BIG JUGGS!!!

[SargentW]

Try this page Little Friends at 8th Air Force Fighter Group - Littlefriends.co.uk or Stephen Mudgett at Stephen Mudgett, 368th FG at 368th Fighter Group Association, h.ope this helps

[gamary]

What I prefer is the little "killer" detail: the way you've shown a reflection of the bomb pylon under the wing.

Gorgeous bird!

[JMSmith]

tell you what guys,

the day i can draw profiles this good, i will quit driving HGV's.
this is bloody fantastic

and i still think this thread shoud be about the "other" type of jugs!

[GiantFlyingRobots]

Getting ever closer to the finish line now. markings are temps for now.

The more I look at it the more I see to do.

Apologies for the cropping.

[Baron]

Hi GFR!

Great artwork and of course a historical airplane. Dottie Mae was the last allied airplane that was lost in Europe! It was recovered some years ago here in Austria (Traunsee) and is now under restauration.

Cheers, Simon

[Goodwood]

Nice job there GFR.

If I may make a couple of somewhat minor observations on the markings: the star-and-bars on the side of the fuselage looks a bit on the small side; in addition the bars are, proportionally, a bit too short (they don't go far enough out) and a bit too thick. The positioning could probably also be adjusted, bringing it a couple of pixels down and forward. Also the code letters were, much more often than not, painted on the same level down the fuselage; as they are, the K4 is either too high, or the S is too low, or both. Furthermore, it's possible (I would say likely) that this particular aircraft would have had a fin fillet fitted -- if not in the factory, than in the field.

Other than that...I bow before the master.

[GiantFlyingRobots]

Nice job there GFR.

If I may make a couple of somewhat minor observations on the markings: the star-and-bars on the side of the fuselage looks a bit on the small side; in addition the bars are, proportionally, a bit too short (they don't go far enough out) and a bit too thick. The positioning could probably also be adjusted, bringing it a couple of pixels down and forward. Also the code letters were, much more often than not, painted on the same level down the fuselage; as they are, the K4 is either too high, or the S is too low, or both. Furthermore, it's possible (I would say likely) that this particular aircraft would have had a fin fillet fitted -- if not in the factory, than in the field.

Other than that...I bow before the master.

Thanks for the feedback, and the nice compliment Goodwood.

You are correct on all accounts re the markings, the stars and bars have always bothered me (I used a download from here) I will make the appropriate adjustments in time.

As for the fin fillet, I wouldn't be so sure if I were you, as all recovery images that I have seen, show it sans fillet.

[Goodwood]

Hehe, just shows what we think we know...

Yeah, I honestly thought that, being such a late-war bird, that plane would surely have had a fin fillet. The modification, if memory serves, was pretty quick to sprout up in the field and not that long until it became factory standard. The purpose behind the modification was to correct a nagging problem with horizontal fluttering, which if uncorrected could, in extreme cases, lead to a stall and spin. This performance issue was introduced when the conversion was made from "razorback" to "bubbletop" in the design of the Thunderbolt -- an issue which also plagued the P-51D, which also received a fin fillet rather swiftly.

Apparently, some units weren't able to, or didn't want to, upgrade their Jugs. <contemplates skinning this aircraft...>

[gamary]

That is some kick-ass profile, GFR. Aside from the size of the markings as commented, please, please, please rework the shading over the yellow parts of the aircraft. It looks greyish and should be more redish. What I do is make a selection of the yellow zones, and then modify the shading by hitting CTL-M and selecting the red curb. Change it so that the output level is at 25 or 30 and the result should be fine.

At least give it a try as this is the only thing that needs modification. I really like your drawing so I'm nit-picking.

[Vacajun]

GFR,

Congats on the "ultimate" P-47 profile!

With regard to the fillet issue:

"The purpose behind the modification was to correct a nagging problem with horizontal fluttering, which if uncorrected could, in extreme cases, lead to a stall and spin. This performance issue was introduced when the conversion was made from "razorback" to "bubbletop" in the design of the Thunderbolt -- an issue which also plagued the P-51D, which also received a fin fillet rather swiftly."

I believe the fillets went on both airplanes as a result of loss of side fuselage area when they were modified to bubble canopies. That change resulted in loss of directional stability, which in turn might lead to degraded handling qualities.