Fairey Firefly by Doug Smith
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Thread: Fairey Firefly by Doug Smith

  1. #1

    Fairey Firefly by Doug Smith

    Anyone here besides myself fly Doug's superb Fairey Firefly Mk.5 and Mk.6? Does anyone know if there were any repaints done for it? The model is so nicely crafted with a lot of attention to detail, with an excellent VC and 2D cockpit... It was Doug Smith's first plane for FS from what I understand. I'm a bit surprised that I couldn't find anything in the way of paints.

    Just say'n...

    BB686
    "El gato que camina como hombre" -- The cat that walks like a man

  2. #2
    I have/do fly it often.I have never seen repaints for this Firefly,but I never looked just because I like the ones included.Sorry I couldn't help.

  3. #3
    I agree on the paints that came with the plane. Very nicely done. There is a thread over in the FSX forum that got me interested in this plane. There's a fix for the missing needle for the voltmeter in the VC posted there, along with a few pics folks posted. Supposedly, there is a fix for the glass dome transparency for the wing camera. I just have to find it.

    Thanks anyway..

    BB686
    "El gato que camina como hombre" -- The cat that walks like a man

  4. #4
    Member gaucho_59's Avatar
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    Where can this beauty be downloaded?

    I just have to find it! Do you know the URL where it can be downloaded?

    Thanks in advance ...

    G.

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by gaucho_59 View Post
    I just have to find it! Do you know the URL where it can be downloaded?

    Thanks in advance ...

    G.
    Hello gaucho,

    I've just downloaded this one for myself. Beautiful model!
    Here's the LINK.

    Cheerz,
    Dave

  6. #6
    Hey guys thanks for the kind words. I'm really glad you are enjoying it - still. It's been a few years since I made that, my one and only. I'm still very proud of her, and she still has a home at The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton Ontario, Canada on their public flightsimulators.

    Regarding repaints, I tried to do a Royal Navy livery but never finished it because I couldn't get the diagonal towing stripes to line up with the underwing parts.

    The dome on the wing is supposed to be semi-transparent, as in the real plane has a plexiglass covering where the camera used to be. So a fix for that is not required. That's the way she really is.

    I wasn't aware of a gauge needle issue. I'll try and find that fix.

    I had the aerodynamics done for me to be as close as possible to the real Firefly, based on the information I gathered in research. The result was amazing, but too real as in, it's a heavy cumbersome beast to fly. It's not as user friendly I guess, and I did receive a few tweaked airfiles from others, one of which I included on the museum's copy, and they are out there for downloading, but I've never settled on one personally. I kind of like that it's a beast to fly, the airfile was well done at my request for real as possible. However, something like the Realair clipped wing Spitfires could be a better "user friendly" replacement airfile I suppose.

    I built that plane just because I wanted to see if I could. I did, and was very happy with the result. But, I haven't touched Gmax since. Funny eh? I think I just found the whole process to consuming, and too much sitting and staring at the screen. Hemorrhoids anyone? Get into 3D modeling for that experience. It was frustrating as well. Lots of stress. If I wasn't working on the model, I was thinking about it, and that's all I wanted to do. Solve problems, make more detail...I was addicted. On that model, I used the Unlimited export trick taught to me by Lionheart to get greater detail, but ultimately we couldn't get passed the limits on FS2004, and I lost interest in doing another model. Prepare and FSX are better to model for I'm told, but I remain an FS9 user still. Perhaps one day I'll dive into Prepare.

    I'm so pleased to have opened the forum today to see people talking about my model, so thank you boys for your interest in my endeavor. All the best to you!

    Doug


  7. #7
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails fs9 2015-10-05 12-26-25-39.jpg   fs9 2015-10-05 12-26-37-52.jpg  


  8. #8
    Looking good there Doug! I like your birds beastie qualities,but I like a good challenge.One of my favorite FS warbirds!

    Joel

  9. #9
    Here's the fix for the missing needle in the voltmeter on the VC panel:

    gauge10=ST_Firefly!volt, 814,307,89,89, (replaces the entry: gauge10=ST_Firefly!voltmeter, 814,307,89,89) in the VC.

    This was posted in the FSX forum, I take no credit but it fixes the FS9 version as well.

    I modded the glass just a little, so it's a bit more transparent and I've got her flying straight and true. I like the RAN paint, Doug. Love to have it if you're so inclined.

    Cheers -- BB686
    "El gato que camina como hombre" -- The cat that walks like a man

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Blackbird686 View Post
    I like the RAN paint, Doug. Love to have it if you're so inclined.

    Cheers -- BB686
    I would emphatically second that, it looks great on the Firefly!

    Sascha

  11. #11
    Hi,

    Wonderful plane, but i can't stop audio of the nav aids. What is wrong?
    Thanks for reply!

