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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 "Little Friends I" Redux

Bomber_12th

Bomber_12th

SOH-CM-2025
Warbirdsim P-51D Little Friends I "Redux"

Over the course of this past week, you might have seen the newly developed textures in the Warbirdsim P-51D-5-NA "Little Friends II" product, and then me using the base formula I developed for these textures, to build-up a few new repaints for Warbirdsim's "Little Friends I" product. Behind the scenes I had been working on building an entirely new paint kit for the "Little Friends I" product, that will allow for the making (or re-making, if wished upon) of repaints that match the same quality and create the same effects as the textures (and paint kit) developed for "Little Friends II".

I just finished sending copies of this new "Little Friends I" paintkit to a large number of folks, either who have recently expressed to me an interest in having it, or those who have been making repaints for the "Litttle Friends I" product in recent weeks. So be sure to check your e-mails, and if you didn't get one from me and you would like a copy, just let me know via PM, with your e-mail address and order number. This new paint kit was a ton of additional work to do, but I hope it will be very well used. ; )

Now, for all of those who are owners of the "Little Friends I" product, repainters or not, the bennefit for all of us is that I have been going through each of the paint schemes included in the "Little Friends I" product, and updating them with this new paintkit. At the same time, I have been making a few changes to reflect new resources that didn't come to light until after the release of "Little Friends I" (for instance, correcting some of the colors on Enchantress and Millie G). When all of the revised schemes are finished, they will be made available to download for free, for those owners who would be interested, to simply install over the existing textures. All of these updated textures, and paint kit, come with newly-developed normal maps/bump maps as well.Here are some screenshots of the variants that have been updated so-far.

The amount of change you see in the textures/effects, will probably depend on how discerning of an eye you have - some might only notice a little change, while others may notice a whole world of change. (Also expect to see a few new 8th and 9th FG schemes from me in the weeks ahead, using this new paint kit).

"The Enchantress" (Besides all new base textures, the tail color was corrected after better resources became available).

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"The Millie G" (This one probably has the most notable change, with not only being more refined, with the new textures, but with the revised nose colors, more accurate as well).

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Your dedication to detail John, is greatly appreciated. Sorry for the small number of produced repaints. My complete attention has been going into the upcoming Iwo Jima scenery. I for one will make the change when the new textures are available.
 
That's awesome news; thank you. I'm a new Warbirdsim customer ~ your recent sale was too good to pass up ~ so I'm still getting use to all the subtle details in the various models. I know it's been said before but the passion really does show and is very much appreciated.

:guinness:
 
Thank you Tom and RCAF_Gunner, your appreciation is very highly appreciated! ; )

Here is also the factory-fresh P-51K-15-NT manufactured for the RAF (as the vast majority of them were) with new textures. All of these first four were required to be made first, before I could be sure to sign off on the new paint kit as being finished. The last four should be able to be done tomorrow, and then hopefully sometime around Tuesday or Wednesday they will all be available together in one downloadable pack, to install over your existing install.

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I'm very, very glad to hear it Kent!

The other thing I should add, is that those who have enjoyed the RAAF and RNZAF repaints I recently released for "Little Friends I", these newly re-made versions of the "Little Friends I" paint schemes are based on the same look/style.

(For anyone interested in this work/what it offers, I highly recommend opening some of these images in a new tab, to view them in their native size (especially such as the very first one of "Enchantress", which I quite like), so as to 'see' the most that is being shown.)
 
Hi all,

Thank you for the compliments on the work/screenshots! I'm currently trying to finish this up today, and if the size allows for it, I'll try to upload it through SOH, otherwise it will likely also be available through the Warbirdsim downloads section, either way.

I thought that I still had all of the layers for each paint scheme/markings for "Little Friends I", that would thus make revising them all a rather quick process, but I hit a snag with "Baby Duck", which required me to build up the markings/weathering layers again. I'll be sure to let you all know first thing when these revised textures for "Little Friends I" become available.
 
Released!

I am very happy to finally be able to announce that the "Redux" project has been completed and uploaded to the SOH library. These are not repaints, and that is not the intended use for these files. They are revised versions of the external textures for each of the variants included in Warbirdsim's P-51D "Little Friends" product, that already exist for those who own the product, and they install directely into/over the existing "Little Friends" installation. For those with repaints already installed, there is no reason for concern, as the files/installation method does not interfere with them.

So, if you are an owner of the Warbirdsim P-51D "Little Friends" product, I highly encourage you to download and install this set of revised textures, and I hope you enjoy them (though I'm sorry it is such a big file to download, though there isn't any way around it).

Download link (when activated): http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/local_links.php?catid=4&linkid=4957

Here are some additional screenshots besides those already shown above, displaying the final four variants that hadn't yet been completed.

