Republic RC-3 Seabee!
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Thread: Republic RC-3 Seabee!

  1. #1

    Republic RC-3 Seabee!

    Just wanted to drop this quick update and get some user feedback. Here is the final model of the 1947 Republic RC-3 Seabee! Please look it over and if you find any errors, LET ME KNOW ASAP!!! Its best to fix them NOW then after I put in the cockpit and get textures on it.

    Also, an update for all the customers who purchased the SportStar. Service Pack 1 will be out VERY soon!!! The service pack includes 5 new livery's, enhanced cockpit details, and bug fixes. This will be free to all current and future customers! Sorry for the delay, but I had a computer crash and a family emergency. Silver lining is, I had everything backed up, and I did get to visit Oshkosh out of it. :d

    Please note, before commenting, that this is a factory fresh 1947 Seabee. In the past 65 years, owners have done EXTENSIVE modifications to there Seabee! If you find something you think may be wrong, please make sure that its not a modern modification. I will be making a modern Seabee with modifications (extended wings, bigger engine, modern gauges and much more) later, so customers will be getting TWO aircraft for the price of one!

    Attachment 48677Attachment 48678Attachment 48679Attachment 48680
    Kevin "Gibbage" Miller


  2. #2
    Wow, beautiful!! Been wanting one of these for a long time. Keep up the great work!!

  3. #3
    Coastie Dolphins/Spartans CG_1976's Avatar
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    Now I didnt buy your first model, but this one is on my list. I need a Amphib hopper for parts of Arctic Canada. This one is a oldie and perfect fit.

    AMD FX 8-Core Black 4.2Ghz, 8G Ram 2TB HD, W8.1 pending W10, ATI R5 2G X2 Crossfire
    http://www.canadianarcticfse.com/

  4. #4
    looking very nice to me!
    You can find most of my repaints for FSX/P3D in the library here on the outhouse.
    For MFS paints go to flightsim.to

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by jankees View Post
    looking very nice to me!
    I was hoping to get your attention with this one! She is screaming for paints from someone who KNOWS how to do good bare aluminum!
    Kevin "Gibbage" Miller


  6. #6
    Looks great & will be on the shoppinglist for sure i gota a soft spot for amphibius aircraft,the Goose Redux Expansion pack was the last thing i had the crayons out for but this might just get me back in doing a few non total overhaul repaints

    look forward to checking her out

    Cheers
    steve

  7. #7
    Lookin' good!!

    Any chance of a Twin Bee to accompany it?

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Railrunner130 View Post
    Lookin' good!!

    Any chance of a Twin Bee to accompany it?
    Sorry, but no. The cockpit would be a complete re-do forward of the seats, and considerable work to be done on the external. Only 60 of the twin Seabee's were made so they are very rare. I may do the V8 engine mod though, along with the Lycoming. The V-8 would put out as much power as the twin (180HP x 2 vs 350-400HP x1) without adding to the complex control's and gauges.

    You can read a lot about the twinbee here, http://www.seabee.info/twinbee.htm

    I think I will leave the Twin Bee to Piglet
    Kevin "Gibbage" Miller


  9. #9
    Look at them wheel rims! How many polys in that model??
    Too bad the Seabee at my airport has left.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    Tim Piglet Conrad
    Piglet's Peculiar Planes
    "Ahhh... the freedom of freeware!"
    First Rule of Aviation:
    Don't piss off your mechanic.

  10. #10
    She's looking great thus far! :ernae:

    There's one major thing missing though, perhaps the thing I remember most about this aircraft, the ridgey tail. The rudder and vertical stabilizer would look a LOT better if the ridges were modeled rather than painted on.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Piglet View Post
    Look at them wheel rims! How many polys in that model??
    Too bad the Seabee at my airport has left.
    Honestly, not that much. Right now im at 51K tri's and I think the cockpit wont add more then another 20K or so. After modeling aircraft for 10 years, I have found ways to keep the polycount low and the detail high. The good thing is, FSX can push a LOT of polygons. The P-38 I did for FSD had over 200,000!!! Im making these with performance in mind, and the SportStar had 60K TOTAL (external + cockpit + pilot!).

