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  • Please see the most recent updates in the "Where did the .com name go?" thread. Posts number 16 and 17.

    Post 16 Update

    Post 17 Warning

Warbirdsim P-51D-5-NA Little Friends II OUT NOW! (Pay-ware)

There was never one word that was spoken about "Little Friends" being the last P-51D's that were going to be covered by Warbirdsim. With "Little Friends", it covers a selection of mid-model and late-model P-51D's, and a very late model K. In "Little Friends II", the focus is on the earliest production model P-51D, the P-51D-5-NA, which is immensley different throughout the cockpit, and throughout various exterior details, from those later models. "Little Friends II" was made so that the community could finally have the opportunity to experience in flight simulator form, an early-model P-51D - something that has never been provided before, just as "Little Friends" was made so that the community could experience for the first time, accurate and authentic mid and late model WWII-era P-51D's/K's.

Over time, just as anyone else out there, I continue to learn, and hopefully produce better work. In order to build up the very unique P-51D-5-NA interior and exterior models, it demanded several months of development work, over the course of which I was able to improve, at least in my mind, the exterior textures. I've been actually working on updating all of the exterior textures now for "Little Friends", on my own time, without any necessary reason to do so, other than to improve all of our experiences with the product. The updated textures will be openly available for all "Little Friends" owners when completed. Besides making all of the incredible number of changes to make the P-51D-5-NA variants, as exactly as they were, the only actual improvement over "Little Friends" were the exterior textures, nothing else. They are different in many ways, because the sub-types were different in many ways (in most cases, in hundreds of ways), from the P-51D-5-NA or NT, to P-51D-10-NA or NT, to P-51D-15-NA or NT, to P-51D-20-NA or NT, to P-51D-25-NA or NT, to P-51D-30-NA or NT. Through all of the different P-51D sub-types that Warbirdsim has already covered, there has actually been only a few that have been done in focus, of all of those there were.

Most Importantly -

"Little Friends II" is meant to, and has always been meant to, coincide with "Little Friends " - it is not meant to replace it at all, but is meant to add more unique/different examples to ones collection. Historically speaking, the paint schemes you see applied to the models covered in "Little Friends II" can not be applied accurately to the models covered in "Little Friends", and the same goes for the paint schemes in "Little Friends " not being correct for the models in "Little Friends II". Both of them are meant to be together, in order to tell the complete story of the P-51D in WWII, from the earliest models, to the mid models, to the latest models that came out during the war years. There was never a single "cookie cutter" mold P-51D, as other companies and other productions have unfortunately led many people to believe. Such changes cannot be reproduced with just a repaint.

I can possibly leave you at least a bit satisfied, to say that I am moving onto something very different now! ; )
 
Well John.....you amdI both know you could have done more variants, but I am for one, a very happy mustang owner and glad to have as many variants as I can get. Should you ever want to do a model with a DF loop.....please feel free!!! I'll buy it!
 
I'll try to just illustrate in pictures, why two different products had to be developed in order to tell the greater story of the P-51D in WWII, from early summer 1944 until late summer 1945, through litterally hundreds, if not thousands of changes that were made from the P-51D-5-NA, to the P-51D-30-NA/P-51K-15-NT.

If you may, please compare the corresponding images below, between each of the two variants, and note all of the changes you can find, part by part, component by component, from the armor plate and seat, to the instrument panel and gun sight, and all that is in between. I encourage you to just slice out one region of one cockpit, and slice out the same region of the other, and compare them side by side. (Notice how there were even changes to certain stencils - these aren't improvements between one product or the other, they are simply the reproduced differences that occured due to changes during the long development of the P-51D/K, from the earliest model to the last model. The same goes for why maybe one cockpit has something, and another doesn't - it is because that is how it was with those particular variants (save for the oxygen hose - I decided to throw that in there while doing all of the other work on the P-51D-5-NA cockpit. : ))

This first set of images is taken from just the "Little Friends II" product, featuring the P-51D-5-NA, the first production model of the P-51D in WWII.

