SOH A-26 for FS9 "glass" rework

Bushi

Bushi

Charter Member
Hi gang,
With 5686 FS9 downloads of this beautiful airplane, it does seem to be popular with SOH members.....um... okay.. I'll admit, it IS nearly seven years old now!
I however stumbled across it just recently, and decided to try it out. I don't need to tell anyone who has downloaded it how nice it is, both to look at (inside and out) and how much of a joy it is to fly!!!! My greatest appreciation and thanks to the entire team who developed this airplane for us! :applause:

Now... I can't leave well enough alone, and on my laptop screen, when flying the glass nosed C variant, the entire plexiglass nose seemed to disappear when viewed from certain angles, the end visual result being not too pleasing....as in... it looked like there was NO plexiglass at all!
Unwilling to limit myself to the gun nosed B, I decided, while doing a repaint of the airplane, to experiment with the properties of the 'glass' file to try and rectify this issue. In short, I tried darkening the base colour, lightening the base colour, changing the reflectivity, until I think I have it where it look great on my laptop, with my settings.

The first three screenshots below # 1,2,3 have a darkened glass property, while 7,8,10 have a lighter one. The lighter one has maximum reflectivity in the alpha channel and I think gives a really polished look to the canopies and nose. This is the one I now use on my A-26 fleet. It lightens anything viewed through it from the exterior, and gives some glare (fairly realistic) but is perfectly fine for flying when you look through it from the interior. A shot while sitting up in the nose is also attached.

If anyone else wants to replace the texture, let me know. I'll upload it.
cheers
David
 

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File has been uploaded

If you too are having issues, with an invisible nose, give it a try. the difference on my screen is VERY drastic.the original glass texture.jpgnew glass 2.jpg

For the first few who download, if the new texture works for you, please let me know by replying here, and anyone who installs it and doesn't see any changes, that would help too!! (and if that's the case, a screenshot and what video card you are using might be good too!)

Cheers
Dave
 
Nice work David. I developed that on my old, slow computer with a motherboard video capability. Looked nice then but things have changed drastically since. We appreciate that someone out there takes the time to improve on a decent old flyer. Thanks again. :applause:
 
Milton Shupe said:
Nice work David. I developed that on my old, slow computer with a motherboard video capability. Looked nice then but things have changed drastically since. We appreciate that someone out there takes the time to improve on a decent old flyer. Thanks again. :applause:
Click to expand...

You are very welcome Milton! And yes... seven years is a VERY long time where computers are concerned! I had this same issue with an older Discus sailplane and 'tinted' it a bit darker to fix it, so had a feeling I was on the right track. This one looks better lightened a bit.

And she is far more than a 'decent' old flyer!!! How you guys managed to emulate an A-26's unique flying properties... wow....

I might have to learn how to use Gmax and download your source file as I would like to do a paint that has almost no sheen to it.... a weathered, Olive Drab / Neutral Grey veteran with a few missions under her belly! From what I've read here in the forum, I think that property is embedded in the mdl file.

And, see if I can move the pilot with the '50 mission crush' cap to the 'no gun' C version instead of the guy in the baseball cap. But I have no idea what I'm doing....LOL!!!! :adoration: If I can dedicate the time!

Again, thank you for all the incredible airplanes you have given us Milton!

David
 
Bushi said:
You are very welcome Milton! And yes... seven years is a VERY long time where computers are concerned! I had this same issue with an older Discus sailplane and 'tinted' it a bit darker to fix it, so had a feeling I was on the right track. This one looks better lightened a bit.

And she is far more than a 'decent' old flyer!!! How you guys managed to emulate an A-26's unique flying properties... wow....

I might have to learn how to use Gmax and download your source file as I would like to do a paint that has almost no sheen to it.... a weathered, Olive Drab / Neutral Grey veteran with a few missions under her belly! From what I've read here in the forum, I think that property is embedded in the mdl file.

And, see if I can move the pilot with the '50 mission crush' cap to the 'no gun' C version instead of the guy in the baseball cap. But I have no idea what I'm doing....LOL!!!! :adoration: If I can dedicate the time!

Again, thank you for all the incredible airplanes you have given us Milton!

David
Click to expand...

The model "sheen", also known as specular lighting (sun glare), can be modified by a utility available. Many here have it and someone will likely step up to do that for you or at least tell you the name of it. (Model Shine? or "MDLC" may do it)

As for the pilot change, I have so many model variations that doing that would be cumbersome and would only be available for the FS9 native versions.
The FSX native gmax source belongs to Bomber_12th and I do not have it.
 
