Geezer

This is a really interesting thread. You guys have raised the bar.....again.

Well done!

Progress shots of weathering and details - access panels, seams, louvers, etc.

I have 3dsMax 9 and can't export bitmap or specular maps for TW models. IIRC, the first TW export module with these features was for Max 2008, maybe 2009?

I like your concept of a small map that is focused on just one campaign. With a few exceptions - such as the Zero - early WW2 aircraft generally had an operational radius of only a few hundred miles, so a large map really isn't necessary. The smaller map was less work, so you were probably able to make it faster than a large map? Sometimes, less is more.

Tidied up some loose ends, plus mapped/textured the night exhaust pipes.

Good job! The camo colors are nicely subdued. EDIT: A handful of Sea Gladiators, stored by the FAA in Alexandria as spares, were "borrowed" by the RAF during the 1940 desert war. While I've modeled the arrestor hook in my Gladiator model, I hadn't planned on painting Sea Gladiator skins. Maybe you would be interested?

Wow! Excellent info - thanks. After eyeballing the bombs with painted slogans and comparing them to the intelligence report, I think they may have been 70 or 100kg bombs. Interesting comment about the poor weight to explosive ratio - apparently due to thick walls of low grade (therefore heavy) metallurgy. Italian aircraft in general had a high structural weight due to a shortage of high grade aluminum alloys. That was the main reason for the small useful load of many Italian fighters, and why they were under armed. The weight of four to six 12.7mm machine guns would have penalized performance too much. Again - thanks.

Looks like some Italian bombs were klunkier than others? Shots below of what look like 50kg Italian bombs.

Good stuff. I have two refs that feature scale side views of the CR42 and Caproni Ca133 with bombs, but the bomb sizes/types are not identified. Do you have any information on Italian bombs? EDIT: I have scale drawings for the British WW1 Coopers bomb (still widely used in the 1940 desert war) and the British 250lb bomb, but can't find any scale drawings for the British 100lb or 500lb bombs. Does anyone have any info they could share?

Can also be used for night intruder missions - "bed check Charlie."

Nice paint job!

Thanks. Yep - shots of Gladiator cockpit below. Like most modelers, I really don't like making cockpits and view them as a necessary evil. What I hate most is all the fussy file work that is required. Maybe someone is willing to do that? If so, drop me a PM.

