Bomber_12 / B25 Mitchell
- Thread starter Aircanuck
- Start date
Bomber_12th
SOH-CM-2025
Yes, that's the plan (and thank you for the very kind compliment!), though I don't know when or how it will be released, yet. I did have a thread on here about a year ago, introducing the project, but I requested to have it taken down as I couldn't keep consistent updates going. Although I started the project almost two years ago, I only have a solid 6 months of work on it. Working in public education I get my summers off, and that is when work really gets done. Other than that it's just bits and pieces when I can find the time. As a flight sim enthusiast, I also have never been able to just focus solely on developing without getting caught up in having fun enjoying the sim (which I know has hindered progress too).
The goal for my B-25J flight sim project has been to make it as accurate a visual depiction as possible. This has meant referencing the original B-25J parts manual, the original factory drawings and the original B-25J lofting data. Everything being modeled is accurate to 1/1000 of an inch to that of the real aircraft - every lofting ordinate of the real aircraft, and every drawing measurement used in the manufacture of parts for the real aircraft, matches to this model. With parts not manufactured by NAA, such as the Hamilton Standard propeller blades and hubs, Bendix top turret dome and the post-WWII Bendix-Stromberg carb intake scoops, I used profile photos and measurements I took from a local B-25 (Miss Mitchell) to model them as accurately as I could. The Bendix top turret and Bell tail turret inner assemblies are among the items I have currently been working on modeling, and they have their own separate manuals and drawings. Graphics-wise, every panel line is precisely accurate to the drawings and every rivet, screw, fastener, spot weld and rivnut has been added individually, matched to the original factory drawings (and cross-referenced with the real aircraft, since there have been some differences noted at times between what is shown in the drawings and the actual production results, and I'd rather it be even more accurate by matching the production results, not just the drawings). Plenty of work is still being done to the normal maps, and this coming week I hope to have the fabric control surfaces full of all of the rib and stitching detail they should have. As far as variations of the B-25J, as I've discussed before I plan to cover quite a lot (WWII, post-WWII military and civilian, restored warbirds, etc...), and a lot has already been accomplished in that regard. In addition to the exterior model/texture work that has been done thus-far, I have also been modeling parts for the interior, for quite some time now too, so that when my focus shifts entirely to the interior model a lot of ground work will have already been laid.
(Graphics-wise, there is a lot that is still a work in progress and liable to change at a moment's notice.)
The goal for my B-25J flight sim project has been to make it as accurate a visual depiction as possible. This has meant referencing the original B-25J parts manual, the original factory drawings and the original B-25J lofting data. Everything being modeled is accurate to 1/1000 of an inch to that of the real aircraft - every lofting ordinate of the real aircraft, and every drawing measurement used in the manufacture of parts for the real aircraft, matches to this model. With parts not manufactured by NAA, such as the Hamilton Standard propeller blades and hubs, Bendix top turret dome and the post-WWII Bendix-Stromberg carb intake scoops, I used profile photos and measurements I took from a local B-25 (Miss Mitchell) to model them as accurately as I could. The Bendix top turret and Bell tail turret inner assemblies are among the items I have currently been working on modeling, and they have their own separate manuals and drawings. Graphics-wise, every panel line is precisely accurate to the drawings and every rivet, screw, fastener, spot weld and rivnut has been added individually, matched to the original factory drawings (and cross-referenced with the real aircraft, since there have been some differences noted at times between what is shown in the drawings and the actual production results, and I'd rather it be even more accurate by matching the production results, not just the drawings). Plenty of work is still being done to the normal maps, and this coming week I hope to have the fabric control surfaces full of all of the rib and stitching detail they should have. As far as variations of the B-25J, as I've discussed before I plan to cover quite a lot (WWII, post-WWII military and civilian, restored warbirds, etc...), and a lot has already been accomplished in that regard. In addition to the exterior model/texture work that has been done thus-far, I have also been modeling parts for the interior, for quite some time now too, so that when my focus shifts entirely to the interior model a lot of ground work will have already been laid.
(Graphics-wise, there is a lot that is still a work in progress and liable to change at a moment's notice.)
jamminjames
Charter Member
WOW! Outstanding work. Can't wait for this one.......
).
Duckie
SOH-CM-2024
Yeah, me too! Wonderful metal work. Best I’ve seen any where. To my taste, much nicer than the PBR effects I’ve seen. First glance requires a second more studied look to see if it is a photo of a RL Mitchell. Beautiful.
rgatkinson
Charter Member
Beautiful, just beautiful. Got me thinking though, what ever happened to your P-39 Airacobra. Has it been shelved?
Taff
Taff
Bomber_12th
SOH-CM-2025
Thank you all for your very kind compliments! It's very reaffirming and very much appreciated!
The screenshots are all from FSX, so no PBR here. I think with the PBR craze, it's easy to forget just what can still be achieved with the old methods, taking full advantage of things like specular alphas, which are an incredibly important element. I have to say that I am however very inspired by the PBR bare metal work that Aeroplane Heaven has achieved with their new DC-3's, and I only wish to try and achieve similar results in my work.
Dimus, the glass textures/material is similar to the recipe I used on my Mustangs, but refined/tweaked a bit further. In the FSX material settings, I have the Source Blend set at SrcColor, and Destination Blend set at InvScrAlpha - this allows for the full specular effect (the default transparent settings are woefully lacking).