Milton Shupe said:
The model "sheen", also known as specular lighting (sun glare), can be modified by a utility available. Many here have it and someone will likely step up to do that for you or at least tell you the name of it. (Model Shine? or "MDLC" may do it)

As for the pilot change, I have so many model variations that doing that would be cumbersome and would only be available for the FS9 native versions.
The FSX native gmax source belongs to Bomber_12th and I do not have it.
Click to expand...

LOL... no worries on the pilot change. I just had an idea rattling around about doing some "Stateside" Generals personal transport. A khaki baseball cap will work too.

Thanks for the info on the specular lighting utility.

I have never installed FSX on my laptop. Worried about performance issues. The cooling fan runs quite enough with FS9... even with my double fan cooling tray, so I'll stick with it for now.

Oh, one other thing. to get my Olive Drab over Neutral grey repaint, I used John's 3rd bomb group textures and modified them in photoshop. That included repainting the interior in zinc chromate and cockpit green to match my old plastic kit. I couldn't find the paint kit and was unable to send a PM to John (Bomber_12). Still, it worked out okay! I'm quite pleased with the result. :jump:

Cheers
Dave
 
Looks great, I would say it is a big improvement over the old one! Yes, I would like that so will download it! Thanks Bushi!
 
Hi Bushi,

First of all thanks for the glass issue correction on the A-26. Looks much better!

I have been working on many window textures for the last couple of years and there are several issues. They are the most neglected files in FS.
Not so much with the old warbirds such as the A-26, as they have standard perspex, but from the 1950's onward a shatter proof coating was introduced,
creating a rainbow effect.
The phenomenon is called 'thin film interference', and is obviously only visible from the outside.
This is quite easily achieved in FS with 'psychedelic' looking glass textures instead of grey or even black.

The other issue is how the aircraft was modelled.

Some have the glass texture alphas set to change transparency, others to reflections.
Many other, mainly older aircraft, don't have window textures at all, just holes in the fuselage.

Overall this is quite a complex issue, every AC is different, and up to the user's taste.

Here are few examples from the 50's and today, plus a bmp sample...

Vulcan frontal Farnborough 2014 (2).jpg window1.jpg glass bmp example.jpg


Regards, Stuart
 
Last edited:
Navtech said:
Can you send me the correction texture ?
Thank you before
Click to expand...

Uploaded to the warbirds library yesterday Navtech. Hope it works for you!

zip.png
SOH A-26 Invader, new 'glass' texture (FS9).zip
 
That does look good to me on the plexi-nose. I should have designated that area differently from the canopy for a better effect overall.

Attaching two pics: 1) to show a cannon test I do not recall seeing before (how big is that bad boy?), and 2) an early A-26 with the gun pods on the wings and the early canopy arrangement.
 
Milton Shupe said:
That does look good to me on the plexi-nose. I should have designated that area differently from the canopy for a better effect overall.

Attaching two pics: 1) to show a cannon test I do not recall seeing before (how big is that bad boy?), and 2) an early A-26 with the gun pods on the wings and the early canopy arrangement.
Click to expand...

THAT is one seriously huge cannon!!!! I think I would be clenching my teeth, bracing every muscle....and pull the trigger! I wonder what they did to absorb any damaging recoil? Not a 'pretty' installation, but I would suspect, rather effective!

And as for the plexi on the nose, my Discus canopy had an outline on my desktop's motherboard video card, but virtually disappeared on this laptop. Might be a result of the 'anti-aliasing' settings or something.. heck.. I have no idea!! LOL

This airplane has had SO many downloads!!!!!! Maybe this new discussion reminds people that haven't flown it in a while how nice it is, and gets a few that have languished in the back of the hangar back in the air! :applause:

cheers
Dave
 
A26B - A26C Model Additions

David and others (and I) really like faded, weathered schemes and some have requested different tire treads for the A26B/C so I have invested a few hours to honor that request with the attached.

FS9 A-26B and A-26C Model Additions with new Tire Textures for the A26-SOH


Included are:


1) two new models - One A-26B with guns; one A-26C with Guns
2) Two new tire tread textures for these models (Diamond and "Plus")


These models are in addition to your current FS9 A26-SOH model folders. (They are not replacements)


The new models can be used with any B or C textures you currently have as long as you read the simple included instructions.

This is a vast improvement over the original tire textures. (Thank you Duckie for the textures) :)

Hope you enjoy them.
 
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