SH-2C/D Sea Sprite for AIcarriers, alpha test

[lazarus]

It has not been in a sim, I'm sitting on a ferry with my lap top, unable to sleep in a seaway. But I have SKUP, MDLX, FSDS...and time to kill.
To complement Warrens outstanding carrier collection, a missing bit...
I'm weeks away from a flight sim rig, so you lads get to be the lab rats, if it passes the smell test, the release version will make its way to the library in due course.
The mesh is an ancient gmax LSL file, it's been floating around since about 2004, it's unusable with out a massive poly hammering, then it makes a ok low poly AI.
one and a bit meg, three draw calls, animated, and the mapping and rez are ok for repainting. Sorry about the textures, ms paint and and clip art. MDLX says it's all ok.
Crosses fingers.
Thanks, warren, everybody.
View attachment 30549View attachment 30550View attachment 30551

zip file here:

View attachment 30552

 

[expat]

Oh, you are a star Laz - thanks so much for this essential accessory for the 1960's carrier set ups!

 

[Victory103]

That is one long ferry ride! Great job on this, how hard would a working AI model be to make out of this project? The retro scene over at MAIW is alive, more AI helos would be great.

 

[expat]

Looking good and working well!


images hosting

 

[DaveB]

It's late and perhaps I shouldn't be trying this now but.. while it looks great, it won't move. It stays where it loads

ATB
DaveB

 

[lazarus]

Sorry, Dave. I slashed out the type definition inadvertently while inactivating repaint slots.
Check you sim config, it should look like this:

[fltsim.0]
title=Kaman_SH-2C/D_Seasprite
model=
texture=


//[fltsim.1]
title=
model=
texture=


//[fltsim.2]
title=
model=
texture=

[General]
category=Boat

[contact_points]
static_pitch=0.0 //degrees, pitch when at rest on the ground (+=Up, -=Dn)
static_cg_height=85.0 //feet, altitude of CG when at rest on the ground

[DesignSpecs]
max_speed_mph =50
acceleration_constants = 0.07, 0.07 //Time constant (effects responsiveness), and max acceleration (Gs)
deceleration_constants = 0.05, 0.05 //Time constant (effects responsiveness), and max acceleration (Gs)
SternPosition =0

[Effects]
wake = fx_nowake







I fumduckerd and did this ------------) //[General]
category=Boat
which will hold up the show.
It looks OK for a first pass

 

[DaveB]

Dammit.. I looked at the cfg too and missed the comments before [Category]

Here she goes.. on the move and already found a Uboat about to dive!

TBH.. unless you want to make the paints 100% 'bang-on' with the real thing, I reckon she's good to go. Animation is great and she looks the part. A Knox Class FFG/DDG would be nice to go with it but I appreciate that's stretching the remit somewhat!!
ATB
DaveB

 

[lazarus]

Nice, glad that fixed it. From the screen caps, it looks pretty good, even the mash and splash from memory paint. I want to do something with the interior and glass so it's not so see-through, but keep that vertice count down, I hope- I think this one came in around 8K or so, not bad for sketchup.
I put a floor and bulkhead in the model, assigned beacons to the mdl file, I drew up a new rotor disc with some coning angle, see how that looks, and I want the single engined UH-2A and statics for deck candy now, Then a Seaking.
A knox class...in the some day file, but, yes, those are gotta haves now, along with the belknap's and leahy's, the CGN's. Bit by bit.

 

[Cees Donker]

Thanks for this one!



Cees

 

[lazarus]

View attachment 30740

Updates- UH-2C and D, SH-2F, and SH-3
Coded beacons from MSFS X default effects, Sea Sprites not so see-through now, trying a different rotor disc idea, might have to change the animation speed. It`s a little fatter, now, 1.5 meg or so.
Seaking- another old whore of a LSL file. It`s been languishing in the HD for a long while. I hacked it from 10.5 meg back to 5.5 meg- meh! still too much, for an AI toy, but, for now, it is the only free game in town. Usual animations, sorry about the textures, copy and paste from FS.com, hacked about in MS paint.
These have not been in sim, though MDLX thinks they're all OK. I went through all the titles and cfg`s error checking, but check again before firing up your sim, the odds of a fcuk up are always grande.
View attachment 30743View attachment 30744View attachment 30745

 

[DaveB]

Cheers matey.. I already have an SH-3 but I'll give them all a run now. You can never have too much of this stuff

EDIT: The Seasprites look better with slightly clearer glass. The Stars'n'bars above the flightdeck are distorting quite a bit but it's hardly noticeable unless you get in quite close. Couldn't see the SH-3 first time round.. static_height was 0!! Lifted her off the deck a bit (95ft as per the SSprite). The main rotor looks a bit big but the rest of the model looks fine..

ATB
DaveB

 

[lazarus]

Thanks Dave. See, fcku up's all around. I kinda thought the rotors were off, still to do a dedicated disc for the 'thing, rather than eye-ball re-scale of the seasprite set for the alpha export. Yeah, the mapping on the dog house, that is a sow, still don't know why the nationality mark isn't carried on the aft engine deck that one caused grief in the plastic modeling world for years. I don't like it, and am trying some different approaches on the UH-2A's doghouse. An inch an hour, two feet per day!
Edit: The great thing about having to sit through meetings, I can ignore the yammering bankers and do some modeling.
View attachment 30761 My boyz big buk of flugschrabers says a main rotor diameter of 62'0, unless one has been logging with the machine...better, anyway.
Phinal alpha version...for now Fixed CG height. The screens look nice, Dave, thanks. No way to get it into to sim right now, so interesting to see what it looks like. Not bad for a three hour mash and splash, given the nightmare that the base mesh is!

View attachment 30762

 

[DaveB]

Hello mate..

Yup.. 62ft is how 'good ole' wiki lists it too. It may be that the rotors on the Virtavia SKing are too small!! Some shots of the v2's..

The new rotor on the SH-3 is much better. It displays darker from below btw. I see what you mean about the nightmare stars'n'bars on the Sprite. Beats me why they bothered putting one there in the first place!! Lying flat(horizontal).. you'd expect the point of the star to be facing fwd but visible from the front, the star would be pointing up. On the Sprite.. it's neither one nor the other. Good luck with that! Maybe flipping it would look better?
EDIT: Flipping it would probably make it look better but it would be wrong wouldn't it. What are these Americans like hey!!

ATB
DaveB

 

[lazarus]

I think the cure for the marks distortion is to roll the texture perpendicular to the surface to be mapped, have a square projection. I'll try that on the new doghouse for the UH-2A, if that works, Install the new dog house on the twins-same fairing more or less on the front. I drew a new five blade for the 'thing, 62' on the nose, animated it, and it came out wobbling like a clown car wheel Went back, tried it a few more times, the assumption being I ckfu'd the thing. Wobble, wobble wobble...: FSDS does not like odd numbered things, or something, it keeps shoving the Y axis off centre. A multi bladed blur comes out on axis, though....
The screen caps look good, Dave. The MT cockpit bugs me, but I'm reticent about adding more crap to the mesh. Not running some kind of liquid sodium-cooled, fusion powered Cray, less is good, and five and a half meg seems high already for eye candy. Not bad for an alpha pass, though.
Appreciate the test reports, many thanks!