WIP: F-14 B/D
-
-
Clumsy pos light on left tail…
Pretty tough to get the geometry right from all angles, almost there.
Antenna on rear end of left tailtip…
Above you see the full blown beauty of these asymmetric tails. As a final step I’ll move them both back into 90 degree angle, connect the base to the (also asymmetric) connectors and then tilt them again (6 degrees outward).
For anyone who cares about poly count the final number for both tails including the tailbase housing will stand at or below 2000tris following some optimization. Considering the size and complexity I can live with that.
Some gear details following tomorrow…
-
You just own it. Respect.
Sent from TapaTalk
-
It is amazing. Please dont give up. I m so exited to fly this Baby.
-
-
-
Keep on it buddy!
Nikos. -
Yeah!!!
My all time favorite and the D-modell!! Can’t believe it. Hope the work got finished. Look’s really amazing. Can’t wait to fly it for the first time!
Unfortunately the F-14, one of the US most famous fighters, was never really valued in a sim after the legendary Fleetdefender from Microprose.
Never understood why? I love this bird so much.
Thank’s for your work to let this “ikon of military aviation” come true
-
Some updates on the first and most basic weapon system - THE GUN
Currently the inside consists of a simple tube which is bigger in diameter than one of the muzzles of the Vulcan and smaller than the entire gun. The placeholder acts as a measurement check for the cooling ducts and extrusions of the fuselage. I might model the NACA ducts later if I have any tris left to spend, otherwise they’ll be textured. I’ll model the visible insides and probably stop there.
Since I haven’t applied the mirror to preserve the option to finalize vertices on the fuselage I had to separate the part surrounding the gun assembly and duplicate it for the right side and model it without the gun.
Some impression with materials…
–-
As for the starboard tail - done. Needs some optimization otherwise finished.
-
Pt. 2
Both tails now have integrated AC lights with internal housing but no transparency yet cuz that requires textures. They’re slightly extruded atm most likely will be scrapped and textured instead.
–-
Lastly the wings, specifically the spoilers. First step for integration is to build the housing within the wing body. For that the outline of the spoilers has been slightly enlarged and is pending integration and further modelling.
3D desrciptive text ain’t easy but I’ll try anyway. Note that the outer edges of the spoiler frames extrude from the wing body but the center section doesn’t. The reason is the spoilers and the frames for now rest on a perfect 90deg plane while the wing has a (ever so slightly) dome shape from front to rear (obviously) and from left to right (not so obvious but it’s there). Integrating the spoilers will ultimately help in finalizing wing shape and (maybe) solve the problem of the extruding wing/flap when in full sweep/oversweep.
–-
Finally all moving/lift surfaces aside from the glove.
Tomcat - ain’t nothin’ like me, Baby!
-
-
Wow!
What a detailed work! Wish I were able to do something like that, but I never appreciated the secrets of 3D. Had some attempts years ago with the FS2004, but my aircraft looked more like flying potatoes
-
Top notch Stingray.
D
-
Got me Watering at the mouth Stingray.
-
I found interesting the approach you used for the gun section. I used a different one for that on my f-16 model, though. Actually, I made the fuselage section without the cannon nacele; then I detached the cannon nacele area from the fuselage and modelled it on the left side, using more polys to making it smoother and not distorting the original area. It worked fine for me so far, just gotta see how it’ll work when integrated on the main airframe. It’s non-published material yet, but when it’s ready to go, I’ll share it with you if you’re interested on it.
Oh, please don’t misunderstand me, I’m not criticizing what you’ve done at all; I’m just commenting two different approaches for the same situation and how I found it interesting, as I observed it as a modeller apprentice always trying to learn from the work you guys publish here.
Thanks for the kind words regarding the Bear WIP!
By the way, awesome job on the big cat! I’m sure the final result will be fantastic and I’m looking forward to it! Carry on, pal!
-
Wow!
What a detailed work! Wish I were able to do something like that, but I never appreciated the secrets of 3D. Had some attempts years ago with the FS2004, but my aircraft looked more like flying potatoes
I can relate I waited pretty much 6 years to start experimenting with it. Once you get into it it’s quite addictive actually. Besides you start to see the world with different eyes always thinking perspective and how could I model this or that :))). Seriously though once you get your blueprints front right/left top set up and simply start to draw a plane across a section and then adapt it from the side and from the front and you begin to see a shape that resembles RL forms you’re out of the gates basically. The rest is just best practice, key shortcuts and increasing efficiency.
There are guys who model a car rim in 4 minutes just by smart modelling a tiny section and then duplicating mirroring joining duplicating rotating etc. it comes down to knowing your way around the program functionality. I’m off on a tangent…anyway, glad you like the Cat.
-
Got me Watering at the mouth Stingray.
This probe would probably be able to tell the change in your body temperature following that…
-
I found interesting the approach you used for the gun section. I used a different one for that on my f-16 model, though. Actually, I made the fuselage section without the cannon nacele; then I detached the cannon nacele area from the fuselage and modelled it on the left side, using more polys to making it smoother and not distorting the original area. It worked fine for me so far, just gotta see how it’ll work when integrated on the main airframe.
No worries, I’m a noob just as well. As for your approach I did it basically the same way. I had the section modelled without the gun and then went from there. I didn’t copy and save it as this section is so simplistic I can just rebuild the side wall of the fuselage using the frame vertices in like a minute. On the 16 that section is more nuanced so I understand why you did.
I actually recovered my F-14 bible yesterday and noticed some errors in the shape of the nacele, will correct as soon as the tails are finished.
-
-
Keep walking dear friend.
WE are waiting for your beautiful baby, and I’m also a hell lover of THE Tomcat :p.
The best fighter ever… US Navy should realize that the games of dirty money with companies and government guys don’t give the advantage to the country and its weapons.
Nikos.