Bomber_12th
SOH-CM-2023
Thank you, Manfred!
Released! Spitfire Mk IXc for Microsoft Flight Simulator
- Thread starter YoYo
- Start date
Bomber_12th
SOH-CM-2023
Before responding to your kind remarks, I had hoped to be able to post that I had uploaded updates for PT879, but as of yet I haven't been able to. The updates are now complete, however, so tomorrow I'll get them uploaded. With the aircraft having now made a couple of public appearances, I have had a great influx of photos of PT879, so I have been able to make several key updates, as well as some other minor improvements/adjustments.
I just wanted to say very many thanks for the compliments, Steph, YoYo, Noddy and Priller! I appreciate you taking the time to do so.
I just wanted to say very many thanks for the compliments, Steph, YoYo, Noddy and Priller! I appreciate you taking the time to do so.
Bomber_12th
SOH-CM-2023
Updates to both of my PT879 repaints are now posted: https://flightsim.to/file/13861/spitfire-mk-ix-pt879-restored https://flightsim.to/file/13859/spitfire-mk-ix-pt879-factory-delivered
With more photos available now, I redid aspects of the wing camouflage pattern so that it is even more exact to the real aircraft. There were quite a number of more stencils added to the real world PT879 within the time period since I originally released the repaints, so these additional stencils have all been added. I have also updated a number of the stencils to match changes that have been made on the real world restored PT879, and made some changes to other stencils, now having better information and photos to work from. In addition to these updates, I have added more access panels to the top of the wings and below the horizontal stabilizers (accurate to the Mk.IX Spitfire), I have added the stenciling to the inside of the cockpit side door, and a number of other small refinements.
This screenshot shows the corrections to the wing camouflage pattern, as well as the new access panels on the inboard wings. Just as on the restored PT879, there are now more of those little yellow serial number stencils as well, applied to the middle of the wings and to the leading-edge wing/fuselage fillets.
As with on the real aircraft, authentic stenciling has now been added to the rudder. For those not familiar with the acronyms, 'CBAF' stood for Castle Bromwich Aeroplane Factory, where the aircraft was manufactured, and the number 35672 is the unique serial number given to that particular rudder assembly, as stamped on its placard from the factory. The 'DTD 314 S' and 'DTD 308 C' stencils designate the type of paint that was used, so that if those areas needed to be touched-up in the field, the ground crews would know which paint had been used. DTD 314 S was a synthetic matte paint, while DTD 308 C was a nitro cellulose matte paint. Elsewhere on the aircraft you will also find 'DTD 517 S' stencils, which was also a synthetic matte paint. 'DTD' itself stood for Directorate of Technical Development. The 'Mod 817' stencil refers to a wartime modification to strengthen the upper rudder trim tab hinge. The little triangle stencil was an inspection mark. That stencil shows up in so many period photos, but it was always quite a mystery what it was, as it could never be seen too clearly. When the original wreckage of PT879 was being looked over, they found that same inspection mark applied on the upper fuel tank data panel, and thus it was finally able to be accurately recreated. And of course the 'W/T' stencil (wired throughout) indicated that the component was electrical bonded to the airframe.
On the underside of the wings, I have updated many of the stencils, both in details and positioning to even more closely match the real aircraft. Here again you'll find different acronyms. On the ailerons you'll find the acronym 'WBLTD', which at this time it is not known which manufacturer that represents. The Castle Bromwich factory had many different sub-contractors providing assemblies to them. On my repaint of TB252, another authentically-restored Castle Bromwich Spit, you'll find the acronym 'PA' in the stenciling on the rudder and elevators, and this is believed to have stood for Percival Aircraft. You will also find the acronym 'SAL' applied within the stenciling on the main flaps, which stood for Supermarine Aviation Limited. In all of these cases, the information you see in the stenciling is what was found stamped on the original data plates of those components.
Updated stenciling and access panel under the horizontals and elevators. Some of these stencils were only just recently added on the real aircraft (the real PT879 has fabric-covered elevators, hence the '308 C' stencil and not the '314 S' or '317 S' stencil - I figured I would keep the stencil accurate, even though the elevators are portrayed as the metal type).
