stephen honey

Haven't been here in a while... work commitments. I started on some Italian Nieuport 11s last year as part of a skin project to accompany the N11 I posted at the time. Hopefully I'll be able to revisit them soon to finalise them for uploading. It's been so long since I looked at them I can't remember which ones they are. I know there is a generic skin and also, I think, Stoppani, di Calabria, and Baracca (pre 'Ferrari Horse' logo). I think I may have some initial workings on an Italian Hanriot.

In short, if it's near enough it's good enough. Paint technology was still a reletively new science at the outbreak of the war. Whilst most natural pigments had been already superceded by more stable synthetic compounds developed during the Industrial Revolution, the suspensions and base colour may still have been derived from organic sources. Linseed oil and lead based whites were still commonplace and their rate of degradation when exposed to the elements would have affected the colours. The emerging car industry in the years leading up to the war and advances in the internal combustion engine during the war accelerated petrol-chemical technology resulting in a range of stable by-products suitable for paint production. But it was not until the 1920's that modern paints as we know them started to appear. I think the variation in the colours that each 'skinner' chooses adds an authenticity, in some way mirroring what would have probably happened at the time. Pilots would have chosen a 'livery' for their aircraft and had it painted maybe, to reflect some of their own personality. Whether it be to instill a fear into their opponents or create a feeling of security within themselves when they climbed aboard their 'trusty' machine. This is more prevalent with many of the German Aces seeming to have a greater artistic licence and drawing on their ancestral past for inspiration.

Following some requests, I have begun working on a few new skins for the excellent N11 modelled by MontyCZ. The N11 RNAS 3891 flown by Dallas is depicted as having a twin Lewis gun mount on the wing. Can the existing single mount model be changed to incoporate this modification? Can anyone help please.... I'm O.K. with the skinning, hopeless with the tech stuff. I know I've asked for a similar thing before relating to the moving of the single Lewis to the fuselage for Navarre's red Nieuport. (I almost completed that one but found speculations as to the correct version so am doing a bit more research). Thanks

Thanks for the quick response Nixarass, As the guns were on the top wing I wouldn't be too worried if they weren't visible from the cockpit view.

How many Nieuports had PC10 as their paint scheme? I must admit I haven't fully looked into it that much, even when I was concentrating on the paint schemes for the earlier French scouts. The RNAS had the 11's but weren't they clear doped and had a combination of French and British markings,(I have a skin nearing completion). I have seen a camo colour scheme for Dallas's 11... or was it a 16? Albert Ball flew a 16 for a while, but wasn't that camouflaged in green and brown also? If there is a PC10 version I'd happily skin one.... I'll put together some RFC 17s as well. (I haven't tried any of the 17s 'cos I could never get the gun variation placements to work). I am also thinking of skinning the blue nosed 11 used in Turkey. Do we have a suitable terrain?

File Name: Nieuport 11 Paul Tarascon File Submitter: stephen honey File Submitted: 16 Aug 2009 File Category: Nieuport Skins Paul Tarascon's first of the 'Zigomar' series of aeroplanes. All credits to Monty CZ's original model, one of my favourites. This is a large skin file but does work on my PC which is so old it was probably built at around the same time as the original aeroplane. Load the skin in the usual way to your Nieuport 11 folder and adjust the texture set number to correspond. The screenshot has Geezer's excellent Narrow Pilot, (re-skinned with moustache), in the cockpit. (A bit of positioning adjustment to the Nieuport data file needed). I haven't included it with this upload. I will do so if allowed by the original author. The Nieuport at the moment uses the standard FE pilot. Again many thanks to the original creators FE and all the other 3D modellers, skinners etc. Click here to download this file

Many thanks for this Panama Red. I agree, there is little external difference between the two models. The 16's did tend to have a headrest on the turtle deck but this could have easily been removed, as was often done, to increase visibility. Maybe it was to trick the enemy into thinking that this was the earlier and less powerful version. Good luck with the conversion. Navarre's Nieuports are well documented in their colour schemes. Some have already been submitted in the download section, a red one could be a welcome addition. Also the short lived but unique blue 'Le Vieux Charles' of Georges Guynemer.