    Are you interested in doing the twin bee Piglet? Ill lend you my model once its done and you can convert it and give the twin bee out for free!
    Kevin "Gibbage" Miller


  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Kiwikat View Post
    She's looking great thus far! :ernae:

    There's one major thing missing though, perhaps the thing I remember most about this aircraft, the ridgey tail. The rudder and vertical stabilizer would look a LOT better if the ridges were modeled rather than painted on.
    I did a small scale test modeling in the ridges/corigation and it would shoot the polygon count through the roof. I really want performance to be first on this thing, so I nixed modeling the ridges. I will have then on normal map and it will look good, trust me! I will do some previews later once I get the UV maps set and do some normal mapping test's.
    Kevin "Gibbage" Miller


  13. #13
    Gibbage

    While I am not an expert on the Seabea, I did note one glaring error. You are using the wrong kind of lug nuts to hold on the wheels. What you have now are left hand twist, semi-fine thread lug nuts made of case-hardened silly-putty. To be totally accurate, the lug nuts should be right hand twist, semi-course thread lug nuts made of tempered cold-rolled steel. There aren't many folks around who can tell the difference between case-hardened silly-putty and tempered cold-rolled steel, but I am one of them!

    Seriously...the Seabee looks amazing! Can't wait to see it with some textures wrapped around it. Just took another look at the pics...those rolled edges on the window frames are super smooth and flawlessly executed.

    OBIO
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by OBIO View Post
    Gibbage

    While I am not an expert on the Seabea, I did note one glaring error. You are using the wrong kind of lug nuts to hold on the wheels. What you have now are left hand twist, semi-fine thread lug nuts made of case-hardened silly-putty. To be totally accurate, the lug nuts should be right hand twist, semi-course thread lug nuts made of tempered cold-rolled steel. There aren't many folks around who can tell the difference between case-hardened silly-putty and tempered cold-rolled steel, but I am one of them!
    Good eye! I will fix it right away! I was hoping to slip one by yall, but your good!

    Since you have a good eye for detail, can you check to see that I have the proper nuts and bolts on the wing brace and outrigger?

    Attachment 48716

    Now, in the above renders, you will notice that this area is covered in a fairing. I made sure to model this for the later "modern" Seabee's since a lot of pilots remove them because the area is prone too corrosion and needs to be inspected often. Last thing you want is corrosion eating away your wing brace in mid air just because you wanted a cool looking fairing covering up that nasty bolt!!!
    Kevin "Gibbage" Miller


  15. #15
    Looks great Gibbage! Incidentally I used to work for an Aviation company that gave full time support to the Columbus-America Discovery Group. At the time they had a pilot who flew surveillance/security over the shipwreck site off South Carolina and for some time they operated a Seabee. This was before GPS was up and running and the pilot would fly out very low(50 ft asl) using Loran and Dead Reckoning out to the wreck and back checking the area for vessels that were capable of mounting dives which could pirate the gold discovery when there were no CADG vessels available over the wreck. They later replaced the Seabee with a Piaggio Royal Gull. They used to "tripwire" the USCG, Customs coastal surveillance and usually a 30 mins after either the Seabee or Gull had landed, we'd get a heated visit from Customs Special Agents or DEA. LMAO! That Seabee was the only one I ever saw up close and after 23 years, I can't remember squat about that plane except the basic outline. Always liked the plane.

    :salute:

  16. #16
    Kevin:

    Nicely done, great modeling, I look forward to this one. BTW will it be available with the Flight1 installer, I hope so.

