ABC's F8F Bearcat - FSX Native Conversion in Progress

[Tuor2112]

Testing in FSXA and I noticed that there are no dive recovery flaps visible and although the lever works in VC there is no effect on drag. Cheers James.

 

[DaveQ]

If anyone's interested I've made the ordnance selectable via payload and added back the belly tank, selectable or deletable via fuel. When you do this the model sags on the undercarriage struts at least. Whether the flight model is affected I don't know. Perhaps best to add when all other mods to the model have been made.

The ordnance is one model part in MCX but if the source .mdl files for the pylons, rocket rails, rockets and bombs are available separately they can be made selectable separately too (I'm not competent to split up a single model part).


Finally, is there a paint kit available from which I can make bump maps?

DaveQ

 

[falcon409]

A few shots of the Beta in P3D_V3.4. Headed to Nellis from North Texas. Below me in the second shot is JD's Sheppard AFB.

 

[Milton Shupe]

Looking good so far Milton. Here's a few suggestions.

Add developer to FSX - Free Flight - Select Aircraft - Publisher drop list:
[fltsim.0] & [fltsim.1]
ui_createdby=Alpha Bleu Ciel

Increase prop wind down to match the sound:
[propeller]
propeller_moi=110 ; 58.8

The start flames need to go horizontal rather than vertical, they're shooting through the wings.
Someone must know how to modify the effect.

Gary Danvers
NZ

Thanks Gary, added the createdby=, changed the prop moi, and will correct the startup smoke/flames. It's my effect done for the A26 but forgot I had flames in it.

Very helpful; greatly appreciated.

 

[Milton Shupe]

Testing in FSXA and I noticed that there are no dive recovery flaps visible and although the lever works in VC there is no effect on drag. Cheers James.

Dive flaps were not originally modeled but the resulting lift has always been in the FM. I will check out the drag and adjust accordingly. Thanks, great observation.

EDIT: Ooooops; no, I better not do that as this aircraft is a sanctioned RTW race contender and I do not want to undo that. I can however test the required changes and make them available for those who want them.

EDIT: Did some testing and settled on dive recovery drag at 410 in the .air file. I will include an altered .air file in the final release. See attached.

 

[Milton Shupe]

If anyone's interested I've made the ordnance selectable via payload and added back the belly tank, selectable or deletable via fuel. When you do this the model sags on the undercarriage struts at least. Whether the flight model is affected I don't know. Perhaps best to add when all other mods to the model have been made.

The ordnance is one model part in MCX but if the source .mdl files for the pylons, rocket rails, rockets and bombs are available separately they can be made selectable separately too (I'm not competent to split up a single model part).


Finally, is there a paint kit available from which I can make bump maps?

DaveQ

Dave,

Thanks, I am still working on a few things, droppable tank is one of the items I added back in 2014 I think. It will be available in the release.

The bombs/rockets can be easily changed to separately addressable parts if desired, mounts separated. I will add custom XML for gauge addressing, and include the names of the model parts so they can be easily addressed in other ways.

RE: Paint kit: hopefully a painter can answer this one; I do not know. The exterior is mainly covered on two textures; f8ffuse and f8fwings.

 

[Milton Shupe]

A few shots of the Beta in P3D_V3.4. Headed to Nellis from North Texas. Below me in the second shot is JD's Sheppard AFB.

That paint is looking nice Ed; is that a WIP of yours? Curious what the white stripe is on the starboard hstab.

 

[falcon409]

That paint is looking nice Ed; is that a WIP of yours? Curious what the white stripe is on the starboard hstab.

The livery is one I did after the RTWR 3 years ago actually. As for the white line. . .It's a hi-lite that shows depending on the angle you view the airplane from and shows on both left and right sides, nothing I added though.

 

[Milton Shupe]

The livery is one I did after the RTWR 3 years ago actually. As for the white line. . .It's a hi-lite that shows depending on the angle you view the airplane from and shows on both left and right sides, nothing I added though.

Ah, okay. In the final release there will be a common texture folder. You are likely missing the added textures for bumps, specular, glass, etc. You can easily find and add the bumps and specs from the beta release as they are the only DDS files in the texture folder.

 

[falcon409]

Ah, okay. In the final release there will be a common texture folder. You are likely missing the added textures for bumps, specular, glass, etc. You can easily find and add the bumps and specs from the beta release as they are the only DDS files in the texture folder.

I have already setup a common texture folder and this is the full beta package, I simply added a few of my textures from the previous "portover" version. . .so the bumps and specs are active.

 

[blanston12]

i tested it in P3D and had just a few comments.
First the title= issue most FSX aircraft have in P3d. P3D the value after title= is what shows up as the text in the aircraft selector so I would suggest changing

title=F8F2 Bearcat Bombs Rockets

to

title=Grumman F8F-2 Bearcat Bombs Rockets

Second in the FSXA conversion the cockpit textures look washed out, even compared to the previous 2014 modified version. Here is the comparison.