I was surprised when I saw the photo of Navarre's 'Bebe' with a fuselage mounted Lewis for same reasons as you highlighted. I checked further and found this snippet, ironically, placed on the Combat Ace Forum a month ago by HomeBoy. 'I have been puzzled by the fact that the B.E.2c in OFF has a fuselage mounted forward Lewis gun that obviously fires through the prop (i.e. is synchronized). I was unaware that there were any Lewis guns configured this way so I started Googling. I found this fascinating article': http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/vie...20-%201391.html The relevant excerpts follow. There was apparently experimental success with synchronizing the Lewis. The problem with the Lewis had to do with the mass of the round and the acceleration necessary to get the bullet going. This delay apparently made synchronizing the Lewis difficult . (I've always wondered about that!). Anyway, here is the excerpt: QUOTE It is possible that success was delayed because the standard machine-gun used in British aircraft was the drum-fed Lewis, and all the early experiments were conducted with it. It suffered from two disadvantages: it could fire only a limited number of rounds before having to be reloaded, and the masses which had to be accelerated in the gun were so heavy that the fitting of any kind of purely mechanical interrupter or synchronizing gear was a difficult matter. (A synchronizing gear for the Lewis gun was in fact designed by Sergeant-Mechanic Alkan of the French air service and fitted experimentally to a few R.F.C. aircraft in the spring of 1916. Here is the photo I mentioned.

I don't think you can come off as being greedy with amount of contributions you and many others have made. I look at it as returning a favour in a small way. I do tend to start off making a generic skin.. but it usually ends up being personalised as were the original aircraft. I am working on a few more individual 'Bebes' at the moment. I will skin some more and keep them 'plain'. Do you have a preference, R.N.A.S., French, Belgian, Italian, Russian..... or all of them. Whilst we're on the subject of the Nieuports, is ther any way to remove the wing mounted gun and place a single Lewis on the fuselage. I was thinking of Jean Navarre's red Nieuport 11. Or even a captured version with a Spandau.

Thanks for the kind comments......and thanks to the original 3D modellers of all the aeroplanes. If it was for the great work that they do there wouldn't be anything to put the skins on. I haven't posted as many schemes as I would have liked to, I put up a few ALB DIII's a while ago but wasn't happy with them so I'll have a look at those again. Also a couple of SE5's that need another look at. In the meantime I've almost finished one of a few Nieuport 11's, just a few tweaks here and there to do. If I have permission I'll post the first very soon, again all credit to Monty CZ for his original model. I've re-skinned and clothed Geezer's excellent Narrow Pilot model for this one. Hope that's O.K. Here's a couple of preview pics.

I'm glad I'm not the only one experiencing the same fragility with the Nieuports, I thought it was my feeble piloting skills. The only remedy I considered for not being shot down was to shoot myself in the foot and get hospital confinement... or defect and become a Gotha pilot. Also, although it could be my computer which was I think built just before the Nieuport came into service, I find the 'Bebe' to be a bit unresponsive and sluggish, as opposed to it's reputation for being a 'sporty' aircraft.

Many thanks for the added information and the graphics, they help greatly and are easier to interpret than the text descriptions. Interesting to see that you have the horizontal stabilisers in green as opposed to just the aileron. I was following the rule of thumb along the lines of Allmenroder's Albatros. Throwing in another question, how much 'artistic licence' was given to each individual pilot. Would they have had total say over their individual paint schemes considering the reverence they were given amongst their peers at the time. I think I'll re-gather all the bits of information I have and put them with the new bits to try and make something a little more definite..... (does anyone have a time machine, (bullet-proof preferably), so that I can go back and take some colour photographs?)

quote name='Southside Bucky' date='Nov 23 2008, 04:41 PM' post='216479'] Without wanting to over complicate things, I think it's worth mentioning that there is another school of thought regarding the colours of Wolff's early D.III: Some "experts" are of the opinion that the early Albatros flown by Wolff, which would have had the centrally placed upper wing radiator, only had the rear fuselage and tail painted purple. A purple version of Schaefer's D.III, if you will. It would appear from that photo, that the D.III Wolff's standing next to is the later variant with the off-set radiator, and was possibly painted overall red, but with a green nose and elevator. This would kinda fit in better with other J11 schemes like Allmenroeder's and Brauneck's. Decisions, decisions, eh? Bucky It is difficult to get the details 100% right, especially with conflicting opinions and accounts. A trawl through historical books and the internet doesn't offer anything in the way of wholly corroborating evidence. Several months ago, (probably nearer last Christmas!) I was working on some Albatros DIII skins for a Jasta 11 flight with a view to posting in response to request in the forum. I'm still doing them because I've changed my mind so many times as to what is an accurate representation. It's the lack of concrete information, particularly concerning Kurt Wolff's plane, that has slowed things down. I've posted up some WIPs approaching a scheme for the 'purple' Albatros and the Jasta 11 machine that I'm fairly happy with, albeit for a few tidying and detailing tweaks here and there. If anyone spots any glaring errors or could offer some extra detailing that I could add, please do.

