swambast

Great news GKABS, made my day and may you continue to be blessed with strength, healing and greater health!

Dawn breaks, the sun glistens off an inbound F-105 streaking across North Vietnam....

@Soulfreak Super cool you acknowledged the source, and that is an AWESOME choice you made! Among the best I've seen, super nice low poly model with respective textures and even .PSD, what a great purchase. Hell if you guys need any .MAX updates or other help perhaps I could lend a hand, love working on well-balanced models like that. Cheers

Totally disagree. SAM Sites during the Vietnam War rarely ever used concrete roads; they were designed to be semi-mobile and temporary to begin with and they leveraged existing infrastructure including dirt roads, bamboo materials, natural objects such as trees/bushes, etc. The only known places where they were more permanent was outside major urban centers such as Hanoi, etc. where there was additional AAA protection, greater raw material access, etc. A majority of the sites were not this way, and the NVA strategy was based on mobility, deception, and concealment, not static hardened construction sites.

In other news, working up the 5 inch guns for the Maddox. Here is current WIP. Please note that NONE of the textures are final, these are all just placeholders for now until mesh is finalized and UV Maps updated, etc - see below. I don't want to model/mesh the target circle, be more practical to use a simple .TGA - does anyone have one available they could share with me, thanks.

Gep, we have alternatives to those - here's from WTR for example. I would say don't worry about those for now. I'm happy to share some of the WTR models if needed, spent like a year perfecting the SAM Sites and making custom models but give honor to Old Diego as he was the pioneer in this and I simply expanded and improved upon the foundation.

LOL, no it won't. This game engine has a polycount export limit as well...along with vertex limitations, animation limitations, texture map type restrictions, etc. Not sure what you are talking about unless you mean something else?

Hi @guuruu - thanks for jumping in here, really appreciate it. I know some of our most talented modders including you are absolutely swamped with real life priorities right now...! For the Sumner, I think I might have a similar reference model you're showing, but the mesh was a absolute mess with double-sided faces, needed to re-do the texture maps, etc. But anyway, I've started a scratch build and think will push forward with it, but maybe you might have a different version from what I'm thinking of. I'll PM you my contact details, and appreciate the offer very much. For the USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14) Essex-class Aircraft Carrier I took it out for bid but the pricing was too high for me to personally cover, >$400 on average. However, I've worked with one of these particular artists and their work/optimized models are absolutely among the best I've ever seen, so it does bum me out. Even though I have access to many of the YAP carriers, etc. with all due respect I'm not a fan of those as the polycount/texture is sky high and it's like a slide show performance wise - so any other options/considerations are always welcomed. Thanks, all the best for now!

Gepard, wow this is a wonderful surprise indeed, thanks so much!

Thanks for your message, I'll just answer here so all are in the loop....yes, as mentioned I plan to include a completely new USS Maddox. I'm not really a ship builder, but will try my best! Here is just first rough cut of mesh, hull, etc. - still long way to go.

I just love Del's haulers...

Side note and SitRep: absolutely limited support and interest but extremely grateful to the few who answered the call! USS Maddox (DD-731) Sumner-class destroyer: In-Development: early scratch/base model with most basic mesh now created (e.g., hull, guns, etc.) USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14) Essex-class Aircraft Carrier: No options yet F-8 Crusader – U.S. Navy fighter jets from the USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14) carrier group: Under Development and heaviest focus right now North Vietnamese P-4 Torpedo Boat: Under Development and nearing completion

Hi, I'm looking at what options might exist for the USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14) Essex-class Aircraft Carrier? I know YAP had a "stand in" but I'd like to give it proper justice. I reached out to @guuruu as he's damn good with these (and nearly everything else LOL) but didn't hear back so assume he's just busy or not interested. Anyway, appreciate any feedback/comments on this, thanks!

God Speed to you Mohamad, we are all thinking about you and wishing you a healthy and speedy recovery - you have been through much and endured it all, now we all look forward to hearing good news after your Doctor visits. You have a lot of prayers surrounding you.

Encouraging news considering the circumstances, stay strong mentally, physically and spiritually... we're all cheering for you. 🙏