Capt. Laurence E. Blumer - P-38J "SCRAPIRON IV" (8L*C) - 367th FG, 393rd FS

[Vraciu]

Capt. Laurence Elroy Blumer
P-38J-25-LO “Scrap Iron IV" (8L*C)
S/N 44-23590
367th FG, 393rd FS
A-44, Le Peray, France - c. October 1944


This P-38J-25-LO (S/N 44-23590) was flown by Capt. Laurence E. "Scrappy" Blumer of the 367th FG, 393rd FS in 1944.  Named "SCRAPIRON IV" it was in this aircraft that Blumer downed five FW-190s in the span of 15 minutes.

Early on during his assignment to the 367th while it was based in Marysville, California, Blumer attended a party and ended up in a brawl with seven Marines. One of the people who witnessed the fight--in which Blumer gave as good as he got despite being outnumbered--was his commanding officer. When he was ordered to report to his C.O. the next morning he was given the nickname "Scrappy" rather than the disciplinary action he was expecting.

In May 1944 the group was declared combat ready.  Blumer named his first Lightning "SCRAPIRON" which turned out to be somewhat prophetic.   On a mission over France his airplane was damaged by ground fire and he was forced to belly land upon returning to base.  The airplane was written off.  "SCRAPIRON II" was lost while being flown by another pilot.   On 17 July 1944 Blumer was forced to bail out of "SCRAPIRON III" after being hit by anti-aircraft fire.  He evaded capture and rejoined his unit where he named his next airplane "SCRAPIRON IV".

On 25 August 1944 he achieved "Ace in a Day" status by downing five FW-190s in the span of fifteen minutes.   After being appointed the Commanding Officer the 393rd Squadron on 10 November 1944, he shot down his sixth enemy aircraft on November 19th.   He ended his tour in mid-January 1945 after 120 missions (some sources say 156).   

His decorations and awards included the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Purple Heart, Air Medal with 22 Oak Leaf Clusters, Belgium Croix de Guerre, Presidential Unit Citation, WWII Victory Medal, European African Middle Eastern Theater Ribbon w/Air Offensive, Europe Star, Normandy Star, Northern France Star, Germany Star, 45 Cal Pistol Expert, 30 Cal Rifle Expert, 30 Cal M1 Carbine Expert, Thomson Sub Machine Expert, Order of the Winged Boot and a member of the Caterpillar Club.

After the war, Blumer started a home construction business in Spokane, Washington. In the late 1960s he bought an ex-Honduran Air Force P-38, repainted it in the wartime colors of "Scrap Iron IV" and flew it at airshows for twelve years.

He died 23 October 1997 at the age of 80.

Originally skinned by Kev367th, it has been updated for Aces High III. 

https://postimg.cc/gallery/HXkv35y









I will tweak the spec map for the wing invasion stripes as they look flatter here than those on the booms.



Some photos of the airplane deployed to a forward base in France shortly after the D-Day Invasion show unpainted spinners.  I considered that option but decided against it.



The original by Kev367th:


 

[Devil 505]

Looks great.

I do wonder however, why the undersides of the booms are darker than the underside of the nose, and why the front of the booms have a brown tinge to them?

[Vraciu]

Looks great.

I do wonder however, why the undersides of the booms are darker than the underside of the nose, and why the front of the booms have a brown tinge to them?

Thanks. 

The brown is just weathering you see on a number of these airplanes.  Oil.  Grime.  Painted with primer.   You name it.  On one photo of SCRAPIRON IV the whole thing is practically covered in mud but I didn't want to go to that extreme.

This photo of it in France shows some of that darker metal, not just a shadow, IMHO.



This picture of Virginia Marie is probably one of the better examples.   Little Redhead II also has a photo showing it, as does St. Louis Blues, among others.








I left the underside darker primarily with the gear doors in an attempt to hide seams and give some diversity in the metal.   I may lighten it some since the invasion stripes already hide most of the boom any way.  Not a bad idea.   It is also possible I accidentally darkened a layer or altered the transparency of something on top of it by mistake, too.   


The other day I deleted an entire layer with a bad mouse drag.   I had already saved over all my backups so I wound up having to redo the entire layer from scratch.   

The metal looks lighter from other angles so I obviously missed it.    I'll say that was a good catch on your part.

[perdue3]

Interesting. The weathering on the bottom seems like it is the wrong color and may be over done. It certainly does not seem like a color that would occur naturally on a metal panel. I may be wrong, however. The blue is a bit too bright and saturated, in my opinion. The metal work is excellent as always and your olive drab looks much better than on your recent skins. Nice job.

[Vraciu]

Interesting. The weathering on the bottom seems like it is the wrong color and may be over done. It certainly does not seem like a color that would occur naturally on a metal panel. I may be wrong, however. The blue is a bit too bright and saturated, in my opinion. The metal work is excellent as always and your olive drab looks much better than on your recent skins. Nice job.

Thank you.