    Jim

    Quote Originally Posted by Gibbage View Post
    Just wanted to drop this quick update and get some user feedback. Here is the final model of the 1947 Republic RC-3 Seabee! Please look it over and if you find any errors, LET ME KNOW ASAP!!! Its best to fix them NOW then after I put in the cockpit and get textures on it.

    Also, an update for all the customers who purchased the SportStar. Service Pack 1 will be out VERY soon!!! The service pack includes 5 new livery's, enhanced cockpit details, and bug fixes. This will be free to all current and future customers! Sorry for the delay, but I had a computer crash and a family emergency. Silver lining is, I had everything backed up, and I did get to visit Oshkosh out of it. :d

    Please note, before commenting, that this is a factory fresh 1947 Seabee. In the past 65 years, owners have done EXTENSIVE modifications to there Seabee! If you find something you think may be wrong, please make sure that its not a modern modification. I will be making a modern Seabee with modifications (extended wings, bigger engine, modern gauges and much more) later, so customers will be getting TWO aircraft for the price of one!

    Attachment 48677Attachment 48678Attachment 48679Attachment 48680

  17. #17
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    Will the aircraft have it's distictive corrugated wings and flaps? It made the airplane very different.


    Attachment 48719
    Would you like to ride in my big green tractor?.

  18. #18
    regarding the ribbing, the Sibwings birddog has ribbing on the tail and I must say that it looks brilliant, much better than any painting can ever hope to achieve. Maybe have a look there for inspiration?

    You can find most of my repaints for FSX/P3D in the library here on the outhouse.
    For MFS paints go to flightsim.to

  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Helldiver View Post
    Will the aircraft have it's distictive corrugated wings and flaps? It made the airplane very different.


    The trademark ribbing will be there, but its over such a large area that I cant do it in geomitry. It will be in normal map.
    Kevin "Gibbage" Miller


  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by jankees View Post
    regarding the ribbing, the Sibwings birddog has ribbing on the tail and I must say that it looks brilliant, much better than any painting can ever hope to achieve. Maybe have a look there for inspiration?
    Thats what I considered doing, but on the Seabee, its not just on the control surfaces, but on the entire wing, tail, and elevator PLUS the control surfaces. It would easly double the polygon count and drop the performance.
    Kevin "Gibbage" Miller


  21. #21
    It seems a few people were rightfully concerned about me "painting" in the ribs and not modeling them. So I did a quick test to prove my therie, and I think it turned out very nice. Here are two renders showing the results!

    The right wing has the normal mapped ribbing in place. From this distance, you cant tell. Also, the wings will have there own dedicated 2048x2048 texture to keep the textures nice and sharp.



    Here is a closer look at the ribbing. Even this close, they hold up very well.



    Again, these were done only as a test and took me all of 30 minutes. The final textures will be a lot better, I assure you! You simply cant this sort of detail modeling it in without TONS of polygons and a big loss in performance. Hope this helps people!
    Kevin "Gibbage" Miller


  22. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Goldman View Post
    Kevin:

    Nicely done, great modeling, I look forward to this one. BTW will it be available with the Flight1 installer, I hope so.

    Jim
    I think so. We are still looking into things, but im sure F1 will be an option. Since the SportStar was our first product, we are learning a lot and adapting to our customers needs based on that experience.
    Kevin "Gibbage" Miller


  23. #23
    I think I will leave the Twin Bee to Piglet
    I wish my schedule would allow for it, but there's so much to do....
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    Tim Piglet Conrad
    Piglet's Peculiar Planes
    "Ahhh... the freedom of freeware!"
    First Rule of Aviation:
    Don't piss off your mechanic.

  24. #24
    These two liveries? I have plenty of pics of these two from Fallon a couple of years ago.

    Attachment 48764

    Attachment 48763

    Jim

  25. #25
    Quote Originally Posted by Piglet View Post
    I wish my schedule would allow for it, but there's so much to do....
    Like I said, if you wish to do it later on, you can have my model as a starting point. =)
    Kevin "Gibbage" Miller


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