B-58 Aluminum v3

[Mach3DS]

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5628/20595707209_46292d8b18_o.jpg

[DaveB]

Looks nice Rick:encouragement: I bagged the B-58 in a sale a while back.. primarily to put your paints on it!!.. so I'll be certain to grab a copy of this when released;)

ATB
DaveB:)

[jankees]

wonderful!

[Willy]

Who's B-58?

[delta_lima]

Who's B-58?

Glowing Heat.

http://www.glowingheat.co.uk

[b52bob]

Great plane, great paint.I want this.Thanks for your paint work.Now for a decent tanker and b-47.

[Sundog]

Wow, that looks great. Nice work.

[Mach3DS]

Thanks guys. One thing I've noticed while on this Bare metal journey...not all models are created equal. What I mean is that, although there is a basic technique that I now follow, there is still so.much trial and error in finding the sweet spot. since for some reason some developers build into the model the ability to take advantage of certain blending options Ina wide spectrum, while others have either limited or have chosen to not include the alpha or specular at all in the texture file and have opted to build In a default static specular and offer no alpha blending at all. Glowing heat model thankfully takes advantage of light in this native redux of the FS9 version. CenturySeries dI'd a great job notwithstanding the age of the model. I'll post some more shots but she's pretty.much ready to go. I have 2 more.liveries to release at the same time for the B-58 ;) new versions of one's I've previously done. Hope you enjoy them! :)

[Mach3DS]

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5656/20769991216_8a9d94a3c2_o.jpg

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/693/20803266311_212d217c28_o.jpg

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5748/20803266081_72d64d9c46_o.jpg

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/563/20608255120_0c922f6818_o.jpg

[Mach3DS]

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5783/20608340750_03ac4670e1_o.jpg

[DaveB]

Nice job Rick.. I'll take copies of all these paints:encouragement:

Have you resisted the urge to use Bob's env maps with these? It's nice to see metallic colours rather than all-over-blue upper surfaces. Don't get me wrong, I have and use Bob's maps but sometimes.. it's nice to see silver rather than blue;)

ATB
DaveB:)

[Mach3DS]

Bob's Env is being used. However, the effect here isn't primarily through surface reflection, and because the texture has varying degrees of grey being used, and not one uniform grey color, it's difficult to see. Specular is playing a major role. One reason I've not yet released, is that I'm still playing around with the diffuse alpha. I want the look to have the look and feel of the B-58 photos as best as I can make it...but I also want to try to avoid the "air show warbird" look...which actually is harder to do (IMO) because the two looks border somewhat closely when it comes to how to achieve one vs. the other in textures...at least with regards to my abilities in texturing :redface-new:

[DaveB]

However you're doing it Rick.. it's working for me;)

ATB
DaveB:)

[Mach3DS]

Well I decided to just confirm...yrs I am using bobs ENVmap. I have it set as my default and actually replaced out the global texture in the root directory...so all of my aircraft will use it by default. I should probably mention that in the readme! I'm glad it works for you! I'm excited to get them out. Ive been really trying to master the aluminum; because i'm woefully bad at actually "painting"!...not there yet...but it is looking better than my first attempt!

[dvj]

Those shots look photographic with the new shine. Excellent.

- d

[DaveQ]

Rick, this is as close as anyone will ever get to depicting what a Hustler actually looked like when delivered - amazing work. I just wish I had your patience in playing around with alpha/spec/spec_alpha to get it looking so good. One thing I would do (and should have done) is to change the colour of 'U. S. AIR FORCE' to Insignia Blue which I think is more correct. If you pm your email I'll send you a set of original .psd's.

DaveQ

[centuryseries]

Those textures are simply outstanding! :encouragement:

Hopefully my next work will be better in that department!

[Mach3DS]

Hopefully another 50s jet! I'm glad the textures are to your liking centuryseries!

[Mach3DS]

Dave thanks for the kind words! PM incoming.

[fsxar177]

Thanks guys. One thing I've noticed while on this Bare metal journey...not all models are created equal. What I mean is that, although there is a basic technique that I now follow, there is still so.much trial and error in finding the sweet spot. since for some reason some developers build into the model the ability to take advantage of certain blending options Ina wide spectrum, while others have either limited or have chosen to not include the alpha or specular at all in the texture file and have opted to build In a default static specular and offer no alpha blending at all. Glowing heat model thankfully takes advantage of light in this native redux of the FS9 version. CenturySeries dI'd a great job notwithstanding the age of the model. I'll post some more shots but she's pretty.much ready to go. I have 2 more.liveries to release at the same time for the B-58 ;) new versions of one's I've previously done. Hope you enjoy them! :)


There's certainly a lot of variables at play..

But I'm curious, how much have you experimented with Fresnel textures? Furthermore, how many models that you've played with even make use of one?

