F6F from Flying Iron coming...

[Snurdley]

As you can see in the contemporary photo (the prototype night fighter), the fuselage insignia follows the thrust line of the aircraft, and is in a different position and size. This was standard on both the -3 and -5, only on the -5 there was no insignia blue surround, just white. On the tricolor scheme, the intermediate blue is way off in hue and also some of the demarcation areas. And again, the fuselage insignia is way off as well. Also on the -5 with the overall sea blue, I think most of them had the landing gear, wheel wells and possibly wheel hubs painted sea blue. All this stuff is widely available on the web on a quick search. But thanks for being willing to pass this along, that's refreshing. I'm a fan of what Flying Iron has been doing, I think overall the Hellcat is looking fantastic, but these are pretty easy fixes.

[mgr]

Passed it on to the team on the beta-channel.

I think most of them had the landing gear, wheel wells and possibly wheel hubs painted sea blue.

Seems on most "old" pictures the wheel-hubs are metal or painted in the colour of the belly. Which seems logical because the wheelhubs are visible when retracted.




Marcel

[Bomber_12th]

The landing gear legs and wheels on the Hellcat, and other Navy fighters, were painted the same color as the undersurface of the wings. For the tri-color schemes, the landing gear legs and wheels should be the same "Insignia White" as the lower surfaces. For those with overall "Glossy Sea Blue" schemes, the landing gear legs and wheels should be Glossy Sea Blue as well (unless if they got a replacement wheel). Note that the propeller hubs were painted to match the overall paint schemes as well - either Sea Blue or Intermediate Blue for the tri-color schemes, and Glossy Sea Blue propeller hubs for those painted overall Glossy Sea Blue.

As Snurdley pointed out, the biggest item is just to get the stars & bars properly sized and properly angled (and don't use old restorations of the 1970s-1990s as reference material for anything).

[Bomber_12th]

In the past, these have been my "go to" color chips that I created for myself, for the WWII US Navy tri-color paint scheme of ANA 606 Sea Blue, ANA 608 Intermediate Blue, and ANA 601 Insignia White, and for the overall ANA 623 Glossy Sea Blue scheme.

[mgr]

Thanks John, also forwarded your info.

Marcel

[mgr]

The developer is listening to all suggestions, Alex has done some changes this is the result (posted with permission):

[stovall]

The developer is listening to all suggestions, Alex has done some changes this is the result (posted with permission):

Wow, simply beautiful. A work of art. Looking forward to the release.

[YoYo]

There is a lot better now, thanks! I see era pilot too

[Bomber_12th]

That is looking pretty good! I do notice in that screenshot that the gun soot layer must be set to "burn" or "multiply", since it isn't showing up dominantly over the white paint.

I thought it worth sharing these photos too, of The Collings Foundation's F6F-3, which is one of the top two fully-authentic Hellcat restorations (the other being the Fagen Fighters F6F-5) - every detail is spot-on accurate. This one is painted in the mid-war tri-color paint scheme, exactly according to original factory specifications as to the paint codes, demarcation lines, stenciling, and the sizing and location of the star & bars insignias. The number on the cowling is the last three digits of the aircraft's Navy bureau number, applied with black spray paint just like as was done at the Grumman factory during the war (later in the war, with the Hellcats painted in gloss sea blue, those cowl numbers were brush-painted on with white paint). Note the amount of exhaust staining when these photos were taken, at which point the aircraft had only just several hours of flight time.

https://scontent.ffcm1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...LA&oe=6304FDD9
https://scontent.ffcm1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...Zw&oe=6306DCBE
https://scontent.ffcm1-2.fna.fbcdn.n...vQ&oe=63052426
https://scontent.ffcm1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...Fw&oe=630711AA
https://scontent.ffcm1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...dw&oe=6306899E
https://scontent.ffcm1-2.fna.fbcdn.n...fA&oe=63078656
https://scontent.ffcm1-2.fna.fbcdn.n...pA&oe=6304A661
https://scontent.ffcm1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...MQ&oe=63043868
https://scontent.ffcm1-2.fna.fbcdn.n...AQ&oe=63052E26
https://www.flickr.com/photos/152663...28347/sizes/o/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/hugh_d...11997/sizes/o/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/hugh_d...11932/sizes/o/

Here is also an early shot of the aircraft before they applied the spray-painted factory number on the cowl: https://scontent.ffcm1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/70452681_2547380451990675_7666151787363041280_n.jp g?_nc_cat=109&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=ThmdFNzN7rcAX9j_Fku&_nc_h t=scontent.ffcm1-1.fna&oh=00_AT_ENjIv4TifYNrM_eSCbC4LTJXBn7zhsraYij niRxX73A&oe=6307885F

Another thing to note is that the shaft of the pitot tube on the Hellcat was painted red, with the stencil in white letters, "NO HANDLE" on the early planes, and "NO HAND HOLD" on the later planes (only on the outer-facing side of the pitot tube shaft), with the pitot tube itself left bare metal of course:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/75957202@N07/51357051968/sizes/3k/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/119910...92782/sizes/o/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/200870...33645/sizes/o/

[Snurdley]

Nice job, the colors look good. It's hard to tell at that angle, but it appears the insignia is still under size. But don't take our word for it, look at period photos of the real deal, they don't lie. Or as Bomber pointed out, those two excellent restorations. They might need to check position and size of the wing insignia as well. Also, don't forget the fairing on the side of the aft cowling if you are doing a -3.

