P-51B Mustang E9-V 361FG, 376th FS

[Vraciu]

Here it is guys.  Go easy on me.  I'm not Devil505 or Greebo or...or....or...     This is by far the best one I have managed to pull together.  The blue looks better in game than in the viewer.      I am still working on that--I will correct it.  (I think it is all these hours staring at the screen...screwing up my ability to distinguish different shades of blue!)

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This aircraft, P-51B-15-NA "Mustang" 42-106945 coded E9-V, was flown by Lt. Col. Roswell Freedman and assigned to the 376th Fighter Squadron of the 361st Fighter Group ("Yellowjackets"). At some point during its service as E9-V it bore the nickname “Smokey” but no photos of that scheme are known to exist.

This Mustang is notable for its "non-standard" bordered Invasion Stripes, a feature of the 376th.

The 361st FG entered combat with P-47 "Thunderbolts" in January 1944 then converted to Mustangs that same May.  The 361st served primarily as a B-17/B-24 escort organization, covering the penetration, attack, and withdrawal of bomber formations that the USAAF sent against targets on the Continent. The group also engaged in counter-air patrols, fighter sweeps, and strafing and dive-bombing missions. Attacked such targets as airfields, marshaling yards, missile sites, industrial areas, ordnance depots, oil refineries, trains, and highways.

The group supported the airborne attack on the Netherlands in September 1944 and deployed to Chievres Airdrome, (ALG A-84), Belgium between February and April 1945 flying tactical ground support missions during the airborne assault across the Rhine.

The unit returned to RAF Little Walden and flew its last combat mission on 20 April 1945.

[Devil 505]

Very nice so far. Have you tried adding any weathering to the metal and silver painted portions. It still seems a bit flat, but otherwise good.

[Vraciu]

Very nice so far. Have you tried adding any weathering to the metal and silver painted portions. It still seems a bit flat, but otherwise good.

Thank you, sir.


Weathering: I can try.  Any suggestions?   You thinking black stain type stuff?

[Devil 505]

Black, white, and brown. Think of specific areas where wear is likely to happen. Oil, dirt, and fingerprints would be brown and streaks from rain/dust would be black and white. I'll make a little tutorial for you later this week.

[Vraciu]

Black, white, and brown. Think of specific areas where wear is likely to happen. Oil, dirt, and fingerprints would be brown and streaks from rain/dust would be black and white. I'll make a little tutorial for you later this week.

Thanks, bud.   

[Greebo]

It is looking good Vraciu.

I agree with Devil it could use dirtying up a bit. One specific thing I notice in the colour shots in the research thread you posted is the exhaust staining. In the photos the aircraft have a pale brown stain running the length of the fuselage, curving up a little over the wing and then down towards the tail.

The USAAF insignia are a little blurry, like they have been resized. Also the blue looks a bit too bright to my eyes.

[Vraciu]

Good catch on the stain.  I will work on that. 

I have worked on the insignia coloring.  It looks better now. 

I am at loss on the insignia looking blurry.   Maybe I need to redraw them.   

[Vraciu]

The insignia gets fuzzy when I run it comes up on the viewer.   I am not sure how to fix this.

It looks fine from normal distance.  Only up close can you tell.    Suggestions?

[Greebo]

The blue looks a lot better.

To make the star less blurry you could trace over the edges of the existing star with a line tool set a couple of pixels wide and anti-aliased. Or just use the shape tool to create a new star. Either way I would create the revisions on a new layer and then merge it with the existing layer when you are happy with it. A lot easier to edit it that way.

[Devil 505]

The blue looks a lot better.

To make the star less blurry you could trace over the edges of the existing star with a line tool set a couple of pixels wide and anti-aliased. Or just use the shape tool to create a new star. Either way I would create the revisions on a new layer and then merge it with the existing layer when you are happy with it. A lot easier to edit it that way.

To echo what greebo said and add that to me your star needs the edges sharpened. Download and have a look at the default skins for the P-47D-25 that Greebo did. That should give you an idea of how much blurring to aim for.

[Vraciu]

The blue looks a lot better.

To make the star less blurry you could trace over the edges of the existing star with a line tool set a couple of pixels wide and anti-aliased. Or just use the shape tool to create a new star. Either way I would create the revisions on a new layer and then merge it with the existing layer when you are happy with it. A lot easier to edit it that way.

Bingo!!!!

How's this?  I think it looks 1000 times better.  (Spec mapping is turned off in the picture.)


That anti-alias line tool was the ticket.  I redrew the circle as a separate layer and merged it.   Worked like a charm. 

Thank you, sir.   

[Vraciu]

To echo what greebo said and add that to me your star needs the edges sharpened. Download and have a look at the default skins for the P-47D-25 that Greebo did. That should give you an idea of how much blurring to aim for.

Take a look and let me know if I got it this time.  I will check out the D-25.

[Devil 505]

Much better.

[Greebo]

Yes, that is a lot better than before.

[Vraciu]

Much better.

Yes, that is a lot better than before.

 

 

Thanks for the help guys.