FDG P-61 "for the Army pukes" part III

[Oglivie]

Hi Friends,

Is there any interest in this?

The FDG P-61 is a rather old aircraft model, but anyway I've been looking at and working on some textures for the rescaled version of the FDG P-61 (by Captain Tenneal-The Virtual Navy). This has included demirroring and mods (including some fixes for missing textures) of the model file. I hope to add perhaps about 20 new textures for squadrons using the P-61 in the CBI, PTO and ETO and uploading them in several packages (if there is interest for them). The time line for completion maybe the end of November or December. I am going to attempt to resolve the prop spin problem, which does not allow the weapons to show through the prop spin at certain angles, but my knowledge is limited at present how to go about it, and will involve a bit of trial & error and testing. Does anyone have any ideas how the prop spin can be fixed to allow the weapons to show well through it using scasm editing? So far I have been making mods to the model file via Ivan Hsu's MDLC converting it to scasm code and back. Simon's scasm tutorials have proven very helpful in this endeaver also. Another issue I may not be able to resolve currently is adding the VC with gauges to the panel.cfg. A VC panel needs to be added to the model file I think to allow an entry to add gauges in the panel.cfg file.

Here are some of the P-61's that I've nearly finished:

P-61A-1 #42-5502 "Skippy" 421st NFS, Leyte.
P-61A-5 #42-5544 "Lady GEN" 422nd NFS, Belgium.
P-61A-10 #42-5626 "Jing-Bow Joy-Ride" 426th NFS, China.
P-61B-2 #42-39408 "Lady in the Dark" 548th NFS, Iwo Jima (with late war 310 tanks - from Malinowski P-47 download).
P-61B-6 #42-39527 "Blind Date" 549th NFS, Iwo Jima.

Cheers
O

[Captain Tenneal]

Hell ya!!

I was workin on the p-61A but the ole lady(my Rig) took a dump on me hopfully I can get her done asap

[bearcat241]

:ernae:....nice to see some variety in her wardrobe.

[Jagdflieger]

The rescaled Blackwidow is a great plane to have. New skins and updates would be very nice.

[Oglivie]

Hi Friend Fellow Simmers,

Good to read there is interest in the ole FDG bird. Looking through the Osprey book at the textures there is: "Wabash Cannon-Ball IV", "Nightie Mission", "The Virgin Widow", "Sleepy Time Gal II", "Night Take Off", "Swing Shift Skipper",.... Well, I think I will be a keepin busy for a while with needle and thread.:icon_lol:

Cheers
O

[OBIO]

I love the P-61....and the Virtual Navy rescaled version is a dream!

From what I know about the effects not showing through the spinning prop disk...from a thread I read over in the FS2004 forum.....the prop has to have transparency via the prop texture and via the material that makes up the spinning prop disk. It takes the double transparency to get the effects to show through. A better choice for adding the transparency to the spinning prop material would be Martin Wright's MDLmaterial program. The main thing is finding the material that makes up the spinning prop disk.

And would I be interested in new skins for the P-61...you bet!

OBIO

[Oglivie]

Thanks for the idea OBIO.

There are 9 materials listed in MDLMat, none seem to be for the prop spin (but I will investigate it further). Since this is an old model file, I was thinking that more modern coding for the prop spin is not present and thus the transparency issue. I was pondering the idea (if possible) that coding could be put into the model file via scasm that would bring the prop up to date and thus the transparency needed (with the correct prop spin transparency texture in the texture folder also). I think it may take some experimenting to find out if it could be done, or if it can be done at all.

Cheers,
O

[OBIO]

Hell ya!!

I was workin on the p-61A but the ole lady(my Rig) took a dump on me hopfully I can get her done asap

This wouldn't happen to be that little request I sent ya would it? I hope so!

OBIO

[Oglivie]

I love the P-61....and the Virtual Navy rescaled version is a dream!

From what I know about the effects not showing through the spinning prop disk...from a thread I read over in the FS2004 forum.....the prop has to have transparency via the prop texture and via the material that makes up the spinning prop disk. It takes the double transparency to get the effects to show through. A better choice for adding the transparency to the spinning prop material would be Martin Wright's MDLmaterial program. The main thing is finding the material that makes up the spinning prop disk.

And would I be interested in new skins for the P-61...you bet!

