awesome news, indeed. Especially that the pilot is still alive
You might try to get hold of him for your article, adds a lot to have the original pilot adding a few lines from his point of view. Plus he might want to sign artworks of the event/plane
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Oh yeh I should have put you into the direction of peter kassak I have illustrated alot of P-51Bs of that unit for him I somehow totally forgot to think of sending you that way. Thankyou for the photos I will go through them now. The paintscheme is a very well known scheme for the 31st FG its just working out ther serial which you now have and then the code WZ ?? Hopefully we can track it down
I have some news for the community, and I'm now able to diffuse almost complete information, thanks to the enthusiasts I have quoted before, the General Loving (former 31st FG 309th FS pilot and ace) , and also thanks to... "Don" Taylor hismelf, both of them I warmly salute and thank here.
Let me summarize all the datas we can be certain about at the time.
- The plane is a P-51B-10NA, bare metal
- the serial is found (see prev post) :42-106585 Be aware that all number does not appear on the tail.
- The planes numbers are : WZ - I
- The plane was not personally assigned to Taylor, so he didn't bear any personal marking, nor victory "balkenkreuze".
I'm also in touch with a local witness, who is the son of the civilian doctor who checked Taylor after his ditching. He also witnessed the crash, and noticed "large flames" exhausting from the plane. According to him, the plane bounced 2 times before sinking immediately. I will meet our witness next tuesday with the journalist, for a more complete interview.
Last but not least, we updated our site last night, and those who wish may discover the entire collection of the wrecks pics we dispose for the moment here ("galeries"): ARASM
Simplex : As I said, I'm still in contact with Mr Loving. I did not speak to him, for the instance, about your proposal of signing artwork, but I have sent him the link to our thread.
Best regards.
Sebastien.
Last edited by Serval; 15th February 2007 at 19:40.
Reason: Corrected link
Fantastic news.
I can’t believe I placed an “I” on my Mustang two nights ago, “spooky”.
I’m 99% done with my drawing now, so will post the finished image as soon as Sebastien is happy with it.
For those that are interested, this is not a profile as such, it is a drawing made at a much smaller pixel count. I will make the full profile for A3 and A2 printing as soon as I can. There are Mustang D’s and Dora’s to finish first though I think.
Once again, great new Sebastien, thanks for sharing this project with the Simmers members and thanks for letting us be a part of it. Hats off to you.
Hats off to you all, artists and enthusiasts, we are really making a team work
About the "I" : indeed, I wondered when I received the new if you had it before me, and by what mean... Are you a gambler? If you are not, you should become one !!
To all skinners and artists, just a little post to warn you to keep your templates "alive", I mean to stay ready to modificate them... I assume you all do that, but who knows. Two reasons for me to ask you that :
- 1st : I am in contact with Mr Loving hismelf, and forwarded him our thread, so I guess he would be happy if he received sketches of his own plane, even if he didn't ask at that point. You know, he is a very kind man, and has helped a lot. It is a great privilege for us, isn't it, to rely on such a man, former pilot and ace of the 309th.
- 2nd : Thanks to Mr Loving, I'm in contact with our pilot, "Don" Taylor. He is the one who informed us that his plane was "WZ-I" that day. He has no computer, but promised to send by mail any personal stuff, pics and so on, that could be of interest. That may take a few days, so stay in touch. He could also confirm - or not - our witness point of view about the ditching event, especially about the "large flames" he has seen before the crash. that is a precious matter, especially for you Simplex.
A last thing : I plan to send Mr. "Don" Taylor a complete interview, as he said to Mr Loving he would be glad to answer our inquiries. That won't be ready before tomorrow, so if you think about any specific question you would like to be answered, feel free to post them here or to e-mail them to me (you can send your own mail using private messages here).
Ok like I’ve said, this is not a full blown profile but more of a study drawing, so don’t expect it to be like one of the 3 monthers.
I think I’m about 99% there now, so its worth showing you guys what I have so far.
Sebastien has already seen it and has expressed his appreciation for the level of detail and time that has gone into it. (3 whole days so far and I think this is remarkable).
Now as many of you know I’m not a big fan of heavy weathering, so there is very little on this as it stands and I don’t expect this to change.
I am particularly fond of the lighting, I think it is very life like and lifts the whole image off the page. This is also my first attempt at bare metal, so keep this in mind when you are viewing this artwork.
I’m not over pleased with the lettering and might touch it up a bit in this area, same really goes for the windows, what do you think?
Anyway here she is.
Constructive criticism welcome, none of this BS from ppl who “think “ they know what they are talking about.
I've also been looking at a lot of other "profile" artist work and taking some of their ideas.
