P-51B Mustang - VF*5 - 52FG, 5FS - AH3 Adoption

[Vraciu]

This is a P-51B-15NA Mustang (serial number 42-106750) of the 5th Fighter Squadron, 52nd Fighter Group, 15th Air Force. Handwritten caption on reverse of one source photograph says: '52nd FG, 5th FS (VF) Torretto AF Cerisnola Italy Base of 461 & 484 BG, 49th Wing 15 AF, Taken spring 1945.'  It hasthe vertical fin fillet modification and some unusual markings.

I have found no other info on this airplane.    It was originally skinned by BH3841.   I retained his tail markings (cleaned up and corrected to match the photos) and the cockpit use of a pilot with arms and legs drawn on the floorboard.  I did NOT retain his hippie pilot. 



I made an executive decision based on the (unclear) evidence we have in the two photos available as to what the markings are.   Although I may be wrong, I am much closer to the right answer than anything I've seen by other modelers and skin makers.   I have no idea where they are getting some of the markings they have used.

I APOLOGIZE BUT ONCE AGAIN THE UPLOADED PHOTOS ARE NOT AS CLEAR/SHARP AS THEY ARE ON MY DESKTOP.   

[Devil 505]

cool. 

[JOACH1M]

Nice

[oboe]

 

The glint of the metal texture looks quite believable.   The red spinner paint doesn't seem to have as much sheen as the yellow paint on the tail section; I would've thought these paints would have similar spec and power values but it may be the angle of the sun and the sharp curve of the spinner.  The yellow looks just right to me.

One thing I have started doing for screen shots is running the game at a virtual resolution higher than my monitor supports.  I have a 1080p monitor but the Radeon video card I have allows me to run the game at higher resolutions.  So I run it 1440p, so my screenshots are 2560x1440 px.  When I crop the screen shots I don't have to re-size them as much, and I *think* that helps the clarity.

Its too bad we don't have the birdcage version of the 'B' - that skin would look great with it.

[Vraciu]

The glint of the metal texture looks quite believable.

Thanks, man.  I stumbled onto something there going over the second of Mus51's skins that I adopted ("Dallas Doll").  I was trying different things and boom.  It just clicked.  Now I am tweaking it, although the carryover to the B is not a direct one for some reason.

The red spinner paint doesn't seem to have as much sheen as the yellow paint on the tail section; I would've thought these paints would have similar spec and power values but it may be the angle of the sun and the sharp curve of the spinner.  The yellow looks just right to me.

Yeah, this has been a struggle.   In the high resolution photos I paid to get of Jo-Baby and some other 52nd FG airplanes the yellow on the tail has a lot more gloss to it than the red, which itself varies all the way down to sun-bleached flat.  (This could be due to the all-yellow tails being fresher paint.)  I dialed back the sheen on the red more than I would have liked in order to hide where the RH, LH, and upper fuselage panels meet just aft of the spinner.  The polygon is really obvious unless you make it almost completely flat.   It's a concession to the 3D shape.  I wanted to make it even more flat so I could completely hide the seam, but I decided not to.

One thing I have started doing for screen shots is running the game at a virtual resolution higher than my monitor supports.  I have a 1080p monitor but the Radeon video card I have allows me to run the game at higher resolutions.  So I run it 1440p, so my screenshots are 2560x1440 px.  When I crop the screen shots I don't have to re-size them as much, and I *think* that helps the clarity.

That's a thought.  Mine are pixelating in the upload, though.  Do yours do that?   They have more clarity on my desktop than they do on the boards.    If I could force them to a certain width like the Skins Page does they would look right.

Its too bad we don't have the birdcage version of the 'B' - that skin would look great with it.

I hear ya.   Some of those bird cage airplanes actually look better with the bird cage than the Malcolm hood.   

Thanks for the feedback.   

[Vraciu]

cool. 

Nice

Thanks, guys.

Here's the original:



My update:

[lyric1]

 

[Vraciu]

Thank you.   

[Greebo]

Great job Vraciu, big improvement over the original skin.

[Vraciu]

Great job Vraciu, big improvement over the original skin.

Thank you, Chairman.   

[Vraciu]

It looks like it should here:

http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/skins/index.php?skobj=p51b&display=P51B5092105&skinname=52FG/5FS%20by%20Vraciu

But the BBS page expands it and causes the pixelation.  Can I use PHP/HTML/BB code to force the image to a certain size like the skin page does?

[Skuzzy]

The BBS displays an image using its exact size.  It does not expand, nor shrink, posted images.

The skins page fits the image to a specific size.

[Vraciu]

The BBS displays an image using its exact size.  It does not expand, nor shrink, posted images.

The skins page fits the image to a specific size.

Is there a way for me to duplicate that here?  Also, does the BBS compress images?   Maybe I am viewing them at something other than 1:1 on my PC and not realizing it.  I'm gearing them to look right on the skins page and so when they show up on the BBS they look a little off.

[Skuzzy]

It is possible the BBS could be compressing images (i.e. making them JPG's).  There is no way to alter the image size (pixel resolution) on the BBS.  It is whatever the image is.

The skins page image displayed may be reduced, if it will not fit the specific size.  The full size images are all displayed in full size.

[Vraciu]

Quick update to this one for Devil's FSO in May.