NZFF

Kia Ora, Gentlemen!

Following Ian's kind invitation to join in here, I'm now going to send my bytes down to you.
As a debut gift, I do have something in my backpack for you (I suppose you have seen some german backpackers before, don't you...? ):



It's a repaint for the Alpha Bleu Ciel F4U-7 Corsair, depicting the restored warbird NZ5648 (civil registration G-BXUL) in its 2001 european airshow scheme, before it returned to New Zealand in 2004.
I doubt whether this scheme was historically correct, but it sure looked nice then:
http://www.airliners.net/photo/Untitled-(T...sair/1581194/L/
http://www.airliners.net/photo/Goodyear-FG...sair/1261996/L/

The real NZ5648 of course is a Goodyear-built FG-1D (F4U-1D). The model I used for this repaint is a carrier-based F4U-7, originally built for the french Navy (AU-1 variant). The most obvious differences of the F4U-7 compared to the FG-1D are
- number of prop blades (4 instead of 3),
- rocket racks underneath the wings,
- four .79 inch/20 mm cannons instead of six .50/12,7 mm guns,
- tailhook (the land-based FG-1D had no hook),
- exhaust's position.
Due to position of the cowl flaps and their texture mapping, the white belly area also had to be set some upwards...
I hope you can live with this in-accuracy!
















Presuming to find the biggest knowledge base on NZ warbirds here, I'd like to know if anything can be improved on this repaint or if I disregarded something (within the model's limitations...).
Please let me know before this Bent Wing is to be released on AVSIM and Flightsim.

Cheers,
Markus.

Welcome Markus to NZFF!..It looks great ..good model too...I was going to mention at SOH but never got around to...that scheme did live on the Corsair while it was here in NZ for a short while ..and should be on the real Corsair now IMO.

Thank you for this warm welcome, mate!

Well, I think 5648's wear has undergone some major changes within the last years...
But I believe she wore the USN outfit when she was shipped to you. Here's some TV footage about it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3wemyp013s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7LZQKBtqbM

I tried to do the 2004 WOW livery (Sea Blue / Intermediate Blue / White) too, but failed:
The texture mapping of the cowl flaps won't allow an accurate painting of the cowling - too bad!

So maybe I have to purchase the AH model as well.
Does anyone know if layered texture files would be available for this bird?

While you all were asleep, I tweaked some more on the 2001 livery:



Antiglare area added.

If no one here can point out any severe glitches, she'll be ready for take-off...

Cheers,
Markus.

Marcus , i do have the AH model , the entire package for 2004 , it dose work in FSX , with a few problems on the panel but external , paints/skins work fine , you may also new another layer off Midnight Blue on the upper fuselage and wings , very sure it did have the upper surfaces done this way .

Vielen dank, Markus!
You seem to have sorted out the cowl flap issue quite nicely.
It would be nice to see this one too:



If memory serves, the AH model is a real frame hog, so if it can fit on the freeware one...

Hello Charl , Jezzz ! Tauranga that was a Great Weekend , yes the AH is a frame hog , i was just lucky to have a weapon system for it .. truth is to get a paint/skin for everyone would absolutely fantastic !

Mark this date, Charl is back!

You have a couple thousand posts to catch up to Ian though

Hi, folks!

Dangit - I was close to purchasing the Aeroplane Heaven Corsair, but now...
Their Mossie (JustFlight boxed edition) is collecting dust in my hangar, due to its rather poor display performance.
I don't quite understand the reason why...

The A2A P-47 is such a fine and smooth performer on my rather average rig (P4 dual core, 3 GHz, 2 GB RAM, ATI Radeon 3800), although the number of vertices and all the bells&whistles shouldn't be too different.
Furthermore, the current price for a 5 years old release doesn't seem to attractive to me.
Last but not least, there isn't a paint kit available.

In summary, I don't have any decisive reason to buy it.
Sorry, AH!


Back to the Alpha Bleu Ciel model:

It drove me hopping mad for some hours to overcome its mapping issues for the 2001 livery, but the crucial point of the cowl flaps remains.
For the current scheme, the "Intermediate Blue" area on the cowling's side (one third of the height) would have to be set much higher to fit with the cowl flaps. The result would be just a rough approximation to the real one. To make it even worse, the upper fuselage textures of the cowling are mirrored - adjusting them is quite a nightmare!

I'll fiddle some more on it and post a screenie then to let you decide whether to finish it!

Cheers,
Markus.

So this is how it would look like:



See?
The two lateral cowl flaps above the exhaust must share the same colour.
Thus, the Intermediate Blue area has to end this topwards.
The Sea Blue top texture is mapped by a different texture file, so the borderline between them is quite sharp.
Having a smooth, airbrush-style transition between them would end up even more topwards...

Question to all:

Should I finish this variant?

Or would this be too far from the real aircraft's appearance?

Marcus , Finish it you have prity much nailed it , air gun the cowl to blend with the fuselage , lkeep the cowl flaps as they as you have them now, i do no this , many are going to really appreciate this , your paint , from me a Big

Wildbillkelso wrote:

QUOTE (Wildbillkelso @ Feb 21 2010, 11:01 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

...Should I finish this variant?

Absolutely!
Agree with Ian, a bit of artful airbrush and artistic license to blend cowl line with fuselage, and nobody will know.
The intention is to use the thing at 300 knots, not just stand and admire it

Charl , I really did like that Corsair footage , the sound captured so well to , Brilliant

Ian Warren wrote:

QUOTE (Ian Warren @ Feb 22 2010, 11:00 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Charl , I really did like that Corsair footage , the sound captured so well to , Brilliant

Cheers Ian - I probably walked straight past you at the show with eye glued to camcorder

Charl wrote:

QUOTE (Charl @ Feb 22 2010, 08:59 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The intention is to use the thing at 300 knots, not just stand and admire it

Well, I'm not going to put some 'motion blur' on the textures - this gullwing definately is fast enough in itself.
But I think it deserves some admiration, not only by camera-armed folks at airshows...

Current status:



As you can see, this is the 2004 Wanaka outfit, but adding USN insignia, Jolly Rogers, several '8's and killmarks to put on her current clothes will be a piece of cake - once I get this FUBAR colours sorted...

Cheers,
Markus.

Heh. Of course you'll want to count the rivets!
Here's a close-up which may be of help.
You'll notice the paint edges are really quite feathered, and no straight lines!

Nice pic, mate!

In fact, I was desperately looking for a good high-resolution Jolly Roger to put on the current USN outfit.
Just have to stretch it a little...

Do you have any close-ups of the jap killmarks too?

Here are two pics in return I took at the Berlin Air Show back in May 2006:








It's of course the french F4U-7 'F-AZVJ'.
This wasn't a nice day for flying at all...

Cheers,
Markus.

Wildbillkelso wrote:

QUOTE (Wildbillkelso @ Feb 24 2010, 05:29 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

...Do you have any close-ups of the jap killmarks too?...
...Here are two pics in return I took at the Berlin Air Show back in May 2006...

Nice bird...
Unfortunately I was shooting mostly video on the day, so no killmarks I'm afraid.

Actually ace photographer Gavin Conroy is a list member here, and may be able to help with missing detail.

Will this do?

That's great, Paul!
Thanks a lot!

May I use this raging duck too?
Up to now, I had a rather blurred low-res template for it...

Now I also know what the lettering below the canopy says:
It's EXPERIMENTAL!

I knew I'm in the right spot here...

Go right ahead!

Here's all my Corsair pics in case you missed something - the Corsair seems to be at every airshow I go to.