OBIO


Prop spin is fixed, wep addons are now completely visible through the prop spin. I added the correct material property to the model and linked up the prop spin in the model to the new material. Also a new 444-4 bit alpha prop spin is in the texture folder. I will do some experimenting with (444-4 bit alpha) textures to see what may look the best.

Current before and after pics:

[Oglivie]

Hell ya!!

I was workin on the p-61A but the ole lady(my Rig) took a dump on me hopfully I can get her done asap

Cap'n,

With all the exitment around here lately I forgot to mention that it is good to see ya back and hope ya get the puter thingy ironed out soon.

Cheers,
O

[bretnutz]

Just what i need:isadizzy:.......more planes....:costumes::costumes:

I must say that my USA Hanger is a bit sparce:d:d....I guess I need to stop working on the germans:ernae: and the british:ernae:.

:d

All the Best

bretnutz

[Oglivie]

Just what i need:isadizzy:.......more planes....:costumes::costumes:


:costumes:
Yea I know, but it gives me something to do while staying indoors with the advancing colder weather.:d

Cheers,
O

[Oglivie]

VC panel with functional gauges nearly completed.

[OBIO]

As dem long haired hippy freaks used to say:

Keep on, Keepin On!

[Oglivie]

Yeap,

I'd like to get the VC lighting working for the panel (since it is a night fighter), but currently I do not have a clue how to do it. I already have the entry in the aircraft.cfg and I am quite sure an entry for it needs to be in the model...somewhere.:isadizzy:

I'll Keep on, Keepin On!
:d
Og

[OBIO]

O

Not sure how the VC light thing works for sure...not sure if it has to have it in the MDL file or not. I will give you some more feed back in a short while...got a few planes that don't have VC lights that really need them. Going to add a light to one of them here in a bit and will let you know if it works or not.

OBIO

[OBIO]

Yep, looks like the VC light has to be part of the MDL in order for it to work. I just added a vc light to the Alpha Sim F-5A Skoshi Shark and it did not work.

BUT! There is a work around for this. Thanks to DvSlats, I now know this neat way to get VC lights into aircraft....put it in the DP file as an effect, like adding exhaust and smoke.

[EXTRA.X]
location=0,0.73,3.5
effect=fx_vclight

The "X" will need changed to be in sequence with any other DP placed effects in use. Just change the location setting to place the light where you need it to be. Using this approach, the light can not be turned on and off like it can via the config file, but it works...and you can also have multiple lights in your plane using this approach.

DvSlats and I have been sending files back and forth getting the Alpha Sim B-57B converted to CFS2...and the final result will be a really great conversion. He sent me this tid bit and it works like a charm in getting a light in the rear cockpit of the B-57. The light is not bright enough to notice during daylight flights.

I will be using this approach to add lights to a lot of the older aircraft in my collection.

Dv also tipped me to a nice collection of VC light effects files over on Simviation.com that give you different colors of light. The Medium Green VC light rocks in the B-57B!

OBIO

EDIT:

Plug this into your DP file, below the [EFFECTS] section: This will add lights to the Pilot and R/O cockpits

[EXTRA.0]
location=0,1.2,1.1
effect=fx_vclight

[EXTRA.1]
location=0,.3,3.1
effect=fx_vclight

[Oglivie]

Thanks OBIO!

It's a good work around for the model VC light. I'll keep tinkering a bit more to see if I can get the model VC light to work, but if not I will use the DP extra effect you posted. Thanks again for the helpful info!

Cheers,
O

[Wulf190]

...Wait...

We are finally getting a real sized P-61 with a VC?!

YES!:d

[OBIO]

Here's an odd thing: I added two VC_lights via the EXTRA effects...as posted a couple posted above. One of those lights, the second one, the one in the R/O position...turns on and off with the L key. There is no {Lights] line in the aircraft cfg...I have looked several times. But for some reason, the second DP added VC_light works off of the L key. TOtally odd.

OBIO

[Oglivie]

I'd like to get the VC lighting working for the panel (since it is a night fighter), but currently I do not have a clue how to do it. I already have the entry in the aircraft.cfg and I am quite sure an entry for it needs to be in the model...somewhere.:isadizzy:
Hello Everyone,

I wrote the above too soon...it was the coordinates in the aircraft.cfg that needed adjustment. I was suffering from brain warp I think from staring:eek: at too much scasm code:blind:....I'm okay now for a awhile (I think).

