Wow...pappychksix B-52 classical skin

[Lexx_Luthor 57]

This B-52 skin has to be a combat flight sim *first* ... and I missed it until the other day. Super skin by pappychksix based on JSF Aggie skins...Its "silver" metal on top, and anti-flash white, (my fave colour ), on bottom.

 

28th Bomb Wing classical skin ~> http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?autoc...p;showfile=2388

 

I've been struggling with getting the right look for 1950s stratosphere flying, and for B-52 I needed a usable skin. This is it. I've tweaked the skin a bit, partially to fit well with variables in my Enviro file that I have dedicated to very high altitude air environment.

 

I made nacelle tops "silver" since it looks cooler, and I've seen pics of this I think. Still experimenting with with decals...

 

[Lexx_Luthor 57]

From below, a white against deep blue.

 

From above the skin either is *dark* or shines bright near proper sun/skin angle. Here it shines bright with the SF sun above.

 

 

From another angle, the upper bare metal looks dark. I further darkened pappya's upper surfaces and turned way down my Enviro file's DAY sun colour to increase contrast between sun shine metal and away-from-sun metal. I added white vinyl top.

[Lexx_Luthor 57]

A good angle for near-sunset metal look.

 

 

Kinda getting to where I want it all to look like, still needs more Enviro work....

 

 

Awsim skin pappy!

[kct 5]

Worked out nice, from what I see. Wonder how would it look like if the colours are B&W...

[Lexx_Luthor 57]

BW is Good!

[+Jug 99]

A good angle for near-sunset metal look.

 

 

Kinda getting to where I want it all to look like, still needs more Enviro work....

 

 

Awsim skin pappy!

 

General Curtiss LeMay just rolled over in his grave. Sweet!

[Lexx_Luthor 57]

 

 

Wait till he sees this one. For a fictional SAC/PVO campaign, I need an immediate replacement for B-45, optimized for high altitude, so I applied my silver smithing to CPL's NAVY A3D, shown here captured and flying in enemy bare metal/white paint and markings, same as B-52 above. I assume cross dressing is not a bannable activity at the combatace?

 

The tail fin is a lab experiment in using decals instead of multiple skin files for unit colours. It might work out.

 

Edited September 18, 2008 by Lexx_Luthor

[+Spillone104 553]

Maybe is best suited or "realistic" the B-66 done by Bunyap....

[Lexx_Luthor 57]

104::

Maybe is best suited or "realistic" the B-66 done by Bunyap....

Not at all. In a fictional "hot war" high altitude campaign, a minimaly changed A3D would still be optimized for high altitude, and also have better performance, longer range, and be available earlier to desperately replace B-45, over the later B-66B.

 

Best, the A3D 3D model is fantastic and the crew compartment is very suited for stargetic cockpit or "open cockpit" use as I think TK calls it now. I got some nice results on this near the bottom of page 42 in this Thudwire thread...

 

scroll down ~> http://bbs.thirdwire.com/phpBB/viewtopic.p...0&start=328

[Lexx_Luthor 57]

Earlier I applied silver smithing to the B-47. Looks like a Great White shark. I made the lower wing surfaces white. Nacelle upper surfaces silver, lower surfaces white. Pics I've seen SEEM to show some aircraft having forward nacelle round the intakes are silver, all the way round, while engine rear darker colour overall -- heat bad for paint perhaps. It seems on some aircraft the forward aircraft undersides were still silver. My amatuer guess is that the flash would appear behind and below, so front below could remain unprotected metal.

 

 

Given the Textureset variables cover the entire aircraft, the only difference between "silver" metal and anti-flash white is the darkness. Both are basically "grey" but the white vector I set to RBG=255,255,255 in general, save for panel lines and darker shades in white panels. For the "silver" right now I'm averaging the large scale grey roundabout RBG=170,170,170.

[Lexx_Luthor 57]

White below, near noon...

 

 

Silver above, later in the day...

[Lexx_Luthor 57]

Proof collector B-47 stamped out by the United States Mint.

