ShrikeHawk

Here's another skin for the Dr.1. Udet's Triplane: Cheers! ShrikeHawk

That Cockpit looks great 'Gator! The last mod was great and I was satisfied with it. Jumped on it right away, hehehe. And then here you go and make it even better. I'll be making your latest adjustments as soon as possible. Hey Warlord - I've been continuing to work on the Voss skin. I've got it so applying the new paint can be done in mere minutes. The trick has been making the swatches that I copy the paint from. I haven't been quite satisfied and have made lots of paint swatches - 41 different ones in fact. And that was just for the Voss skin. I created 10 swatches for the Udet skin. *picky picky* hehehe. And I have 15 different, layered .psp files each with up to 3 skins buried in all the layers. The folder where I've put all the skinning files is up to 447Mg! Almost the same size as a fresh First Eagles installation. Well, I was much happier with how the streaking came out for the Udet skin. So I've been using a similar technique for Voss. Now, my Voss skin folder now has 6 different variations. These latest two have a more "roughish" look as though the paint was hastily applied. I kinda like that. I'm not sure if the balance between blue, green, and olive is correct. But trying to get that balance is partly why I ended up with so many swatches. Here's the latest two skins: Voss5 Voss6 I'm thinking of posting a "Voss Skin Pack" so people could pick out the one they like best. The information on Voss' colors is varied and conflicting it's hard to get a good read on what it should look like. With a skin pack people could make their own decision. Just a thought. Cheers! ShrikeHawk

File Name: Udet Dr.1 File Submitter: ShrikeHawk File Submitted: 8 Oct 2007 File Category: WW1 Aircraft Udet skin for the Fokker Dr.1 10/07/2007 by ShrikeHawk Original model and skin by the A-Team of: Capun, Gramps, Charles, Kesselbrut & The Wrench Questions or comments? Please PM ShrikeHawk at combatace.com Have Fun! ShrikeHawk Click here to download this file

Some more quotables...Happy Birthday Marines! "Hard pressed on my right. My center is yielding. Impossible to maneuver. Situation excellent. I am attacking!" FERDINAND FOCH "We're surrounded. That simplifies the problem!" CHESTY PULLER, USMC "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." GEORGE ORWELL "We're not retreating, Hell! We're just attacking in a different direction!" GEN. OLIVER SMITH, USMC "Teufelhunde! (Devil Dogs)" GERMAN SOLDIERS, WW1 at BELLEAU WOOD "So they've got us surrounded, good! Now we can fire in any direction, those b*****ds won't get away this time!" CHESTY PULLER, USMC WE STOLE THE EAGLE FROM THE AIR FORCE, THE ANCHOR FROM THE NAVY AND THE ROPE FROM THE ARMY. ON THE SEVENTH DAY WHILE GOD RESTED, WE OVERRAN HIS PERIMETER, STOLE THE GLOBE AND WE'VE BEEN RUNNING THE WHOLE SHOW EVER SINCE. ShrikeHawk

Indeed, I did hear that treasonous phrase mentioned here. I didn't shoot the idiot because they aren't in season just now... There really are some rational minds here in San Francisco. And those who could attend had a great time watching the Blue Angels fly. My cam has lousy zoom, but here's some pics I took at the event. Fat Albert showing off: The Blue Angels! No dogs, cats, or squirrels were frightened or injured during the performance. Although it is rumored that Chris Daly pissed himself... Next Day: Fleet Week is still on. So the Marines showed up at the 49er game. ooh rah! We could've used these guys in the offensive line... Cheers! ShrikeHawk

Thanks all. I'll be posting it up later on. Cheers! ShrikeHawk

It's great to know another of our boys made it home safe...and doing well!

I still like it out here, even though the anti-military/anti-gun crowd is annoying. SF is not quite a liberal as it seems. The wildly left activists are just extremely vocal, striving every moment to "get the message across". Most folks I know here are just focused on getting through the workday to put food on the table. They could care less about the latest "cause". And notice that when it came down to a choice between scaring small furry animals or making a ton of money, this supposedly "liberal city" chose money. And that's the way it goes out here. You scream "save the whales!" in public and then whisper "show me the money" in private. Folks are more conservative than they appear. Cheers! ShrikeHawk

I really loved the story of Werner Voss' battle against 7 SE.5s. So I wanted a skin for his Triplane. Getting those streaks that the Dr.1s had is something of a challenge. Hope I got it right. Here's some screenshots: Cheers! ShrikeHawk

Nice one, Alligator! You matched that profile perfectly.