    JMC

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Fnerg View Post
    The dome on the wing is supposed to be semi-transparent, as in the real plane has a plexiglass covering where the camera used to be. So a fix for that is not required. That's the way she really is.
    Hey guys, I just noticed this issue on my BD-G model. The fuselage is "drawn" in front of the transparency, but the landing gear can be seen through the plexiglass properly. I'm not sure if it's something that can be fixed without a recompile, but I seem to recall being taught that there is an order to which textures are drawn in the sim. The fuselage and the plexiglass dome are out of order. Can that be fixed with the alpha channel? I'd appreciate a little refresher on this.

    Doug
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails dome transparency1.jpg   dome transparency2.jpg  


  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by gastonj View Post
    Hi,

    Wonderful plane, but i can't stop audio of the nav aids. What is wrong?
    Thanks for reply!

    JMC
    This from Navtech:

    No more beep

    [Radios] //All features enabled, so radios 'work' in/on/for '2nd party' panels.
    // Radio Type=availiable, standby frequency, has glide slope
    Audio.1=1
    Com.1= 1, 1
    Com.2= 1, 1
    Nav.1= 1, 1, 1
    Nav.2= 1, 1, 0
    Adf.1=1
    Transponder.1=1
    Marker.1=1

    Cheers,
    Doug


  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Fnerg View Post
    Hey guys, I just noticed this issue on my BD-G model. The fuselage is "drawn" in front of the transparency, but the landing gear can be seen through the plexiglass properly. I'm not sure if it's something that can be fixed without a recompile, but I seem to recall being taught that there is an order to which textures are drawn in the sim. The fuselage and the plexiglass dome are out of order. Can that be fixed with the alpha channel? I'd appreciate a little refresher on this.

    Doug
    Hi Doug --

    Is the plexiglass dome a separate texture for the BD-G? If so, then reducing the alpha channel could darken it up a little. I'm no guru at this but I'll check here in a bit and see what's what.

    BB686
    "El gato que camina como hombre" -- The cat that walks like a man

  15. #15
    Doug,

    What is the dome plexi mapped to?
    Milton Shupe
    FS9/FSX Modeler Hack

    My Uploads at SOH - Here
    Video Tutorials - Gmax for Beginners

  16. #16
    I looked and found it in the "Spinner_Prop_Tanks_t" texture sheet. At least I believe it's there, I don't have the knowhow to be able to isolate the plexiglas dome and affect the alpha channel accordingly. Sorry... If the Plexiglas dome were on it's own texture sheet in the texture folder I might have been able to tweak it so it wouldn't do a disappearing act when at that angle in the spot plane view. I have had better luck with prop textures tho.

    BB686
    "El gato que camina como hombre" -- The cat that walks like a man

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Blackbird686 View Post
    Hi Doug --

    Is the plexiglass dome a separate texture for the BD-G? If so, then reducing the alpha channel could darken it up a little. I'm no guru at this but I'll check here in a bit and see what's what.

    BB686
    Tom,

    That depends on the assigned material (a collection of textures and attributes controlling specularity, opacity, etc) and texture naming convention.

    The material can be used to control transparency alone, or it can be used with the texture to control transparency (if the texture name does NOT end with _T.bmp).

    A darker alpha makes it more transparent.
    A darker primary channel changes the darkness of the color.

    If however the texture ends in _T.bmp, then the primary controls the color and the alpha controls the "glossiness". It has no affect on transparency.
    Milton Shupe
    FS9/FSX Modeler Hack

    My Uploads at SOH - Here
    Video Tutorials - Gmax for Beginners

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Blackbird686 View Post
    I looked and found it in the "Spinner_Prop_Tanks_t" texture sheet. At least I believe it's there, I don't have the knowhow to be able to isolate the plexiglas dome and affect the alpha channel accordingly. Sorry... If the Plexiglas dome were on it's own texture sheet in the texture folder I might have been able to tweak it so it wouldn't do a disappearing act when at that angle in the spot plane view. I have had better luck with prop textures tho.

    BB686
    Tom,

    Because that texture is an _t.bmp texture, the alpha only controls the "glossiness" for the items on that texture sheet. It cannot influence transparency or order drawn.

    With that said and having looked at the texture, I am certain the plexiglas is not textured there. The reason is, the plexiglas transparency (or opacity) is apparently controlled in its own material and that would mean it is either not textured (uses a gmax color), or it has to be on its own texture sheet which could be any standard light gray based on appearance.

