to me, especially when compared to the tail letters of the planes behind it.