Swordsman422

*Double post*

I could have sworn I was never going to make skins for Strike Fighters anymore. I thought I had promised myself I was done... VMA(AW)-533's A-6E TRAM Intruders as they appeared during a rare carrier deployment with CVW-3 aboard USS John F. Kennedy. The BuNos and modex numbers are specific to the 1986 deployment, but can work for the 1988 Med Cruise as well. Sized for the Thirdwire A-6E (79) TRAM Intruder, but will also work for the A-6E(90) from the SuperPack. 12 aircraft will be represented, all with slight variation in markings. Still WIP, and in the years out of practice, my skills haven't gotten any better, but I might release these when they're done. Forgive the screen archery.

Yes, I've done this before. In the VF-213 Last Cruise skin for the MF Tomcat, I used decals to replace the entire airframe base color on one of the jets. I just didn't feel like putting in that level of effort this time around, so I chose one airframe for inspiration and use decals for just modex, BuNo, and minor variations in tail art.

Yes, but I am using 152641 as my base aircraft, so the details are going to be more specific to that jet. I chose 152641 because I have clear photos from multiple angles of this specific airplane, and I do not want to repeat the effort I put into my VF-213 Last Tomcat Cruise skin, especially for my first skin after an 8 year absence. Perhaps in the future, I'll revisit this skin and render the perforated speedbrakes as decals for when they were present. As is, my reference airplane had them and I like the look. 152641 and most of the Hawks airplanes at this time were painted in a 3-tone TPS with that third standard color, FS35237 (Medium Grey or Blue Grey depending on the source) painted on the tip of the vertical stab, the top of the nose, and the canopy. As far as I'm aware, this version of the TPS wasn't long lived on the Intruder, but did have some prominence in the early and mid 1980s when the Navy was still trying to figure out what the standard should look like. Tomcats went through a similar teething period with the TPS. For 152641, photographic evidence suggests the canopy and nose was heavily spot painted with FS36320, 36375, and FS35237 from cans with inconsistent dye lots, sometimes more blue than the original color. This was a typical problem in the 1980s, with TPS colors not being consistent in tone depending on lot. There is also even some spot painting along the spine of what looks like FS36118. When the QM practically issues paint with an eyedropper and the jet needs corrosion control done, you reach for whatever paint color you have enough of to do the job. Maybe, Yakarov, when your E comes out, I'll buckle down and do this livery even better, but I'll just get it to my own satisfaction for now.

Got some more work done on the base skin. The weathering is based on photos I have of BuNo 152641, which was with the Hawks as Modex 543 during the 1988 cruise. 152641 and several of the other squadron jets were rebuilt from early A-6As, and thus the perforated fuselage speedbrake. All of them were painted in the standard 3-tone TPS, but were heavily spot painted and corrosion controlled, looking every bit of their nearly 30 years old.

The last skin I made for SF2 was for the MF F-14D 8 years ago. I've been in DCS more or less since then, but wandered back in because SF2 is the only place I can fly the A-6 and F-8, plus the dynamic campaign engine is something DCS doesn't really offer yet. I'm not just rusty with skin creation. I'm corroded. And I never was particularly talented anyway.

Nah. I did try experimentally to increase it by cranking those numbers up, but it didn't appear to do much. I really just think it was my memory being wrong. Thanks for trying to help, though.

Hey fellas, It's been a REALLY long time since I fired up SF2. I haven't flown it really at all since the DCS F/A-18 came out, and my SF2 collection has been just sitting idle on my HD. In a fit of nostalgia and wanting to fly the F-8 Crusader again, I decided why not, and started flying again. Is it just me, or are the polished metallic textures I remember kinda dull? Have I been playing DCS for too long now, or do the bare metal aircraft skins no longer have the same effect on modern GPUs? I'm running an RTX3070 on Win10 if that matters. Thanks. Glad to be back, if even for just a short visit.

Yeah, mine looks like that, but I remember the bare metal jets being a bit more reflective and the glint being more crisp. Of the environmental mods, I'm currently using realSKY, which shouldn't have changed anything in this regard. I must just be remembering incorrectly, having been 7 years or so in DCS. Hope you hit what you were shooting at, BTW.

Yes, these are walkways made of non-skid material. They were only on the boarding side i early F-14s and varied quite a bit in pattern from one squadron to the next.

The aircraft involved appears to be "War Party 304" belonging to VFA-87 with CVW-8. There are conflicting reports of the weapon expended being either a pair of AIM-9X Sidewinders or a single AIM-120D AMRAAM.

