de Havilland Mosquito B.IV released

[jankees]

I uploaded the American PR version on OZx,

together with this one:

for the Mossie lovers: a B mk IV, converted for 'Highball' missions (bouncing bombs to be used against shipping), that went to Oz in late 44, and was finally sold for scrap in 1945. The good news is that parts of this machine are being used in a restoration project in New Zealand

 

[DaveWG]

Great paints Jan Kees. Nice to see the paintkit getting used.

FYI, there will be a Highball version in the next pack to be released. (no dates yet).

 

[jankees]

Great paints Jan Kees. Nice to see the paintkit getting used.

FYI, there will be a Highball version in the next pack to be released. (no dates yet).

Cool!, I'll adapt this paint then!
and a PR and fighter version too I hope.....?
Love the model btw, outstanding sounds too.
I was so frustrated with the JF version, thank you for this one!

 

[ftl818]

JF mosquito PRU repaint

Cool!, I'll adapt this paint then!
and a PR and fighter version too I hope.....?
Love the model btw, outstanding sounds too.
I was so frustrated with the JF version, thank you for this one!

Hi,

Indeed the JF mosquito is a nightmare to repaint. Flat textures, terrible mapping with multiple objects mapped on the same location, errors everywhere and the final results saved under low resolution ending in blurry textures.

No wonder there are virtually no JF/Aeroplane Heaven repaints around! Definitely not the way to do it. But... inspired by the rebuilt New Zealand Mossie I started building my own layered paintkit. Unfortunately the model is not native FSX, so no bump and spec maps.

Fortunately the model itself can be tweaked to have some relections. The well known cloud/propellor issue is still there but with the right prop textures it is ok. Furthermore an xml error in the ADF gauge was corrected and the two needle indicator is now working, an error in the panel.cfg prevented the radio from working, and an adjustment in the aircraft.cgf file enables supercharging at high altitude.

In my humble opinion Dave's BIV outside model is much better then the older JF one. On the other hand the JF VC has more objects and detail.

I'm now working on a representation of the rebuilt NZ FB26 Mossie and an USAF XVI two stage supercharged PRU version, both similar but still not the same as the new BIV version. The latest details and stenciling will be included.

A screenshot will follow tonight.


Paul

 

[DaveWG]

Cool!, I'll adapt this paint then!
and a PR and fighter version too I hope.....?
Love the model btw, outstanding sounds too.
I was so frustrated with the JF version, thank you for this one!

Current plans are to do the early PRs, Highball & B.IV with the enlarged bomb-bay next, as they require the least work
After that probably the later bomber & PRs with the 2 stage Merlins.
Fighter marks may come after that, although that depends on what happens with Vertigo Studios FB.VI

 

[PRB]

Ok I'm missing a step someplace. I made new textures based on the paint kit (using Photoshop CS4). They're 2048 x 2048. I convert them to dds with ImageTool. I can look at the new paint by loading the model and new livery in ModelConverterX, it loads fine. In the game, however, the textures do not show. I look at my dds files and they are 12,289 KB, which is three times the size of the original 4,097, although they are both 2048 x 2048 pixels in size. I know I skipped a step someplace, but can't see it. Not enough cofee? Thanks in advance!

- Paul

 

[dougal]

These repaints are GREAT guys. I'm really, REALLY grateful to all the folk who do the paints. For some reason it's something i've never been able to master:-(

By the way.... These are all a little errrr.... clean? Any chance of the odd dirty or worn one coming along?

with thanks from a grateful (non painting) simmer;-)

 

[ftl818]

These repaints are GREAT guys. I'm really, REALLY grateful to all the folk who do the paints. For some reason it's something i've never been able to master:-(

By the way.... These are all a little errrr.... clean? Any chance of the odd dirty or worn one coming along?

with thanks from a grateful (non painting) simmer;-)

Noted and planned, but first things first...

 

[jankees]

Paul, open them in DXTbmp and save as DXT5 DDS?

Meanwhile, here's an early B IV:

Dave, I'm looking forward to all those versions!

 

[PRB]

Paul, open them in DXTbmp and save as DXT5 DDS? ...

Thanks Jan. Using DXTBmp to save to DXT5 DDS did result in the correct size files (4097 KB), but they still wont show up in the game. And they still display fine when the model is loaded into ModelConverterX. Very odd. I've never had this issue before. Should be pretty straight forward. Tried importing an alpha, but the originals don't have them anyway. I compared every possible file attribute between mine and some others from the default paints and they are, as far as I can tell, identical. Copied known good texture files into my texture folder, and they show up ok, so it's not an aircraft.cfg screw up. When I figure this out I'll post what I learned!

- Paul

 

[dhasdell]

Here's a pic of 105 off to work - CBF in the foreground, JF beyond.

I like the early scheme, and from the screenshots the camo looks more effective.