Nice work! With enough of these and a terrain...

Thanks Gambit - and I've kept me bum in the seat indeed. HardDrive filling up too, hehehe. Okay guys - here's the last version *promise* This one features broader, more irregular streaks and a newer technique for creating the streaks. Cheers! ShrikeHawk

Well, here's another version for Voss' Dr.1. I intended for this one to be a compromise of ideas. And mostly a close proximation to what Voss' plane really looked like. Thoughts anyone? Cheers! ShrikeHawk

I have played all these too. And like them all too for different reasons. But I have to say that I like the thirdwire series best. And that's for the same reason that I liked CFS2 so much...mods. The thirdwire series has an extraordinarily active group of modders. And it is easily modded by the individual with even a small amount of knowledge. That's what hooks me the most. I easily spend as much time fiddling with the game as I do flying it! I think IL2 has better graphics and better FMs. But the FM gap has closed a lot because of Peter's efforts. I would say that IL2 is superior overall , but because it is too tightly controlled in the mod area is simply isn't as FUN. OFF2 has a great environmental feel. I love that. I like being able to easily set up a combat two specific types of planes. That's not possible in FE. You have to create the mission and that takes more time. But then again I like the randomness sometimes. I don't quite know who will show up! hehehe. But I don't like the feel of the FMs in OFF2. That's not necessarily their fault, being limited to the CFS3 engine. Even though FE has flaws that are addressed better in other sims, I'm still happiest with FE and WoE where I am free to tinker as much as fly. And I can't be happier to have a respectable WW1 sim again. *Bliss* This is where the flying is pure flying. No keyboard drills here. Just get on the tail of your opponent (not "enemy" as in later decades) as shoot! hehehe.

Added my vote. WoE (4 copies on my HD - Korea, Vietnam, MiddleEast, Germany) and FE of course.

That's a fabulous pic, Gambit. I see very prominent and very irregular streaking on this one, and that's what I expect to see. I would imagine that the vast majority of Dr.1s had camo like this. I think I would use this pic to build my Dr.1 template if that's alright with you. But for me, there's still a question regarding Voss' paintjob. Many templates and profiles ( I remember what you said but I don't know of any replicas of Voss' plane ) show Olive Drab over "sky blue" rather than "beige". As you say, his aircraft was not typical in paintscheme so I think I'd need a different camo for his aircraft. I think mine may be too light and need more Olive Green (or Drab) to get the coloring right. Would you agree? I'm still trying to account for No56 Squadron's account of Voss' aircraft where they said that his aircraft was a "silvery blue". I'm not sure how much weight to give their view. I'm sure it looked blue when it rolled it's undersides up, but how much olive was on the the top? I plan to post another edition soon and see how it turns out. Maybe I can reach a good compromise of all the ideas/views. Cheers! ShrikeHawk

Thanks for the extra links, all. Interesting discussion, yes? I guess it may come down to personal taste. This is a game that's highly configurable to individual preference anyway. I think I will give another go at a texture for Voss. I have the texture down to a single layer among many in my PSP file. So switching the paint is pretty quick at this point. Cheers! ShrikeHawk