Wonderful, many many thanks for this! Of the two things I requested information about, this was the more important to me. Maybe we can put the 4 bladed version, (plus nose spinner), on the wish list if there is a new official patch in the pipeline.

W.I.P. Here's a couple of preview pics of the first of a series of new SE5a skins I'm working on, Capt. G H Lewis No 40 sqn. There are still some detailing tweaks here and there to finish off. There should be no headrest, however, is it is possible to remove this from the original model? Can this be done with text code or does it have to be taken off the original 3D model? Also, is it possible to create a 4 bladed propeller version? If these are possible it will greatly increase the skinning options. Hopefully someone can offer some technical help. Thanks in anticipation.

Yes, working on several bits, time permitting, long term stuff includes detailed skins for a set of Alb DIIIs Jasta 11. A set of detailed SE5a skins, various aces. I have a blue nosed one of Billy Bishop but someone beat me to it with an upload. (Was hoping to release it September 11th, Billy Bishop died on this day in 1956, the exact same night I was born). I've also been experimenting with some sound files to create a wind buffeted open cockpit effect. Hopefully I'll upload some very soon. Interesting to see the use of other terrains compatible with FE.

Yes, it seems you've encountered the same problem, but I didn't realise about adding the 3rd party pilots maybe there's a possibility there, thanks for that. The idea initially came about when I was working on some Alb DIII skins for an April 1917 Jasta 11 group. There was a request for the 'red' squadron sometime around last Christmas, (sorry can't remember who posted). It was then that I thought it would be good to take advantage of the more detailed pilot bitmaps that came out with the FE updates and have the individual aces to accompany their aircraft. Unfortunately other work has slowed the project down. Researching paint colours and schemes for accuracy also takes a lot of time. I have one that is 99% done, Kurt Wolff ( with red sock hat) and his green tailed Albatros. I'll put up a preview pic in the next few days.

I'll express an interest. It's these lateral thoughts and ideas that increase the dynamics of the game, so congratulations for working on this aspect. Flying at several thousand feet in a canvas and wood box with a car engine bolted to the front must have been a experience to say the least especially if somebody is trying shoot at you at the same time. Introducing these realistic stress elements will highlight the limitations, fragility and vulnerabilty of these aircraft. If it was possible within the game, I would also like to see a tweak to create an active sceen that gives limited visibility through oiled stained goggles, especially with an engine hit. (We already have a tweak to increase head shake). I haven't made many contributions to the game other than a few aircraft skins and one of the reasons why is because I spend a lot of time experimenting with files. I'm playing around with mixing in open cockpit heavy wind buffeting to the individual engine sounds, the idea is to get an increase in pitch and severity in accordance with the speed. Also I would like to increase the number of individual pilot files to give each aircraft its own pilot, (any artwork to create the likeness of a known ace or aircraft paint scheme is not a problem for me its the technical application needed to increase the number of pilots to beyond the present five).

With regard to wind sounds: When experimenting with creating individual engine sounds to match each aircraft I have tried mixing a wind rushing sound in. It still needs playing around with a bit to sound convincing, but the idea is that when increasing the throttle to accelerate the engine the wind sound will also increase in relation to the speed. The engine sounds can then be easily added to the sound file and the appropriate aircraft.......if that makes any sense. I'll post one up to try when I happy with it.

Some excellent skins Sinbad, especially your re-upholstering of Keisz's flying sofa. You say you're just learning how to do skins..... I'd say you'd already learnt. Also thanks for the Schorndorf post, some great detailed pics. If you haven't already, have a look at the restoration teams' work at memorial.flight.free.fr/fokkerDVIIuk.html

File Name: Fokker DVIIF Lt Hans Joachim von Hippel File Submitter: stephen honey File Submitted: 23 Jun 2007 File Category: WW1 Aircraft Fokker DVIIF: Lt. Hans Joachim von Hippel, Jasta 71/1918 Click here to download this file

I saw the documentary also, for the first time last night, and whilst it made fascinating viewing with regards to restrospective forensics and the amazing methods of detection displayed in an effort to come to a conclusion, I couldn't help thinking in the broader context that it's strange that anybody would wish to take credit for actually killing someone. It could be argued that the intransigence of politicians killed the Red Baron, along with millions of others that had no part in the original argument......( I'm having a realistic moment).

Many thanks for that. Regards Stephen