Geezer

Finally finished detailing the guns, struts, and fuselage. Still some work to be done on the wheels and MLG axle fairing. Then, it's on to the wings and tail.

My rig is pretty healthy, but is not an ubercomputer, and so far I have had no problems. But, there is no doubt that some guys will not be able to run these larger 1024 skins so I am thinking of also releasing 512 versions. They will both look the same at combat ranges, but the hi-res textures make a difference when viewing wings, struts, etc from the cockpit. Progress shot below.

Lovely. Looks good with aircraft on the flight deck.

I suppose that the face could be adapted to a jet pilot. I tried making a quick sneer and it does not read very well. Part of the problem is the pilot's lips are modeled in 3D and they are thin and narrow - they don't lend themselves to a good, villainous sneer. Now this is a world-class, evil sneer!

Progress shots below. I am thinking of giving the pilot a dueling scar and maybe an arrogant sneer.

Thanks. After careful color balancing of the cammo colors, I noticed that Edward's Flanders terrain was too bluish on my monitor. This prevented the cammo from working well, so I adjusted some of the Flanders ground textures and then everything fell into place. I've started collecting "how-to-do-it" shots for a knowledge base "Art 101" article that will explain the theory of color balancing in simple terms that everyone can understand.

Had a good time this morning making some 1930s ground facilities, based fairly closely on photos.

Good point - thanks. I'm not really building a game map - though it looks that way. I'm putting together a collection of realistic ground objects for map builders - and some aircraft - and it's more fun to show them all together in a fake 3dsMax setting. We can only hope that any map builders that use this stuff will observe the density limit.

Thanks. Made good progress on the HQ building this morning.

Two more shots on the subject. One shows faded Material Command OD on the nearest B-17, with a portion of the outer LH wing painted a newer color - either dark green or USAAF OD? Shot of P-40 shows the colors used by Curtiss that were considered equivalent to RAF Dark Green and Dark Earth. The US colors were close to the British colors, but were not an exact match.

I have several articles in old Air Enthusiast quarterlies about ML-KNIL aircraft by Dutch historian Gerard Casius. They are full of fascinating photos and historical details about the Curtiss CW-21B and Martin 139. He states that the three color flag marking was not used during the first days of the Pacific war. These sources state that the NEI governor-general decreed the insignia should be changed on 24 February because it could be confused with faded red Japanese insignia. This decree was ratified by Royal Decree in London on 12 March 1942, and repainting aircraft began soon thereafter. On the subject of colors, all but the most meticulous of references usually get the Olive Drab color wrong in color profiles. There were actually THREE official Olive Drab colors - one specified by Army Material Command, one specified by Army Ground Forces, and one specified by the USAAF. The original OD, specified by Army Material Command, was used pre-war and well into WW2. This color faded quickly because the stabilizer (cadmium) was reserved for armor plate production. Consequently, the USAAF issued its own OD spec with black pigment added - this darkened the color, shifted it's tint towards olive green, and delayed fading. However it was never available in the quantities required, so the Material Command OD was FREQUENTLY substituted for the unavailable USAAF OD on aircraft. The original Material Command OD had a brownish tint that became more pronounced as the color faded, and most references do not show this brownish tint. Photos below show brand new OD paint on an Airacobra, and an Airacobra with faded OD paint. The brownish tint is consistant with the "Old Leaves" description - it was NOT greenish.

Perhaps you can clear up a question I have about KNIL cammo and markings? In late 1941, the KNIL saw that war was imminent and painted over the orange rudders of its aircraft. Some sources also say that the orange triangles on the upper wing surfaces were also painted over, at least on the Martin 139 bombers. Were the upper wing orange triangles painted over on ALL KNIL aircraft? Also, three types of fighters were bought from the US in the last years before the war - all three types were painted in two-color cammo on the upper and side surfaces. Photos show the upper surface colors to have less contrast than usual, and some sources state that the colors were dark green and olive drab (not earth brown). This would seem consistant with the lower contrast of the photos. Can you confirm the use of olive drab instead of earth brown? Thanks, Geezer

Radial engines are simpler than liquid-cooled engines. There's less equipment installed inside the aircraft (saving space and weight) and less support required onboard a carrier (for example, you don't need a radiator shop).

The FIAT BR.20 could be used in Spanish Civil War, China, Battle of Britain, and Mediterranean.

I'm still learning the ropes, but have succeeded in exporting a few Max models as LOD 0. Still learning about about LOD 1, LOD2, etc but I'm willing to give your gun pod a shot. PM me and we can arrange the 3ds and Max file transfers. Geezer

Thanks - it's turning out to be a very satisfying exercise that teaches me how to UV map objects of progressively greater complexity. I've delivered the updated Ford Island textures to Wrench, and I'm revising the Kaga based on better drawings provided by Hinch. Progress shots below.

Good point - didn't think of putting them in the Pub.

Nice job! Are you going to detail out the flight deck?

Hinch has been an immense help to me in providing better references. He slapped a quick texture job on the test Kaga - you can see where my "eyeballing" the details has many items in the wrong location. Also, I may have some refs on aircraft squadron markings for the Pearl Strike. If you are interested I'll go looking for them.

Very nice! How do you create separate instruments - with multi sub-objects? I am trying to figure that out...

Just sent the Kaga to you for evaluation, and sent Wrench a test version of Ford Island.

Great idea. As a relative newbie, I view the mod efforts through different eyes than you old timers - and Fast Cargo has nailed it. There does not appear to be much coordination or cooperation, which results in a lot of overlap and duplication.

I'm planning on doing a Dave someday. If that would be a suitable substitute, I could move it up to the top of the pile. Geez

Great. I have gotten the Ford Island model looking the way i want it - finally! One problem was the otherwise excellent recon photo that you posted had a lot of reflected light that sometimes made bare earth and concrete appear the same. Anyway, progress shot below. I can send an interim version to you (for testing) with half-finished textures, and then send the final textures to you later?