Well this is just amusing. I did quite a bit "more" digging around to see if I could find some sort of consensus. There seems to be split between whether the "olive" on voss' plane has more green or more yellow in it's olive. From the links below, I think it's safe to say that later production Dr.1s did not have sky blue at all on upper surfaces. Instead, they had natural beige with olive drab streaking as Gambit says. But earlier production machines may have had the olive or sky blue. In any event, I found many links with examples of Dr.1s with more greenish olive paint, and others with more brownish olive paint. And there seems to be no consistency with how Voss' aircraft is depicted *sigh* One think I think is consistent is that the streaking is far more irregular than I/we have it so far. The screenshots of mine and other Dr.1s have streaking that's a little too even and smooth than it should be. I'm not sure if I'll update my 2nd Voss version, but my first one is intended to be a template for later Dr.1s. So I will update that one with more irregular streaking and Olive Drab over Beige. Here are the links I found: Lothar Von Richtofen - supports the yellowish olive scheme: http://ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2002/08/...profile_dr1.htm A Voss color plate - more green http://wp.scn.ru/en/ww1/f/416/59/0/31 Another with more greenish streaking http://wp.scn.ru/en/ww1/f/416/59/2/27_b1 Udet's Dr.1 showing olive with a strong hint of green http://wp.scn.ru/en/ww1/f/416/59/3/25 A painting with olive drab ( much less green ) streaking http://www.wwi-models.org/Images/Karr/Artwork/tripe.jpg Dr.1 reproduction showing much more brown than olive streaking http://storage.mfa.free.fr/FokkerDRIuk.html A model of Voss' Dr.1. Mostly brown with only faint streaking. I think this is wrong in that the streaking is only faintly visible. http://www.geocities.com/cewentzel/Fokker.html A nice-looking model of Udet's Dr.1 with streaking that supports Gambit's assertion of what the color's should look like: http://www.largescaleplanes.com/articles/M.../RevellDr1.html Another model with bright green streaking. Looks good but I don't agree with the streaking pattern. Looks too blotchy. http://modelingmadness.com/reviews/w1/ger/goodindr1.htm Small artist's painting in the middle of the page supports the pearly-blue look for Voss' Dr.1 http://www.starksravings.com/dr-1/fokker_dr_1.htm Discussion at TheAerodrome about the streaking and colors used in Dr.1s. There's also a debate in the forum somewhere about the yellow cowling and fin. http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/models/1...-camoflage.html Many different Dr.1 models here. Some with more greenish paint and some with more olive. There's one with olive and red streaking. Nice! I wonder if it's historically accurate. http://www.wwi-models.org/Images/Schultz/DrI/index.html I think this modeler laid that paint on too thick, but I think it's a good example of what the streaking should look like. http://www.us-aircraft.com/images/Steve%20...t2/jasta144.jpg Cheers! ShrikeHawk

Nice going, Firecage! They look great!

Okay - here's another alternative scheme for Voss' Dr.1. This follows the scheme of other sites/models I have seen. I'm not completely certain what's correct, but I like the way this one looks. Cheers! ShrikeHawk

Thanks All, Hey Gambit - would you say that the green streaking is correct for other, later Dr.1s? I plan to use this skin as the template for other skins. Udet comes to mind right away. I've seen so many variations on Voss' colors, it's hard to get a lockdown on what it should be. I saw several models of his plane that were almost solid olive drab with only slight streaking. And then another painted as you say with a yellow cowling. *sigh* I did see a lengthy debate at another forum about whether Voss had a yellow cowling or not. From that I decided to go with the green cowling. But I'm sure the debate may still be going on, hehehe. ShrikeHawk

Hmmm... It seems California is not the only bastion for anti-military sentiment. Every year, when the Blue Angels arrive for Fleet Week, there's a bunch of crackpots complaining about saber-rattling and rampant militarism. These are a only a very vocal minority. The vast majority love it when the Blue Angels arrive.

Hey Peter, First of all, let me echo FastCargo's thoughts and thank you for all the hard work. Your FMs are really improving the game a lot! I'm not just shooting down the enemy anymore...I trying to stay alive! You asked for feedback on your experimental Camel, so... It climbs and dives prodigously. I keep thinking the altimeter is lying, hehehe. There isn't as much torque effect as I would expect from a Camel. In fact there is less here than with most of your FMs with inline engines. I would expect a lot in the rotary-engined aircraft. Correct me if I'm wrong in this. In turns to the right or left it throws it's nose high over the horizon. The rudder seems to have little or no effect in countering this, though the rudder works just fine in level flight. All the controls are very lively otherwise, particularly pitch if you can get the plane oriented correctly. I'm missing the speed, but you already know about that one. It seems to no interest in stalling even with it's frequent nose-up attitude. That's it. Loving the Camel-a, by the way. It's my favorite Camel so far. ShrikeHawk

Thanks Capun, I'll try setting it that way. Hey Gambit - I read a similar story, and just now found a couple of those links again. http://www.theaerodrome.com/aircraft/gbrit...bristol_f2b.php http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_F.2_Fighter Too bad that on it's first operational sortie, the Brisfit has to run into none other than "The Red Baron". But still, the Bristol gave a good accounting of itself afterward. hmmm...a lot of replies came in while I was typing mine...sorry for the redundancy...