Aces High Bulletin Board

General Forums => Custom Skins => Topic started by: Greebo on March 30, 2011, 12:51:44 PM

Title: 873rd BS B-29 Joltin' Josie
Post by: Greebo on March 30, 2011, 12:51:44 PM
This is my skin of Joltin' Josie, the Pacific Pioneer, a B-29 of the 873rd BS/498th BG. Josie was the first B-29 to fly into the Marianas on the 12th of October 1944 hence the name. Josie's pilot Major Jack Catton and his crew flew 24 successful missions over Japan before being transferred. However the aircraft crashed on takeoff on its very next flight, the resultant explosion killing all of the new crew.

I have left the rubber de-icing strips on this skin, Josie had them when she flew into Tinian for the first time. Most B-29 crews got rid of them pretty quickly though, both to save on weight and drag and because they easily got damaged in action. They weren't really needed in the Pacific anyway so Boeing eventually stopped fitting them.

(http://www.gfg06.dial.pipex.com/screenshots1/Joltin_Josie_B-29_SC1.jpg)
Title: Re: 873rd BS B-29 Joltin' Josie
Post by: StokesAk on March 30, 2011, 01:42:32 PM
Nice skin Greebo, I like the nose art a lot.
Title: Re: 873rd BS B-29 Joltin' Josie
Post by: Stoney on March 30, 2011, 03:14:21 PM
If your bare metal finish effect could be converted to a currency, you'd be a millionaire...  Fantastic look as always.
Title: Re: 873rd BS B-29 Joltin' Josie
Post by: fullmetalbullet on March 30, 2011, 04:04:00 PM
+1 i like this one. i got a model of the B-29 "Humpin Hunny" that im working on right now.
Title: Re: 873rd BS B-29 Joltin' Josie
Post by: lyric1 on March 30, 2011, 06:19:59 PM
 :aok
Title: Re: 873rd BS B-29 Joltin' Josie
Post by: mbailey on March 30, 2011, 07:26:02 PM
Absolutely Fantastic skin Greebo!....I was hoping someone would skin this one.

Read an intresting story on how she got her name. She was Gen Haywood Hansells bird, (the predecessor of Lemay)   Story goes that Gen Hansell wanted to name his (this) B29 "The Pacific Pioneer" but the crew had different ideas. They wanted to name her Joltin Josie. So, in an un military like fashion, a compromise was reached between the General and the crew, hence the name Joltin Josie The Pacific Pioneer. Sad how she met her end.

There is  more info available in Barrett Tillmans new book "Whirlwind". Ive read it a bunch of times, great read if you like the B29 and would like to read about its development thru the ops in the Pacific theater.
http://www.amazon.com/Whirlwind-Air-Against-Japan-1942-1945/dp/1416584404

Title: Re: 873rd BS B-29 Joltin' Josie
Post by: BERN1 on March 30, 2011, 07:31:20 PM
very cool
Title: Re: 873rd BS B-29 Joltin' Josie
Post by: oboe on March 31, 2011, 02:21:44 PM
If your bare metal finish effect could be converted to a currency, you'd be a millionaire...  Fantastic look as always.

Greebo is one of the masters for sure.  And I really like the noseart - it seems more clear than others I have seen.  Bravo, Greebo!
Title: Re: 873rd BS B-29 Joltin' Josie
Post by: Ack-Ack on April 04, 2011, 07:08:29 PM
It looks nice, glad people are skinning the early B-29s before they made the changes to naming all new B-29s after cities.

ack-ack
Title: Re: 873rd BS B-29 Joltin' Josie
Post by: oakranger on April 04, 2011, 07:10:23 PM
Great Job, Greebo!
Title: Re: 873rd BS B-29 Joltin' Josie
Post by: Greebo on April 06, 2011, 05:20:06 PM
Thanks guys, glad you liked it. I usually do this sort of noseart exactly double size as a seperate multi-layer image. Then I merge the layers and halve its size. The fact that the B-29 is 2048 res helps a lot of course.

IIRC it was only the 314th bomb wing that named its aircraft after cities, they had the city art on one side and the plane's individual art on the other. I considered doing "City of Dallas" as the default B-29 but couldn't find enough info on it.
Title: Re: 873rd BS B-29 Joltin' Josie
Post by: fullmetalbullet on April 06, 2011, 07:40:17 PM
By anychance would you be doing the B-29 "Dauntless Dotty"?  speaking of that is there a "Memphis Belle" B-17 skin?
Title: Re: 873rd BS B-29 Joltin' Josie
Post by: lyric1 on April 06, 2011, 09:08:14 PM
By anychance would you be doing the B-29 "Dauntless Dotty"?  speaking of that is there a "Memphis Belle" B-17 skin?
Last question no. It is not the model we have in game.
Title: Re: 873rd BS B-29 Joltin' Josie
Post by: fullmetalbullet on April 06, 2011, 11:51:24 PM
Last question no. It is not the model we have in game.

oh yeah. what about dauntless dotty? will you be doing that greebo?
Title: Re: 873rd BS B-29 Joltin' Josie
Post by: Greebo on April 07, 2011, 01:46:38 AM
I won't be doing any more B-29s for a while. When I do get the time, I'll probably skin one with black undersides.
Title: Re: 873rd BS B-29 Joltin' Josie
Post by: fullmetalbullet on April 07, 2011, 04:59:26 PM
I won't be doing any more B-29s for a while. When I do get the time, I'll probably skin one with black undersides.

well viking did the bird of war. any others?
Title: Re: 873rd BS B-29 Joltin' Josie
Post by: Greebo on April 07, 2011, 06:16:33 PM
Black undersides became more and more common towards the end of the war as B-29s switched to low alt nighttime incendiary raids on Japanese cities. IIRC Boeing had even started painting them that way in the factory. There's a few schemes shown at the link below and I've seen photos of others in this scheme in the books I have.

Mark Styling profiles site. (http://www.markstyling.com/b29s_wwll_6.htm)