SOH A-26 Invader, the story continues ...

[DaveQ]

Thanks everyone - I'll get together a list. Some are available with Tim Conrad's Sandy and I maybe could ask for permission to use them. The Task Force FSX bunch look very interesting also MrZippy. The main weapons were Mk 82's and napalm though the National Museum of the USAF example has two different rocket pods and a drop tank (I think).

DaveQ

[roger-wilco-66]

No problem, Dave. I can do these in no time. I just need a definite go! And the definite types, but you already gave them.

Cheers,
Mark

[MZee1960]

The A-20C Havoc has a common texture folder to which all the added textures fall back on. It has a 'tiredtreadnew' BMP file in it which I gather corresponds to the 'plus' tire tread pattern seen on the model in sim.

Since the A-26 seems not to have a common texture folder, rather all textures are repeated for each repaint in the individual repaint folders, I chose the repaint 'Hard to Get' for the experiment below..

I copied this Havoc BMP file to the A-26 Avenger texture folder 'Hard to Get' ,which already had a 'tiretread' BMP file. Results are as follows :

1) With both 'tiretread' and the copied 'tiretreadnew' BMP files in the folder ---> get the original A-26 tire tread showing in sim.
2) With only the copied 'tiretreadnew' BMP file in the folder -------> get the original A-26 tire tread showing in sim.
3) Re-naming the copied 'tiretreadnew' BMP file to 'tiretread' ------> get the odd looking 'psychedelic' tire tread showing in sim (as the 2nd picture in my post #8 shows).
4) Deleting the 'tiretread' / 'tiretreadnew' BMP files altogether (so no such files in the folder whatsoever) --> get the original A-26 tire tread showing in sim, once again.

It now seems to me as if the original tire tread texture may be baked into another folder ( a model folder, or ?) as it does not seem to matter whether or not a 'tiretread' / 'tiretreadnew' BMP file is even present inside the repaint texture folder in

order for the original A-26 tire tread to show up in sim. The only thing is why in point 3) above, the 'psychedelic' tire tread shows up in sim ? Perhaps there is another 'tiretread' entry elsewhere which was not changed/renamed and hence some confusion re what texture to display in the sim occurred ?

[JensOle]

Dave,

The loadout on the bird in the USAF museum is as follows:

-BLU-27 (finned and painted black underside)
-MK-82 snake
-CBU-14 (cluster bomb dispenser)
-LAU-3 (rocket pod)

Symmetrical on both sides, LAU nose fairing has been removed on the right side LAU-3.

A bit like the Skyraider loads from the time, gives you something for all types of targets..

[roger-wilco-66]

Would the cbu-14 dispenser then be the SUU-14/A unit?

[JensOle]

That is absolutely correct, my bad. Cbu-14 in the suu-14 dispenser  kind of a very strange system compared to the other cluster Bombs!

[roger-wilco-66]

Yeah, the CBUs were ejected out of the end of the tubes.

[gman5250]

Thought I'd add a bit of clarity on the tire tread conversation. The attached photo shows the A-26 Invader tiretread.bmp (left) and A-20 Havoc tiretreadnew.bmp (right) side by side.

The UVW mapping for each airplane is different as shown in the comparison. Changing out and re-naming the tiretreadnew bitmap and putting it in the A-26 texture files will result in the psychedelic tire because the tread is not aligned to the UVW map. To display correctly, the tread needs to be located vertically and to the left, exactly as in the tiretread.bmp that comes with the original A-26.

[gman5250]

I did a quick modification on the tiretread.bmp file, superimposing the Havoc tread pattern onto the Invader file. It's not the same as real world, but could be used as an alternate just for artistic whimsy.

I should also note that my skins were arranged to take advantage of a common texture file on airplanes that qualified. The structure is more complex than the original model and can cause some confusion when trying to exchange files. The file structure is designed to work with the original set of files without conflict, but modifications to my files need to be approached with an understanding of the structure.

Also, going back and looking, the PK I used was 1024 x 1024, and the panel and bump details were fairly vague. This airplane would benefit greatly from a 4K paint kit. I think I'll go have a look at that. My texture sets were compiled at 2048 x 2048 and are a bit higher resolution, but the bump maps were originally 1K, so that limits the bump resolution. I guess I'll go look at that too. lol

[roger-wilco-66]

Does anyone know that website where all those mil color codes were listed? I seemed to have lost the link...


Anyway, here's the first weapon for the A-26k, a MK-82 bomb, but I'm not sure the colors are right:

[gray eagle]

Does anyone know that website where all those mil color codes were listed? I seemed to have lost the link...


Anyway, here's the first weapon for the A-26k, a MK-82 bomb, but I'm not sure the colors are right:

The colors are spot on, I've loaded many of them long ago during many viet-nam west-pac cruises. The nose fuse was usually a MK 904E2 fuse, I've armed and dearmed them too. An arming wire goes through where the fuse prop is and is secured with two fanstock clips.

[roger-wilco-66]

The colors are spot on, I've loaded many of them long ago during many viet-nam west-pac cruises. The nose fuse was usually a MK 904E2 fuse, I've armed and dearmed them too.

