W.I.P. P-38J 475th FG, 431st FS T-Rigor Mortis III

[oboe]

Trying to finish this one up for the next skin batch.   

T-Rigor Mortis III, a 475th FG P-38J flown by Minnesota native 1/Lt Francis Lent.  Lent often flew as Tommy MacGuire's wingman.  Born in St. Paul, MN.  Flying with the 475th FG, Lent became a double-ace with 11 kills and was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action against the enemy.   He was killed in a crash near Lae, New Guinea during a test flight on December 1, 1944.

(Click image for full-size version)

[Devil 505]

Looking great so far.

[lyric1]

 

[The Fugitive]

Its pretty and all, and not that my opinion matters much, but the skin look more "plastic" like than metal. It may be the lighting because the lower picture looks better.

[Vraciu]

It looks like tarnished metal to me -- which I like. 

Keep it coming.

[oboe]

Sorry V- missed your post as I posted this response.  Interested in your comments on this as well...

Thanks for the feedback, Fugi.  I don't disagree with you.  While the lighting angle does make a big difference in AH, the promo screenshot is supposed to show the skin in the best possible lighting circumstances, so if it looks like plastic here it's unlikely to improve at other angles and lighting conditions.  I'm striving to make the metal look as realistic as possible, within the constraints of the AH graphic engine.   

The idea is to produce something like this:


Does this earlier skin look better?  I've gone back to compare the spec, power and env map files I used on this earlier skin and noted the differences.   "Happy Jack's Go Buggy" also uses a lighter colored base metal, with more blue in it.  The upper engine nacelle panel sections seem to be the most problematic - the booms have a nice metallic shine, I think...

[The Fugitive]

The lower picture does show the a more metallic look on the booms, but the engine cowling still looks plastic. Maybe a different light reflection/sheen on the engine covers. It almost looks like its dulled down on the front half of the plane. It looks like there is more texture on the booms than on the engine cowling.

[Vraciu]

Use the map values from Buggy on the other skin as an experiment.

[Greebo]

The skin looks great Oboe, I'll delay the skins review if you need more time to finish it.

Getting NMF looking right with AH's lighting is a pain but for what its worth here's my opinion. I think the metal on "Happy Jack's Go Buggy" looks a bit too blue, overall I prefer the metal colour you've used in "T-Rigor Mortis".

As Fugitive says the lighting angle used for the second screenshot has a much bigger reflection along the boom making it look more "metal". The environmental reflections in AH look a bit rubbish so skinners usually turn them off or down. Because of this for metal effects skinners tend to rely on increasing the power and size of solar reflections (which are angle-dependent) and maybe painted-on effects which need to be kept subtle so they aren't obvious.

[oboe]

Well I've made alot of adjustments, bringing back and blending in some settings and values from Happy Jack's Go Buggy.   I *think* this is about as good as I can make it.  There does seem to be something going on outside of my control, as the metal texture on the booms is the same shade and material as the cowling panel sections, and the Spec, Power and ENV map values are the same - but the glare on the boom metal has a bit softer and more diffuse aspect to it, while the sunglare on the cowl panels has a sharper, more defined edge.  Yet my Spec, Power and ENV map values are the same.   Interesting also, to look closely at the main gear doors - in the first two images, they have virtually no specularity at all - they almost look like a matte finish.  Yet, on the last image, with the gear down and the sun shining on them, they exhibit a fairly realistic metal shine...









Here are a couple fo my reference images.   The painting by John Shaw, "No Saki Tonight", is one of my favorites of P-38s.

[lyric1]

 

[Vraciu]

Well I've made alot of adjustments, bringing back and blending in some settings and values from Happy Jack's Go Buggy.   I *think* this is about as good as I can make it.  There does seem to be something going on outside of my control, as the metal texture on the booms is the same shade and material as the cowling panel sections, and the Spec, Power and ENV map values are the same - but the glare on the boom metal has a bit softer and more diffuse aspect to it, while the sunglare on the cowl panels has a sharper, more defined edge.  Yet my Spec, Power and ENV map values are the same.   Interesting also, to look closely at the main gear doors - in the first two images, they have virtually no specularity at all - they almost look like a matte finish.  Yet, on the last image, with the gear down and the sun shining on them, they exhibit a fairly realistic metal shine...

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Here are a couple fo my reference images.   The painting by John Shaw, "No Saki Tonight", is one of my favorites of P-38s.
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This is the right look, Oboe.   I think it is spot on.   Beautifully done.

Metal was not universally shiny.  Tarnish and eventually corrosion will affect anything made of aluminum alloy.

[oboe]

Thanks Vraciu,  Lyric. 

[The Fugitive]

Hey Oboe, I really appreciate your efforts, and listening to my meager opinion. Im sure its something in the way AH displays either the pictures, or the skins.

In the pic with the 38 sitting on the runway on the booms you can "see" the understructure as the metal bends where it is riveted down, the ripples it causes and everything. But on the top of the engine it looks like a single piece fiberglass/plastic cowl over the engine. It loses all that detail you have on the booms. Its really strange.

Other than that its a beautiful skin. Thanks for your efforts <S>

[oboe]

Fugi,  I appreciate your comments!  Your assistance here has helped improve this skin and any other '38s to follow. 

Your comment about the main gear door rivets and metal deformation makes me very happy, as that is all accomplished by an illusion I create in the diffuse map of the skin, using light and shadow around each rivet head.

You are also correct, all the engine nacelle panels are single pieces of aluminum, attached by screws to the underlying framework.  You can see this in the B&W photo.   In skinning this is more of a challenge because we don't have the detail to work with if its just a smooth, curved or flat piece of metal.  I also suspect there is something funky going on with the game engine regarding the interplay between the Specular, Power, and Environment maps and the sun angle.  It seems like the Spec and Power files only have an effect under direct sunlight, i.e. no ambient light activates the metal's shine the way it does in the real world.  But I'm only guessing about that from the behavior I observe.

<S>!