Here is the new version.

Here is the old version.

Lastly there is one panel, the last one, the Radio Panel that appears to be missing gauges. Here is what it looks like.

But at least the issue with the window transparency is fixed, it flys well right out of the box with no modifications required.
I did notice from the previous version you removed the center fuel tank. Is there a way to get a version that has all the drop tanks installed and no bombs?

 

[Milton Shupe]

I have already setup a common texture folder and this is the full beta package, I simply added a few of my textures from the previous "portover" version. . .so the bumps and specs are active.

Thank you Ed; I will look at all the specular settings to see if something is amiss there.

BTW, I resolved the night time HUD display issue.

 

[Milton Shupe]

i tested it in P3D and had just a few comments.
First the title= issue most FSX aircraft have in P3d. P3D the value after title= is what shows up as the text in the aircraft selector so I would suggest changing

title=F8F2 Bearcat Bombs Rockets

to

title=Grumman F8F-2 Bearcat Bombs Rockets

Second in the FSXA conversion the cockpit textures look washed out, even compared to the previous 2014 modified version. Here is the comparison.

Lastly there is one panel, the last one, the Radio Panel that appears to be missing gauges. Here is what it looks like.

But at least the issue with the window transparency is fixed, it flys well right out of the box with no modifications required.
I did notice from the previous version you removed the center fuel tank. Is there a way to get a version that has all the drop tanks installed and no bombs?

Thanks for that input.

I have changed the titles.
Cockpit textures are not very appealing to me but I will see if something can be done there.
That panel will be removed; it is a remnant of the RTWRace panel; an oversight.

EDIT: There is, and will be, a "clean" version in the package with an optional, droppable center drop tank. As I mentioned, the drop tank is setup but was not working as of the test release. Working on that now.

 

[falcon409]

i tested it in P3D and had just a few comments.
. . . . .in the FSXA conversion the cockpit textures look washed out, even compared to the previous 2014 modified version. Here is the comparison.

Here is the new version.

Here is the old version.

I would suggest that the only difference between the two (since they are, in fact, identical) is the direction of the sunlight. If you put you aircraft in slew mode and turn it so the sun lights various portions of the interior you can go from a well defined interior to one that shows little or no detail. I am the one who redid the VC textures for the mod in 2014 so I can tell you this with confidence.

 

[falcon409]

As an example, 3 shots from three different directions by turning the aircraft:

 

[Milton Shupe]

I just want to say thank you to everyone who is helping identify these issues. They will be addressed this week and we can possibly have a final release out by the weekend.

EDIT: Oh, I need someone to do some traps trying to catch a wire. Anyone tried that yet?

 

[blanston12]

I would suggest that the only difference between the two (since they are, in fact, identical) is the direction of the sunlight. If you put you aircraft in slew mode and turn it so the sun lights various portions of the interior you can go from a well defined interior to one that shows little or no detail. I am the one who redid the VC textures for the mod in 2014 so I can tell you this with confidence.

In this case, both pictures were taken at the exact same location at very close time, just long enough for me to take a screen capture, switch planes and screen capture again. I don't think the opaque windows had anything to do with it either, I also tried with the transparency fix that you helped me with and it looked the same as the 2014 version, but in my example I wanted to show the original version that I had not done any modifications to.

 

[Willy]

EDIT: Ooooops; no, I better not do that as this aircraft is a sanctioned RTW race contender and I do not want to undo that. I can however test the required changes and make them available for those who want them.

Milton in our local events, we follow the RTW rules (for the most part) on aircraft. If a mod doesn't make it unrealistic and it's available to everyone, then it's legal. I can't remember off the top of my head if the F8F actually had dive flaps though.

RE: Paint kit: hopefully a painter can answer this one; I do not know. The exterior is mainly covered on two textures; f8ffuse and f8fwings.

I'm not aware of an exsisting paint kit for the F8F. But it's not that hard to make one, just a bit time consuming getting the detail right.

 

[PhantomTweak]

Lastly there is one panel, the last one, the Radio Panel that appears to be missing gauges. Here is what it looks like.

I use that pop-up extensively. Great little way to see a lot of info very quickly, and all in one place. I will fix that if you want. I use it in several aircraft, especially in Race planes. It doesn't affect the FDE, so it should be legal. Please note the use of the word "should"
If you prefer, I can make it an add-on to just about any plane you might want to use it in and up-load it for common availability, or send it to someone for inclusion in a particular plane, or whatever you think best.

By the same token, if you want to remove it completely, that's your choice too, Mr. Shupe. It's your plane, after all

Pat☺

 

[falcon409]

I also use the race gauge pop up. I have replaced the missing gauges with gauges of my choice and use it quite a bit on the long hauls.