Thought I'd expand on the multiple color scheme concept. After a few months of operations, many squadrons displayed a variety of paint jobs and markings due to field repairs and replacement aircraft from different manufacturers. The result was an interesting mixture of camo and markings that would look really cool ingame. As the best way to dodge the low-res decal bullet is to paint the markings into the skin art, why not vary the camo too? That kills two birds with one stone, but requires multiple models ingame. For example: CR42_01, CR42_02, CR42_03, etc. Now, how to get the game to display all of the models at one time to achieve the mixed look in a formation? BadFrank provided the following solution: Manually you can mix the player flight with different planes. But not for AI flights Here's an example for a mission: [MissionHeader] AircraftType=F-4D_67 MissionMap=VIETNAMSEA MissionType=SWEEP StartTime=11:18:14 StartDate=06/23/1975 [MissionData] FriendlyAirActivity=2 EnemyAirActivity=1 FriendlyAirDefenseActivity=2 EnemyAirDefenseActivity=1 PlayerMissionID=1 PlayerPositionID=1 MissionNumber=4071 GeneratedMission=FALSE AdjustStartPosition=TRUE AdjustBaseWaypoint=TRUE CreateStaticAircraft=TRUE CreateHelpFlight=FALSE [Weather] WeatherType=SCATTERED WeatherAlt=3000.146484 WeatherThickness=55.168800 HasHighLayer=TRUE HighLayerAlt=6623.291016 FogAmount=0.750000 ContrailAlt=7716.316895 StartWindDirection=79.000008 StartWindSpeed=2.059011 WindGustingAmount=1.544258 [AircraftMission001] Name=AUSTIN AircraftType=F-4D_67 Size=2 Alignment=FRIENDLY RandomChance=100 MissionType=SWEEP TargetArea=Kep Airfield ObjectiveID=2 RatingForSuccess=50 StartOnGround=TRUE CarrierBased=FALSE Position=557000.000000,205000.000000,3000.000000 Heading=-19.811478 Speed=232.212509 StartTime=0.000000 BaseArea=TEST TEST TEST LandArea=TEST TEST TEST Waypoint[01].Command=TAKEOFF Waypoint[01].Position=557000.000000,204081.500000,0.000000 Waypoint[01].Size=100.000000 Waypoint[01].Speed=200.059998 Waypoint[02].Command=DEPART Waypoint[02].Position=550452.190214,197533.692422,3048.000000 Waypoint[02].Size=1500.000000 Waypoint[02].Speed=200.059998 Waypoint[03].Command=WAYPOINT Waypoint[03].Position=551864.218034,643584.624477,3000.000000 Waypoint[03].Size=1500.000000 Waypoint[03].Speed=232.212509 Waypoint[04].Command=INITIAL_POINT Waypoint[04].Position=508176.889340,788861.534846,3000.000000 Waypoint[04].Size=1500.000000 Waypoint[04].Speed=232.212509 Waypoint[05].Command=OBJECTIVE_POINT Waypoint[05].Objective=TRUE Waypoint[05].Position=520000.000000,814000.000000,3000.000000 Waypoint[05].Size=1500.000000 Waypoint[05].Speed=232.212509 Waypoint[06].Command=WAYPOINT Waypoint[06].Position=545138.465154,802176.889340,3000.000000 Waypoint[06].Size=1500.000000 Waypoint[06].Speed=232.212509 Waypoint[07].Command=WAYPOINT Waypoint[07].Position=604135.783622,662415.373039,3000.000000 Waypoint[07].Size=1500.000000 Waypoint[07].Speed=232.212509 Waypoint[08].Command=APPROACH Waypoint[08].Position=556438.181831,232771.475854,1524.000000 Waypoint[08].Size=1500.000000 Waypoint[08].Speed=135.827988 Waypoint[09].Command=LAND_LINEUP Waypoint[09].Position=557000.001619,214260.000000,762.000000 Waypoint[09].Size=1500.000000 Waypoint[09].Speed=84.018669 Waypoint[10].Command=LAND_TOUCHDOWN Waypoint[10].Position=557000.000000,205918.500000,0.000000 Waypoint[10].Size=50.000000 Waypoint[10].Speed=75.459999 Nation=USAF FormationType=USFighter PilotTrainingStandard=EXCELLENT Loadout=AirToAirLongRange_68 AmmoPercent=100 FuelPercent=100 TracerMixRatio=6 Texture=USAFCamo1 Squadron=25TFS Aircraft[01].AircraftNumber=0 Aircraft[02].AircraftNumber=1 [AircraftMission002] Name=A002 AircraftType=MiG-17F Size=4 Alignment=ENEMY RandomChance=100 MissionType=CAP TargetArea=Kep Airfield ObjectiveID=1 RatingForSuccess=50 StartOnGround=TRUE CarrierBased=FALSE Position=552000.000000,786000.000000,5500.000000 Heading=-48.814075 Speed=190.017853 StartTime=2323.077637 BaseArea=Cat Bi Airfield LandArea=Cat Bi Airfield Waypoint[01].Command=TAKEOFF Waypoint[01].Position=552000.000000,785081.500000,0.000000 Waypoint[01].Size=100.000000 Waypoint[01].Speed=143.380005 Waypoint[02].Command=DEPART Waypoint[02].Position=545452.190214,778533.692422,3048.000000 Waypoint[02].Size=1500.000000 Waypoint[02].Speed=143.380005 Waypoint[03].Command=WAYPOINT Waypoint[03].Position=517706.742065,779093.419030,5500.000000 Waypoint[03].Size=1500.000000 Waypoint[03].Speed=190.017853 Waypoint[04].Command=INITIAL_POINT Waypoint[04].Position=511735.180532,787477.910953,5500.000000 Waypoint[04].Size=1500.000000 Waypoint[04].Speed=190.017853 Waypoint[05].Command=OBJECTIVE_POINT Waypoint[05].Objective=TRUE Waypoint[05].Position=520000.000000,814000.000000,5500.000000 Waypoint[05].Size=1500.000000 Waypoint[05].Speed=190.017853 Waypoint[06].Command=WAYPOINT Waypoint[06].Position=545190.280637,825712.306696,5500.000000 Waypoint[06].Size=1500.000000 Waypoint[06].Speed=190.017853 Waypoint[07].Command=WAYPOINT Waypoint[07].Position=554293.259591,820906.579314,5500.000000 Waypoint[07].Size=1500.000000 Waypoint[07].Speed=190.017853 Waypoint[08].Command=APPROACH Waypoint[08].Position=544347.242499,812124.924774,1524.000000 Waypoint[08].Size=1500.000000 Waypoint[08].Speed=95.472000 Waypoint[09].Command=LAND_LINEUP Waypoint[09].Position=552000.001619,795260.000000,762.000000 Waypoint[09].Size=1500.000000 Waypoint[09].Speed=67.822495 Waypoint[10].Command=LAND_TOUCHDOWN Waypoint[10].Position=552000.000000,786918.500000,0.000000 Waypoint[10].Size=50.000000 Waypoint[10].Speed=53.040001 Nation=NVietnam FormationType=SovietFighter PilotTrainingStandard=NORMAL Loadout=AirToAir AmmoPercent=100 FuelPercent=100 TracerMixRatio=6 Texture=VPAFSilver1 Squadron= Aircraft[01].AircraftNumber=10 Aircraft[02].AircraftNumber=61 Aircraft[03].AircraftNumber=55 Aircraft[04].AircraftNumber=21 [AircraftMission001] stands for the each flight You have only 1 line for the Plane type and only 1 for the texture But you have lines for the numbers: Aircraft[01].AircraftNumber=10 Aircraft[02].AircraftNumber=61 Aircraft[03].AircraftNumber=55 Aircraft[04].AircraftNumber=21