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Just one more additional bump, incase anyone is interested in these revised textures for "Little Friends" and may have missed it, as I received a couple of messages from members that seemed to indicate that it wasn't yet known by them that it had been released.
 
Thank you, Bomber
:wavey: They work perfectly well in my Warbirdsim P-51D Restored Part2 :applause::applause: (just few adjustments)

Italo
 
Thank you Italo, but that is one of the last things I wanted anyone to promote with the release of these revised textures. They are intended only for use with the "Little Friends" product, and I was hoping that would be honored, by most especially the members on this board. These are not repaints, they are simply revised versions of textures you should already have, if you are to use these at all.

In each of Warbirdsim's P-51D products, each model is built and tuned to match one particular variant, through all of the modeled and textured details that makes that one particular variant unique. This might include different external mirror types, different antennas, different payloads, different exhaust shroud configurations, different canopies, different prop types, different panel lines/fasteners/rivets, different external connection ports, etc (all of idifferences being with a purpose, mind you!). Throughout production of each product, I took each variant one at a time, and went through the model inside and out, to match the one particular variant I would be working to reproduce, and then also go through the textures, and do the exact same. Between the restored variants and the WWII variants there is the difference between most of the above, but also there is a modern pilot in the restored variants and a period-accurate pilot in the WWII variants, the restored variants have modern radio sets and a whole list of modified differences from the original WWII cockpits (depending also on each independent variant reproduced), and they are quite clean, where as all of the WWII variants have all of the original cockpit hardware and configurations as they originally were, and feature accurate and authentic weathering as seen in the cockpits of the period. These types of differences between one cockpit and another, are done so that not only is the exterior model accurate for the variant that is being reproduced, but that the interior is also spot-on accurate for that variant.

All of this is done so that in each variant you fly, throughout all of the different products, they are presented as accurately in all of their unique differences as possible, so that it isn't just the same generic cockpit or exterior model devoid of variation, repeated over and over again. When you start mixing textures with models they weren't intended for, you will run into problems, and/or simply not get the benefit of experiencing it all as I intended for.

I state the above, to try to show why just adding the textures from the "Little Friends" product into the "Restored Part 1 or 2" product, or "Little Friends II" for the matter, just isn't right - you simply aren't getting near the full-on benefit of them. There are also problems because of different texture mapping between the "Restored" variants and the "Little Friends" variants, which lead the gun doors/gun door handles and the exhaust stacks and payload sway-braces to not display correctly.
 
Going off of the above statements, I just wanted to add a few more.

Take the P-51D-20-NA "Hubert" for instance, as featured in "Little Friends". Based on historical photos (and the fact that it is a late-model D-20-NA), the aircraft had a tail warning radar set installed, as one can easily see based on the unique antenna array on the vertical tail fin. Knowing this, I also knew that the cockpit would have the hardware/electrical panel types in the cockpit, that went along with using the tail warning radar. Also, this means that the tail warning radar lamp would have to be mounted on the upper left side of the instrument panel, and a warning bell would be located along the bottom right side of the cockpit. Based on the same photos, I could also see that it had a particular mounting bracket design, for fitting the Spitfire mirror atop the windscreen. This unique mounting bracket design was used quite a lot within the 359th FG, but it was not common outside of the group. So this detail also had to be reproduced, using better photos from other 359th FG Mustangs to do it accurately. In a product that would feature both 108-gallon paper and 75-gallon metal drop tanks, based on the fact that all of the photos I had of "Hubert" showed it with 108-gallon paper tanks fitted, that was what I provided for the load-out option. Now, this accurate combination of details, specificially created for this example, cannot be found anywhere elese but in the model designed for "Hubert" alone.

Next, if you look at the P-51D-15-NA "Baby Duck", it has a Spitfire mirror as well, but the mounting bracket design on it, is quite different, and more simplified, than the one used on "Hubert", but is accurate to the one used on the original aircraft, and of a type commonly seen on other 353rd FG Mustangs. Also, "Baby Duck" did not have a tail warning radar set installed, at least not at the point in time that I presented the aircraft, thus there is no antenna array on the vertical tail fin, and in the cockpit, there is no tail warning light or tail warning bell, and the cockpit is of a configuration/type used before the installation of the tail warning radar set.

All of these types of things can be talked about/described on each variant covered, throughout all of the products, with some variants featuring more unique details that set them apart than others (for example, the Iwo Jima-based P-51D-25-NA "The Enchantress", or the NACA P-51D-25-NT, or the F-6D "Lil' Margaret" being some of the most unique).

We have always tried to provide as much descriptions about these differences on each individual product page, that go into detail (sometimes quite extensive) about what makes each model/variant unique from the others.
 
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