This view shows the updated stenciling on the spinner (as recently updated/changed on the real aircraft), and now accurately replicates the original wartime spinner markings with the little yellow 'Locked/Unlocked' stencils applied over black rectangles. You can also see one of the additional 'PT879' yellow serial stencils applied to the leading edge wing fillet, as well as some more smaller stencils recently added to the real aircraft - such as 'ELECT CONN', indicating where there are electrical connections at the wing root, and 'CG ORIGIN', indicating the main point at which the center of gravity is located.
Another close-up, showing some more of the recently added details, including the stencil on the inside of the cockpit side door.
With more photos available now, I redid aspects of the wing camouflage pattern so that it is even more exact to the real aircraft. There were quite a number of more stencils added to the real world PT879 within the time period since I originally released the repaints, so these additional stencils have all been added. I have also updated a number of the stencils to match changes that have been made on the real world restored PT879, and made some changes to other stencils, now having better information and photos to work from. In addition to these updates, I have added more access panels to the top of the wings and below the horizontal stabilizers (accurate to the Mk.IX Spitfire), I have added the stenciling to the inside of the cockpit side door, and a number of other small refinements.
This screenshot shows the corrections to the wing camouflage pattern, as well as the new access panels on the inboard wings. Just as on the restored PT879, there are now more of those little yellow serial number stencils as well, applied to the middle of the wings and to the leading-edge wing/fuselage fillets.
As with on the real aircraft, authentic stenciling has now been added to the rudder. For those not familiar with the acronyms, 'CBAF' stood for Castle Bromwich Aeroplane Factory, where the aircraft was manufactured, and the number 35672 is the unique serial number given to that particular rudder assembly, as stamped on its placard from the factory. The 'DTD 314 S' and 'DTD 308 C' stencils designate the type of paint that was used, so that if those areas needed to be touched-up in the field, the ground crews would know which paint had been used. DTD 314 S was a synthetic matte paint, while DTD 308 C was a nitro cellulose matte paint. Elsewhere on the aircraft you will also find 'DTD 517 S' stencils, which was also a synthetic matte paint. 'DTD' itself stood for Directorate of Technical Development. The 'Mod 817' stencil refers to a wartime modification to strengthen the upper rudder trim tab hinge. The little triangle stencil was an inspection mark. That stencil shows up in so many period photos, but it was always quite a mystery what it was, as it could never be seen too clearly. When the original wreckage of PT879 was being looked over, they found that same inspection mark applied on the upper fuel tank data panel, and thus it was finally able to be accurately recreated. And of course the 'W/T' stencil (wired throughout) indicated that the component was electrical bonded to the airframe.
On the underside of the wings, I have updated many of the stencils, both in details and positioning to even more closely match the real aircraft. Here again you'll find different acronyms. On the ailerons you'll find the acronym 'WBLTD', which at this time it is not known which manufacturer that represents. The Castle Bromwich factory had many different sub-contractors providing assemblies to them. On my repaint of TB252, another authentically-restored Castle Bromwich Spit, you'll find the acronym 'PA' in the stenciling on the rudder and elevators, and this is believed to have stood for Percival Aircraft. You will also find the acronym 'SAL' applied within the stenciling on the main flaps, which stood for Supermarine Aviation Limited. In all of these cases, the information you see in the stenciling is what was found stamped on the original data plates of those components.
Updated stenciling and access panel under the horizontals and elevators. Some of these stencils were only just recently added on the real aircraft (the real PT879 has fabric-covered elevators, hence the '308 C' stencil and not the '314 S' or '317 S' stencil - I figured I would keep the stencil accurate, even though the elevators are portrayed as the metal type).
This view shows the updated stenciling on the spinner (as recently updated/changed on the real aircraft), and now accurately replicates the original wartime spinner markings with the little yellow 'Locked/Unlocked' stencils applied over black rectangles. You can also see one of the additional 'PT879' yellow serial stencils applied to the leading edge wing fillet, as well as some more smaller stencils recently added to the real aircraft - such as 'ELECT CONN', indicating where there are electrical connections at the wing root, and 'CG ORIGIN', indicating the main point at which the center of gravity is located.
Another close-up, showing some more of the recently added details, including the stencil on the inside of the cockpit side door.
Bomber_12th
SOH-CM-2023
Thank you Dave, Marcel and Noddy! It is fun to have such high-resolution textures to work with, where even the smallest details can be so clearly represented.
