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B-57 Canberra

falcon409

falcon409

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Staff member
Been slowly working between the Alphasim Jaguar and the Alphasim B-57. I ran into some problems with the Jaguar that have stalled that for the time being, but the B-57 was a bit easier so that's where I am right now. I am using the Pilots manual to redraw all the console avionics panels but my first project has been to fix something that always bugged me about the VC. The two smaller panels to the left and right of the main panel looked "twisted" so the gauges and switches and screws matched the perspective of the box they were modeled for. I never liked the way those components looked and so I decided to fix it. I can't do anything about the modeled portions but I did straighten everything else.

I'm happier with the way it looks now and since there were only a few items that were even workable (gear handle, flaps gauge and gear lights) it took very little to get everything reset. Now I can continue on with the consoles, which will take quite awhile to redraw.

B-57_WIP-2020-jan-3-002 by Ed Wells, on Flickr
 
Good to see! Always liked the Canberra, especially the U.S. version. Thankfully, I never noticed the twisted panel!
 
nagpaw said:
. . . . . Thankfully, I never noticed the twisted panel!
Click to expand...
Well, it's very likely that most folks never had a problem with it, but it didn't look natural to me and I always intended to do what I could to make it look as I would expect it to look if I were in the cockpit and looked left and right at those panels. It really just comes down to personal preference really.
 
Need to remove the mini-icons. Hate them. I prefer the usual keyboard shortcuts. The mini-icons detract from any realistic panel. Just my two cents.

Carry on. :adoration:
 
falcon409 said:
Well, it's very likely that most folks never had a problem with it, but it didn't look natural to me and I always intended to do what I could to make it look as I would expect it to look if I were in the cockpit and looked left and right at those panels. It really just comes down to personal preference really.
Click to expand...

I reinstalled the original, and you're absolutely right about the panel! Don't know how I didn't see it before, but I'm glad you're fixing it. That can't be unseen.
 
Say, Falcon. I have sitting the alpha cranberries, converted with armament options, IE: rockets or bombs on dropped object visibility conditions with matching stores from a saved or mission flight.
It's good fun. Nuclear-armed can also be had. You want the lot for this?
 
Brian_Gladden said:
Any updates on this?
Click to expand...

View attachment 73576View attachment 73577

Don't mean to hijack...I'm just fixing up a couple of material settings, and I decided I hated the default 5" rockets, so I set up a different armament option- 2 'B' models- rockets or bombs on dropped object condition, with the non-dropped stores on tail hook visibility. I also ran that awful default SEA through GIMP to correct the colours.
ASWTUB has agreed to take over the quotidian chores of packaging and publishing, along with a revised VC. I'll be passing the lot along latter today.
It's the full AS package - B bomb and rocket versions, C and EB models.
View attachment 73582View attachment 73583View attachment 73584View attachment 73585
Still didn't care for the way the spec was handled, so changed to a single general spec, adjusted the settings again. Now it's working well, and the shine on SEA paints can be toned down, while the black isn't dead. Much better, so off the dropbox.
 
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Just to clarify, I haven't done anything with the cockpit textures.
I was working on updating the B-57B with hi-res repaints (based on some B-57B's that my father flew in combat) after someone here provided me with a model that has a working gun sight, better pilots and metallic material properties.
I was going to also add Tacpack (via TMAP) to it, but then I shelved it when couldn't figure out how to separate (and assign visibility conditions to) the bomb bay ordinance in a way that it would still rotate properly.

That being said, if I can get permission from them, I'll finish the repaints, etc... and upload it.
Would be fantastic to mate it with Falcom409's updated VC textures.

This is how it looks so far... about 75% finished... in P3Dv3:

fR3dBza.png


vnT27gX.png
 
This is as far as I will go with this. I plan to upload this morning. One caveat: The panels I've updated are eye-candy only (non-functional) they are similar to those found in the "57" but not exact so do not spend the first 5 minutes in the cockpit going over every avionics system to make sure everything is exact based on documentation you have in your library. That was never the intent of this work, rather simply to give the Simmer something to see in his/her peripheral that was recognizable ( the originals were so fuzzy they were indistinguishable).

B-57_VC_001 by Ed Wells, on Flickr
 
While looking through the Aircraft.cfg file I spotted an old Unit. . .my first out of Tech School (Wheelus AFB, 7272nd FMS). It was an active base from the early 50's to 1970 when King Idris was overthrown by Gaddafi. While I was there (66 - 68) the targets were towed by F-100's, so I'm going to guess that the B-57's were used prior to that because I never saw one on the base.
 
Very nice, Ed. Those textures rally jazz her up. I've been spending a bit of time in the cockpit, now that it's all displaying in a manner that doesn't PMO, and I am impressed with the modelling in the cockpit,and over all. As noted, not a lot of gewagaahs to poke at, but, damn! for the poly count, that's some nice work. It's also a terrific ground attack platform.
I'll also ask, does any one have a set of blank textures (with panel lines/fasteners) for the externals? Then I can load those into GIMP2 and have it chud out bump maps.
No promises, the model may not like those, but it's fast if I don't have to daw from scratch.
 
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