P-51B "First Of The Few" - 31st FG, 309th FS - AH3 Adoption

[Vraciu]

First crack at Devil's method...  Edit In: I had the gray at 12%...  Oops.  Let me tweak it.

[Vraciu]

60%, 28%, 25%

[Devil 505]

Looking better.

Now you can play with how far back you want the soot to turn to gray.

[Vraciu]

Looking better.

Now you can play with how far back you want the soot to turn to gray.

How are you changing that?   With a select tool?

[Devil 505]

How are you changing that?   With a select tool?

you can try the Scale Select tool to shorten the smaller soot section, but that will be difficult because of the curved nature of the stain.

Best bet would be to use the erase tool with a large fuzzy brush and set the opacity of the tool to 10-20% and just work on the small soot layer to shorten it length and keep it blended into the other layers

[oboe]

If I might make another suggestion - change the font of the "First Of The Few" text.  It looks like the Arial font to me - which is fine for typesetting, but too perfect to represent hand lettering on the side of a cowl, IMO.

MS Comic Sans is a possibility here, but I'd suggest searching for free fonts looking for "Hand lettering" or "Hand printing" styles.  You might find something the varies in weight and even stroke angle between letters that would look less perfect and machine-like.  Subtle inconsistencies and imperfections are key.

<S>

[Vraciu]

If I might make another suggestion - change the font of the "First Of The Few" text.  It looks like the Arial font to me - which is fine for typesetting, but too perfect to represent hand lettering on the side of a cowl, IMO.

MS Comic Sans is a possibility here, but I'd suggest searching for free fonts looking for "Hand lettering" or "Hand printing" styles.  You might find something the varies in weight and even stroke angle between letters that would look less perfect and machine-like.  Subtle inconsistencies and imperfections are key.

<S>

The font on the pictures I saw is closest to Arial Narrow.   It’s extremely clean.   The problem is finding a good picture of it.  They’ve vanished.  It’s definitely more like a stencil than a brush.    Dang if I can find anything now. 

I need to dial back the opacity though. 

[Vraciu]

you can try the Scale Select tool to shorten the smaller soot section, but that will be difficult because of the curved nature of the stain.

Best bet would be to use the erase tool with a large fuzzy brush and set the opacity of the tool to 10-20% and just work on the small soot layer to shorten it length and keep it blended into the other layers

I will try it. 

[Vraciu]

Latest...

Lettering adjusted.   I think this airplane was also part of a PR campaign which is why the lettering is so precise.   I really wish I could find those pictures I saw of it when I was researching other Mustangs.   

Exhaust changed.

[Devil 505]

yeah, that's looking good.

[Vraciu]

yeah, that's looking good.

Thanks again, Professor.   

[Puma44]

Here’s another stain view I just came across.

[Vraciu]

That's a nice pic.

[Puma44]

Yeah, a good view.  Interesting to note the dark part of the stain flows more or less straight back while the hotter (Blue) part someonwhat follows the airflow over the wing at higher power settings and airspeeds.