So-far, the aircraft has been in development for FSX and P3D, but I am one of the biggest "fan boys" there is for Microsoft's new Flight Simulator (FS2020), and if possible, I plan on bringing the aircraft into that sim (I still have to send my request in for the SDK, and hope for the best).
I don't feel like showing anything from the VC yet, as there is still so little to show, though I have made items like the longerons, brackets, the instrument panel and some other odds and ends.
Ted, thank you for noticing the spinning prop hubs! I still need to tweak what I have - all of the individual parts of the prop hub are accounted for in spinning-fashion, with the visibility of each part controlled by the alpha. I still need to add a specular texture and reflection to those spinning parts so that they maintain their metallic qualities.
With regard to spinning prop hubs, it's one of those things that I consider a "pet-peeve" of mine, though this is the first time I've ever tried tackling it myself. The depiction of the spinning hub should always match the look of the spinning prop blades, since they're all spinning at the same RPM. In reality, the camera shutter speed dictates how the prop blades and prop hub appear in photos/video. A slower shutter speed, the more complete prop and hub discs appear, and the faster the shutter speed the more the props and hubs look static - to the naked eye, it's all just a complete disc once the engine is making power. (It's also always been one of those quibbles when it comes to depicting WWI rotary engines spinning, since the depiction of the spinning engine should always match however the spinning prop blades are depicted, since they're spinning at the same rate as well.)
Taff, the P-39 has been temporarily shelved, but not canned. I could certainly have that aircraft just about finished if I had a good solid 4-5 months on it. The B-25 ended up taking precedence a couple years ago as I was asked to provide some renders of a few different B-25J's for a book (still in the works), and I was wanting to do a B-25 anyway.
I've got the whole week off next week (spring break), so I hope to get a lot more done on the Mitchell in that time. This August will be the 80th anniversary of the first flight of the NA-62/B-25.
The screenshots are all from FSX, so no PBR here. I think with the PBR craze, it's easy to forget just what can still be achieved with the old methods, taking full advantage of things like specular alphas, which are an incredibly important element. I have to say that I am however very inspired by the PBR bare metal work that Aeroplane Heaven has achieved with their new DC-3's, and I only wish to try and achieve similar results in my work.
Dimus, the glass textures/material is similar to the recipe I used on my Mustangs, but refined/tweaked a bit further. In the FSX material settings, I have the Source Blend set at SrcColor, and Destination Blend set at InvScrAlpha - this allows for the full specular effect (the default transparent settings are woefully lacking).
So-far, the aircraft has been in development for FSX and P3D, but I am one of the biggest "fan boys" there is for Microsoft's new Flight Simulator (FS2020), and if possible, I plan on bringing the aircraft into that sim (I still have to send my request in for the SDK, and hope for the best).
I don't feel like showing anything from the VC yet, as there is still so little to show, though I have made items like the longerons, brackets, the instrument panel and some other odds and ends.
Ted, thank you for noticing the spinning prop hubs! I still need to tweak what I have - all of the individual parts of the prop hub are accounted for in spinning-fashion, with the visibility of each part controlled by the alpha. I still need to add a specular texture and reflection to those spinning parts so that they maintain their metallic qualities.
With regard to spinning prop hubs, it's one of those things that I consider a "pet-peeve" of mine, though this is the first time I've ever tried tackling it myself. The depiction of the spinning hub should always match the look of the spinning prop blades, since they're all spinning at the same RPM. In reality, the camera shutter speed dictates how the prop blades and prop hub appear in photos/video. A slower shutter speed, the more complete prop and hub discs appear, and the faster the shutter speed the more the props and hubs look static - to the naked eye, it's all just a complete disc once the engine is making power. (It's also always been one of those quibbles when it comes to depicting WWI rotary engines spinning, since the depiction of the spinning engine should always match however the spinning prop blades are depicted, since they're spinning at the same rate as well.)
Taff, the P-39 has been temporarily shelved, but not canned. I could certainly have that aircraft just about finished if I had a good solid 4-5 months on it. The B-25 ended up taking precedence a couple years ago as I was asked to provide some renders of a few different B-25J's for a book (still in the works), and I was wanting to do a B-25 anyway.
I've got the whole week off next week (spring break), so I hope to get a lot more done on the Mitchell in that time. This August will be the 80th anniversary of the first flight of the NA-62/B-25.
Greenhouse357
SOH-CM-2023
I surely want those in my hanger John!
Bomber_12th
SOH-CM-2025
I've been mainly just modeling parts lately, but I also finally got the detail of the control surfaces and trim tabs added this past week (seen here still on the base template model). All of the pinked strips and patches of fabric and tape are depicted/layered on based on the factory drawings, with all of the rib & structure, fastener and rivet details matching the drawings (each individual rib drawing had to be referenced for the proper counts and placements of the fabric fasteners, while the overall assembly drawings were referenced for the structural layout and rivet placements). Even the drainage holes are properly depicted on the lower surfaces as well. I'm looking forward to finally seeing it in the sim, very soon, with all the guns and turret details added and engines in!
.........very soon, with all the guns and turret details added and engines in!
I don't think John meant that the model will be available very soon....... Normally when the external model is finished it about 50% of the work done!
Cheers,
Huub