Convair 580 v2

[wombat666]

The model comes along at a glacial pace, by the way. Had to redo much of the side panels and window frames in the cockpit and GMax is really uncooperative every once in a while.

'Glacial pace' is still progress and we can wait.

 

[StormILM]

Bjoern, that is excellent work! Keep up the good job!

 

[Bjoern]

Thanks, guys. I've been away and busy for the last few days, so no progress since the left OH panel.

One thing that's been bugging me about the exterior model is a low-complexity solution to the retention bracket for the front window panes. I'm not too keen on doing extensive mesh work and thus having to remap the entire fuselage, but I want to get that characteristic look right.

Also, as usual, help in decyphering the labels on the overhead panels is much appreciated.
http://www.airliners.net/photo/Cont...66732/L/&sid=1451c44712b72af1dd31360a92f647e1

 

[Bjoern]

Finally got the freaking cockpit windows look more like the real thing. It's amazing how complicated the window arrangement on this thing is, just as if Convair wanted to mess with modelers.
To make matters worse, the old layout was so far off that I needed to adapt most of the cockpit to fit it.
Other improvements to the exterior model are a better vertical stabilizer, engines that got moved upward a bit (more legs!), larger props (see difference to the old prop disks) and a thicker nose area.

Also, the exterior model is in 3ds Max now (the interior model had been done before). Which means that I need to redo all animations and reapply all visibility tags as these things get messed up in the conversion process (joy, oh joy!). But that's kind of okay as I wanted to move some texture stuff to other textures, etc...
I'll remap the wings so that you have a texture for each side. Which should help with registrations or roundels on one of the two wings. Same with the engines if I can fit them on the texture sheet.

This, however, brings me to a new issue: I need painters later on as neither the old Calclassic liveries nor Bill Howland's paints for the first rework (never published) won't work on the new fuselage. And I don't think that I've got Bill's source files anymore.

 

[Bjoern]

Looks like I've got some help for the texturing department. This makes things a bit easier for me.


In other news, I will modify and retexture the wings and horizontal stabilizer.
I am also working on completely new engine nacelles, but it's tedious work because Allison just had to do them extra, extra complicated.

 

[yankeeromeo]

Hello Bjoern,

Congrats for you work, this is almost a complete overhaul
Thanks for your time and work.

 

[Hanimichal]

 

[Bjoern]

Bernward Bockheim (the guy with the Fokkers) announced a rework of the Calclassic Convair pistons a few months back, so I've sent him my WIP source files as a part reposotory. Last I've heard from him was that he was trying to port the 3ds Max meshes into FSDS2 (or 3), but nothing more after that.

My own attempt to recruit assistance via FSDev ended up with the guy disappearing after two commits, so no success there either.


The remaining overhead panels still require modeling, mapping, texturing and coding and a lot of other areas are also still unmapped and untextured. With lower 3D overheads, you'd also have to convert the original panels into 3D gauges and switches to obtain a uniform look. Add systems coding and a sound environment and you're basically talking about a workload worth a few hundred hours at best.
The exterior model also poses a huge issue as it basically needs a complete rework with more polies, more accurate door placement, completely new engine nacelles, landing gear, etc... pile that on top of the VC stuff. A new model also means that none of the old repaints will work anymore which means a lot of empty paint buckets.

All of this plus other, more attractive projects, a 40-60 hour/week job far away from my desktop PC and having to measure up against other recent releases versus a handful of paints, thank you's and a release thread vanished from the front pages after a week. That equation just doesn't work out for me.
So it's Bernward's model or bust.

 

[hairyspin]

Say it ain't so!

.. All of this plus other, more attractive projects, a 40-60 hour/week job far away from my desktop PC ...

My dear chap you are rather letting the side down, I fear you may have sold out! A job??? Employment? Hewing of wood, drawing water or suchlike? You'll be claiming someone is actually paying you money next! You must excuse me, this has come as quite a shock.

 

[stansdds]

Bernward Bockheim (the guy with the Fokkers) announced a rework of the Calclassic Convair pistons a few months back, so I've sent him my WIP source files as a part reposotory. Last I've heard from him was that he was trying to port the 3ds Max meshes into FSDS2 (or 3), but nothing more after that.

My own attempt to recruit assistance via FSDev ended up with the guy disappearing after two commits, so no success there either.


The remaining overhead panels still require modeling, mapping, texturing and coding and a lot of other areas are also still unmapped and untextured. With lower 3D overheads, you'd also have to convert the original panels into 3D gauges and switches to obtain a uniform look. Add systems coding and a sound environment and you're basically talking about a workload worth a few hundred hours at best.
The exterior model also poses a huge issue as it basically needs a complete rework with more polies, more accurate door placement, completely new engine nacelles, landing gear, etc... pile that on top of the VC stuff. A new model also means that none of the old repaints will work anymore which means a lot of empty paint buckets.

All of this plus other, more attractive projects, a 40-60 hour/week job far away from my desktop PC and having to measure up against other recent releases versus a handful of paints, thank you's and a release thread vanished from the front pages after a week. That equation just doesn't work out for me.
So it's Bernward's model or bust.

And that's how it goes when the real world collides with the sim world. Thanks for the update, Bjoern, hopefully Bernward will be able to complete this project.

 

[Bjoern]

My dear chap you are rather letting the side down, I fear you may have sold out! A job??? Employment? Hewing of wood, drawing water or suchlike? You'll be claiming someone is actually paying you money next! You must excuse me, this has come as quite a shock.

Don't worry, it's a real job (not payware) and limited term, so unemployment and FSX will have me back sooner or later.

 

[Jafo]

Don't worry, it's a real job (not payware) and limited term, so unemployment and FSX will have me back sooner or later.

That's good to know....
...or maybe not....
...or maybe....