Always good to have someone around who's been there :-) I think I need to add the propeller to the tip of the fuse...


Cheers,
Mark

[gray eagle]

Here is a pic with a fully armed MK 82

[roger-wilco-66]

Ahh great, now I can stop wondering about the stencils :-) Thank a lot!!

Cheers,
Mark

[gray eagle]

Not to ask a dumb question, I was wondering if the A26 is ready for us peons to fly? I would use it in P3D V3.4. I've notice many paint variations on it and just wondering if it still in testing stage and not
ready for release. If it is avail, where can I get it?
Thanks.

[JensOle]

A lot to do before it is ready, new hd textures and I think the vc needs some work as well. At least the gauges need to be in highter res.

[Wings of Gold]

Need some help please guys,

All my A-26's work perfectly EXCEPT for a beautiful French Indochina version "b26gb119" that I found here on SOH. The model called out in the aircraft.cfg entry is "A26bnsgns". I have been unable to find a model with that name. Looks like it should work with model "A26bng" - but it doesn't. Advise please. Really glad to see that this great project is back again!

Bill

[DaveQ]

Need some help please guys,

All my A-26's work perfectly EXCEPT for a beautiful French Indochina version "b26gb119" that I found here on SOH. The model called out in the aircraft.cfg entry is "A26bnsgns". I have been unable to find a model with that name. Looks like it should work with model "A26bng" - but it doesn't. Advise please. Really glad to see that this great project is back again!

Bill

I have a French Air Force 'Queen of Hearts' paint that may require the 6-gun version of the A-26B. If so I don't have an FSX conversion of that model in my collection and will convert it when I can. Meantime mine is tied to the a26b model with 8 guns. If you have a texture problem you could try copying the contents of a texture folder that works then paste them into your French Air Force texture folder but DON'T overwrite the principle external texture files. I've found there are several different versions of the contents of these repaint folders and one job on the 'to do' list is to make up a single 'texture.shared' folder so that each individual paint folder will then only contain the main external textures - hopefully in 2048 .dds format.

DaveQ

PS - I should add that the material properties of the models are often quite different and another job is to bring them all into line. The current legacy FS9 paints use only the alpha channel for reflectivity and these need to be remade with dedicated spec files which better reflect (excuse pun...) the appearance of dull metal finishes.

[Wings of Gold]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the fast reply. What I really need is a model that has nose guns - but no upper or lower turret. I don't know how to achieve that (but the thumbnail shows that configuration). Thoughts?

Best,

Bill

[MrZippy]

Need some help please guys,

All my A-26's work perfectly EXCEPT for a beautiful French Indochina version "b26gb119" that I found here on SOH. The model called out in the aircraft.cfg entry is "A26bnsgns". I have been unable to find a model with that name. Looks like it should work with model "A26bng" - but it doesn't. Advise please. Really glad to see that this great project is back again!

Bill

Don't know how helpful this will be, but I did find a download over at AVSIM a26modelupdts.zip that contained the model "A26bnsgns"

[Wings of Gold]

MrZippy - you win my thanks. It's exactly the correct model!

Dave (if you are reading this). There is still a problem with the nose guns - which are transparent. Do you know how to fix this?

Bill

[DaveQ]

The problem is that the model is for FS9 and would need conversion. The only thing to do for now is to use a converted one until we can get round to it. I'll download John's pack in readiness...!


DaveQ

[ian elliot]

Concerning French Indo Chine Invader's, both 6 and 8 gun versions were used at the same time, often in the same unit, so any French indo repaint would be authentic with either model.

[stansdds]

A lot to do before it is ready, new hd textures and I think the vc needs some work as well. At least the gauges need to be in highter res.

I agree on the VC gauges. They looked ok back when the A-26 was in FS9 and I flew it using a 17 inch CRT monitor, but with a higher resolution and much larger LCD monitor, the gauges appear to be low resolution and the needles on the RPM and MP gauges are almost impossible to clearly read.

[awstub]

According to Joe Baugher's site it was capable of carrying:

SUU-025 flare dispenser
LAU-3A rocket pod
CBU-14 cluster bomb unit
BLU-23, BLU-37 finned napalm
M31, M32 incendiary cluster bomb
M34, M35 incendiary bombs
M1A4 fragmentation cluster bomb
M47 white phosphorus bomb
CBU-24, -25, -29, and -49 cluster bombs
MK-81 250 lb GP
MK-82 500 lb GP
M117 750 lb GP

In the not so distant future, we are going to have a pretty high quality, historically accurate, freeware, Laotian theater of operations with moving convoys.
Hopefully the Counter Invader will receive a Tacpack treatment so that people can hunt the trucks, etc...

Dave,

The loadout on the bird in the USAF museum is as follows:

-BLU-27 (finned and painted black underside)
-MK-82 snake
-CBU-14 (cluster bomb dispenser)
-LAU-3 (rocket pod)

Symmetrical on both sides, LAU nose fairing has been removed on the right side LAU-3.

A bit like the Skyraider loads from the time, gives you something for all types of targets..