Image1.jpg


Image6.jpg


Image5.jpg


Now this set of images is taken from the cockpit of the P-51K-15-NT, equivelant to a P-51D-30-NA, as included in "Little Friends", which is one of the very last P-51D/K types produced in WWII. (This happens to be a factory fresh example, before the paint was scratched, and before the non-slide paint on the floor was worn through to the wood and rivets beneath)

p51k_raf7.jpg


p51k_raf6.jpg


compa_2.jpg


compa_3.jpg
 
If that wasn't enough, there are other cockpit variations included in "Little Friends", not seen anywhere else, least of all "Little Friends II" (as they wouldn't belong with the variants in that product), or in any other product or production, despite them being some of the most abundant cockpit-configurations seen in Mustangs during the war years. If you see cockpits on any other P-51D production, that claims to represent the aircraft during WWII, and it isn't configured anything like any of these different variants shown, you should definitely start to question it!

compa_5.jpg


cockpit_img9.jpg


cockpit_img14.jpg


cockpit_img4.jpg
 
John - you're preaching to the choir with that selection of shots. My share of your Mustang family look very similar so playing devil's advocate is not a criticism so much as a suggestion you change 'horses' - so to speak. I, for one, am certainly looking forward to your 'something very different'.
 
I have to say something in defense about the different variants that warbirdsim has provided this community... First and formost be glad that someone has taken as much time as they have to provide a series of P51s that noone can match or will match in the future for such a price.. Also the fact that there are many packs to choose from gives many buyers the option of buying the models they enjoy flying. I for one prefer the later models of the P51s as opposed to the very early models... The amount of work and study that must have been involved with these projects is above me... I for one could never pull off such a task and Im glad that John and warbirdsim has had the balls and motivation to go for it..

Some of you people and your rude comments about the same old thing can pretty much piss off.. Noone is asking your two cents worth about one project or the next.. If you dont like something then dont buy it... You have no reason to complain if you havent bought the product in the first place... I can understand if you have been misled or bought something that didnt work correctly but thats not the case here..

Seeing John trying to explain why they have done what theyve done and then see Olderndirt response its a wonder they even bother doing it at all...

Its obivous that John and warbirdsim have a deep passion for the P51 as it shows in theyre work. Everyone who enjoys FSX should be happy that we have such dedicated design teams working day and night to provide us virtual pilots quality ac so we can sit in our chairs in the comfort of our homes and do something that 20 years ago was a pipe dream...

All of us have our favorite birds that we want to see added to our hangers.... That doesnt mean Im going to go around and try to tell someone whos spent years researching and developing a passion to please move on to something else... You would think someone who calls himself olderndirt might have been brought up to respect someones passion and hardwork... You should change your name to Entitled... That fits you better...

For you dummies out there Im gonna share a secret with you.. Listen close..... Its nice to have options... Remember that...

R/S

Creeps..
 
Hey,
Just wanted to say I purchased this today, and it is awesome. I especially love 'Cripes A'mighty! You guys did a good job!

Jp
 
Just read the above posts.... I for one appreciate the variation Warbirdsim has provided. I want my birds to be accurate. I have looked forward to this variant for a while. If Warbirdsim hadn't made this product, I doubt that anyone else would have. You don't like this variant, fine, but don't bash people because of it. I agree fully with Creepy.
jp
 
I see some interesting challenges ahead...nice job!
Don't forget to lose the rego on the rudder, btw
 
Thanks for taking the time to address the fillet-less P-51D models.....:salute:

I always felt that these were the "pure" P-51D's; the way the original designers intended / wanted the P-51D to look like.

Tommy


This first shot really shows off the almost shark-like look of the fillet-less early models (it's that look, which is one of the reasons I have grown to like them so much).

p51d5_1.jpg
 
I agree Tommy, and for the same token, I've always had a soft spot for the earliest, "shark-tail" B-17s, over the later models.

It's almost unortunate that the dorsal fin fillet had to be added as a mandatory "technical order" requirement, as all of the airframe-related T.O.'s that were issued for the P-51D, up to the post-war USAF years, have to be implemented on any P-51D, in order for it to be certified for flight, and one of those T.O.'s is the fitting of the dorsal fin fillet. So it would be impossible, even if you have a P-51D-5-NA airframe, to get an airworthiness certificate, or legally fly it, without a dorsal fin fillet installed. (Interestingly, even though a same T.O. was handed down to all P-51B/C's, at the same time it was issued for the D's, the fitting of a dorsal fin fillet is not a requirement for an airworthiness certificate for these aircraft today)
 
Barnes, that is a beautiful repaint! I just finished downloading it, and I look forward to getting a flight in the aircraft this evening yet. Thank you very much!
 
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