And whiile we wait for a Native A-4

[StormILM]

I just spent the last 3 days tweaking/porting the old Razbam A-4 packs 3 and 4 into FSX. I ended up throwing out a number of models and repaints to skim down the size of everything and ended up with several of the 2 seat versions, the A-4E/F/L and a couple of the Israeli models. Overall I am impressed with how they turned out. I tweaked the cfg and replaced the airfiles with the Frat-Bros A-4K airfile and it worked perfectly being stable, well handling and overall close in the numbers. The only texture change I made was adding an environment map bmp file to each texture folder which I do to all portovers. I also used the Frat-Bros A-4 sound file which is excellent. The gauges work well. The thing that amazed me was that even though these models were never intended for FSX they were all super stable on moving AI Carriers both in traps and in launches. There may be plenty of imperfections present in these portovers but for now they will hold me over until the arrival of the new Razbam A-4's which I will be buying the full sets of. I bought packs 2,3,4 going back to 04 and later(never bought or even seen pack 1 in sim) and all were money well spent. Glad I saved them on disk. FPS performance was excellent!
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[StormILM]

VC/Panel shots


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[StormILM]

And the approach & trap
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[Victory103]

Great job Storm, are you planning to release your port over configs? I have the FratBros Scooter and need to find pack 3 of the RAZBAM series. Would be great to get some TA-4J around Javier's boats.

[StormILM]

Great job Storm, are you planning to release your port over configs? I have the FratBros Scooter and need to find pack 3 of the RAZBAM series. Would be great to get some TA-4J around Javier's boats.

Yes, once I finish checking out the tweaks I will post a "how to" to get those who want to have an A-4 to hold them over for the native versions to arrive.

[expat]

Storm, very nicely composed screenies. Have done mostly the same to my port over'd Pack 4 Scooters though can't remember if I used the Frat Bros air.cfg and air file - mine in FS9 and FSX were always wobbly goblins so would welcome a more stable set up once you are finished. My RAZBAM Skyhawks also - in both FS9 and FSX - had this strange glow to the textures at dusk/night. Not sure what caused this or if your env map bmp texture addresses this . .

These are in FSX:

[ST0RM]

Nice work Storm. I'm a fan of the two-seat TA-4s, so I'm hoping your setup will work for them also.

Standing by...

-Jeff

[StormILM]

I just finished the tweaks today but need to organize everything to share here and the links to needed components. The downside is that I cannot supply the airfile or sound file since it is from Frat-Bros payware A-4 so for those who already have it, it's a drop in matter but those who don't have it will need to buy that model from simmarket or flightsim pilot shop(it's a good model for the price).

Will try to have this "parts list" ready by tomorrow some time.

[expat]

Could you maybe - from your experience - just "suggest" certain changes to some of the entries in the RAZBAM air.cfg? :icon_lol:

[elcamino]

The photos of your a-4 look great. I never bought the series even though
I wanted to.

63710
My Radio controlled A-4 modeled during my VMA-214 days many years ago.
You know I want a fsx a-4 real bad. I enjoyed the real plane and the model.
The ribbon was second place at Long Beach International Modeling Show in
the stand-off scale division. Several months later it took second again at a
show in Pasadena California.
With two ribbons from international shows to it's collection and a transfer
and divorce looming in the very near future, I sold it for a whole bunch
more than I had invested while building it.

[StormILM]

Here's a link to download the config and environment map.bmp zip file:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/4nf5ns

To make this edit work, you'll need a copy of the Frat Bros A-4K which as noted before is payware albeit not expensive. You'll need the airfile from that pack and the sound pack. The sound pack alone is an excellent payware level sound file. Last but not least, you will need to create thumbnail images for each texture folder.

That is it.

[Victory103]

Downloading now and pulling out a few FS9 TA-4's from Pack 3. Thanks for taking the time to do this, should hold me over until the FSX native models come out!

[ST0RM]

Tried your fixes, minus the Frat Bros air file and sound. It's pretty much as before, not good. The jet skids left and right with the rudder inputs and in flight rolls toward the left and just feels off.

I need to adjust the eye point also, as with tIR, I sit way too low and the probe is almost level with my eye.

Thanks anyway. Guess I've got to wait until the RAZBAM FSX Scooters are released.

-Jeff

[StormILM]

Tried your fixes, minus the Frat Bros air file and sound. It's pretty much as before, not good. The jet skids left and right with the rudder inputs and in flight rolls toward the left and just feels off.

I need to adjust the eye point also, as with tIR, I sit way too low and the probe is almost level with my eye.

Thanks anyway. Guess I've got to wait until the RAZBAM FSX Scooters are released.

-Jeff

Jeff, sorry the update doesn't work for you. As I noted the centerpoint of the update is hinged on the flight model and then the other enhancement parts which in reality is usable but certainly not to current FSX standards. The CG and MOI edits are completely focused on the Frat-Bros airfile which is very stable and flies well. I'm sure if you buy the Frat-Bros A-4 and extract the airfile and sound file and use it as directed in my update, you'll see a whole new plane which flies and looks very good for an old model ported into FSX. For me, I will certainly use it until the newer FSX native A-4's come out.

[expat]

Storm, this worked well for me. The light coordinates need changing. I think they may be the same as the A4C (non hump) birds as the red rotating beacon seems placed inside the fuselage LOL.

Thanks again.