P-38L "Itsy Bitsy II" Maj George Laven, 49thFG 8thFS

[oboe]

Can't quite get this one to clean up as well as Go Buggy for some reason.  I'll have to play with the grime layers, and maybe the specularity.  Maybe I'm just not hitting the right sun angles in my screenshots.    Certainly an interesting color scheme for a P-38, with all that black trim. 

I sent HiTech a question about the hand graphic's acceptability.  I can go with either version; they are actually so similar. 

[Nefarious]

Another amazing P-38, the best in the game. 

One thing I can see and it may be because the distance from the aircraft, but the finger art looks really clear and crisp. But the Itsy Bitsy and the nose kill markings look a little blurry.

None the less, an excellent specimen. Keep up the good work. <S>

[oboe]

Thanks, Nefarious.

I notice the tail sernum is almost falling off the back of the rudder - have to fix that.  The decal set I found for this aircraft shows the serial number with a stenciled look, but the photo and art profiles make it look solid.  Have to tone that down.

I'll see if I can sharpen the kill flags and choo choo trains too.

[Devil 505]

Great job.

[Vraciu]

I think you've tamed the stretching where the metal is concerned.  Looks really nice. 

I've never been happy with black paint but yours looks better than anything I've tried (and probably seen for that matter).

One minor tweak to consider is moving the bottom edge on the nose paint up so it's even with the fuselage-to-wing root bend.    It helps hide it a bit.   Two or three pixels should do it.   Just an idea. 

Good stuff. 

[Greebo]

Great looking skin Oboe.

[perdue3]

That black is spot on, oboe. Very well done.

[Shuffler]

That black is spot on, oboe. Very well done.

It does look sleek. For lack of a better term... dressy.

[oboe]

I think you've tamed the stretching where the metal is concerned.  Looks really nice. 

I've never been happy with black paint but yours looks better than anything I've tried (and probably seen for that matter).

One minor tweak to consider is moving the bottom edge on the nose paint up so it's even with the fuselage-to-wing root bend.    It helps hide it a bit.   Two or three pixels should do it.   Just an idea. 

Good stuff.

Thanks all.

Vraciu, if you are talking about the lower border of the black paint on the top of the nose, I have it that low so I can use a purely straight line in the diffuse map - I didn't have to "bend" that line down at the front to account for the complex curve of the nose section.   Without the bend, I avoid the slightly messy look of the border being fuzzy where I had to erase paint to create the curve.  The downside is the black extends a bit too far south back nearer the cockpit - 2-3 pixels, as you say.   

Haven't fully decided whether the tradeoff is worth it yet, but even as small as a 1px eraser brush, when I create the curve of the antiglare down in the front of the nose, I get noticeable antialiasing "fuzziness" of the edge.   Was able to avoid that look, but again as you say its a little too low then back near the cockpit and wing root area.

[Vraciu]

I've tried it both ways.   For me the bend at the front is the lesser evil.  That angle by the wing is stark enough without having the nose paint accentuate it, IMO. 

[Vraciu]

Here's a comparison.   The higher line looks more accurate on this example.   Apologies for the differences in resolution.

[lyric1]

 

[oboe]

Thanks Vraciu, I'll make that adjustment - agree, the high one looks fine.   I think Go Buggy's nose antigalre is like your second image.  Is the border line between paint and bare metal a straight line?  I don't see any curving.

[Vraciu]

You're welcome.   

No.  The second image was drawn with the curve.

[Hajo]

Nice job Oboe.