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The Staff of SOH
DH114 Heron Upgrade WIP
- Thread starter gman5250
- Start date
gman5250
Charter Member
Most of the available photos show aircraft with thousands of service hours logged. The early black and whites indicate that, when new, most commercial aircraft had a more polished look. I've brought the Apache variant up to a factory new look.
The painted aircraft and military variants will retain their appropriate gloss levels or matte finish. I'll post up some shots of those later.
I've intentionally staged all of the screen caps to represent current "state-of-the-art" desktop simulator technology. I'm excited about where we are...and where we are going. Pretty inspiring...
Thank you Roger and everyone for your enthusiastic appraisal of the work.
The painted aircraft and military variants will retain their appropriate gloss levels or matte finish. I'll post up some shots of those later.
I've intentionally staged all of the screen caps to represent current "state-of-the-art" desktop simulator technology. I'm excited about where we are...and where we are going. Pretty inspiring...
Thank you Roger and everyone for your enthusiastic appraisal of the work.
William Njurmi
Members +
Allright, I think it is time to install this plane. I bought it from sales last Christmas, but had not enthusiasm enough to install and test it as it looked like a plastic model in the screenshots. Thank You.
chet twowolves
Charter Member
Outstanding work I also fly the apache airlines around in my home state of new mexico. 
gman5250
Charter Member
I did manage to find an unconverted Prinair Heron photograph.
I've added more texture to the aluminum panels and subtle shadowing around hatches, hinges and other bits. Also brought the wings to a nice service aircraft appearance. I think the basic kit is close...have a look and hit me with any details I'm overlooking.
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P3Dv2 just makes it look a whole lot better!!!
Alan_A
Charter Member
Oh, that's a beauty!
Was just looking at Prinair Heron photos - had forgotten about the variety of colors. Thought immediately of Braniff, then discovered the Wikipedia entry makes the same comparison. I think mine was one of the red or orange ones, but at 40-plus years remove, I can't be sure. Doesn't matter. This one will do nicely. Am setting aside time to take her down to San Juan whenever you're ready. No rush, but when you're there, I'll be there.
Thanks for taking her on!
gman5250
Charter Member
I only had one photo for reference, on this skin. Poor quality, but good enough to get the lines and necessary data.
I've got the kit for the retractable variant almost ready. The fixed gear version is basically the same with a couple of extra parts. That kit can be done quickly.
I've been flying the Heron quite a bit while doing the dev work on the skins. I usually fly a tube once or twice a week to stay proficient, but low and slow is more to my liking. I love these old planes that need to be coaxed to flight speed. They keep you on your toes, rather than dialing in a power rating and watching the instruments.
Glad you liked the Prinair skin. I like the jelly bean colors, but those are all Lycoming conversions, so I thought I'd stay with this variant.
Hey, TuFun...thanks for the encouragement. BTW...great sound on the Strat...
I've got the kit for the retractable variant almost ready. The fixed gear version is basically the same with a couple of extra parts. That kit can be done quickly.
I've been flying the Heron quite a bit while doing the dev work on the skins. I usually fly a tube once or twice a week to stay proficient, but low and slow is more to my liking. I love these old planes that need to be coaxed to flight speed. They keep you on your toes, rather than dialing in a power rating and watching the instruments.
Glad you liked the Prinair skin. I like the jelly bean colors, but those are all Lycoming conversions, so I thought I'd stay with this variant.
Hey, TuFun...thanks for the encouragement. BTW...great sound on the Strat...
Alan_A
Charter Member
Ah, that makes sense. Sorry, I'm just coming up to speed on my Heron variants - been trying to master obscure Spitfires just recently (recon versions, field modifications and such) but my Herons are behind the curve. Would much rather stay authentic. I don't even like using Spitfire Mk V paints on the A2A Mk I/II, let alone the later versions, though I'll do it if I have to. So a correctly engined Heron is more than OK.
With you on low and slow. Three things stuck with me about those Prinair flights: the captain finishing his preflight, turning to all of us lined up on the ramp and saying "OK, let's go to St. Thomas"; the St. Thomas-bound flight, where we slowly (it seemed) overtook a big tanker at about 4,000 feet, and the return flight, where we flew out over the harbor at Charlotte Amalie, right overhead a lit-up cruise ship - Carnival's first, the Mardi Gras. A whole different way to fly. Regular airliner flying was never the same for me after that.
