WIP: F-14 B/D
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Keep on it buddy!
Nikos. -
Yeah!!!
My all time favorite and the D-modell!! Canāt believe it. Hope the work got finished. Lookās really amazing. Canāt 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.
Thankās for your work to let this āikon of military aviationā come true
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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 theyāll be textured. Iāll model the visible insides and probably stop there.
Since I havenāt 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 materialsā¦
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As for the starboard tail - done. Needs some optimization otherwise finished.
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Pt. 2
Both tails now have integrated AC lights with internal housing but no transparency yet cuz that requires textures. Theyāre slightly extruded atm most likely will be scrapped and textured instead.
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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 aināt easy but Iāll try anyway. Note that the outer edges of the spoiler frames extrude from the wing body but the center section doesnāt. 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 itās 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.
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Finally all moving/lift surfaces aside from the glove.
Tomcat - aināt nothinā like me, Baby!
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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
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Top notch Stingray.
D
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Got me Watering at the mouth Stingray.
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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 itāll work when integrated on the main airframe. Itās non-published material yet, but when itās ready to go, Iāll share it with you if youāre interested on it.
Oh, please donāt misunderstand me, Iām not criticizing what youāve done at all; Iām 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! Iām sure the final result will be fantastic and Iām looking forward to it! Carry on, pal!
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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 itās 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 youāre 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. Iām off on a tangentā¦anyway, glad you like the Cat.
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Got me Watering at the mouth Stingray.
This probe would probably be able to tell the change in your body temperature following thatā¦
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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 itāll work when integrated on the main airframe.
No worries, Iām 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 didnāt 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.
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Keep walking dear friend.
WE are waiting for your beautiful baby, and Iām also a hell lover of THE Tomcat :p.
The best fighter everā¦ US Navy should realize that the games of dirty money with companies and government guys donāt give the advantage to the country and its weapons.
Nikos. -
Agree with neystratiou. Thank you stingray for your dedication!
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Thanks much for your progress report Stingray, the model looks awesome. Are you using Blender for modelling?
Cheers, Uwe
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Thanks much for your progress report Stingray, the model looks awesome. Are you using Blender for modelling?
Cheers, Uwe
Thanks for the kudos. Yes, Blender 2.76b for all hard surface modelling.
Disclaimer: I Luuuuuuuv Blender :).
Disclaimer2: After working on the same file in dropbox with my thinkpad and the workstation I messed up the menus and it took me a good hour to get everything back so I still love it but that was some clumsy shit I donāt wanna go through again.
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Sometime ago I mentioned the tails and how I need to straighten them and connect them to the base assembly housing. It took some timeā¦
It might not look it but I seperated the tails and the rudder. The extrusion at the rudder bottom is where the actuator rotates the rudder and the housing is the aerodynamic continuation facilitating airflow from the rudder actuator housing (the bulge you see on the starboard side of the base). The rotation of the rudder requires a movable plate that acts as a cover for the gap whenever the rudders are not in full rotation to the starboard side. That cover is the square plate you see between the tail and the rudder.
Above you also see the small square rubber sealings that rest on the engine shroud. Visible here on the lower left below the cover
And on the real thing
As you see rudder shape has to be corrected somewhat.
Here the two objects
For now theyāre straight up and not tilted. Also the top needs to come down just a little to get the right height but I first have to correct some elements and straighten them out before tilting them back to the outside.
Thatās it for the tails. The rest (transparency, rigging, etc.) will be done in Max. All triangulated they now stand at about 2200 tris.
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I can relate I waited pretty much 6 years to start experimenting with it. Once you get into it itās 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 youāre 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. Iām off on a tangentā¦anyway, glad you like the Cat.
At school my favorite subject always was technical drawing. I was really good at it. As I got my first PC I tried to adapt my knowledge about it to some CAD programs I tested, but get never along with it. Have tried it a few times over the years, but I need a ruler and paper for it. Canāt do it with a program. So I decided to do repaints only. Itās much simpler .
I never understood why there was no serious simulator of the Tomcat. Itās such an awesome bird and itās really interesting in case of simulation. There were so many F-16 sims, a few with the F-15, but none for the F-14. The last real simulation was Fleetdefender from Microprose. Itās still good, but a ālittleā aged now .
The best you could get was a F-14 mod in Strike Fighters and later the North Atlantic addon for SF2. Beside those the F-14 only had a shadowy existence in some action-sims, like Jetfighter IV or Topgun Fire At Will.
The D-modell never made it to a simulator. Even the Tomcat from Leatherneck Simulations (if she will ever see the light of day) will only simulate the A & B-models, but the real āCatā is the D-model. Only the D and a few B had the new F110-GE-400 engines. That was the first time the jet could reach the performance it was built for. The TF30 engines made this bird always number two, after the Eagle, but with the new engines and itās variable wing-geometry it was a real good dogfighter. No F-16 at all, but for itās weight a real agile bird.
At the peak-level of her lifetime, the NAVY decided to retire her and get the Superbug instead. I like the Hornet also (more the old C-model), but in my opinion, she never will be a real replacement for the Tomcat.
Donāt like the whole 5th generation fighters, like F-22, F-35, EF2000 (no real 5th gen). To much electronics, to fragile and not emotional in any way. Just pieces of flying hardware with electronic brains in it. The pilot have to ask the plane, what he is permitted to do. Thatās the wrong way in my opinion. Fly by wire as far as the 4th-generation goes is o.k, but to degrade pilots to passengers in such a way the new fighters will do, is really stupid in my eyes. Not to mention the whole stealth shā¦ . Most of this will be useless in near future, cause the radar technology will also advance. Hope the military will recognize this in the near future and switch back to the real intelligence in the cockpit between the pilots ears.