Helldiver, check out my Bearcat repaint WIP...

[bearcat241]

Repaint done...just need to finish with eliminating the old pilot for the new.
Looking at the B/W pic you posted earlier this week, there's a lot of small print on the fuselage i couldn't read, so i let that go. Judging from the insignia, this scheme is a '47 job, right?...you didn't specify that before.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v85/bearcat241/0075.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v85/bearcat241/0076.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v85/bearcat241/0077.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v85/bearcat241/0079.jpg

[bearcat241]

More...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v85/bearcat241/0078.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v85/bearcat241/0080.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v85/bearcat241/0081.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v85/bearcat241/0082.jpg

[Buddha13]

Hi all,
Very nice Bearcat.

Buddha13

[kelticheart]

Holy smokes, BC!

I am drooling......

Where can this astonishing beauty be found?

Cheers!
KH :ernae:

[Buddha13]

Bearcat,
The carrier shown.can you tell me who's it is.

Buddha13

[kelticheart]

Bearcat,
The carrier shown.can you tell me who's it is.

Buddha13

It's gotta be one of Collins' creations.....

Cheers!
KH :ernae:

[egypt23spitfire]

..........................:applause:.NICEEEE BC:ernae:

[bearcat241]

Thanks guys...yes, the carrier is the USS ESSEX 1944 by Collin and Co.;

CG's Shipyard: http://www.simviation.com/lair/cfs2shipyard.htm

The plane is my CFS2 conversion of the FS2004 ALPHA BLEU CIEL F8F Bearcat version 2b by Michel Migaud, Jean Pierre Bourgeois, Jean Pierre Langer, Benoit Dubé, and Marc Hardouin. It can be found at flightsim.com and maybe even here i think in the FS2004 downloads.

Helldiver requested this job earlier this week in a now-lost thread to match an old black and white pic he found.

[thicko]

Nice job, bearcat241!
Cheers Thicko

[dvslats]

The texturing and the amount of reflection....nice combination, IMHO.

[Corsair Freak]

BC you are a godsend! I've been looking for some updated Essex class carriers and didn't even think to look at Collin's website. :banghead:

[Helldiver]

Well, I'll be go to hell. You really did it Bearcat.
Will you be uploading it?
Here's a picture of the original taken 62 years ago.
You did a fine job. It took me right back.

[Ravenna]

Fantastic! Wonderful work BC!!
:ernae:

[bearcat241]

Thanks Ravenna, and you too 'Old Timer'...and i mean that with great respect ;). Never ask me to do anything with regard to the Bearcat -- you just might get it. :d

And yes, the upload is on its way, just as soon as i tackle the pilot problem. After that, i'm thinkn' i might go all the way and get permission for the full conversion upload.

I'm just afraid that i'll have to put too much work into toning down the FDE for the conservative types :banghead:. Being that its my namesake, my various F8F models are the hottest birds in my hangars, performance-wise -- the scourge of my entire PTO install. :violent:

[erufle]

Looking forward to it BC. I've always read great things about the Bearcat but never found a model I enjoyed flying. I assume your conversion may be a little heavy on frame rates. Is there another we should be using as AI?

I guess I am asking for some advice as to which others you find to be enjoyable flight models.

[Ravenna]

Just a thought...would it be possible to use the FDG2 pilot?

[bearcat241]

Good morning guys,

Erufle, of all the various BC models produced since the sim's release i use these:

1- 1US_F8F-2
2- ALPHA F8F-1 Bearcat
3- F8F-2_Bearcat (G. Lindell)
4- F8F-2_Bearcat (Alain Coupet)
5- and the converted subject of this thread

As far as AI goes, the absolute best FR are gonna be in the oldest and less visually-detailed, numbers 1 and 4. However, numbers 3 and 4 are my AI favorites for looks. IMHO none of these models had flight dynamics true to the legend of the Bearcat "out of the box" and required much tweaking.

Ravenna, i have seriously considered that option but that would require scasm mdl extraction to separate the figure from the FDG mdl's and compile it into a new object bgl for use in dp's, plus more uploading permissions i may not want to stir up.

I want something quicker if i can pull it off...:d

[kelticheart]

.....And yes, the upload is on its way, just as soon as i tackle the pilot problem. After that, i'm thinkn' i might go all the way and get permission for the full conversion upload....

SPLENDID! :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

Since the conversion is one of your creations, I am already in line waiting to download it!

When I want to enjoy something real sharp, I only have to pull out of me hangars your converted P-40B/C, B-26 Marauder or A-26 Invader.

This without taking anything away from all the other dedicated chaps who spend tons of their time converting any new FS9 warbird uploaded!

