Stock WOV F-4C/D nose door decal

[mppd 16]

Can anyone shed some light on how to get a nose door decal working on the stock WOV F-4C/D (typically the last three digits of the aircraft serial number)? I have poked through the .LOD file with a hex editor and tried several things on the most likely mesh name but with zero results.

 

Thanks very much,

Mike Druzolowski

[Heck 496]

My best guess from opening the LOD in notepad is gear_door_front_outer_1. What placement type did you use? Bottom, or Front? I know it's a silly question, but when the gear is closed, it's on the bottom of the aircraft's total mesh, and when its open, it's on the front. It'll of course move when the mesh moves, like the rudder, so my best guess would be front, knowing it will move when the gear closes. With a decal this small, finding exactly the right placement on the mesh will be tough, a lot of trial and error. You might create just a small full color decal first, like bright red, and try to place that, because it will be easier to see if a small part of the decal hits the mesh through trial and error. Once you've found the sweet spot, you could replace it with the number decal and go from there.

 

Wait a minute. Wait a minute (Best Hal 9000 voice).

 

What you might try to do is place the decal on the bottom of the fuselage mesh itself, just in front of the gear door, and then move it back to where the gear door would be when you have it placed. If it then disappears, you know you've found the spot, and you can replace the mesh name. If it reappears, then it's a bottom placement. If it disappears again, you know it's front, and you'll have to find the coordinates again, but at least you'll be starting from a close mark.

 

I wish I could be of more help, but I don't have much experience with decals myself, just having started to experiment with them. I have found that front placement decals can be maddening from all the trial and error involved.

[Guest Sony Tuckson]

on most planes, gear doors are handled as "closed" for that very purpose

 

so bottom will be the option to choose

 

as so exact meshname, an hex editor will confirm it

 

possible names are

 

gear_door_front_outer_1

 

gear_door_front_outer_2

 

gear_door_front_inner_1

 

gear_door_front_inner_2

 

follow suggested method to get proper coordinates before searching for good mesh name

Edited October 14, 2007 by Sony Tuckson

[mppd 16]

Thanks everyone, I'll try that when I get the time away from work.

Mike D.