The new Warbirds III graphics engine allows community created aircraft skins to be implemented into the
simulation. There is a special team called the Player Development Corps which screens the contributed art
in order to maintain a high level of quality in the virtual skies.
The color blue used on the 3D models nose is historically accurate. Original paint samples were used from
the war depicting the two main shades of blue referred to as Nunemacher Blue and the other Late War Blue.
The Nunemacher nickname comes from the fact that George Nunemacher painted his little metal model with this
medium blue during the war.....the same paint used to paint the noses. The Late War Blue came from a wall art
brick that Bill Espie located at Bodney. It is a very dark blue with a slight cast of purple. You can see this
color coming in on new planes and repaints around late 1944 early 1945. Plus there was a third color blue as the
486th Fighter Squadron apparently had an unconventional squadron painter, or they got some odd paint in the spring
of 1944. Quite a few of the 486th P-51B/C models had light blue noses.
These few models are just the beginning. Over time many more aircraft skins will be created representing both
Veteran and Virtual pilot paint schemes for the Mustang and Thunderbolt. This new feature will be sure to take
352nd virtual combat to the next level of detail.