    EDIT: The order drawn is an issue usually affecting multiple transparent object properties typically. Usually its blurred props and windows, and in my case VC gauge textures seen in spot view. I have only been able to correct that in the model itself.
    Milton Shupe
    FS9/FSX Modeler Hack

    My Uploads at SOH - Here
    Video Tutorials - Gmax for Beginners

  19. #19
    And there you have it. That's good to know, I have only just begun to dabble with this kind of thing and there is ALOT of information to learn. I thought I was doing good when I successfully set up a new set of contra-props for the Classic Wings XF-11. By changing the grey scale in the alpha channel I was able to get the props to look and function properly in all angles of the spot plane view. In other words, they didn't disappear behind the engine cowling when viewed from the side, and still maintained their proper color effect when spinning.

    The translucent dome on the Firefly is a whole new ball game tho. I didn't see an individual texture sheet for the dome, so it's beyond the realm of what I know... at the moment.

    BB686
    "El gato que camina como hombre" -- The cat that walks like a man

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by Milton Shupe View Post
    Doug,

    What is the dome plexi mapped to?
    The dome is mapped to either Glass.bmp, or Glass_t.bmp.

    Doug


  21. #21

    Icon12 Possible Help for a few qustions.

    Hi Guys,

    I've just finished straining my weak and feeble head, to get this 'beauty' in the air; to a large extent, I think that I've been successful!

    So many different things needed tweaking to get her 'useable', at least that's what the other forums say!

    1/I downloaded it from this link:- http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...atid=6&id=5085

    2/ Re-paints are available from Brit-Sim:- http://www.britsim.com/index.php/en/...ck/lang,en-gb/

    3/Cockpit Canopy/Dome fix:- http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...7&d=1420197147

    4/New FDE:- http://download982.mediafire.com/d3t...ly+FDEs+V2.zip

    5/ http://dfs2.flightsim.com/download.p...eflymkvfix.zip

    If you can make sense of the read me's; they should help. Took me absolutely ages to get them sorted!

    Please don't have a go at me if these don't work for you! I've simply posted the links to save anyone the hassle of trying to find links all over the place!

    The only problem that I did come across is the 'Tailhook' won't work for me! (I seem to have a spot of bother with tailhooks for some reason or other!)

    Hopefully DaveB will read this, and put things right, hint, hint!

    In the mean time, here's a 'screenie' of her:-

    ChipShop

  22. #22

    Many Thanks to Fnerg!

    Hi Fnerg,
    As a follow up; I'd just like to say a HUGE THANK YOU for this lovely aircraft! She handles nicely after applying the new FDE's!

    I'm in awe of how you got the wingfold mechanism to work; a work of art for certain; well done indeed Sir!

    Only two things have so far stumped me are the 'tailhook' as already mentioned and is there a fix for the triple brake gauge background please?

    ChipShop
    Last edited by ChipShop; October 30th, 2015 at 10:53.

  23. #23
    Thank you ChipShop, I appreciate the kind words, and I'm glad you got her to where you feel comfortable and confident. The tailhook is not assigned by default. In FS9, go to your assignments, scroll down until you come to "Tailhook", and assign Shift-T as the trigger. Check your cfg to make sure this section is included:

    [TailHook]
    tailhook_length= 4.000 ;(feet)
    tailhook_position= -14.000, 0.000, -1.000 ;(feet) longitudinal, lateral, vertical positions from datum
    cable_force_adjust=1.0

    As far as the brake pressure background, I'm not sure what you are seeing. You are using the FS9 model? In FS9? If it's FSx you are having the issue with, I'm sorry I can't help you, it was designed for FS9 and I am not a user of X, or have I ever converted the model for FSX. I know others have, perhaps one of the others here can suggest a fix. Can you provide a photo?

    Cheers,
    Doug


  24. #24
    Is the glass and prop fix for FS9 or FSX?

    BB686
    "El gato que camina como hombre" -- The cat that walks like a man

  25. #25

    Firefly help

    Quote Originally Posted by Fnerg View Post
    Thank you ChipShop, I appreciate the kind words, and I'm glad you got her to where you feel comfortable and confident. The tailhook is not assigned by default. In FS9, go to your assignments, scroll down until you come to "Tailhook", and assign Shift-T as the trigger. Check your cfg to make sure this section is included:

    [TailHook]
    tailhook_length= 4.000 ;(feet)
    tailhook_position= -14.000, 0.000, -1.000 ;(feet) longitudinal, lateral, vertical positions from datum
    cable_force_adjust=1.0

    As far as the brake pressure background, I'm not sure what you are seeing. You are using the FS9 model? In FS9? If it's FSx you are having the issue with, I'm sorry I can't help you, it was designed for FS9 and I am not a user of X, or have I ever converted the model for FSX. I know others have, perhaps one of the others here can suggest a fix. Can you provide a photo?

    Cheers,
    Doug
    Hey Doug,

    Great to get your reply; I'm flying her in FSX using napamule's V2FDEs. The gauge just has a blue background. (I'll sort out a cockpit 'screenie' in due course for you.

    I'll try those 'tailhook' configs. and report back, many thanks again,
    ATB,
    ChipShop

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