Lt. John C. Donnell, Jr. - P-51D "PIN UP GIRL" (L2*V) - 479th FG, 434th FS Rev 1

[Greebo]

A nice improvement Vraciu.

[Arlo]

[Kazan_HB]

 

[Vraciu]

Thanks all. 

Lol Arlo. 

[Vraciu]

Sweet-looking update, V.   The canopy base, upper-rear deck surface and leading edge of the tail seem a little over-exposed; I haven't been able to get a handle on that problem without darkening the shade of the metal texture; Power and Spec values didn't seem to have an effect once a certain lightness of shade is reached - whether it's white, silver, or yellow. 

The nose art figure pops even at this medium-distance view.  Very nice!

Thanks, Oboe.  Yeah, this one is my older metal version.   The newer metal mitigates that some but at the expense of being too dark when not in direct light.  This one is still optimized for shadows and reflections off.   If I could ever find a way to get THAT look with them on I would be set, but there is just something a tiny bit screwy with the graphics engine I cannot pin down. 

Ultimately this one will get entirely new metal, but that may be awhile.   I fly with shadows and reflections off which makes the metal on all skins look better in my opinion.  That’s certainly the case here. 

Some of my older metal skins will be stuck that way for awhile as I don’t know when I can take the time to redraw them.   :/

[Vraciu]

That nose Art was a b*t h, btw.   It needs a 2048 x 2048 to prevent bleeding of the colors.   It’s the best I could do given the resolution.

[oboe]

The newer metal mitigates that some but at the expense of being too dark when not in direct light.  This one is still optimized for shadows and reflections off.   If I could ever find a way to get THAT look with them on I would be set, but there is just something a tiny bit screwy with the graphics engine I cannot pin down.

That pretty much nails it.  I continue to experiment, but same results here - if I get it to look right in direct sunlight, it seems too dark in the shade.

The nose art was worth the extra effort, IMO.  Looks great.

[Vraciu]

Thank you, sir.  Much appreciated.

[perdue3]

The black stripe and invasion stripes seem a different shade than the fuselage markings. Maybe it is me or the pic.

[Vraciu]

The black stripe and invasion stripes seem a different shade than the fuselage markings. Maybe it is me or the pic.

They probably are.  I honestly can't say.  That will be revisited when I draw it all over again down the road, though.

 

[Vraciu]

It might actually be a transparency setting difference come to think of it.   I'll look when I get back to my computer. 

[Vraciu]

I did some experimenting with the tail section.  Darkened it up.  I still need a complete re-draw.

[Vraciu]

Here is a comparison with similar angles.

BEFORE:




AFTER:

[oboe]

 .  Looks great!

[Vraciu]

.  Looks great!

Thanks.   For fun I experimented with my older metal version just to see if I could make it reflect properly.   It is definitely a case of darkening it.  That's the only thing I did to tone down the flare up.