DR Martlet question

[ndicki]

Does anybody know who the owner is of the DR Martlet model? This is essentially similar to the ETO F4F Wildcat, but with the tailfins mapped separately left and right - essential for a British aircraft. I'm not even sure if it was ever released to the public...

I'm having vague ideas, that's all... :wiggle:

[hairyspin]

Does that one have the LOD problem Nigel? IIRC one model took a 12" or thereabouts hop to one side at about LOD 50, but the original source was lost in a HD crash, so it can't be fixed :banghead:

[ndicki]

No, no LOD jumping! Just one or two mapping problems, and the fact that it is a bit heavy on the FPS... I think it's little more than a revamp of Gramps' old Wildcat MkVI. The texture sheet is pretty much the same, in any case.

If the ETO one is significantly FPS friendlier, I may go for that one instead, and simply fuddle the tailplane paintwork. Not keen, though - either it's right or it isn't.

This is right, by the way. Can anybody hazard a guess as to why it's painted such funny colours?

[swpierce]

Hmmm.....
Needed a darker blue component to the camoflage? Operated somewhere with darker, deeper blue seas?
Indian Ocean or the Pacific?

[hairyspin]

That's the Tropical Sea Scheme and pic no1 is a 802 squadron Martlet which embarked on HMS Audacity in 1941 to escort convoys back from Gibraltar. That's not Winkle Brown's Martlet is it Nigel? I don't want to disturb the children who are asleep upstairs next to the right book!

[ndicki]

802 Sqn it is! Well done! I thought that would be a tough one...

It is in fact an American interpretation of the Tropical Sea Scheme, using (apparently) AN Blue (Flag Colour) 24, Sea Green 28 and Light Blue 27. These colours are based on an analysis in "On Target Special No2 Britain Alone" of Martlet MkI AL246, which still has its original factory paintwork beneath subsequent layers of British paint.

802 may still have had aircraft in these colours when they embarked on Audacity in September 1941... Although it looks fairly unlikely, as by May 1941, the makers were getting the colours closer to the Temperate scheme, using two shades of green in fact. That implies that somebody in the food chain got out of his chair to solve the problem. 804 Sqn received their Martlets painted this way in September 1940, and repainted them in the standard Temperate Sea Scheme immediately. 802 received the next batch in November 1940, and apparently did not. Anybody's guess.

[ndicki]

Anyway, after testing, it looks as though it'll have to be for the PTO Wildcat - despite the fact that it has horrendous mapping problems in all LODs - start with the starboard tailfin and go from there... But it does give markedly better FPS.