Conspicuous by Their Absence - Page 3
Page 3 of 63 FirstFirst 12345678910111353 ... LastLast
Results 51 to 75 of 1564

Thread: Conspicuous by Their Absence

  1. #51
    Regarding my B25, I built the nose as a component, then using the constituent parts removed bits to make the framework of the glass area. I then filled in the holes as it were with more parts and putting those in a seperate component as 'noseglass'.I did exactly the same for the cockpit framework and glass, the flying model displayed fine. All was tickety-boo til I started to add the little things to finish the model off like doors,aerials, guns, turret framework. So your explanation of the complexity of components seems to be the answer and to prove the theory I copied the B25, renamed it B25_navy, put my original nose on plus a radome and hey presto! no absent panels.

    Here are some pikkies of my Vickers Vernon, Shorts Singapore, Saro Lerwick and HP Hinaidi.

  2. #52

  3. #53
    How about the B-25??


    Ask and it shall be so

  4. #54
    Hi Womble55,
    Got a couple questions and suggestions for you:

    What is the clear radome-like thing on the nose? I don't remember any model of the B-25 (Navy or not) having that.
    Is this an early model or late model B-25?

    The early models had the dorsal turret aft and didn't have a gun position in the tail.
    The late models starting with (I believe) the J had a tail gun position and the dorsal turret moved to just behind the cockpit. The DF loop (football thingie) was moved to the underside (near centerline) under the cockpit.
    I believe only strafers and late models had the package guns on the side of the nose.
    Late models would also have the two waist gun positions and I believe they had the ventral turret removed.
    The nose gear retraction sequence is unusual. It retracts aft and to starboard. On the port side is a tunnel under the cockpit to enter the nose section.

    The nose gear doors on the B-25s are weird The are all hinged on the starboard side and the one section that remains open when the gear is down appears to be a small spring loaded section. I can send you pictures if you like. It took me a LONG time to find detail shots of this area.

    If you are building the flight model, the early models are quite a bit faster and lighter. The B model was used by the Tokyo raiders. I believe the C model was the best performing which is why I built it. I also intend to build strafers and eventually a J model when I have a chance. Still working on the C at the moment.

    - Ivan.

  5. #55
    On Page 25 of William Greens Famous Bombers of the Second World War is a photo of a PBJ-1D or to all intents and purposes a navalised B25D. Very few of them were identical but of the pictures and colour (color) schemes some had mid upper turrets, some had them removed and the mounting ring sheeted over. Some had mid beam positions, some had rear gun positions, some had gun packs and some actually had what they were supposed to have as per the specs. The generalisation of the PBJ-1D is a dead end as far as I am concerned, there are just too many variations. Unless there is a complete set of photos out there, I cant be sure as to what a particular aircraft was fitted with. Drawings and artwork are not accurate sources as far as I know. Please can this hobby get easier as I am pulling out too much hair!

  6. #56
    Hi Womble55,
    I guess perhaps I am just trying to be a purist here. The bottom line is that you or anyone else can build darn near anything you feel like. My comments were pretty much centered around the things I found out when I was building my version of the B-25. Mine isn't completely accurate either. I just ran out of parts before I got everything done. There should be some circular windows just behind the trailing edge of the wings, but I don't have enough resources left over to put those in. The nose gear door animation on mine is a very rough approximation of how the real one works. It took me a LONG time to find out what the arrangement was and I have 3 books specifically on the B-25.

    BTW, the glass and framing on the nose took me about 5 full rebuilds with different combinations of compoents with the same parts and different glue to work out. I still haven't finished the texturing of the internals in the nose.

    - Ivan.

  7. #57
    SOH Staff
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    State of Confusion..... -8GMT
    Posts
    3,775
    so many models and variants,
    so little time.
    and then there are the numerous field modifications.
    it definitely could make one crazy.

    I'd say please yourself

    you could always use my method;
    wait for years for someone to build what you want,
    give up and attempt to do it yourself,
    get frustrated and bored,
    put the project on the shelf,
    move on to something else.
    sometimes the magic works.
    sometimes it doesn't.

  8. #58
    Hi Smilo,

    There is no question building for CFS can get quite boring and frustrating. I still dread the flight testing part of the game. Sitting in front of your computer watching numbers tick over while holding a stop watch is not the most enjoyable way to spend time. Going back to re-test when some little thing gets changed is REALLY a pain. Spending a couple hours to rebuild components to kill an annoying bleed and then finding out at the very end that the idea didn't work is frustrating. Trying to figure out how propellers behave and how to mess with them in a flight sim when you don't know the basic aerodynamic theory behind the equations is way too close to school work. Flipping through NACA reports and Technical pubs to try to understand basic theory is interesting at times. I figure I have at least a half dozen projects of this time going on at any one time if I am not taking a break and doing other hobbies.

    Some folks do Sudoku, some folks do crossword puzzles. This is how folks like us spend our time.
    We must really be crazy to be doing this. I know Anna Honey thinks I am crazy for doing it.
    - Ivan.