[LIGHTS]
panel=0.00, 0.40, 3.55, fx_vclight

OBIO,
I do not know how the secondary R/O light would be working with the L key either, since it is entered in the DP and not the aitcraft.cfg. Odd indeed!

VC at night pic:

[Oglivie]

.....just when you thought you probably wouldn't see that army puke stuff again....:icon_lol:

Making accamodations for Wolfi's US Pilot addon (adjusting the seats a little)....

[Oglivie]

The 265 gallon (in several liveries) and 310 gallon tanks for the A-11, B-2, B-6, and late B-1 versions of the 61 (B-10 and later, four 258 gallon tanks...are in the works). Some sources state though that the B-11 and B-16 also with two tanks, and B-10 with four tanks. I thought I would go with B-10 and later with four tanks....

[Oglivie]

P-61A-10 #42-5580 "Wabash Cannon-Ball IV" flown by Squadron Commanding Officer Lt. Col. Leon G. Lewis, 425th NFS. Late livery in night intruder role based at Etain, France in early 1945. Bye for now...Oglivie.:wavey:

[OBIO]

You sure are putting some work into this update O. Looking forward to it big time.

OBIO

[Jagdflieger]

Lookin' good. She'll be the terror of the night skies in CFS 2.

[Oglivie]

As I progress onwards with this project, I am finding more and more I would like to do to improve this aircraft. So I think that the completion date originally posted (Nov/Dec) may be later than sooner. This is the latest I have found to improve on: Below is a before and after pic of the left nose art detail, and the improvement is significant. So I am going back over the textures I have done so far and making the necessary changes. I still might be able to finish up by the end of December, but I am not sure right now. I am also contemplating adding a couple more LODs to make it Multi-Res, although from a historical view point the P-61 was usually a lone hunter.

Cheers,
O

[erufle]

I want the plane, but please, take your time. We love you even if because you are a rivet counter.:applause:

[Jagdflieger]

We'll take advantage of all your work and it'll be a treat to fly.

[Oglivie]

I want the plane, but please, take your time. We love you even if because you are a rivet counter.:applause:

Rivet counting?....you gave me another idea....I'm going to rivet count! Tack on another month Erufle!:costumes:

I'm just kiddin'.



We'll take advantage of all your work and it'll be a treat to fly.

Thanks for the compliments Jagd.

I think the final product will be up to expectations. It's lookin' good.:mixedsmi:


Cheers,
O

[Oglivie]

Hello Everyone,

Should only be a couple more weeks of work left on this project...a few things left to tweak. Time for the holidays really cut into the time I had for the project (almost forgot to mention football, and work also). I will not be doing Multi-LOD with the model at this time. That will have to be another chapter for another time. Anyway the FPS is not bad at all on my rig, and it is a mediocre machine.

Here is the list of the aircraft that will be uploaded in a few weeks:

CBI
---
P-61A-10 42-5623 SWEATIN' WALLY
P-61A-10 42-5626 JING-BOW JOY-RIDE
P-61A-10 42-5633 BETTY JEAN
P-61A-10 42-39365 Black Jack

PTO
---
P-61A-1 42-5502 "Skippy"
P-61A-1 42-5528 "Jap Batty"
P-61A-5 42-5554 THE VIRGIN WIDOW
P-61B-2 42-39408 Lady in the Dark
P-61B-2 42-39454 COOPER'S SNOOPER
P-61B-6 42-39527 BLIND DATE

ETO
---
P-61A-5 42-5544 "Lady GEN"
P-61A-10 42-5569 TABITHA
P-61A-10 42-5580 WABASH CANNON-BALL IV
P-61B-6 42-39514 HEL N' BACK
P-61B-15 42-39672 "Little Audrey"

Erufle, you are right...I am a rivet counter.:faint:

:icon_lol:
Cheers,
O

[Wulf190]

lookin good! I was wondering what had happened to this project.

[Shessi]

Hi O,
Looking very good indeed!!