 

[jankees]

Paul, if it doesn't show up, but the files are right, then it should be an aircraft.cfg problem. I often have the name of the texture folder and the link in the .cfg not the same. Other possibilities, number in [fltsim.X] is not consecutive, or the 'title =' line is the same as a previous one. It is always something simple like that.

 

[fleurdelys]

Fleurdelys, I'm no expert, but the details of the stencils are period correct to the WWII-era (i.e. not modern), and are of the similar type to those seen on other RAF aircraft of the period. Note all of the W/T ("Wired Throughout") stencils which were very common to find on all RAF types, typically applied on fabric-covered surfaces (of which much of the Mosqiuto is). A little bit about that here (as well as a look at the similar stencils seen on Peter Teichman's authentically restored Hurricane): http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=339844

No matter the aircraft type, Mosquito included, you'll find these located usually one on the fuselage (always starboard side only), one on the vertical stabilizer and one on the rudder (always starboard side only), one on each elevator and one on each horizontal stabilizer (always on the bottom), and one on each aileron, one on each flap, and usually just one on each wing (all always on the bottom).

You might be able to find a guide online that shows the layout of these stencils, such as for plastic model builders. (One of the cool things I enjoy about having access to factory blue prints for a few different WWII U.S. types, is that there are drawings/blueprints which just show each stencil design and location on the airframe, all laid out.) Although I don't have the information to post here, without searching for it, all of those letters and numbers in the stencils do mean something. : )

To John and all of you Mossie lovers,

I've been busy trying to give this gorgeous warbird some weathering and stencils to dress it up a bit...

The difficulty with lettering is to first of all find fonts which are close to the original and I managed to find a freeware font which fits it to a "T" (or very close to it).

For those of you interested, look up "Phantom Stencils" in the usual places and you will be in business...

I followed John Terrel's mini tutorial and took reference from the pics of the Mosquito for guidance and this is the result !

Before I publish this skin, would the experts look at the accompanying pics and let me know if it is OK or if I went overboard with my efforts... :isadizzy:

True to my usual self, I increased the weathering a bit just to make it so they are used for war and not just for air shows...

I would like to give those interested a copy of my stencils but I'm afraid that the program that I'm using is not usual (Arcsoft photostudio) and although I can open PSD files with it, I cannot recompile into PSD afterwards...
If anyone has a program which can open my "psf" type of file and recompile into "psd" later, please let me know and I will forward the stencils...

Cheers and thanks again Dave for your masterpiece,

Fleurdelys

 

[ftl818]

Hi,

As promised a screenshot of the JF Mk XVI PRU, still work in progress. Just started to place the stencils.

I just wonder, would the wartime aircraft have all these stencils or is it just a representation of the rebuilt New Zealand mossie?


View attachment 77652

Paul

 

[jankees]

fleurdelys, looks great with all those stencils!
I've been going over my mossie pics, but in most I can not see all that many stencils, so I have no idea what it was like in the war. But there aren't that many hi-res pics of mossies anyway I'm finding, so...
I would be interested in a file with your stencils, not sure what I can use to open it, but I can always try. If not, make a white jpg or something with them, and I'll copy them myself?

Meanwhile, here's something for the French:

 

[Ian Warren]

Great JK .... one special model getting the attention from the master ! :salute:

Great paints Jan Kees. Nice to see the paintkit getting used.

FYI, there will be a Highball version in the next pack to be released. (no dates yet).

Now that will the interesting one .. Dave I already have a story line going through me brain case for that one



PS: love the Christmas Banner ... I keep breaking things .... id better get outta here


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[Roger]

Thanks Jan. Using DXTBmp to save to DXT5 DDS did result in the correct size files (4097 KB), but they still wont show up in the game. And they still display fine when the model is loaded into ModelConverterX. Very odd. I've never had this issue before. Should be pretty straight forward. Tried importing an alpha, but the originals don't have them anyway. I compared every possible file attribute between mine and some others from the default paints and they are, as far as I can tell, identical. Copied known good texture files into my texture folder, and they show up ok, so it's not an aircraft.cfg screw up. When I figure this out I'll post what I learned!

- Paul

Hi Paul,
They're not saved as 24 bit by any chance?

 

[ftl818]

Hi Paul,
They're not saved as 24 bit by any chance?

Hi Roger,

All textures are made in paintshop multi-layered and saved as psd. Then I load the psd file in DXTBmp and flip them. After that they are saved as DDS888-8 32 bit. This gives an 100% match to the original psd with no
losses. You can of course also flip all psd layers in paintshop.



Paul

 

[fleurdelys]

Bonjour Jankees,

I doubt that you can open this "psf" type of file without the program itself. I'll post a copy of the stencil file that I created but I doubt that you can use them as such as it is quite small... (550 x 550 px square) which is necessary if you want to use the stencils without having to reduce them again...

PM me your address and I'll send you the "psf" file !

Cheers,

Fleurdelys

 

[jankees]

Paul: and if you save them as DXT5 dds?

Thanks, Fleurdelys!