  9. #59
    SOH-CM-2019 hubbabubba's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Montréal, Québec, Canada
    Age
    67
    Posts
    1,143
    Some folks do Sudoku, some folks do crossword puzzles. This is how folks like us spend our time.
    We must really be crazy to be doing this.
    Ivan

    Exactly my thinking. This has to be fun. Otherwise, it is not worth the excruciating pain it can induce... sometimes !!!

    But, as a compensation, nothing beats the moment of pure elation when everything "falls in place".:greenbo:

    I don't know how Ivan and womble55 can work on multi-projects all at the same time though. When I'm working on something, nose to the grindstone, I'm so absorbed that I often become lunatic. I forget to eat, to do my house chores, to take my pills, to go to bed at a decent hour. I remember walking on the street to get something at the store, only to realize that I went 2-3 blocks pass the place, thinking about a way to kill a bleed or get an animation to work!
    Torture numbers and they'll say anything.


    Hubbabubba, Touche à tout.

  10. #60
    Well said the both of you, I couldn't have put it better myself. When I get to a problem, if I can't work it out, will go onto another project. For instance, many of my aircraft do not display properly, bleeds, and missing displays mostly. I moved onto my Vickers Vernon and Short Singapore and learnt a lot more about the order of things than I had before. As you said when you do solve the problem the joy is unmeasurable.........sad aren't we?
    As to the B25, I've read a few more books and now believe that each one was unique!

  11. #61
    Further to my bit on B25's and the naval equivalent the PBJ-1, the gunpacks fitted were quite different to the usual items fitted. They were contained in one lump as it were. See accompanied photo for clarification, still these things are sent to try us! Keep up the good work..........only 7 weeks to holiday time

  12. #62
    Hi Womble55,

    I am still working on my version of the B-25C also. Basically textures and flight model both need improved.

    The really screwy thing in your photograph isn't the gunpack and it isn't even the weird looking radome. The top turret and the waist gun positions should not both exist on the same plane. I can't see what the tail cone looks like, so can't make a call there about whether it indicates a J model or a D and earlier model. The exhausts on the engine indicate a plane later than the D series I believe.

    Why did you pick such a strange subject? BTW, if you are getting killed by resource limitations, (I was only getting severely beaten up ;-), you might want to consider doing the nose section as simple textures on a solid background instead of glass and framing. I cheated a bit on my B-25: The rudders are not 3D.

    I had to do a pretty severe rework recently because of something found when a friend of my son's came over for a play date. One of the things my son brought up was CFS and when I tried to help them fly my B-25, I noticed that my very clever stealing of parts from the inner wings had left a very serious bleed when the flaps were down. I had looked the plane over pretty well (or so I thought) but had not done that with flaps down.

    I added the parts back and lost the tip from the back of the left nacelle. This drove a rebuild of the nose gear doors down from 4 polygons to 2 polygons, so minus 2 polygons and minus 2 glue parts brought the nacelle tip back.

    BTW, silly question, but you do have the upgrade to AF99 which allows for 1200 polygons, right?

    - Ivan.

  13. #63
    Ivan...Ivan...Ivan....
    The PBJ-1D was basically a D series but ( a big but here and no jokes about big butts!) it was the first B25 derivative to have tail and waist positions which were later incorperated into the J series. The mid upper turret was also a feature in that some aircraft had them and some had them removed and a cover plate fitted instead. Also some were fitted with the nose glass and some were plated over with same size panelling.
    Since writing this article, I have gone back to my library and the RAF Mitchell II was a hybrid B25D with tail and beam guns....it gets worse doesn't it!
    I'm afraid its the old chestnut that if you dont have a photo to examine the detail then a cropper you'll become. The only problem is that every photo I come across is different in some way. Jeeeeeez I pick em don't I?
    As to your idea of 2D rudders, I think that will provide a badly needed reduction in the parts count.
    Cant see the wood for the trees eh!
    I think I have the upgrade, every time I have a reload of the hard drive (i find that keeping the program list at a reasonable level in Microsoft ME keeps it stable) I load AF99 and the upgrade in one session. Question:- If the upgrade is installed correctly would each time I call up the parts count give me 800 or 1200 max total?

  14. #64
    kettenhund
    Guest

    Stop gaps

    ~S~ All,

    Picking up a thread that's been in active for nearly 5 years I'd like to propose that the greatest stop-gap of them all was the Junkers F13 airliners of 1919 pressed into service as a ground attack aircraft on the Russian Front in 1943. Can anyone beat this?

    Kettenhund.
    aka Ken Attwood,
    Newquay, Cornwall, UK.

