F7F Tigercat New VC for FSX & P3D

**b52bob** · February 5th, 2017, 15:13

I believe that piglet was working on a yb but fell by the wayside when he "retired". Sure do miss his work.

**MustangL2W** · February 5th, 2017, 15:50

I agree with Gordon 110%. '...a place of Honor' is a great way to put it. Just look at what a game changer the MAAM B-25 for FS9 was in its time?? That Mitchell and a repaint from John Terrell for it are still a "treasured" part of my FS Collection. I personally told Scott Gentile of A2A at Oshkosh last year that with the Smashing success of their AT-6, that now he really needed to consider an Accusim'd B-25. I made a point of saying that it would round out a collection of all the great WWII North American Aviation aircraft covered in the Mustang, Texan and the Mitchell for A2A. I got to hand it to Scott...he was paying attention to what I so passionately proposed... but I left the conversation feeling that there were probably other goals in mind. (GA types) Maybe if some of this passion amongst the FS Warbird community could be channeled their way it could garner some traction??

**Mach3DS** · February 5th, 2017, 17:53

The most correct/accurate restored B-25 is the FHC's. Paul Allen's. If someone were to want pictures of everything I bet they would let you for a project like this if approached. I jave the opportunity to live right in the area and have seen it fly many times. Between the FHC and the HFF almost any warbird is available in pristine condition. In fact one afternoon a few summers ago I visited HFF and was getting the guided tour from a volunteer docent and was told to go ahead and walk out to their B25 and go on up inside. So there I was summer afternoon my dad andid I alone inside the cockpit of the B-25. Great experience! Don't touch the red handles please! They're live!

Gordon I vote for YB49 all the way. We need these old relics as their story hasn't really been told in this new Era of FS. We've been inundated with GA aircraft and the entire experimental arm of aviation is lost. What brought us the advances and paved the way for what we enjoy today and regard as common place. To me, great selection.

**gman5250** · February 5th, 2017, 20:09

Originally Posted by 000rick000

Gordon I vote for YB49 all the way. We need these old relics as their story hasn't really been told in this new Era of FS. We've been inundated with GA aircraft and the entire experimental arm of aviation is lost. What brought us the advances and paved the way for what we enjoy today and regard as common place. To me, great selection.

The XB-35 and YB-49 wings were such a radical departure from contemporary designs the approach was nearly incomprehensible in it's day. The fact that the eventual counterpart is identical in proportion is not coincidence, but rather a validation of the Northrop brain trust.

And...both were just fricking gorgeous.

The fact that I have a personal connection with the airplane makes it almost irresistible.

**Mach3DS** · February 5th, 2017, 20:44

I should clarify..not to say that GA is bad...I love GA. But just that there is an entire world of aviation that has been neglected for a long long time! I'm still very.much looking forward to that 170 SOLO bird from FSXAR177.

**hairyspin** · February 5th, 2017, 21:41

One lone voice here for the DH.103 Hornet: one of the prettiest twins ever built, IMHO...

***greenie*** · February 5th, 2017, 23:55

...not alone. The Hornet would be fantastic .

Beautiful work Gordan thus far. Many thanks

***Dimus*** · February 6th, 2017, 01:09

Originally Posted by ********

As long as we are on this topic.

My first serious texture work was on Milton's A-26 FSX Native conversion. The idea of doing a high end version of the A-26 has not escaped me, however there is an A-26K in the pipe and I'm not going to step on any toes.

Also on my list of potentials.

de Havilland Hornet/Sea Hornet Dare I say even more sexy than the Mosquito??? And very close to the F7F as a stablemate.
de Havilland Comet...not the jet, but the racer.
B-25 Mitchell...the screaming hole needing to be filled
Beechcraft D-18
Cessna UC78

Having built a 1:32 scratch model of a Comet in the before-dad years, I have a soft spot for that plane and its amazing shape. I have come up close to G-ACSS at Shuttleworth and the guys there were great in letting me get close to it and take some photos. The FS9 model was great but a new one by you would be even greater.

**silverghost** · February 6th, 2017, 01:09

Definitely not alone.
The Hornet is a wonderful plane, reckoned to be just about perfect by 'Winkle' Brown.
Really good models by Rob Richardson keep me entertained.
One of my favourites, alongside Dave Garwood's Mosquito.