 

I may have pushed too far here. I depressed the upper surfaces to roundabout RGB=150,150,150, and got super polish. A "proof" silver coin might look like this at the right angles. Ramping up the Ambient lighting in Enviro file counteracts lower RGB values, but also effects terrain and all 3D objects.

 

[Lexx_Luthor 57]

Thanks for this Wrench. I missed this one too. Wrench made a "generic" bare metal skin for Pasko F-94, with no colours other than bare metal. Perfect.

 

skin ~> http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?autoc...p;showfile=5520

 

An early experiment with using decals to decorate aircraft instead of multiple skin files. Maybe it could work in at least some cases.

[Lexx_Luthor 57]

I've been tweaking the B-36 skin, to give it a solid US Mint uncirculated, but not proof, appearance.

 

[i90807065 0]

Watching this topic has made me wonder, Why were almost all the old US aircraft chrome? Wouldnt they stick out like sore thumbs? Isnt it also expensive?

[kct 5]

Speaking of these birds...have you looked through the updated TW B-52D? Since the model have been resized I figured that the startegic pit for the B-52D needs updating.

[Lexx_Luthor 57]

However, the extreme Textureset numbers I use washes out darker colour skin decorations...for example, the red trim on the B-36B appears faded...washed out. Same with any darker colour. Here is my current Textureset for all my metal aircraft. This is designed around the unique Environment lighting I use.

 

Textureset::...

:

Specular=1

Glossiness=0.1

Reflection=1

 

 

So I experiment with using decals to decorate skins. Below are large decals on all the surfaces needed, and are deep colour, not washed out. The problem here is the decals cover skin details. So this is just an experiment. Another possible benefit is not needing different skins for different decorative paint jobs.

 

 

What is all the red paint for anyway? How much poundage was that to carry into the stratosphere? In my thinking for a fictional strategic campaign, long term, the red would be left on the ground to enable any extra altitude possible. Any weight savings helps every aspect of altitude performance except possibly dive. I don't need a stratospheric dive bomber, but it does sound fun. Another problem are all those gun turrets which never worked (except tail cannon). I am going to guess that SAC will leave the turrets and gunners on the ground with the red paint to gain any altitude performance against PVO interceptors -- only tail cannon will be carried.

Edited September 28, 2008 by Lexx_Luthor

[Lexx_Luthor 57]

i68409844 (type in random numbers) -- Bare metal, not chrome. Think "P-51Dora." Bare metal can act somewhat like a mirror or unworn coin -- shiny and easy to see from one angle, dark and hard to see from another, depending on relative angle to the sun (or desk lamp if you flip a coin around).

 

kct -- I have not updated my B-52 yet. I will. I noticed my decals are off.

[Lexx_Luthor 57]

Finally, the white underside of the B-36J. I've tweaked upwards the brightness of the white undersides while leaving the metal upper surfaces and sides darker. One may just see the boundary between metal and white on the fuselage. Metal on top, white on bottom.

 

Interestingly, the white underside is no different than the metal upperside -- just a brighter white or brighter shade of grey. When flying upside down, the white looks silvery shiny in the sunlight. But you never see that provided the aircraft flies, banks, and turns normally. For heavy strategic bombers, this works well as they generally don't fly upside down.

 

[Lexx_Luthor 57]

I "forgot" to mention...

 

The top advantage of using extreme metal Texturset numbers is that even very small direct sunlight reflections are visible from very long distances, up to the limit the aircraft LOD becomes "less than a pixel" and so invisible at a given player zoom/field of view. This is a visual effect sorely needed in The Sims.

[Wrench 9,735]

Hey Lexx, don't forget all those Scorpion skins I did earlier this year!

 

Wrench

kevin stein

[Lexx_Luthor 57]

Yep, Scorpion would be a good one for this.

 

This is why I love your F-94 generic skin.

[+Jug 99]

Watching this topic has made me wonder, Why were almost all the old US aircraft chrome? Wouldnt they stick out like sore thumbs? Isnt it also expensive?

Actually, bare skin aluminum. Paint adds weight, in most cases, lots of weight. Preferance at the time was for payload vs paint.