John "Bomber_12th" Terrell - how it all started

[huub vink]

On an old hard drive I came across a few old screen shots I wanted to share with you. The model is the FDGv2 Donationware Mustang by Gramps and others, but the repaint is one of the first repaints our own John "Bomber_12th" Terrell did for a Mustang.





As the model could be used in CFS2 as well the texture size was limited and therefore possibilities to repaint as well. But the model and the repaint have been among my absolute favourites for a very long time.

Thanks John for all you have contributed to our hobby in the past 10 years!

Cheers,
Huub

[huub vink]

In those day John already had a great talent for reflective textures. I still find it amazing that I can see how the original metal of an aircraft was finished when I look at John's textures. When you look closely you will see the difference between polished, anodized, painted, etc. and in the current "Then and now series" it is amazing to the difference between the polished restored versions and the war beaten originals. And both correct until the last detail!

Compare John's latest product with one of his first above.....



Cheers,
Huub

[stovall]

Thanks for the comparison Huub, I too have had fun watching John progress from his first paints to the present day. If anyone could have made a quality, professional paint better, John has certainly done so. As you say, the detail is simply amazing.

[Daveroo]

i have a custom paint he did for multons D18S for me..was a fictional paint,brite yellow and red..lol..i dont think he was "into it" but he did it for me,was for fs9 version,( i have no clue if it will port over?) but its on a cd safely put away,and its NOT going anywhere...know what i mean?

and John? thank you for all the hard work youve done,whether youve had fun,sweated and cried,gotten frustrated or sat back and grinned while working on the P51's....congrats and the work,well done! and thanks for all youve done for flight simulator

[mike_cyul]

John is definitely one of the people who's work can be counted as a benchmark for everyone else to try for. If someone told me it was the best ever done, I wouldn't argue.


Mike

[modelr]

John's talent is beyond reproach, as well as his eye for details, and his tenacity for "getting it right." Those of us who really enjoy the "correctness" of a subject always are amazed at his ability to get it right. And his ability, and willingness to compose his research and to share his knowledge is appreciated more than he knows. I'm sure it is almost entirely a "labour of love" to him, and to another history buff, it is more than appreciated. Thank You, John.

His paint list in the library probably would only be matched by jankees, if he posted all his paints here.

OT, speaking of the new SOH library, the search feature is all but useless, to me.

[jankees]

Great to see!
My first paints were also for a Mustang, the early A2A P-51, and I started using a paintkit by Milen Zejdlic if I remember correctly, and that was very nice. A bit later I found a paintkit by John for the same aircraft, and the way the metal looked in that kit just blew my mind away, so good!
I have been an avid follower and fan ever since..

[Bomber_12th]

I don't know what has spurred this on, and it is completely undeserved. (But thank you!)

The best reward of it all is when being able to know at times that others are enjoying seeing or experiencing something that I have made, so thank you Huub and everyone for you very kind posts! For me it has always been the Michael Flahault's, Darrin Covington's, Damian Radice's, Alessandro Biagi's, and Martin Catney's - they are true masters of the craft, and those that I look up to, to try and do my best to somehow work to find the same level of quality. There's always that "ball at the end of the string", and it's what makes this hobby fun, since at one moment, you might think you have just about done the best you can do, and just a week later, perhaps the very next day even, you find something else, most often just through experimenting, and suddenly now you look back at the work from just that short time ago, and it's lacking compared with what you have just now found and been able to achieve that you hadn't before.

Huub, it's always a bit difficult looking back at one's own work, as for me I always end up cringing quite a bit : ) but thank you for posting those screenshots of Gramps old P-51B/C model - it really brings back some great memories. I joined SOH in 2003, just after the release of FS2004, and it wasn't much longer that Gramps released the donationware P-51B/C, which I believe was the very first addon I spent any money on ($2 if I recall correctly!). I grew up around the un-restored hulk of the P-51C owned by the Minnesota Wing of the CAF (fairly much in my backyard), and in 2001 it flew for the first time following restoration, painted as "Tuskegee Airmen". It of course quickly became my favorite warbird at the time, and it was a thrill seeing Gramps' model show up not too long after getting involved with FS, and only a couple of years after the Minnesota Wing's P-51C had begun to fly quite often, in and around my local area.

It's been absolutely wonderful to be a part of this great community for so long, and sharing the experience, through all of the ups and downs. To Huub, Tom, Dave, Mike, Don, and Jan Kees, I'm extremely humbled by your posts, as well as by our other correspondance over the years - it's great to know you all, and share in this hobby together.

[huub vink]

John, I can assure you that you are definitely at the same level as those you mention in your post. And I'm convinced they do all agree with me.

You learned extremely fast as you won the SOH repaint competition with this repaint on the same model.

I think you will agree with me that there is something odd with the third image

Cheers,
Huub

[Roger]

This is a really nice thread

[roger-wilco-66]

Oh ditto here, great thread. Sometimes things like that must be said.
A big thumbs up here from me, too, John! I also have the WBS P-51D and consider it to be one of the best - but not only the precise technical work is stunning, it's also your dedication and passion for our common hobby.

Cheers to you,
Mark

[Quicksand]

John, I too am very thankful that you have shared your amazing talents with us. I remember that you did a special repaint of the SBD for me, and I still fly it often.. Thanks once again, my friend..

[bruce448]

Shouldn't this thread be called John Terrell Then and Now Series??????

Bruce

[Bomber_12th]

Bruce, thanks for the laugh!!!

[Bomber_12th]

Huub, I do seem to recall (after the fact), that a certain someone had more of a part in me winning that contest than anything I had done, lol. : )

Mark and Quicksand, thank you, and I really appreciate it!

Now hopefully there can be more threads like these for those who really deserve it!