The Tigercat is looking superb I really don't know how you produce such wonderful work, something to be proud of. Really looking forward to getting my hands on it.

silver

**AussieMan** · February 6th, 2017, 01:36

There will be room in my hangar for both the Hornet and the Comet.

**ce_zeta** · February 6th, 2017, 02:14

A high quality Northrop YB-49 must be amazing Gordon.

**gman5250** · February 18th, 2017, 16:39

F7F -3 Virtual Cockpit...In Motion

The VC is at a point where the modeling is worthy of scrutiny from the experts here. Bear in mind, it's not complete and details are being added.

This video focuses on the factor clean "vintage" cockpit as it would have appeared in service. The POH references multiple aircraft, so there are numerous variations of radar, radios and gun sights that would be "accurate".

The main thing a wanted to convey was the sense of light and color at this stage. Also, I tried to fly more or less by the POH, so you can note the MAP, RPM and mixture for your flying. I also included my own HU radio popups for convenience. Night lighting is live in all of my variants, just not shown in this particular video. The civilian version and night lighting will be in the next vid.

If you watch closely, you can see my latest volumetric vegetation populating the airports at KBIH and KMMH. Beta testing is showing extremely good performance, even at high saturations. And it looks pretty convincing.

Trivia:
I used EZDok 2 for the startup, taxi and takeoff segment to show the lovely vibration aspects, horizon hold and other bits. I switch to EZDok 1 for the cinematic camera in the flight segments. Both are used with TrackIR active.

**Mach3DS** · February 18th, 2017, 16:49

Gordon you've got the VC interior glass reflecting the exterior?!? AMAZING!!!! I noticed the runway stripes markings reflecting as you rolled over them!! Brilliant baby!

**BrittMac** · February 18th, 2017, 18:43

I've said this before, but, holy crap! I'm good with that just like it is! You will have to let us know how you are going to improve that, because I don't know how.

**Flyboy208** · February 18th, 2017, 18:52

Mind blown once again Gordon !!! Mike

**Flyboy208** · February 18th, 2017, 19:01

And I might add , what a beautiful landing ! Mike

**gman5250** · February 18th, 2017, 19:52

Originally Posted by 000rick000

Gordon you've got the VC interior glass reflecting the exterior?!? AMAZING!!!! I noticed the runway stripes markings reflecting as you rolled over them!! Brilliant baby!

I figured you would pick up on that Rick. I tested quite a few various combinations in the glass texture setup for the model. I finally settled on this one. If you look close, you can see the canopy plastic is slightly fogged around the edges. It shows really nicely in the night version with the UV lighting on.

Working on that video now.

**gman5250** · February 18th, 2017, 19:59

Originally Posted by Flyboy208

And I might add , what a beautiful landing ! Mike

Thanks Mike...every so often I get one right.

**txnetcop** · February 18th, 2017, 20:03

GOBSMACKED! That is one BEAUTIFUL piece of work Gordon! WOW

Ted

***TARPSBird*** · February 19th, 2017, 00:44

What Ted said. Just beautiful work! Screenshot would easily pass for an actual F7F cockpit.

**roger-wilco-66** · February 19th, 2017, 01:35

Brilliant work, and video. Furthermore, the scenery looks amazing. Top notch all around!

Cheers,
Mark

**stansdds** · February 19th, 2017, 04:04

It looks great! My only criticism is actually the exterior paint. For a factory fresh glossy sea blue, it looks too light. Glossy sea blue was a very saturated dark blue.

**gman5250** · February 19th, 2017, 06:14

Originally Posted by stansdds

It looks great! My only criticism is actually the exterior paint. For a factory fresh glossy sea blue, it looks too light. Glossy sea blue was a very saturated dark blue.

That's something I'll be re-visiting as I finish animating the new 3DS Max exterior model. It's close too.

When I originally did the skins, it seemed there were two interpretations of the Glossy Sea Blue. Color charts were pretty varied also. I settled on the lighter and more green variant purely on aesthetics. My PS work files are layered to allow for very simple color adjustments.