Usually it's in shadow any way so I haven't paid much attention to the weathering on the underside of the cowl.  It was originally done for VM [Edit in: P-38 Virginia Marie], which has a pretty severe case of it, and I just left it.   It’s not natural weathering.   It’s grime, primer, mud, and all sort of other stuff.    It is definitely not spontaneous.   One source says it is zinc chromate applied in the field.   

I can tweak it to make it a bit lighter, but it IS common on P-38s. 

Funny you mention the OD.  I hate it.    Looks awful on my end.    I basically just lightened it some, otherwise it's the same as my other 38s.   I can't stand the way the nose stretches it.  When you lighten it you see every single stretched pixel.    Not much can be done about that, I guess, since it's inherent within the 3D shape.    The nose on this object is one of the most frustrating things I've run into with skinning.

[perdue3]

What is VM? I am not up on the acronyms apparently.

[Vraciu]

What is VM? I am not up on the acronyms apparently.

Virginia Marie, a P-38.  See photos in my second post.

[perdue3]

Virginia Marie, a P-38.  See photos in my second post.

Oh. Regarding the olive drab, the pixel problem is definitely a problem, I agree. There are about 5 distinct different colors in there. I think it is much better than your recent attempts though, which were way too dark in my opinion. But, I am no artist, just an admirer.

[Vraciu]

Oh. The pixel problem is definitely a problem, I agree. There are about 5 distinct different colors in there.

Yeah, it drives me batty.    You wind up trading one bad outcome for another much of the time.

[Vraciu]

Oh. Regarding the olive drab, the pixel problem is definitely a problem, I agree. There are about 5 distinct different colors in there. I think it is much better than your recent attempts though, which were way too dark in my opinion. But, I am no artist, just an admirer.

Cross post.

Thanks for the feedback.   I'll take a look at the other stuff later in the week.   Carpal Tunnel surgery tomorrow so I'll be on the sidelines for a few days...

[lyric1]

 

[Devil 505]

Thanks. 

The brown is just weathering you see on a number of these airplanes.  Oil.  Grime.  Painted with primer.   You name it.  On one photo of SCRAPIRON IV the whole thing is practically covered in mud but I didn't want to go to that extreme.

This photo of it in France shows some of that darker metal, not just a shadow, IMHO.

(Image removed from quote.)

This picture of Virginia Marie is probably one of the better examples.   Little Redhead II also has a photo showing it, as does St. Louis Blues, among others.

(Image removed from quote.)

(Image removed from quote.)

(Image removed from quote.)


I left the underside darker primarily with the gear doors in an attempt to hide seams and give some diversity in the metal.   I may lighten it some since the invasion stripes already hide most of the boom any way.  Not a bad idea.   It is also possible I accidentally darkened a layer or altered the transparency of something on top of it by mistake, too.   


The other day I deleted an entire layer with a bad mouse drag.   I had already saved over all my backups so I wound up having to redo the entire layer from scratch.   

It looks lighter from other angles so I obviously missed it.

(Image removed from quote.)

Yeah, I figured the brown was weathering, but it looked odd to me just having it stop abruptly at the gear door.

Maybe try streaking those stains back along the tail booms.

[Vraciu]

Yeah, I figured the brown was weathering, but it looked odd to me just having it stop abruptly at the gear door.

Maybe try streaking those stains back along the tail booms.

(Image removed from quote.)

(Image removed from quote.)

It stops because it is apparently primer, paint, or stripped paint. You’ll see how it generally does not extend to the gear doors on the planes that have it.    It’s a P-38 thing apparently.   I guess they’re painting that section of the boom while it’s parked, and thus the gear doors are open (out of the way).     It also confines itself to the limits of the lower access panel.   The photos I posted show this pretty well.   It’s almost like they’re applying it with a rag.

This is distinct and separate from the brown streaks you’re talking about, which I presume are due to oil.

[oboe]

Glad you went with the blue spinners and not bare metal.  Just looks nicer.

I see a new detail on the cowl behind the oil cooler intake - looks like painted red flames?     

Oh those old AH1 skins are just horrible in AH3.  They didn't look that bad back then - now they are just white.  I have a 20th FG '38J that has the same problem.

[Vraciu]

Glad you went with the blue spinners and not bare metal.  Just looks nicer.

I see a new detail on the cowl behind the oil cooler intake - looks like painted red flames?     

Oh those old AH1 skins are just horrible in AH3.  They didn't look that bad back then - now they are just white.  I have a 20th FG '38J that has the same problem.

Thank you.   I wasn’t sure if it was the right call, so I feel better about it now that you’ve said that. 

Good eye, man.  Yeah, I don’t know if they are flames or lace.   Lol.   The propeller blade in one photo is covering up something on the nacelle that likely explains what it is.       



It’s too bad the AH1 skins can’t be salvaged.    Lots of good detail went into them.   The game just passed them by.    I post the images not to cast the old stuff in a bad light, but rather to say thanks to the people who made them.    They did good work.