- Joseph

[Mach3DS]

I'm definitely the wrong person to ask! I have seen the "fresnel ramp" texture included in many models. I know it is used in application with volumetric prop effects but I'm too much of a novice to be able to explain it in any detail. if it can enhance or otherwise make use of light changes I would be very interested as I still think that the "aluminum" look could be even better, but it would take a major use of all light enabled textures to get the look truly perfect. I wish P3D would adopt a variable global environment map. actually I wish that we could enable self reflection so that wings or what have you and the textures would be reflected in the aircraft. I guess you could ultimately make a personalized aircraft environment map or something...that would really complete the overall effect.

[heywooood]

Champion of Champions...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYvsjGroa78

[fsafranek]

I really like that top image. You've done a really nice job of conveying that it wasn't just skinned with one piece of aluminum. You've got slight variations in adjacent panels which is spot on. A little less reflection though as you mentioned. That's not easy to do with metal in FS and not make it just look like shades of gray paint. People like the special schemes (so do I sometimes) and I did several for the original FS9 release with David adding even more for the FSX remake, but there's something really nice about a plain jane "let's-get-the-job-done-and-try-to-make-it-home" scheme. Very pleased to see this bird getting continued attention.
:ernaehrung004:

[delta_lima]

I really like that top image. You've done a really nice job of conveying that it wasn't just skinned with one piece of aluminum. You've got slight variations in adjacent panels which is spot on. A little less reflection though as you mentioned. That's not easy to do with metal in FS and not make it just look like shades of gray paint. People like the special schemes (so do I sometimes) and I did several for the original FS9 release with David adding even more for the FSX remake, but there's something really nice about a plain jane "let's-get-the-job-done-and-try-to-make-it-home" scheme. Very pleased to see this bird getting continued attention.
:ernaehrung004:

What Frank said. :encouragement:

[fsxar177]

The Fresnel can have a HUGE impact on the polished aluminum. I've created several custom envmaps also, and believe personally they they should always be localized to each model.. Self-reflections are nearly possible.. nearly.. *wink

Here's a sample of the ENV I did for the T-6.

http://www.fsxairsports.com/teasers/envmapedit.jpg

[roger-wilco-66]

Exceptional work, Frank and Rick.
I'm tempted to buy the B-58, like mentioned above, just to see that paint job on it.


Cheers,
Mark

[delta_lima]

Exceptional work, Frank and Rick.
I'm tempted to buy the B-58, like mentioned above, just to see that paint job on it.


Cheers,
Mark

With due regard to the original creators, between the VC texture fix and the exterior repaints, it truly is a dramatically improved model. And given the original physical model itself is superb, and the FM quite realistic, there is a very compelling proposition for it in light of all the fixes. If you like 60s era jets, then it's a great investment.

cheers,

dl

[roger-wilco-66]

I think that comment finally did it, DL :-)

I know what I'm doing now this evening!



Cheers,
Mark

[mig21bis]

Outstanding metal work, Rick. You're adding extra life and realism to these already great models.

[jymp]

The new textures make this bird look great, considering getting the B-58 for these textures, does the B-58 work well in FSX Steam ?

[skipph]

I run the B-58 with no problems in FSX Steam. I also run it in P3D but I lost some VC click spots in one of the numerous hot fixes that I applied. Might try a reinstall. Great work 000rick000. Skip

[Mach3DS]

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5761/20774315688_ee3c623b34_o.jpg

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/578/20774315118_b92f80cc25_o.jpg

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5678/20952465242_0b83fea79a_o.jpg

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5760/20936019776_df6b63950e_o.jpg

[Mach3DS]

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5783/20775503929_0191659326_o.jpg

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5703/20952463422_d3980df36b_o.jpg

[ejoiner]

So where do I get these fabulous skins, Bobs ENVmap and apparently some VC mods? I own the aircraft, I just havent flown her in awhile. This would be an excellent excuse to fire up some glowing heat!:jump:

Eric

[Mach3DS]

ejoiner,

I don't remember where I got the bananaBob GlobalENV chrome map from...but sure it's available at one of the standard sites. The VC upgrade was made by me...before I really knew what I was doing in Photoshop...still don't but I'm better than before...lol....the skins in the screenshots here are not released yet...I have one more and I'll release 3 together. hopefully tomorrow. I'm still refining the prototype livery with new aluminum alphas and specs. a new wing diffuse by daveq and edited slightly by me to fit the paint scheme. I'll post a release thread when I upload them. ;) Thanks for the interest! also thanks for the kind words everyone. goes a long way to keep me motivated to learn more. gman has been sharing some tips with me lately and I really appreciate his time and effort to educate this repainting noob.

[delta_lima]

Once released, I'll be hitting that plane like a screen door in a hurricane ...

Great job, Rick!

dl

[expat]

I'm tempted to buy the B-58, like mentioned above, just to see that paint job on it.

Dithered and delayed buying this one but after seeing Rick's initial screens of his metal work, I bit the bullet only quite recently and never looked back. This is one sexy jet - a bit of a "blowtorch" - and a handful to land, but really enjoy the challenge of keeping her in the flight envelope. Only negative is the panel bitmaps are a bit plain - someone helpfully dirtied these up (thanks) - which helps a bit but they could still use some further work.