[tankerguy72]

I cannot wait for this release. Especially if the soundset is as great as they have talked about it being.

[mgr]

Preview pictures from there Discord:

[Paul K]

Gawd, that is nice! I hope the Fighter Collection's old F6F livery is included, along with some FAA and Commonwealth ones.

[mgr]

MSFS | F6F Hellcat | Exclusive First Look Preview


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPSuOHo3sAc

[YoYo]

Looks like it could be a surprise. Authors published info like this "Touching down on September 9" so looks like they want to release it 9/09 I suppose.

[Javis]

That screenshot certainly is a surprise !

Looks like a Hellcat that got lost in the Bermuda Triangle in 1944 and now has returned ... Forboden cloudscape also adds to the erie scene.. (Close Encounters coming to MSFS ?... )

[Javis]

MSFS | F6F Hellcat | Exclusive First Look Preview


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPSuOHo3sAc

Thanks Marcel !

Must say bit dissapointed with the panel/gauges, looks pretty dull and unappealing to me. No 'contrast' at all. Bummer..

[LostPilot]

Thanks Marcel !

Must say bit dissapointed with the panel/gauges, looks pretty dull and unappealing to me. No 'contrast' at all. Bummer..

I've gotta agree, though it's minor. I'd love to see black on green https://i-com.cdn.gaijin.net/monthly...33cc43fbfa.png

[YoYo]

Ok, but what about any WWII carrier? I found something like this:
https://secure.simmarket.com/miltech...-2)-msfs.phtml . Its better than nothing.

[YoYo]

[DennyA]

Thanks Marcel !

Must say bit dissapointed with the panel/gauges, looks pretty dull and unappealing to me. No 'contrast' at all. Bummer..

I mean, you kinda need to go back to the early 1940s and complain to Grumman...



The plane itself looks amazing. Compare that engine and the skin detail to the Hellcats in earlier sims. I love living in 2022.

(I'd love it more if the sim team at MS didn't have an aversion to combat sims, but still...)

[FAC257]

In all earlier versions of MSFS that I've flown, this is not an aircraft that I would have thought about adding to my hanger, being mostly into flying large multi-engine aircraft. Tail-draggers were also something I wasn't too excited about. But, with trying a new perspective on flight simming this time around and with a really fresh feeling new MSFS, I've been excited about this release since the minute I saw it.

[LouP]

It hit me the other day that this kind of looks like the navy version of a P47!

LouP

[Javis]

I mean, you kinda need to go back to the early 1940s and complain to Grumman...

Why ?... This is exactly what i'd expect a warbird panel/gauges to look like in MSFS. And with a bit of effort that could already have been accomplished in FSX/P3D as well (for one thing, personally i'd always try to put a 'glass effect' in front of the instrument faces)



I'm almost sure you'll notice the difference too :



There's just about no difference between the texture/material of the gauges' faceplates and the panel itself. Faceplates background atleast 2 times darker than the panel would already help a lot. MSFS has its own glass effect for the gauges but i guess it needs to be applied very very carefully because in most VC's it is hardly visible, if at all..(just like here in this F6F VC..). Pity because it adds a lot to the realism and appeal of a VC and is also preferable to the 'static' version of a gauge glass effect. (which, on the other hand, is always visible..)

( i haste to say that the screenie i shot of the panel above is from a video. Depending on the lighting the panel as such can certainly look better compared to this static shot. Also, the VC looks great otherwise, just like the VC of their wonderful Spit).

The plane itself looks amazing.

Absolutely !

Compare that engine and the skin detail to the Hellcats in earlier sims.

Sure but they can't help that, that's the beauty and magic of MSFS. Besides, IIRC (really ! ;-) there were some fantastic looking Pacific Theatre Warbirds to enjoy in FSX/P3D already, even in FS9 i might add..

I love living in 2022.

Hmm.... having ambivalent feelings myself...

(I'd love it more if the sim team at MS didn't have an aversion to combat sims, but still...)

Personally i have no problem with that. I love warbirds just for their looks not per se for their purpose. In fact just like they still fly around today. Beautifully restored, just for their looks and sounds. Talking about that, check out this beautifully restored F6F start-up extravaganza :

https://youtu.be/bTfa4P7Wb4c

[Javis]

Here's certainly the most entertaining, awesome video and audio of a Grumman F6F Hellcat Air Display i have ever stumbled upon. I seem to understand this particular immaculately restored F6F belongs to "The Fighter Collection" at Duxford where she arrived in 1990. She wears the colors of VF-6 as flown by fighter ace Alex Vraciu. It seems that a squadron of Corvus comix, better known as "The Hooded Crows", also occupies this particular airfield. One wonders if this isn't actually extremely dangerous for both species ?.... Funny guys, the Brits.

Anyway and in any case, it didn't withhold the producer/director/cameraman/soundengineer of this exhilarating warbird video to create an extraordinairy beautiful spectacle of it. PUMP UP THE VOLUME !!
( observant viewers may just hear one of the crows adressing the cat : " you do know how to whistle, don't you ?..." ) :

https://youtu.be/7b9e751i3mo