Lt. Earl Erickson - P-51B "Janie Girl" (D7-Y) - 339th FG, 503rd FS - AH3 Rev 1

[Vraciu]

This is a much-needed and long overdue update.  Original here: https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,389547.0.html

___

P-51B-10-NA s/n 42-106710
"Janie Girl" (D7*Y)
Lt. Earl E. Erickson
339th Fighter Group, 503rd Fighter Squadron
1944

This is Lt. Earl Erickson's well-worn P-51B-10-NA (42-106710) "Janie Girl" of the 339th FG, 503rd FS, ETO.  The airplane is the first of three he named after his wife, Jane (two Bs and one D).  It suffered a gear up landing after an engine failure while flown by another pilot, Capt. Donald McClish (MACR 8697). 

Erickson flew 62 missions from 13 May to 17 Oct 1944, scoring one and a half aerial  victories (both FW-190s) along with one on the ground, and was awarded a DFC.  Remarkably,  he had been married to Jane for 64 years at the time of his passing.

Based at Fowlmere, England, the 339th Fighter Group flew its first combat mission on 30 April 1944 and its last on 21 April 1945, one week short of a full calendar year.   During this short time the 339th established the following records:

- Most enemy aircraft destroyed (air-ground) by a group in its first year of combat in the ETO - 692
- Most enemy aircraft destroyed (ground) by a group in its first year of combat - 453
- Most enemy aircraft destroyed (ground) by a group in one month (April 1945) -315
- Most enemy aircraft destroyed (ground) by a group in one week (April 10-16, 1945) - 223
- Most enemy aircraft destroyed (air-ground) in 3 successive assaults (April 10,16,17, 1945) - 291
- Most enemy aircraft destroyed (ground) in 3 successive strafing missions (April 10,16,17,1945) - 290
- First group to destroy 100+ enemy aircraft on single mission (April 10, 1945) - 105
- First group to destroy 100+ enemy aircraft in two missions (April 10 & 16, 1945) - 105/118

[Vraciu]

The Original:





First AH3 Version:

[Devil 505]

Great job.

[lyric1]

 

[oboe]

Beautiful update.  Well done!

[Greebo]

Excellent update Vraciu.

[perdue3]

New metal looks great. I think the red is too bright. I am not an artist so I am not sure if "bright" is the correct term.

[Vraciu]

Thanks all.  I can desarurate the red a tad.  It's one of the hardest things to get right but usually less winds up being better.

[Devil 505]

Thanks all.  I can desarurate the red a tad.  It's one of the hardest things to get right but usually less winds up being better.

Try shifting the red both darker and duller.

[oboe]

Thanks all.  I can desarurate the red a tad.  It's one of the hardest things to get right but usually less winds up being better.

I think in all 3 new screenshots, the red-white checkerboard are in the sunlight, so this is as bright as we'd ever see the red.  In other lighting conditions it'll show up darker.  Try looking at it from multiple sun angles & times of day, and trust your gut.   Every one of us likely sees a slightly different shade based on our own monitors and settings. 

Whatever you decide, I'll want to know the RGB values to make note of for when I do Punkie II:

 

[Vraciu]

You got it. 

Here's what it looks like in the viewer.  Maybe I went too light on the mask underneath.

[oboe]

Honestly I don't see anything off there.   The red in the shaded area is about as dark as I'd go, the red in the sunlight may be a bit light but that is the nature of the intense direct lighting in AH. 

If you haven't done this already, in the Power and Spec maps you might want to shade the white painted squares and stripes as pure black x'000000'.   Dunno if it'll help much, but its the most you can do.
 

[Devil 505]

If you haven't done this already, in the Power and Spec maps you might want to shade the white painted squares and stripes as pure black x'000000'.   Dunno if it'll help much, but its the most you can do.

If he makes the white markings black on the P and S maps, they will suffer from much flaring. By using a light shade on those maps for light colored paints, it will produce a semi-gloss finish that reduces the flaring effect by focusing it.

Edit: I use RGB 77,77,77 on the P and S maps for white markings. It's still darker than neutral gray, but it's the lightest color I use for painted surfaces on my spec maps.

[Vraciu]

Is it the red or the white that's messed up?

Both?

[Devil 505]

Is it the red or the white that's messed up?

Both?

The white looks fine to me. I think the red can be adjusted, though.