FSX
Well now that I've got my new rig up and running I was wondering if someone could please do a repaint for me of the Classic Wings/Rara Avis Erco Ercoupe 415? Mike Zola did a very nice repaint of Kazunori Ito's Ercoupe for FS2004 a few years back with a combination painted/polished aluminum scheme, and I'd like to have that for the C W/R A 'coupe here for FSX if possible.
Here's a pic of Mike's repaint that I call "Cloudhopper":
The empennage, wingtips, and nose art name are midnight blue metallic, while the fuselage, inner wing stubs, canopy framework, main landing gear fairings, and the prop spinner are polished natural metal. The outer wing panels are fabric covered and painted/doped silver. Wing walks and the anti-glare panel atop the engine cowlings are flat black. The Canadian Civil Aircraft Registration markings, "C-GRNH" (RNH were my father's initials and it was he who fostered a love for airplanes and aviation in me when I was a boy; he was ex-RCAF) are polished natural metal areas that would be masked and left unpainted ahead of and below the horizontal stabilizer on both side of the rear fuselage. The aircraft name, "Cloudhopper" is in a simple, midnight blue script on the port side engine cowling. Landing gear struts, nose and mains, are white as are the radio antennae. The propeller in the C W/R A Ercoupe is depicted as being wooden, which is an option many modern day 'coupe owners choose over a metal prop to save weight.
One detail I especially like on the C W/R A Ercoupe is the representation of the transverse, diagonal truss rib structure in the outer wing panels and the accompanying rivet detailing. This truss rib arrangement is a feature in the real aircraft, and it lends exceptional strength to the wings. The Ercoupe is an airplane that was well ahead of its time in many respect. It featured an all aluminium stressed skin, semi-monocoque, low wing design at a time when most light aircraft were high wing, tube-and-fabric types. It was the first production aircraft to offer trailing-link, tricycle landing gear with nose wheel steering. It had a twin tail empennage that moved the rudders out of the propeller slipstream, and, of course, the original 'coupes featured rudder pedal-less flying controls with the ailerons and rudder movements interconnected and the elevator limited in its up-travel to prevent stalls and spins.
I have a copy of the Classic Wings/Rara Avis paint kit for the Erco Ercoupe that was kindly provided to me by Craig of C W/R A, but what I don't have is access to PhotoShop, knowledge of how to achieve the polished natural metal effect or metallic midnight blue finish, nor do I have the time to devote to learning these skills and techniques. I did do a simple repaint for a Cessna 152 taildragger in FS2004 when I had access to PhotoShop, but that option is gone now and almost all my time is taken up as full time caregiver to my mom, who is 90 years old.
If I ever manage to get my RPP in real life, which is a goal of mine when my caregiving duties are no longer required, an Erco Ercoupe 415E is on my short list of aircraft That I want to pursue to fly and own.
I would genuinely appreciate it if someone could give their attention and skills to this.
Thanks,
N.
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