183rd Shinbu Tai Ki-84

[Greebo]

Thanks to Lyric1 for finding me the info for this skin.

This Ki-84 was part of the 183rd Shinbu Tai, one of many Kamikaze units created to attack the US carrier groups attacking Japan in 1945.

[Vraciu]

Beautiful.

[Nefarious]

Absolutely amazing work. 

Your attention to detail is incredible, love the weathering and the Japanese characters. Glad you are creating positive contributions to the game and I sincerely appreciate your hard work!

[Devil 505]

Looks great Greebo, but I think the lightning bolt should be yellow and not red. I've seen profiles with both, but I remember seeing an actual photo of this plane and the bolt was a light color. I'll try to find it.

FYI, this scheme was the one I completed the day before losing my hard drive. I remember making the bolt yellow in my version.

[Greebo]

I gave some consideration to making the lightning bolt yellow but in the B&W photo of this plane it is about the same shade of grey as the red Hinomaru circles. I interpreted this as both of these being an old faded red, i.e. an old aircraft transferred in and then given a new tail squadron marking in a darker un-faded red. The photo also shows the yellow on the leading edge of the wing as a lighter shade of grey than the bolt although to be fair this could be down to lighting angles.

[Devil 505]

So the difference is not so cut-and-dry, as I originally thought.

The bolt looks similar to the red in the Hinomaru but that may because of highlights caused by curvature of the fuselage. But if you compare the tail marking to the bolt, the tail marking is darker than the camouflage color and the bolt is lighter. This is best illustrated by looking at the forward tip of the bolt on the cowl, where there are no highlights to shift the color. This led me to believe that the bolt is yellow.

The new paint theory for the tail marking is certainly plausible.

[lyric1]

 

[Vraciu]

How did you draw the openings aft of the cowling?  They look like removed access panels.    How common was removal?  I have seen photos with them covered, too.   Just curious.   The effect is really good.

[Greebo]

The openings behind the cowl were most likely cooling holes designed to reduce temperatures behind the engine and every wartime photo of a Ki-84 I have shows them on both sides of the fuselage. The only aircraft that I have seen that has the holes covered is in a museum, my guess is the covers were added by museum staff who assumed they had been previously looted off the aircraft.

I painted the holes in black on the diffuse map and on the topmost layer, above all the weathering etc. They are black on the specular, power and environment maps too, so the holes reflect no light at all. On the normal map they are a darker grey than the surrounding metal to get a sunken effect, so for instance with sunlight shining from above subtle highlights are generated on the lower lips of the holes.

[Vraciu]

Ah, very good.   Thanks for the info.  I will have to go look at some photos again to figure out what I saw.   Maybe a prototype?  The effect is excellent.

[Vraciu]

So here's why I may have been confused.    The surviving example appears to have had covers at some point (it also appears to NOT have had them at one point as well).  Why or when they were installed is anyone's guess.   When the Planes of Fame restored it to flying condition the covers were retained and remain to this day.

https://captured-wings.wikia.org/wiki/C/n_1446

[SIK1]

Greebo, I really like the work you do on the Japanese planes. They are an often overlooked subject.

 
Sik

[Citabria]

The parasitic drag of having those access panels open might be why the ki84 falls apart at such low speeds

[Shuffler]

The parasitic drag of having those access panels open might be why the ki84 falls apart at such low speeds

Who let you out   

[Citabria]

I just wandered by to check the skin forum and saw a gorgeous new set of p38 3d models and was perusing the fantastic artwork being shared by the indefatigable master Greebo and the up and coming talented Oboe.

Well done all.

I was going to say something cocky like how flattered you should be that I a random passerby finds your efforts worth viewing all these years after I was tarred and feathered and run out of AH but I am an ancient fossil that’s too old to stir the pot for sheets n giggles anymore.

However I thought it was worth mentioning that the thought occurred to me just to assuage any doubts about my continued persistence in being a self righteous “mercurial as a compass needle” egotistical pompous arse.