  15. #65
    I'm afraid a 24yr old airliner is relatively new compared to the age of the Avro Vulcans and Handley Page Victors of the Falklands War.
    I do believe that the Vickers Valentia was used as a bomber during the early part of WW2 in the Middle East, I am not sure of this yet but will soon be corrected, no doubt.
    I seem to recall that Hellcats and Corsairs were used as refridgerators. Apparantly when being delivered the ammo was only fitted to one gun per wing and the other ammo bays were filled with Beer bottles/cans. when close to the airfield they would climb high to chill the beer.
    Now that reminds me.... spitfires were fitted with drop tanks that contained beer after D-day.
    Did a Piper, Taylorcraft or Auster spotter plane shoot down another aircraft late in the war?
    But would you believe that the last official combat duties of the Supermarine Spitfire ( not with the battle of britain flight) was to assess the best way to attack piston engined aircraft by the English Electric Lightning and its heat seeking missiles. This was in the sixties!

  16. #66
    Quote Originally Posted by womble55 View Post
    Ivan...Ivan...Ivan....
    Question:- If the upgrade is installed correctly would each time I call up the parts count give me 800 or 1200 max total?
    Hi Womble55,
    Pardon my late reply. Life has been very busy in my world.

    Re Ivan...Ivan...Ivan: It's really Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov.... ;-)

    When the upgrade is in place, the parts count looks something like 1100 of 800 parts or 137% or something like that.

    Regarding Mark numbers, I believe the A&B models were the Mitchell Mk.I and the C&D were the Mitchell Mk.II. I will check again to confirm. If I am wrong, I have mislabeled mine. Regarding 2D parts in various places, I don't believe a 2D horizontal stabilizer or 2D fin/rudder would cost much in visual appeal. I chose to do the 2D rudders early when I realized that this was going to be a fairly complex project. I probably should have done the H-Stab as well, but don't like to remove things I have already built.

    If you want to send me the project I will be glad to look it over and make suggestions. No, I will not add or change anything. I still have my own incomplete B-25 to mess with. I will warn you though, Anna Honey will be out of town for a bit over a week, so I will be busy as heck for at least that long.

    - Ivan.

  17. #67
    Sorry Ivan but you are under the mistaken belief that when your wife goes away for a short time that you will be able to work on your projects.
    Try and find the list of things to do that she is compiling because a lot of my projects, AF99 or RC are sidelined on such occasions. I can only get a decent time on the PC when she is watching Coronation Street or Eastenders. Hooray for such programs.

  18. #68
    Anna Honey left Saturday Mornng. Other than a grocery list, there isn't a Honey-Do list. She knows better than to leave such a list. She knows I will ignore it. One parent (me) and two elementary school children is enough to keep very busy without any added list. Other than too many things to do to feed, clothe, and transport children, the house is much more peaceful.

    - Ivan.

  19. #69
    Anna Honey came back from Beijing Sunday night. She is off to Estonia next week.

    Sheesh!
    - Ivan.

  20. #70
    Anna Honey left for Estonia last night. Heard from her from Tallinn this afternoon.

    - Ivan.

  21. #71
    SOH-CM-2019 hubbabubba's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Montréal, Québec, Canada
    Age
    67
    Posts
    1,143
    How about the Armstrong-Whitworth Whitley guys?

    An ugly beast, but it fought from 1939 to 1942, and was still operational on D-Day. A MkV would be a great addition to early war scenarios.
    Torture numbers and they'll say anything.


    Hubbabubba, Touche à tout.

  22. #72

  23. #73
    SOH-CM-2019 hubbabubba's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Montréal, Québec, Canada
    Age
    67
    Posts
    1,143
    Womble55 has one.
    Thought so but where? I searched Simviation, FlightSim and even tried googling it. Womble55, time to publish, if you catch my drift...

    They're is an old saying about dogs looking like their masters and vice versa. If it works with aircraft, then Jay Leno must have a Whitley.:mixedsmi:
    Torture numbers and they'll say anything.


    Hubbabubba, Touche à tout.

  24. #74
    Hello Folks,

    Pardon me for changing the subject slightly: Here are some development shots for a plane I am reworking. Yes, I know there are a couple already out there, but I had a couple ideas I wanted to test out. I also didn't think there would be so few parts that were reused from the P-40E.

    - Ivan.

  25. #75
    Here are a few more shots from the project. So far, the worst bleed I have found is around the nose gun fairings. Note that they bleed through the carburetor scoop on one shot and that the cowl bleeds through the far side fairing on the other shot. I can live with those. The keel area doesn't exist at the moment.

    - Ivan.

Similar Threads

  1. Apologies for the absence!
    By crashaz in forum FSX General Discussion
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: June 16th, 2010, 20:15
  2. Apologize for the absence gents!
    By crashaz in forum Landscapers & Architects
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: June 16th, 2010, 15:46
  3. speaking of conspicuous absence...
    By smilo in forum CFS1 General Discussion
    Replies: 9
    Last Post: January 10th, 2010, 11:59
  4. Excuse my absence...
    By Tango_Romeo in forum CFS2 General Discussion
    Replies: 43
    Last Post: December 17th, 2008, 15:33

Members who have read this thread: 23

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •