P-47D-28-RE 353rdFG 350thFS, "RAT A DAT 3"

[oboe]

Flown by LtCol Ken Gallup, CO of the Group, who finished the War with 9 air kills.  I wanted to try my hand at a more intricate cowl art pattern.  The 353rd FG has pretty non-standard application of these black diamonds on yellow the sizes and number of diamonds in the pattern varies.  I bumped of the Spec base value on this one for brighter look to the metal, but the Power value is still very low for wide glare dispersion.   

Click image for full-size version

[Dadtallica]

Damn! Well now I really miss my OG call sign!

[Devil 505]

Oh, that's fantastic.

[oboe]

I've just notived that both a plastic model build of this aircraft, + some aviation art, + B&W photo of another 353rd FG Thunderbolt have US Insignias under BOTH wings.   I think I've heard some of the FG in the 9th Air Force did this, and used oversized insignias on the wing bottom.

Can anyone confirm?

NM: Its also on the color profile I was using.

Anyone know which P-47 Groups used this practice?

[Devil 505]

I've just notived that both a plastic model build of this aircraft, + some aviation art, + B&W photo of another 353rd FG Thunderbolt have US Insignias under BOTH wings.   I think I've heard some of the FG in the 9th Air Force did this, and used oversized insignias on the wing bottom.

Can anyone confirm?

Gabreski's Jug definitely had insiginas under both wings, so I believe it was probably a regulation in the summer of 1944. When does the reference for this skin say it's from?

[oboe]

Has Lower D-DAY stripes. so its from late summer '44 or beyond.

I'm looking for it now, and it seems all P-47 Groups in the ETO used this practice, at least until later in the War.  Dottie Mae did not have them under both wings, but the "PAT" I submitted form the 56th should've carried them.  Easy to miss that detail - you just don't expect to see US aircraft with insignias under both wings.   I'll have to update "Pat" when I am able. 

[Vraciu]

That's pretty darned bad ass, man. 

[lyric1]

 

[oboe]

Thanks!   A lot of it is just in the composition of the screenshot - lighting and background, etc.  I take a lot of screenshots just to get a few to post.

I think I'm the only one who uses light-colored rivets on bare metal skins (though I do use dark rivets on the undersides of wings and stabs).  A while back I started doing a little trick with rivets in the spec files for bare metal skins:

While my rivets are light colored on the diffuse map, I make them quite dark on the spec map.  That means while they normally show up white, if the sun glare catches them, the low spec value turns them dark compared to the surrounding bare metal.  So when you pan around the skin externally and play with the camera/sun angle, you can see the rivets turn light to dark as they go into a patch of glare.

It's a subtle effect, but looks fairly realistic I think, and makes the skin a bit more dynamic and reactive to the light angle.   Seems to work especially well on the Jug's big fuselage sides...

[Vraciu]

I've been debating trying the white rivers for a long time but I don't have the guts.   Lol

[Hajo]

Oboe great skin!  As for the national insignias under the wings.  I have a photo of capt. Mike Quirks' P-47-D11 banking left to right.  He was an ace with the 56th FG.  The insignia was quite a bit larger under the port wing then under the starboard.  This was pointed out in the caption of the picture.These were painted by groundcrew.

[Greebo]

Really good job on the skin Oboe, looks fantastic. Try to get it submitted so I can do a review before Hitech processes the current skin batch.

[Vraciu]

Insignia under both wings was common to the Jug in Europe, to answer your question, Oboe.

[oboe]

RGR, thanks - working on adding them now and will submit ASAP!   

[oboe]

OK, I have just finished and submitted with the large underwing national insignias.   Hopefully we can get it in under the wire! 

I went with two equal-sized insignia, based on a decal set for another 353rd FG Thunderbolt I found.  Apparently it was not uncommon to have same size insignias under both, or one large & one small, or both large under the wings.  Looks pretty boss, IMHO.