P-38J "Happy Jack's Go Buggy" Capt Jack Ilfrey, 20thFG 79thFS

[oboe]

WIP, but it feels close.  This is an update to one of my first skins in AH, from February 2005.  Still working on the yellow, that's a tricky color in AH.  I started with ANA 505 Lemon Yellow and desaturated in 33%; 50% was too much.    Think I need to mess with the opacity as well.








This is a restored warbird - not sure if it still flies under this scheme; I think the picture is pretty old.

[Shuffler]

I think it looks great.

[Hajo]

Nice Oboe!

[Nefarious]

Amazing bare metal. Finest in the game. <S>

[perdue3]

Fantastic.

[Morpheus]

Fantastic work and to me its simply amazing at what you dudes are producing and you do it all for the love of this game.

Thanks for making the game look so real...

[Vraciu]

Coming along really well, sir.   That rivet detail is mind-boggling, the metal tone is first-rate, and the skin waves are beautifully done. 


Nice work.

[lyric1]

 

[FTJR]

Coming along really well, sir.   That rivet detail is mind-boggling, the metal tone is first-rate, and the skin waves are beautifully done. 


Nice work.

What he said .....

Nice work Oboe

[lyric1]

[Vraciu]

This is a restored warbird - not sure if it still flies under this scheme; I think the picture is pretty old.

Had to do some digging to make sure my memory was correct, but I believe this was the one The Fighter Collection had.   It was "Buggy" in metal for a bit then repainted OD and renamed "California Cutie" in which guise it was destroyed in a well-known crash.


https://youtu.be/AG4mCvUfpsk



At one point Lefty Gardner owned it (in non-flying condition) after rescuing it from vandals before selling it.    I am pretty sure this is the one I climbed all over as a pre-school kid when my dad took me to see it.  It was not much more than a hulk then.

Small world.

[oboe]

Thanks, fellas.   Appreciate the kind words.  I've had a bare metal P-38 in my work pile since AH3 came out, but got stuck and dropped working on it and moved on to P-51s.  When I came back after a hiatus I was determined to figure it out best I could and get it done. 

I think I need to reduce the dark panel lines in my Specular file, too - I maxed them dark, but it looks like in glare the panel lines stick out too much.  Also, the yellow nacelle trim extends back a bit too far.

Thanks for posting those photos, Lyric.  Is that your autographed photo?  I did not know the name of the plane was highlighted with yellow - I wonder if that restoration is correct - in the B&W photos, the lettering highlight appears to be a different shade from the nacelle/spinner trim color.  But I assume yellow is correct.

Ilfrey was quite a character - does anyone know how his wingtip was damaged?   My guess is collision with another aircraft, or maybe a tree or pole on a strafing run that got too low?   

I think I read a story about him becoming lost during a flight from England to North Africa in 1943?, and landing in Lisbon, Portugal.  He was going to be interred for the duration since Portugal was neutral.  A interested crowd gathered around his P-38 and while he was giving them a demonstration of the engine startup procedure, he gunned the engines and blew them off the wing and proceeded to take off and finish his flight to North Africa.  That story is probably straight out of a Martin Caidin book - it sounds like something he'd write.   

EDIT:   Very interesting, Vraciu.  I have seen that footage before.  Terrible about the crash.  I envy you being able to climb all over a P-38 as a kid.   When I was a young adult in MN, there was a great air museum called "Planes of Fame" at a local airport.  They had a '38 called "Joltin' Josie" but I never did see it fly at any of their air shows.   I finally saw a P-38 fly a couple of years ago in Colorado Springs when I went to see White 33's first flight with Steve Hinton at the controls.

Cool story about the Lisbon getaway.   Thanks for confirming.

[Vraciu]

I have his autobiography and it's pretty much how he told it.   Knocked the guy right off the wing.  Zoom!

[Greebo]

Beautifully done Oboe, really nice skin.

[oboe]

Thank you, Greebo.  I can finish it up and submit tomorrow.  Is it too late to make the next skin batch release?  I had intended it to be my first submission of the subsequent batch, but will try to get it done if I can make it into this batch...