I don’t mean to be a rivet counter, but the order of the wing guns has me a little confused. For Spits with the C-wing, I always thought that the armament was 4-20mm cannon, or 2-20mm cannon with 4-.303 cal machine guns.
The E-wing could carry 4-20mm cannons or 2-20mm cannons outboard and 2-.50 cal machine guns inboard in arrangement.
The E-wing could carry 4-20mm cannons or 2-20mm cannons outboard and 2-.50 cal machine guns inboard in arrangement.
Bradburger
Charter Member
Browncoat,
The 'e' armament wing could only be configured to carry two 20mm Hispano MK.II cannons, and 2 x 0.5 inch Browning Machine guns. The 'C' wing (although never officially referenced by that designation in the case of the MK.IX was still used unofficially for this mark), by default was two 20mm Hispano MK.II cannons, and 2 x .303 inch Browning Machine guns, although some MK.Vs in the tropical an pacific theatres did have 4 x 20mm Hispano MK.II cannons in lieu of the 4 x 303s.
This was also the case with a few MK.VIIIs in the Pacific as well, but this configuration was never used on the MK.IX.
Anyway, absolutely stunning work there John - a real masterclass of how to do a repaint, and a great testament to those that do the same thing on the real thing!
Cheers
Paul
P.S. It would be nice if FlyingIron came up with different or configurable models both with an 'e' wing, and also the normal chord rudder so you could match up the model for accuracy to a given repaint.
The 'e' armament wing could only be configured to carry two 20mm Hispano MK.II cannons, and 2 x 0.5 inch Browning Machine guns. The 'C' wing (although never officially referenced by that designation in the case of the MK.IX was still used unofficially for this mark), by default was two 20mm Hispano MK.II cannons, and 2 x .303 inch Browning Machine guns, although some MK.Vs in the tropical an pacific theatres did have 4 x 20mm Hispano MK.II cannons in lieu of the 4 x 303s.
This was also the case with a few MK.VIIIs in the Pacific as well, but this configuration was never used on the MK.IX.
Anyway, absolutely stunning work there John - a real masterclass of how to do a repaint, and a great testament to those that do the same thing on the real thing!
Cheers
Paul
P.S. It would be nice if FlyingIron came up with different or configurable models both with an 'e' wing, and also the normal chord rudder so you could match up the model for accuracy to a given repaint.
Bomber_12th
SOH-CM-2023
I try to have my repaints look as close to the real aircraft as possible, even though details of the model might not be correct to them. The real-life PT879, TB252 and MJ730 all have 'e' wings. Of course I can't do anything about that since FlyingIron only provide the 'c' wing cannon configuration in their 3D model. I have, however, changed the coloring of the fabric gun patches of the 4 .303 machine guns on those repaints so that they should hopefully blend in well enough with the rest of the wing leading edge so that at least that area of the wing looks like an 'e' wing. The link and shell ejector chutes I have depicted on the bottom of the wings on PT879 and TB252 is also of the 'e' wing type, even though the cannon arrangement is not of the 'e' type. On my repaint of MJ755, which does have the 'c' wing in reality, I have the shell ejector chutes present for the 4 .303 machine guns, just as the real aircraft has (though the real one has the earlier rudder).
I'm currently working on another repaint of one of my favorite currently flying Spitfires, but which also happens to have the 'e' wing in reality, as well as the smaller/earlier rudder. I figure when there were so many P-40E & N generation repaints made for the A2A P-40B/C, and other similar examples, I don't think I can be judged too bad, right?
Thank you, Paul, for the compliments, I appreciate it! My communications with Steve Atkin have been incredibly enlightening, finding out the backstories and how much research goes into producing such authentic paint schemes on restorations today.
I'm currently working on another repaint of one of my favorite currently flying Spitfires, but which also happens to have the 'e' wing in reality, as well as the smaller/earlier rudder. I figure when there were so many P-40E & N generation repaints made for the A2A P-40B/C, and other similar examples, I don't think I can be judged too bad, right?
Thank you, Paul, for the compliments, I appreciate it! My communications with Steve Atkin have been incredibly enlightening, finding out the backstories and how much research goes into producing such authentic paint schemes on restorations today.
SpaceHippy1975
SOH-CM-2024
SpaceHippy1975
SOH-CM-2024
Re-installed the Spitfire & everything is fine now! Didn't have any liveries installed so it must've been a glitch when transferring files?!