P-51B "First Of The Few" - 31st FG, 309th FS - AH3 Adoption Ver 2

[Vraciu]

Thanks to Puma44 for catching the main problem and Devil505/Oboe for helping me get it right.

Devil's Exhaust Tutorial is located in the original thread.  Good stuff.   

Tutorial Direct Link: http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,393674.msg5223137.html#msg5223137

Skin Version 1: http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,393674.0.html

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This P-51B named "First Of The Few" was part of the 31st FG, 309th FS.   I could find no details about the airplane or who flew it.   My only reference photos were a couple of grainy thumbnails cached by search engines.   Very frustrating.

It is olive drab over gray but had the paint stripped off the tail, presumably to make the red stripes more visible.  It was originally skinned by Player1.  I retained his version of these (cleaned up) as a hat tip to his artistry.   This is one that really didn't need much to update it—I could have almost gotten away with a restoration rather than a redraw as the basic work done was quite good overall.   However, since my name is going to be on it I went ahead and did everything over.

[oboe]

Looks good! 

I know its hard when you're looking at someone else's skin and you can't find any real pics or profiles of it. 

[Vraciu]

Looks good! 

I know its hard when you're looking at someone else's skin and you can't find any real pics or profiles of it.

Thanks, dude.  I still think it looks better on my end than post-upload.  I have tried everything I can think of to mitigate that. 

The lettering is going to bug the hell out of me now.  I could live with it as long as no one objected.    LOL    I'll make them perfectly accurate once I find a decent photo.

[oboe]

Thanks, dude.  I still think it looks better on my end than post-upload.  I have tried everything I can think of to mitigate that. 

The lettering is going to bug the hell out of me now.  I could live with it as long as no one objected.    LOL    I'll make them perfectly accurate once I find a decent photo.

No worries, the shots look good.

[Nefarious]

The lettering is going to bug the hell out of me now.  I could live with it as long as no one objected.    LOL    I'll make them perfectly accurate once I find a decent photo.

It looks like reversed italicized Helvetica or Arial. I'd change it to something that looks more handwritten, if anything just for aesthetics.

[Vraciu]

It looks like reversed italicized Helvetica or Arial. I'd change it to something that looks more handwritten, if anything just for aesthetics.

I can try the Helvetica.    What I have now is arial bold skewed left.  If I could just find a good photo...   

[oboe]

To be clear, I'm not objecting to the Arial, I'm just offering a suggestion.   There are lots of free fonts out there that are designed to look like hand-painted or printed letters.  It shouldn't be hard to find something looks more period-authentic for WWII hand-painted nose art than Arial or Helvetica.   But it's just a suggestion.

<S>

[Vraciu]

Totally understood.   But let's face it, when you post a skin in this forum you are definitely running a gauntlet of very attentive eyes...

 

[JimmyD3]

Very Nice V

[Greebo]

Nice improvement Vraciu.

[Nefarious]

I can try the Helvetica.    What I have now is arial bold skewed left.  If I could just find a good photo...   


(Image removed from quote.)

Helvetica and Arial are very similar fonts. Like Oboe said, look for something that looks more handwritten or in this case, hand painted.

Curious how the original skin initially got submitted without lots of photo documentation, I always thought it was required for submitting. 

[Vraciu]

Very Nice V

Thanks, man. 

Nice improvement Vraciu.

Thank you, Olga*.   

—
* Nigerian slang for head of the house, aka the big cheese.

[Vraciu]

Helvetica and Arial are very similar fonts. Like Oboe said, look for something that looks more handwritten or in this case, hand painted.

Curious how the original skin initially got submitted without lots of photo documentation, I always thought it was required for submitting. 

I’m pretty sure documentation was provided but it was not accessible via the adoption process.   Skuzzy has been building out the skins interface and so that info will be there going forward.   I just think this skin was put in before that capability was fully implemented. 

Lyric or Guppy will eventually track one down, I hope.   We will get it fixed somehow.

[JimmyD3]

Okay  here's the photo

[Vraciu]

Okay  here's the photo

Outstanding!   Thanks for taking the effort to snap that picture.   Much appreciated.