Some nice choices of noseart...:applause:


Cheers Shessi

[dvslats]

That's a helluva job you have done Oglivie.Very methodical. At a hobbyists pace. Looks like it will be a great package. :applause:

[Oglivie]

Sorry for the delays....:redf:

However, I was able to add a four layer multi-res to the model. It was not as difficult to do as I had originally thought, so it will be included with the upload. It improved the FPS from about 17 FPS to 35 FPS for seven plane formation on my laptop (no video card), and the FPS increases more (of course) zooming out further away from the formation. Also the crew figures have received a non-existant res at longer range view, since they wouldn't be visible anyway at a long range. Thanks to Wolfi for allowing me to use and modify his excellent U.S. Pilot for the P-61 Pilot, R/O and Gunner (these are stand alone files with different file names and object ID numbers and will not interfere with Wolfi's original pilot).

Recent work also was done on the wing airscoops so they match the cfs2 to the real aircraft a bit more closely. I Changed the vanes, all but four, to spokes like the real aircraft had and blended in the lower part of the scoops to the wing somewhat better also.

I recently acquired a couple of excellent publications on the Black Widow, one of which gives individual aircraft histories for every P-61 built by serial number. From these publications I have found no mention of 265 or 258 gallon drop tanks (home.att.net/~jbaugher1/p61.html). The only ones mentioned are the 165 and 310 gallon drop tanks in these publications (one of which was written by Garry Pape who worked at Northrop, the other by Jeff Kolln). Therefore, for historical accuracy, the tanks will be 165 (in several liveries including black as seen in the Osprey book that I know now are 165 tanks) and the (late war) 310 gallon tank. I changed the scale in the bgl files back to their original scale for the 165 tank (and gallons to 165 for the air files for the 165 tanks).

Also I have discovered from these books that "Skippy" also had nose art on the right side of the nose: "Nocturnal Nemesis" with a cute babe -- so I am going to add that to the aircraft's texture. And "Lady GEN" had the logo on the right and left side of the nose, not just the left side as I had originally thought -- so I will add the logo to the right side.

I am thinking of matching up the rivets a bit better under the fuselage, it would look nicer -- if I can do it.:spider:


Cheers,
:d

[gaucho_59]

Hi Friends,

Is there any interest in this?

The FDG P-61 is a rather old aircraft model, but anyway I've been looking at and working on some textures for the rescaled version of the FDG P-61 (by Captain Tenneal-The Virtual Navy). This has included demirroring and mods (including some fixes for missing textures) of the model file. I hope to add perhaps about 20 new textures for squadrons using the P-61 in the CBI, PTO and ETO and uploading them in several packages (if there is interest for them). The time line for completion maybe the end of November or December. I am going to attempt to resolve the prop spin problem, which does not allow the weapons to show through the prop spin at certain angles, but my knowledge is limited at present how to go about it, and will involve a bit of trial & error and testing. Does anyone have any ideas how the prop spin can be fixed to allow the weapons to show well through it using scasm editing? So far I have been making mods to the model file via Ivan Hsu's MDLC converting it to scasm code and back. Simon's scasm tutorials have proven very helpful in this endeaver also. Another issue I may not be able to resolve currently is adding the VC with gauges to the panel.cfg. A VC panel needs to be added to the model file I think to allow an entry to add gauges in the panel.cfg file.

Here are some of the P-61's that I've nearly finished:

P-61A-1 #42-5502 "Skippy" 421st NFS, Leyte.
P-61A-5 #42-5544 "Lady GEN" 422nd NFS, Belgium.
P-61A-10 #42-5626 "Jing-Bow Joy-Ride" 426th NFS, China.
P-61B-2 #42-39408 "Lady in the Dark" 548th NFS, Iwo Jima (with late war 310 tanks - from Malinowski P-47 download).
P-61B-6 #42-39527 "Blind Date" 549th NFS, Iwo Jima.

Cheers
O

I would surely like to contribute my graphic artistic skills...
btw... I am doing a historically accurate version of a US Navy
aircraft and find that the engine texture is mirrored... is there any
way to demirror it? Any help and/or suggestions would be appreciated
Here is a jpg. of the texture in question and my progress in redoing the
entire paint job...

45825

45826

[gaucho_59]

I would surely like to contribute my graphic artistic skills...
btw... I am doing a historically accurate version of a US Navy
aircraft and find that the engine texture is mirrored... is there any
way to demirror it? Any help and/or suggestions would be appreciated
Here is a jpg. of the texture in question and my progress in redoing the
entire paint job...



