Darn you AndyG43!

[Matt Wynn]

well after a good chat this morning/afternoon with Andy something very odd happened, he sent me a 'Meatbox' mesh he had kicking around for an FS2000 version/model... needless to say it was lacking so it got stripped back, further and further it got stripped... (This is sounding like 50 shades of Dark Sea Grey), then after it was stripped i thought "screw it" (oo err matron!), and took it back to nothingness and started afresh... so after long enough learning to make buildings for FS i've started down a very long road and am getting back nose deep into aircraft, so... without further ado.... a preview of it so far.... despite my lousy eyesight currently! it's hell but as churchill once said "If you're going through hell, Keep going!"

for those that don't know, the 'Meatbox' is the Meteor, still in use today by a few companies (Notably MB) and is ultra-reliable (Strangely!), it's engines (being Centrifugal (Thanks Pete!) Flow) are not susceptible to bird strikes like your regular jet engines and their fanblades... bird goes in the Meatboxes engine(s) it doesn't get blended, it just hits a wing leading edge and a mounting plate... which is pretty darn bird resistant... fantastic aircraft and one of my many avio-fascinations!

[Tako_Kichi]

Nice looking mesh Matt.

There are a few Meatboxes about for FS9 but they are showing their age a bit.

Hope this doesn't go the same way as your 'Frightening' though.

[Jagdflieger]

Mat,

I hope you are on the road to recovery with your eye. Take it easy and don't strain things.

I just love the early jet planes and have a slew of them in my Silver Wings era FS 9. That said, there will always be space on the hardrive for another "Meatbox."

As a thought, have you ever seen the Trent? It's based on the Meteor, but with turbo props.

[Matt Wynn]

Nice looking mesh Matt.

There are a few Meatboxes about for FS9 but they are showing their age a bit.

Hope this doesn't go the same way as your 'Frightening' though.

strangely enough..... i was digging through my DVD's of Squadron Signal Publications earlier looking for Meteor References and found a folder labelled 'Operation Frightening', no mesh in it but the bounding box is still alive so that's a possibility, and i still have all the drawings in there too, things like the intake 'Bullet' etc...

so far me and AndyG have only discussed possibles, things like a new batch of FS9 Vamps and Venoms... but i think i'm gonna have to get out to the farm strip before Greece and get 400+ photos of my favourite bird.... G-AOIR, a Thruxton Jackaroo, in fact THE prototype Thruxton Jackaroo as that's a real contender and is based off of the tiger moth airframe, think Tiger moth with Greenhouse and you're bang on the mark....

[Matt Wynn]

eye op is on the 3rd Jagd... a little over a week away, well i say op... it's an injection of something beginning with 'H', could be Heptarin but i'm darned if i can remember properly (if i just did it's a miracle)

the Trent Meteor was a somewhat oddball thing, but nevertheless looks intriguing... as does the F.8 Prone Pilot (Which resides in my local museum, Cosford, along with a lot of other prototypes...)

[Motormouse]

it's engines (being Axial Flow) are not susceptible to bird strikes like your regular jet engines and their fanblades... !

er, umm Matt, that would be centrifugal flow y'know.
'Conventional' engines with multitudinous fan blades are 'Axial'

ttfn

Pete

[Matt Wynn]

that's it!, i always get the pair confused... especially around bedtime for me with an addled mind....

must remember axial is along an 'axis'.....

speaking of which 2300GMT.... sleep time for me! and leave 3DS open so if i wake up in the night i always have a meatbox to be working on till i feel drowsy again.... although swearing at my monitor in a sleep deprived state at 4 in the morning would make me even more popular than i already am in this household

[Matt Wynn]

well after most of a day off to give my eyes some rest i decided to re-model the engines and add the fin 'bullet'.... still..... Onwards! F.8 variant starting to take shape... piece by piece....

[Matt Wynn]

if only my eyesight would play nice... just under a week to go till i'm in the Hospital, hopefully having it rectified... but still.... making very very very VERY slow progress.... i guess at least it's starting to look like a Meatbox, first plane i've ever got this far modelling... already my mind is saying "go back to buildings Matt, embrace the architectural side of the sim"

[Sunny9850]

Looks quite promising to me. Stick with it Matt. Slow as progress may be for now, I am sure when you started painting it was not smooth sailing right out of the box either.
If it is any consolation it does look better than my, still unfinished after many many many moons, virgin project.

Cheers
Stefan

[Matt Wynn]

thanks Stefan, yeah slow progress, this canopy is frustrating me so i'm going to work on another part to take my mind off it...

[Tako_Kichi]

... already my mind is saying "go back to buildings Matt, embrace the architectural side of the sim"

Just wait until start working on the VC!



At least you are doing it for FS9, no 3D gauges there, unlike my current project where I've spent months building and coding what seems like dozens of the darn things! :isadizzy:

EDIT: I just checked.....18 custom 3D gauges, plus a load of custom switches, 3D radios plus a bunch of custom animations. PHEW!

[Matt Wynn]

holy carp Larry! that's a fair bit... FS9 is the 'initial' platform i'm aiming at, to prove a few things to myself mostly and seeing as i can't run FSX (even at the very very minimums i get 4fps on a good day) it'll most likely be handed over to someone for conversion work... still.... onwards! think i'll sort the wings as this blister canopy is driving me bat-ship crazy .. and yes i'm re-arranging slightly offensive words into non offensive nautical/marine items

[Dev One]

Matt, good luck with your eye op.
But you might curse me as I've resurrected my AI version U16 that I created for the Britsim Llanbedr project. The aim being to have the radio control/autopilot operational (as near as I can get it). Its proving to be very difficult for my poor old brain to get around some of the .xml programming - but I am gradually winning. (The Jindivik really needs updating too).
My exterior of the U16 is virtually complete, but the VC still needs finishing. This aircraft will really be the preserved one currently at Boscombe Down, (WK800) but shortly to be moved to Old Sarum. (Rick Piper modded his Mk7 to be WK800 but only for AI use & I believe has since withdrawn it).
Keith

[Matt Wynn]

looking good Keith! can never have too many 'Meatboxes' or Vampires... or Venoms..... or Cranberries/Candy Bombers... :salute:

[Matt Wynn]

well.... i somehow lost 2h last night when i couldn't sleep re-shaping the nosecone and such to Meteor cross sections... much better now the nose isn't so boxy... still gotta sort this canopy... but that's todays job, along with some more fuselage tweaking... at least once the housework is done

[PeteHam]

Matt, you're a man of many talents

Lookin' good.

Wouldn't worry about the canopy .... open cockpit flying's the coolest thing

Pete.

[Matt Wynn]

Matt, you're a man of many talents

Lookin' good.

Wouldn't worry about the canopy .... open cockpit flying's the coolest thing

Pete.

i heard the same from Martin Baker.... till the front seater removes you to test a seat