Conspicuous by Their Absence

[smilo]

she's coming along rather nicely.

309......hmmm,
ity
that brings back a memory or two.

 

[Ivan]

When there isn't a need for documentation, a lot can be accomplished in a couple hours.
Note the little pattern on the wing roots. T
hat looks to me to be pretty good alignment of the two sides.
The wings are scaled at 15.36 feet to 256 pixels.
To get this alignment, the left wing was shifted out by 0.06 feet.

I am up to 11 Texture files thus far.
I think I will actually need yet another because I need to do the underside of the wing root area as a Top / Bottom texture and don't have room on any of the other three files: LeftWing, RightWing, and Stabilisers.
I am still not satisfied with the Aileron Lines.

- Ivan.

 

[womble55]

The best, by far, reference to the undercarriage retraction of a Stirling is on Youtube. I found it by sheer accident. Its a WW2 propaganda/public information film and details the contruction of a Stirling starting from a staged informal chat between the designer and the chief test pilot to the first flight of MacRoberts Reply. There is a small scene where a complete undercarriage assembly is in a test rig and details the hinge points beautifully. It also details the cockpit framing and a multitude of other details not possible in a 3-view. Youtube isn't a resource I've used before but I'm finding more and more gems tucked away.

 

[womble55]

Ive actually managed to get on my PC, thank heaven for rain.......cant assemble the greenhouse. Anyway heres a couple of shots of the basic Lincoln, no details added as yet.

 

[Ivan]

The Lincoln is looking quite majestic. I can poke around at it tonight if you email me the AFX.

My own Macchi 205 has a bunch of minor bleeds I am only seeing now with the aircraft textured. Looks like the fairing for the Tail Gear needs a rebuild. I also have a wacky situation going with the textured wings that I need to fix.

FWIW, I use You-Tube quite a lot for reference. That was the first place I looked for the Stirling's landing gear, but I probably didn't find the same video you did.

- Ivan.

 

[hubbabubba]

Hi Hubbs, should have done your arithmatic homework when at school because 1955 was a very good year for me. I haven't been on my PC for more than a week (this is my wife's netbook I'm on at the moment), awful and really is unacceptable practise. The reasons.....well a short break in Cornwall (22yr anniversary), a gearbox failure in my car with the main dealer near us quoting £3000 to replace it and preparation of a small part of my garden to accept a new greenhouse. On the bright side, I am on late shift next week so will be able to get in a couple of hours solid work before I go in. First on the agenda is to rebuild the nose section of my Lincoln, if it displays properly then, hopefully, there will be an upload next week sometime.

We have the same age, Womble55, and I was born 2nd of July 1956. But I must admit that 55 was a good year... for my father (I'm a first born, you know)...

 

[womble55]

I haven't rebuilt the nose section yet because when I did the flying shots of the Lincoln, I noticed some previously unseen bleeds. The lower engine nacelles were bleeding through the wing when viewed from above. Hopefully a simple glu patch inserted will cure it. So far, one flight, they have disappeared.
I've included the AFX of the Lincoln, along with the test pcx files, if you would look at the build I would be ever grateful. I know that the suggestions you give will be blindingly obvious, what do they say "can't see the wood for the trees".

 

[Ivan]

I took a look at this project this morning.

I started with the same build issues as you ran into. It looks fine in AF99 but builds with a couple missing polygons. As you can see, I resolved the issue, but I am not quite sure what the original problem was.

Here is what I did.
1. Build to confirm the missing polygons.
2. Mirror the Fuse Component Left to Right - The problem went to the opposite (Left) side.
3. Examine the two offending Parts: Fuse0209 and Fuse0210 - There were no obvious problems.
4. Delete the Parts Fuse0209, Fuse0210 and replace them with Mirrored equivalent parts from the other side: Fuse0202, Fuse 0203.
5. This caused an error (I believe this is a AF99 Bug) in that one of the 0208e parts flipped to the other side.
6. I deleted one of those 0208e parts and added it to the other side.

Attached is the Component that worked for me. Just copy and rename the file to .afc extension.

- Ivan.

 

[womble55]

Thanks Ivan, I can now get on with the details and add the U/C doors, U/C struts the 0.5 M/C guns and other stuff. I have noticed another bleed, the outer props are bleeding through the outer wing panel from the rear and not displaying properly on their spinner. I.ve started doing the detailed PCX files and if all goes well I will upload the Avro Lincoln soon.
I will also upload another aircraft that nobody has mentioned in this thread, even though it was the first aircraft of its type specificaly designed for that purpose........no ideas......the Miles Martinet.

 

[Ivan]

Hello Womble55,

Actually I saw that one also. It is in one of the screenshots I posted. You also have bleeds at the corners of yor canopy. There are a whole bunch of little fixes I can think of, but it would delay your project quite seriousy to do them, so I don't know if you would really be interested.

- Ivan.

 

[womble55]

I'm pretty well into detailing the PCX files, still not sure which Lincoln to do, any suggestions. I quite fancy the last ones in RAF service...151 squadron I think. They were used for Radar mapping prior to the introduction of the V Bombers. As I finish a PCX file and apply it to the model it amazes me how the detail leaps out at you not only from the texture but from the component itself.

 

[smilo]

i'd say, follow your fancy.
that, or do both.
it's your call.

 

[Ivan]

Hello Womble55,
What scale are you using for the major components? I was thinking that using an entire file for wheels was a bit of overkill.

BTW, Why not do a fanciful wartime scheme for the plane that it might have worn if it had become operational during the war?

At the moment, my scale for the Macchi 205 is 10.24 feet over 256 pixels for the Fuselage, Wing Roots, Fuselage Bottom, and Stabilisers. The Wings are 15.36 feet, and the Spinner is an odd scale at a simple 8 feet because it seemed to work well by eyeball. It also doesn't have to match up with anything else. The major fuselage textures match up vertically to the pixel. For a small single engine fighter, I am up to 12 texture files.

- Ivan.

 

[Ivan]

Layout of textures for the Gear Doors was finished this morning. I found that I had goofed up a bit with the template parts because I forgot that there were little tiny doors at the top of each main gear. I didn't bother to relocate the other doors because the end result would not have changed and also because I got lazy.

The other two screenshots show the "Symmetry Marks" that I use to adjust the layout of Top-Bottom Texture layouts. If the numbers are the same from Left to Right, the result is that smoothing of the textures in the simulator will make them look asymmetrical. The offset is generally about one pixel overall or about a half pixel on each side. Sometimes they can't be made to match exactly, but it seemed to work out pretty well this time.

One other technique I am using this time is to have two texture files for those pieces that have a Left-Right pair. In this case, they are the Gear Doors, Tail Gear Forks, Main Gear, Oil Coolers, Engine Exhausts and probably a few other things I can't remember. The advantage here is that the two texture files are completely symmetrical in layout which avoids slight mismatches Left to Right.

If they are NOT symmetrical, it may be impossible to draw a texture on one side that exactly matches the other. Very often this is seen in the Main Wheels where you cannot pick the same center pixel to draw concentric circles. There are ways to work around this even with a single texture file, but the result is that the file is much harder to draw and requires a bit more discipline in choosing a scale.

The scaling makes a difference when you try to paint a continuous line across several components such as along the fuselage. There are also considerations in aligning things longitudinally, but they are generally not as critical.

- Ivan.

 

[womble55]

1. Innerwing Right
2. Innerwing Left
3. Right Wing
4. Left Wing
5. Wheel
6. Nose
7. Fuselage
8. Hstab Right
9. Hstab Left
10. Fin Right
11. Fin Left
12. Canopy
13. Inner Engine
14. Outer Engine
15. Spare

There should be enough to pretty well detail all of the Lincoln and I have a spare to play with. I might divide the Nose and the Fuselage components up into three components of Nose, Mid Fuse and Tail, it depends wether I can get good PCX files of the components as they are. As for the specific aircraft, I think a triple texture file of the last three Lincolns in RAF servicewill be a fitting tribute. If anyone wants to do a Tiger Force Lincoln, then once I've uploaded her, I'll allow texture changes.

 

[Ivan]

Hi Womble55,

The Wheels aren't that big. The Fuselage is HUGE. They each use up an entire texture file. Perhaps the Fuselage needs two texture files? That is just my opinion because this is really an artists choice kind of thing.

One thing that you might want to consider is having a pair of engine nacelles sharing the same texture. What if I want anti-glare panels on the inboard side of each nacelle but white paint on the outboard side? This not uncommon yet cannot be supported with this texturing scheme.

- Ivan.

 

[Ivan]

As I work through painting the Macchi C205, I am reminded again about how tedious this part of the process is.

That is probably why I have so many aircraft that reach this point of construction and wait for their turn in a Paint Shop that is almost never in operation.

A Curtiss Wright CW-21B was used for a Painting Tutorial a couple years back, but it wasn't finished at the end.

An Albatros D.Va still waits for its lozenge fabric. I am working with the printers to see if I can have a few bolts of fabric made, but that still leaves the great task of covering it. At least we have gotten a pretty fair upper pattern though.

A Ju-87B Stuka grins and waits very impatiently.

A Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless has waited MANY Years for its turn in the Paint Shop. Very little other than paint and a Checklist remain to be done. Pilot training has been on hold for years. Our Test Pilots have never gotten the expected levels of accuracy in bombing with this aircraft. The biggest issue appears to be the selection of WHEN to begin the dive.

After the basic texture layout, we have still more aircraft waiting to get their proper colours for battle.

There is a Ki-61-I-KAIc that has worn light gray for many years though its spinner changes colours every once in a while as my son gets bored with the old one.

I have a Spitfire Mk.IXc that still wears gray as well. It stands a greater distance from completion even though I know what the eventual paint job will be.

A B-25C is waiting to be sprayed Army Green and loaded aboard the USS Hornet.

A A6M2 Rei Shiki Sentoki is waiting for a simple "Ameiro" scheme so it dominate the skies over the Pacific.

Painting isn't Fun.
- Ivan.

 

[womble55]

You're quite right, painting isn't fun. With your last comment about anti-glare panels, I'm hoping the Lincoln didn't have these. I haven't found any evidence yet but there is somebody out there who knows different and will provide a photo at a most inoppertune moment.
The Lincoln now wears the guise of SX952 on its wings, one of the last five with 151 squadron, wether it took place in the three plane flypast to mark the end of the Lincoln in RAF service, I have yet to find out. I will also do substitute textures for the other four, simple really with such a basic colour scheme, mainly induvidual number change but there were variations among the five with internal squadron ID letters and numbers. SX952 didn't have any of these hence the choice.
Inner wings done, Outer wings done, Left Hstab done, Right Hstab done, Fins done and outer engine/nacelle well on its way.

 

[Ivan]

Hello Womble55,

For the DP file, the Avro Lincoln carries 2 x .50 Cal MG in the Nose Turret and 2 x .50 Cal MG in the Tail Turret. The Dorsal Turret carries 2 x 20 mm Cannon. If the .50 Cal are US Browning types, the ammunition weight is 4.8 ounces per round and for a typical British Hispano cannon, each round is listed in the Hawker Hurricane manual as being 10 ounces. I suspect the rounds actually weigh more but that is what the manual says.

As for textures, why can't the engines share a texture with the Rudders? I don't think either the Rudders or Cowls are large enough to need an entire texture file. Same applies to the main wheels. They aren't large enough to need an entire file which means you actually have a lot of extra space to use for other parts.

- Ivan.

 

[womble55]

I think I can do it with the available 15 PCX files but reassessing the possibilities I'm starting to think that I will have to utilise one PCX file to do two things. I forgot to add the distinctive radiators in my list of textures. What a numpty!