So between the Heron and Manfred's C-47, I'm good...
KevinJH
Members +
I can't be the only person slack-jawed at the quality of these textures - flippin' amazing.....
As an aside, digging around some sound files I have, I came across an old set done my David Copley & Mark Cranston for the Dove/Devon in FS9 back in 2006 and popped them in - really nice they are too. I'm not sure if they're still available but if anyone's interested, drop me a pm and I'll get them to you - file size around 10.7mbs
As an aside, digging around some sound files I have, I came across an old set done my David Copley & Mark Cranston for the Dove/Devon in FS9 back in 2006 and popped them in - really nice they are too. I'm not sure if they're still available but if anyone's interested, drop me a pm and I'll get them to you - file size around 10.7mbs
chet twowolves
Charter Member
Again great work. Looking for these repaints to go in my hanger. texture work is great!!!!
gman5250
Charter Member
I added a variation of aluminum textures to individual panels on the fuse, wings and nacelles. This really brought the skin(s) to an almost photorealistic appearance, with subtle flaws and scratches adding to the overall effect. I had been working with 32 bit textures, but they render unwanted patterns in the skin at 4096 resolution. I kept the 4096 and am going to stick with DXT5.
The four basic models are ready to go. These are aluminum service skin, polished aluminum, two tone service skin and two tone high polish. These should be a good foundation for paints. I didn't over do the details...I'll leave that for the painters.
The upgrade kit will apply to all existing skins with new bumps and spec files. I'll release individual skins i.e. Prinair, Apache and RAF as separate releases. If there is enough interest, I'll tidy up the Photoshop PK and post that up as well.
P3Dv2 HDR lighting absolutely loves these skins. They are extremely dynamic when flown on DX11 capable systems. FSX with Steve's Fixer is quite nice as well. Haven't had a look in Steam yet....
Thoughts...opinions....suggestions...all welcome.
Polished Aluminum
Service Aluminum
Polished Two Tone
Service Two Tone
The four basic models are ready to go. These are aluminum service skin, polished aluminum, two tone service skin and two tone high polish. These should be a good foundation for paints. I didn't over do the details...I'll leave that for the painters.
The upgrade kit will apply to all existing skins with new bumps and spec files. I'll release individual skins i.e. Prinair, Apache and RAF as separate releases. If there is enough interest, I'll tidy up the Photoshop PK and post that up as well.
P3Dv2 HDR lighting absolutely loves these skins. They are extremely dynamic when flown on DX11 capable systems. FSX with Steve's Fixer is quite nice as well. Haven't had a look in Steam yet....
Thoughts...opinions....suggestions...all welcome.
Polished Aluminum
Service Aluminum
Polished Two Tone
Service Two Tone
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I added a variation of aluminum textures to individual panels on the fuse, wings and nacelles. This really brought the skin(s) to an almost photorealistic appearance, with subtle flaws and scratches adding to the overall effect. I had been working with 32 bit textures, but they render unwanted patterns in the skin at 4096 resolution. I kept the 4096 and am going to stick with DXT5.
The four basic models are ready to go. These are aluminum service skin, polished aluminum, two tone service skin and two tone high polish. These should be a good foundation for paints. I didn't over do the details...I'll leave that for the painters.
The upgrade kit will apply to all existing skins with new bumps and spec files. I'll release individual skins i.e. Prinair, Apache and RAF as separate releases. If there is enough interest, I'll tidy up the Photoshop PK and post that up as well.
P3Dv2 HDR lighting absolutely loves these skins. They are extremely dynamic when flown on DX11 capable systems. FSX with Steve's Fixer is quite nice as well. Haven't had a look in Steam yet....
Thoughts...opinions....suggestions...all welcome.
Polished Aluminum
Service Aluminum
Polished Two Tone
Service Two Tone
The forward section looks like a different rivet pattern. Is this normal to the aircraft? I didn't notice that in previous shots.