WhiteBoySamurai

here's a thought I'd like to toss out to our shipbuilders...

 

how about something rather simple, like barges and lighters? True, not a sexy as warships, but quite useful to us terraformers. They'd look nice in the harbors!

Would like to help out with that, but for me the real joy of making these ship models is watching them shoot at stuff.

Maybe after I finish the fifty-something modern surface combatants that I have planned. And a flattop or two. And a helicopter. And some WWII favorites. 

For now, I've selfishly taken over the Horizon project, so I can finish all the latest French vessels as I had originally planned.

I have rather good diagrams and references for this ship. I think it'll look great next to my La Fayette and Aquitaine.

The Padilla is looking good. I hope you can make both the original version (76mm Compact, older electronics) and the 2012 refit (76mm Strales, Smart-S radar, etc). 

You might also be able to modify it into Malaysia's Katsuri class, which uses a very similar hull.

Yes, Horizon class is in the pipeline.

Italian variants of the FREMM and Horizon will also get done eventually.

The Aquitaine is almost ready. When I made the La Fayette, I posted some side-by-side comparison shots with an SF1-era model by someone else. There is in fact an older FREMM on CombatAce as well, so I'm going to do the same thing again.

The funny thing is that my model actually has fewer polygons: 8300 vs 13400. Granted, that old one is supposed to be the Italian version, so it's not a 1-to-1 comparison, but my point stands. My goal is, as always, to make good-looking models that even folks with less-powerful PCs can enjoy. I hope I am succeeding in that regard.

Just need to finish detailing and weathering, plus the low-poly and collision LODs. Decals are courtesy of FRPignon.

Started textures, as well as weapon testing.

I recently found out that the close-in guns on the hangar are not the 20mm GIATs that I had already built, but a slightly different remote-control mount called the "Narwhal." So, unfortunately there will be a slight delay so I can build this new gun.

Unwrapping is complete on the Aquitaine, and I'll start texturing soon. I also finished all-new Aster-15 and Aster-30 missiles.

to side track the thread a bit, thank you for posting that link, I've NEVER seen the live action film.  I must find an English version, even with subtitles!

Sure! The film is called simply "Space Battleship Yamato" in both English and Japanese. I saw it in theaters back in 2010, but I've read that a subtitled version came to the States last year on DVD and Blueray. Good luck finding it!

I also highly recommend the recent remake of the series, Space Battleship Yamato 2199. 26 episodes and a movie (so far). Even with my nostalgia goggles from having grown up with Starblazers in the early 80s, it's flat-out superior to the original. In fact, it's probably my favorite show of all time.

Same as flechette rocket.

Do we have a special effect for those? The flechette rockets I previously had installed just made a normal explosion.

soon as get back will post it to you samurai m8

Thanks, looking forward to it.

Looking good! That's a lot of detail on the rotors.

Yep, that's the one-- the Type 3 "beehive" AA shell. Thousands of shards of burning shrapnel.

I'm not sure how difficult it would be to simulate in SF2, but wouldn't it be awesome?

And now I want someone to stuff some fancy reactor in the back and make it flyable. 

Don't temp me. I've got line drawings, scale models, and sound effects. I'd do it. I mean, who wouldn't want to do this in a sim?

For the, uh, pre-refitt version, I'll need an effects wizard, though. There's a special kind of shell I'd like to replicate in-game.

Send it my way, please. I eventually want to build my own, but that will do for now.

I'm back, and it's in progress. What I am stuck with is a flight model, since the AI cannot land any kind of helicopters, not even on runway... to say nothing about ship deck...

 

One experiment is pending, namely to try a biplane FM from FE2...

I'm glad you're back, and that the helo is in good hands.

I've gotten the Ka-29 AI to land on a runway before... not reliably though. And it tends to go out of control after sharp banks or turns. All I can say is, good luck.

and how about the Moskva....???? helli carrier.....???

Someday.

I think acesfakia is working on the D'Estienne d'Orves and Drummond.

Alvaro de Bazan is on my list. The Aussie version Hobart as well. 

Gonna have to say no to the viking ship. Too overpowered; would break the game. ;)

More progress. Need to finish rigging, lights, and some kind of torpedo decoy launcher that I can't get good closeup photos of.

That's one of the many cancelled Cold War projects, right? Interesting choice!

More work on this ship:

Since there's no sign of anyone else still working on one, I went back and finished uvw unwrapping my old Ka-25 Hormone model. But I'd like to give it to someone else to complete so I can focus on my behind-schedule ship projects.

It's a modest 7800 polygons. The landing gear shocks are animated, and the rotors are properly aligned (but no fast rotor tga installed yet). It could benefit from some more details like doors, rudders, cabin windows, interior, and maybe a recessed weapons bay like on some versions. So if you like cutting holes in polygons, here's a job for you. As it is, the model is better suited for sitting on the Kiev deck or flying around as an AI target.

But mostly it just needs a decent skin. I unwrapped it in the most logical manner I could think of, so it should be obvious what's what just by looking at the uvw templates. I've included a great reference pdf that was given to me by Snailman, IIRC. 

So, here's the package with the Max file and uvw bitmaps. Free to good home. Have fun.

Ka-25_WIP.rar

More work on the Aquitaine.

The shadow problems have nothing to do with the terrain. They are caused by errors in your model.

Here is an explanation of the STL check modifier:

http://www.3dmax-tutorials.com/STL_Check_Modifier.html

The major causes of the stretchy shadows are these three errors--

All these errors are extremely common for free downloaded models, which I recommend you do not use, except as reference material.  (The people who make those free models don't care about quality or game performance.) Whether the parts are downloaded, or made by you, you should learn how to fix them.

Here is a video tutorial about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoPPlxQAKBw

I felt like doing more work on some modern warships.

For France, and later Italy.

And a Russian ship that I can't spell without looking it up.

Close-up on the 100mm gun.

I'm really liking the Minerva. Great job with the subtle angles of the hull.

Getting better, but please find and fix those shadow problems before anything else.

1) Select a component in Max

2) Add the "STL Check" modifier

3) Check the "Check" box

4) In the "Errors" section, try selecting each of the settings (Multiple Edge, Spike, Double Face, Open Edge)

5) Open Edges are usually fine. But if STL Check shows errors with Multiple Edges, Spikes, or Double Faces, it will cause those nasty shadow issues in the game.

6) Once you find which component is at fault, you'll need to rebuild some or all of it. Use simpler shapes and more precise measuring.

7) Repeat this for each component in your model until all errors are corrected.

I'm very much looking forward to this terrain.

Need more Chines warships.

They're on the way. I hope to get around to building the rest of the modern PLAN destroyers before the end of the year.

I do know of the Israeli Sa'ar series, but due to time constraints, I think I'll have to leave those to someone else.

Recently, I put my projects on hold (yeah, again, sorry) to help angelp get his own shipyard up and running.

Here are some close-ups of the new guns I built for his De Zeven Provincien (30mm Goalkeeper) and Absalon (35mm Millenium).

I gave them their own distinct sound effects, and they're quite fun to watch in action.

Speaking of the De Zeven Provincien, I finished the detailing, weathering, and bump mapping on it, so please get the updated version that angelp has recently uploaded.

My internet got knocked out for a week, but I was able to do some texturing and tweaking for angelp's De Zeven Provincien in the mean time.

Any assistance with the decals (hull numbers, plus letters on the helo deck) would be greatly appreciated.