45826

45828

[tonybones2112]

Oglivie, you build 'em, I'll fly 'em. I love the P-61 and new stuff will be a pleasure to fly:salute:

Tony Bones

[Oglivie]

I would surely like to contribute my graphic artistic skills...
btw... I am doing a historically accurate version of a US Navy
aircraft and find that the engine texture is mirrored... is there any
way to demirror it? Any help and/or suggestions would be appreciated
Here is a jpg. of the texture in question and my progress in redoing the entire paint job...

Hi Gaucho,

I've been away from the forum for awhile during a busy summer, so my apologizes for not getting back to you sooner.

If you would like to do some P-61 texture work, that would be great!

The above mentioned FDG P-61s were uploaded in Feb.'09 and are in the (old) warbird archives:
http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/page.php?lloc=downloads&loc=downloads&page=downloads&FileUploadName=Oglivie

The mirroring of textures is done in the model file and can be demirrored with scasm editing. Of course this is up to the author's discretion to allow his/her work to be altered from its original form. There should be a readme with the plane that states if the author does or not allow alterations, or requires contact to request permission for alterations. Another option maybe to request a demirrored model from the author.

I will be glad to scasm (edit) the model to demirror the engines providing the author's permission. Can you give me the download link to this airplane?

Oglivie


Oglivie, you build 'em, I'll fly 'em. I love the P-61 and new stuff will be a pleasure to fly:salute:

Tony Bones

Hi Tony,

Thanks, I do currently have some new P-61s on the drawing board.

Oglivie

[sc7500]

...I have discovered from these books that "Skippy" also had nose art on the right side of the nose: "Nocturnal Nemesis" with a cute babe -- so I am going to add that to the aircraft's texture....

In case you hadn't found this just yet...

http://wp.scn.ru/en/ww2/f/775/3/0

47795

SC
:kilroy:

[demorier]

Out of curiousity I had a look over my P61's. There are 2, the original FDG "B" model and a 1% rework of the same plane. Prop animations look ordinary on both models but I don't have any problems seeing weapons through them. One is set up with standard CFS2 bombs and the other I've converted ages ago using FDG reworked weapons package.

Oh well, onward and upward.

Edit : Could I ask some kind soul to place a image of the VC panel in flight, I think I have made a monumental mess with this conversion.

[Oglivie]

Thanks SC,

I'll put the pic in my archive folder for future reference. I may return to this P-61 later on for more texture work. Interesting to note that the color plates in the Osprey book shows the spinners black & yellow rather the red & yellow.

Hi Demorier,

The model I used is Captain Tenneal's rescaled FDG model. The prop blurr blocked out the weps, but that was resolved before I uploaded the project. Actually the FDG did have a VC, but it was static with no working gauges. I resolved that issue also for the Part III upload.

Cheers,
O

Some shots from the Part III package (that is in the Warbird's Archive), except the first showing the prop/wep issue.

[demorier]

Thanks for that O. Problem I was having was trying to update the older FDG base model. Didn't know there was a whole new one under "The Virtual Navy".

Thanks again, should find my way from here. :wavey:

EDit: Just a little problem I can't get worked out just yet....the new texture set, some missing ?47963

[Oglivie]

Thanks for that O. Problem I was having was trying to update the older FDG base model. Didn't know there was a whole new one under "The Virtual Navy".
Thanks again, should find my way from here. :wavey:

EDit: Just a little problem I can't get worked out just yet....the new texture set, some missing ?

Hi Demorier,

There is another whole new one that came out after the VN's P-61. You can access the page with the link in Post #39 above.

The pic looks like the textures you have are not for the model you have installed. Make sure you have the correct textures for the model you are using, or (visa versa) correct model for the textures.

I hope that helps you out.

Cheers,
O

[demorier]

Thanks O. Had myself in a bit of a mess with the different version texture sets, set up and working good now. :wavey:

[demorier]

"Bouncing" Betty correction. For those that are interested in this project I found this combination of numbers in the P61 "aircraft.cfg" file/s gets rid of the bouncing as it loads up in the sim. Just the numbers marked in red.



[contact_points]
static_pitch = 0.30
static_cg_height = 8.2
max_number_of_points = 7

point.0 = 1, 14.03, 0.00, -8.65,....
point.1 = 1, -2.12,-9.00, -8.80,.....
point.2 = 1, -2.12, 9.00, -8.80,.....