You just have this talent in picking the very best looking ones....:d

Thank you!
KH :ernae:

[bearcat241]

you' re benvenuto....:wavey:

[Helldiver]

The only small print on the fuselage had to do with "service this plane with 87 to 100 octane" or words to that effect. You already got STEP on top of the stripe. The only other ones was NO STEP written three times (backwards) next to the flaps and NO PUSH put once on all control surfaces

[Ravenna]

OMG...What a memory!!! I should be so lucky.:costumes:

[Helldiver]

You shouldn't be so lucky. It's one of the artifacts of having a stroke. I can remember useless stuff that don't mean a darn.
Yet have too work hard to remember my kids names or what car I'm driving.

[bearcat241]

To all,

It seems that alpha-painting the entire original pilot figure is a bigger pain that i thought it'd be - a very complicated texture mapping setup. The head, torso and legs have bundled texturing embedded in the main fuselage bmp - i think i can do these in green alpha-channel. But the hands, feet and ankles are separate and individual parts in the mdl and are colored in the mdl itself without bmps...:banghead: Rather than spend too much time in MDLMAT color editing, i'm just gonna commence with the repaint and conversion upload as soon as i hear from the original designing parties...let's just live with the current pilot figure for now.

[drivincar67]

Sweet looking bird BC!

[gedm]

Excuse my simplicity but couldnt a larger pilot be put over that little dude using the dp. file ? :kilroy:

[bearcat241]

Thanks Drivincar...the more i paint, the more i realize just how much devil is really in the details. :icon_lol:


Helldiver, i added the maintenance stenciling per your suggestion...is this close enough?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v85/bearcat241/0079-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v85/bearcat241/0080-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v85/bearcat241/0081-1.jpg

[bearcat241]

Excuse my simplicity but couldnt a larger pilot be put over that little dude using the dp. file ? :kilroy:

I tried that too 'G', but i don't have a replacement figure large enough to cancel out all traces of the original...just looks sloppy when looking down into the cockpit in external view.

[Helldiver]

Just super on the stenciling Bearcat. Those are the details that make a great airplane into a superb airplane. Thanks a lot.

[Bomber_12th]

Just to let you know, there is an updated selection of model files which fix the pilot's size, available here:

http://www.sim-outhouse.com/index.php?lloc=downloads&loc=downloads&page=info&FileID=7006

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/bearcat.jpg

I like the looks of the repaint, but be sure to give credit to the original author when showing it as your work. ;)

[bearcat241]

I like the looks of the repaint, but be sure to give credit to the original author when showing it as your work. ;)

Right...and thanks for the H/U on the mdl mod.

And as a reminder to you guys who have this bird and possibly Bomber's original Leyte skin in either sim, the original 1945 USS Leyte skin was done by Bomber a while back. All i did was update the markings to late 1946-47 per Helldiver's request. Any other cosmetic retouches i made were subtle and incidental to the markings only.

One more thing to keep in mind Bomber:

This thread is intended as a topical continuation of a previous, long-running thread on this model featuring your Leyte skin from last week, now lost in the server debacle. Its not an attempt to steal your glory in any way, just an update or restart of the old thread. Given that your skin was displayed in it, i don't know if you had a chance to view that one, since you never posted IIRC. Anyone else who followed or posted there will easily remember the original pics and logically relate this as merely aesthetical retouches to your original...or at least i would hope so.

[Ravenna]

Thanks Bomber_12th, and thank you Bearcat!!
:applause::applause:

[erufle]

YES, YES!!! Now this is more like what I envisioned a F8F being like to fly. It took a little tuning to get the attitude right but I did it. I slapped in a DP from Coupet's bearcat and had to adjust the guns quite a bit.

The Coupet dp file isn't even close. I could tweak it, but we are talking about a lot of tweaking. Do you have any suggestions?

Also, I assume the instruments don't show on this great looking panel because they are FS2004. I could go hunting up gauges but don't really have the time. Any panel suggestions?

Caution. Well thought out responses to these questions could earn you my love and respect . . . as well as a couple of virtual beers. :ernae: Anything else is negotiable!

[bearcat241]

The Coupet dp file isn't even close. I could tweak it, but we are talking about a lot of tweaking. Do you have any suggestions?

Also, I assume the instruments don't show on this great looking panel because they are FS2004. I could go hunting up gauges but don't really have the time. Any panel suggestions?

For the panel, try this:
http://www.sim-outhouse.com/index.php?lloc=downloads&loc=downloads&page=info&FileID=11427

Dp attached below...a modified derivation of the 1US F8F damage profile, incorporating a mixed bag of Alphasim Bearcat and Dbolt's weaps.

[erufle]

Gracias!

[miamieagle]

Nice!:ernae:

[bearcat241]

Miami, check PM...