Sundowner

Bump maps are easy to get wrong it takes a little more thought to actually getting the needed effect. Study a "real" aircraft of the model you're working on.....does it really have a 2 inch gap between the panels and rivets like half a tennis ball?? I bet not, but this is the effect you will quite easily end up with without a little thought. I've found that that most modern aircraft will only benefit from bump maps to reproduce vents and stuff like that, panels and rivets/screws are usually a flush fit. A lot of "Cold War" aircraft [especially Soviet made stuff] will benefit from some subtle panel and rivet bump mapping in certain areas of the airframe [research, research , research] as well as vents, holes etc.....just remember you should be able to see the depth of the vents etc BEFORE lines and rivets so vary the opacity of these to suit. WW2 era [and earlier] aircraft really benefit from some good bump mapping as tolerances were usually greater and parts hastily mass produced,. Other things to consider; Just as in your usual skinning process, bigger maps mean more detail....or more smaller ones, I personally don't like models that are mapped to just one bmp [or jpeg nowadays] multiple maps will give you more detail area to play with, without going to a stupidly large single map.....remember you're talking about screws and rivets here.....a 1px brush will still only be a 1px brush and if used on a poorly mapped model could still give you rivets 6 inches in diameter ! Also as bump maps work WITH your other maps you may need to reduce the opacity of your panel lines etc to still get the correct effect. I still use subtle amounts of shading on the main skin as trying to produce a depth effect [ up or down] with bump maps alone tends to produce an over exaggerated effect in my opinion.....remember the bump mapping relies on light direction to produce its effect so when the area is in shade bump maps wont be visible but the main skin will. It really is a LOT of trial and error, but once you get the correct balance things will look a lot more life like..... Then you can move on to Specular mapping.................

Blimey mate, don't be sorry, I cant thank you enough for the work you've already done for me. Let the doctors do their work & get your health back......we'll still be here once you are fit and well again.

Experimenting with some specular maps.....

These guys have something I'd really like in my garden......... And some others too. http://www.everettaero.com/Phantom.html

WIPs.....more Ravenclaw goodness.........

A small selection from the Friday arrivals day, the highlight for me was the Dutch Hunter. looked superb, sounded awesome.......

And so you should be matey, me and the wife watched his practice display on the Friday & I told her he would win a trophy this weekend........ She called a smart arse when he did...lol.

I think maritime patrol is its official role....

Showday, not the best I've ever been to but not too bad either. Weather started off a little murky....

double post....

File Name: FGR2 Experimental Schemes File Submitter: Sundowner File Submitted: 25 June 2014 File Category: What If Hangar Yet another F-4 for your pleasure, this time it's the F-4M [FGR2], complete aircraft with 11 "What if" skins. You will need the original FGR2 pack [ http://combatace.com/topic/78155-f-4m-phantom-fgr2/ ] as it includes the decals, sounds etc needed for this to work correctly. Go on, enjoy yourself....you know you want to. Click here to download this file

Ok, lets wrap it up.......we really should have applied this scheme to our F-4's......

First time I've been able to fire up SF2 for a while..........a very rewarding experience.

Its that time of the year again.....just a few quick edits......

Holy shit !!!! That is awesome Volker.

This time around we had carriers.......

Gulf war 4..........

Problem sorted........I've changed the water shaders back to stock.......as it says in the readme..!

Ah, sorry, I thought I'd uploaded the latest ones as well.

Are you using my templates m8? I did all the British squadrons ages ago.

I'm having a little issue here with some tiles......I'm sure I've corrected this sort of thing before but for the life of me I cant remember how..... Any suggestions???

Sunrise over the desert............ time to head home.

Check your pm's m8.

I've just had a quick look and for some reason when I create the lod the specular maps are not included in the texture list in the out file. I've no idea what I'm doing wrong though, will need to look harder, bear with me.