Republic RC-3 Seabee!

It seems a few people were rightfully concerned about me "painting" in the ribs and not modeling them. So I did a quick test to prove my therie, and I think it turned out very nice. Here are two renders showing the results!

The right wing has the normal mapped ribbing in place. From this distance, you cant tell. Also, the wings will have there own dedicated 2048x2048 texture to keep the textures nice and sharp.

seabee_21.jpg


Here is a closer look at the ribbing. Even this close, they hold up very well.

seabee_22.jpg


Again, these were done only as a test and took me all of 30 minutes. The final textures will be a lot better, I assure you! You simply cant this sort of detail modeling it in without TONS of polygons and a big loss in performance. Hope this helps people!
 
Jim Goldman said:
Kevin:

Nicely done, great modeling, I look forward to this one. BTW will it be available with the Flight1 installer, I hope so.

Jim
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I think so. We are still looking into things, but im sure F1 will be an option. Since the SportStar was our first product, we are learning a lot and adapting to our customers needs based on that experience.
 
That ribbing looks terrific, i know it effects the count but it add so much to the plane.
I understand Luis Pizzaro of "Operation Repo" flies a Sea Bee.
 
Helldiver said:
That ribbing looks terrific, i know it effects the count but it add so much to the plane.
[...]
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I second that, the 3d ribs look great! Would be interesting how much this would actually effect the frame rates if you would do them all.
Maybe it's not that bad after all.

Cheers,
Mark
 
That ribbing looks terrific, i know it effects the count but it add so much to the plane.
[...]
Click to expand...

I second that, the 3d ribs look great! Would be interesting how much this would actually effect the frame rates if you would do them all.
Maybe it's not that bad after all.
Click to expand...


Perhaps I misunderstood Gibbage's comments, but aren't the renders being gushed about as 3d renders actually done with normal maps? At least that was the impression I got from "The final textures will be a lot better, I assure you! You simply cant this sort of detail modeling it in without TONS of polygons and a big loss in performance. Hope this helps people!"

(Although he did say the right wing, which in the renders appears to not have anything done to it, so I assumed he meant the one on the right of the picture, not the right of the plane.):isadizzy:
 
Yeah, I think Kevin is snickering under his breath as the geometry folks fawn over his normal maps. Normal maps will generally always show a shadow so the ribs will be visible all the time even in lighting conditions (rare) where they shouldn't. I think they look great and Kevin has made his point.

Jim
 
Yep. What your looking at is normal maps, not geomitry! =) I didnt intend to trick people, but it shows the power of a properly made normal map.

As for the Navy livery, YES YES YES! Its one of the best looking Seabee's out there! I also plan on doing the James Bond Seabee from the movie "The Man With The Golden Gun" =) I hope that there will also be an active skinning community adding to the Seabee, so I will enlist Jankees to test the paint kit and make sure its easy to paint on!
 
I notice that both "Navy" airplanes have been rengined with a six cylinder engine and are sporting four bladed props
 
Kevin, the Seabee is a nice vintage craft. I was at my local airport about a month ago and crawled all over a 1947 type that was being restored. I spoke to the man doing the restoration, and learned that a man from Seattle, Wa was the owner. I spoke to this person (the restorer) for a lengthy time and got to really eye over the SeaBee as much as I liked. Great little craft it was. I was told that they weren't much good for anything really, not even as a mail carrier or cargo type due to the lack of weight that they could carry to remote areas. I paid no mind to the negativity really, considering that I was not concerned about becoming the owner (it was getting sold after restoration was completed) But they are rather unique for the era. I believe that the Navy was one of the first to have them built (if I recall the conversation correctly) and they later found that they were not the right plane for the intended use as planned. Anyway, not meaning to throw a curve in the topic!!

Your mastery of modeling abilities shine. It looks real nice from the renders!!! A great asset the the FSX reality!
 
The Navy painted bird had an engine change. MOST flying Seabee's today have one of three engines. The original Franklin 215HP engine, a newer Lycoming GO-480 from Simuflight that has 295HP and is much ligher engine, and new coweling. The Navy painted Seabee uses the 3rd engine, a Chevy V8 from a Corvette!!! These engines produce between 350-500HP (depending on the model) and use both 100LL and premium unleaded automotive fuel. They also add air conditioning ;) The V8 engine is also SMALLER then the original Franklin, and can fit under the original coweling, were the Lycoming cant.

You can get more information on the V-8 Seabee here, http://www.v8aircraft.com/ along with photo's of the Navy painted Seabee. I would like to do the V8 powered Seabee, but its all up to what the customers want.

The Army and Navy did have interest in them for coast guard duty in 1944, but cancled there orders after VJ day. Only 3 Seabee ever saw service in the US Army, so the Navy Seabee is a myth and a hypothetical livery. I still love it though!

And yes, Seabee's are NOT practical. But a Lamborghini is also not. Its a good bush flying aircraft and very versitile. It can carry 4 people and has a good useable load with the 295HP Lycoming and extended wings. To put it bluntly, the 215HP Franklin Seabee is and will be a DOG. Like pushing a brick through sand one pilot told me. The 295HP Seabee seems to be the right spot when it comes to performance and reliability, and the 350+ will be a lot of fun!

There is also an outfit in So-Cal thats putting a PT6 turbo-prop into a Seabee!!! Thats 450SHP!!!

cgnvs.jpg


I will NOT be building this one-off Seabe. Sorry!
 
::shuddering at the thought of headers, hi-rise manifolds, and grass roots blowers on an airplane ::
 
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