Depends on what ordinance I am carrying. If I'm toting laser or GPS guided bombs, I'll pick and nearby air defense system or maybe a truck parked too close to a building in the pushover and tell them to hit that. On larger LGBs (1000 LBS+) I normally only do single release, so if I somehow miss with the first, I can climb out and swing back around for another try. AI isn't too good with LGBs, and they randomly seem to release multiples even on small targets like AAA. However, I do find them useful and suppressing SAFires and allowing me to concentrate on the target. I do the same if it's dumb iron and I have a CCIP, and select dual release. If I don't have a CCIP with dumb bombs, then I'm multiple release and I tell the wingman to hit the primary target with me at the pushover. If I have a second element, they can either suppress AAA if they are loaded for it or else they've been release to provide OCA at the initial.

File Name: VF-213 Black Lions 2003 File Submitter: Swordsman422 File Submitted: 17 May 2017 File Category: F-14 VF-213 Black Lions 2003 OIF Cruise for the Mirage Factory F-14D_96 Intended to bridge the gap between their 1999-2002 http://combatace.com/files/file/14717-vf-213-f-14d-1999-2002/ and the Last Tomcat Cruise http://combatace.com/files/file/16459-vf-213-black-lions-last-roar/ to cover VF-213's entire career in the D-model Tomcat. Please read the readme and enjoy! Click here to download this file

Generally speaking, CAG jets used the 00 modex number and CO jets used the 01. There are exceptions. VF-102 after upgrading to the F-14B, VF-103 after the disestablishment of VF-74. These are very rare, however, and I don't think I've seen an example from before Desert Storm. During the 70's/80s, the CAG and CO jets were always 00 and 01.

Looking good. Just remember, VF-143 used the 100 series modex. Same with VF-51. I kinda stopped doing individual BuNos unless A) the aircraft was particularly famous or B) they just happened to be on the decals I was already building from and accurate already or nearly so. Putting them on the numbers list next to the modex is easy. But just remember, these are your skins and it's up to you how much work you feel you need to put in to make them good. I forgot to mention also, I really dig the detail you put into the gun gas vent. Bear in mind that the block 80 jets still used the original 7-hole ggv.

During this period, VF-51's CAG jet had the rainbow stripes on the black tails. All other jets had just red stripes.

File Name: VF-213 Black Lions Last Roar! File Submitter: Swordsman422 File Submitted: 04 May 2017 File Category: F-14 The final months of VF-213's last Tomcat cruise aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt in 2006. This skin is for the Mirage Factory F-14D_96 and F-14D_06. Please read the readme and enjoy! Click here to download this file

D'oh... Apparently I didn't realize the phoenix pallets were different from the pallets with the bomb racks. Sorry about that. It's what I get for only flying strike and CAS with this plane. Please add the following entries to the decals.ini. I'll make a proper update when I have more improvements to make. [Decal128] MeshName=suppphoenix01 DecalLevel=2 DecalFacing=BOTTOM FilenameFormat=F-14D\USNVF213LC\TCS Position=0.0,4.0 Rotation=0.0 Scale=10 DecalMaxLOD=4 [Decal129] MeshName=suppphoenix02 DecalLevel=2 DecalFacing=BOTTOM FilenameFormat=F-14D\USNVF213LC\TCS Position=0.0,4.0 Rotation=0.0 Scale=10 DecalMaxLOD=4 [Decal130] MeshName=suppphoenix03 DecalLevel=2 DecalFacing=BOTTOM FilenameFormat=F-14D\USNVF213LC\TCS Position=-0.5,-1.0 Rotation=0.0 Scale=10 DecalMaxLOD=4 [Decal131] MeshName=suppphoenix04 DecalLevel=2 DecalFacing=BOTTOM FilenameFormat=F-14D\USNVF213LC\TCS Position=-0.5,-1.0 Rotation=0.0 Scale=10 DecalMaxLOD=4 [Decal132] MeshName=suppphoenix01 DecalLevel=2 DecalFacing=TOP FilenameFormat=F-14D\USNVF213LC\TCS Position=0.0,4.0 Rotation=0.0 Scale=10 DecalMaxLOD=4 [Decal133] MeshName=suppphoenix02 DecalLevel=2 DecalFacing=TOP FilenameFormat=F-14D\USNVF213LC\TCS Position=0.0,4.0 Rotation=0.0 Scale=10 DecalMaxLOD=4