@lazystone

I see…

Let’s see if this works.

Happy to join the 5th iteration of a Falcon forum in 15 years…sorry I missed the move but now I’m all set. Maybe on this forum I end up actually contributing a model that goes in game

Some initial experimentation with the refueling probe. Took me a few hrs to get back into Blender. I think I’ll smooth out and simplify most of the frontend fuselage as it is overly full with unneeded geometry.

The base axis for the probe still needs to be finalized to create accurate rotation as the fuselage cover part is attached to the probe so they move together.

Probe will get a few (A FEW) more details like the light and some actuator and compartment details. Nothing too wild. It does look cool when deployed.

@Manos1981 said in WIP: F-14 B/D:

@stingray_SIX_TWO
Is the model still alive? I would love to work on it Dont get me wrong not add/remove or whatver just some experiments on skins! It looks fabulous!

Once the unwrapping is done I’ll be happy to share with you for some skinning experimentation. Not that I lack any ideas myself…

On the modeling front I compiled my todos for the winter season…among others

• anti-collision and position lights on the wingtips

• the ominous refueling probe

• main landing gear linkage for animation (see youtube video below, posted 2 yrs after I modeled it and finally helped me realize which part of it rotates and why)

• set up 3DS and load model for DOF animation and textures (DOF will be used as far as possible for flaps, slats, spoilers, cove door and moving surfaces logic as well as wing flex and flutter if I can figure it out)

3DS…no comment.

• model geometry correction, lots of uneven areas, flipped normals, etc. I need to clean that up

• pilots need to be modeled, other than that I don’t see anything missing

• weapons will most likely be there already if not I’ll model them as well

I’m focusing on Delta Cat only for now, any A/A+/B configuration needs to wait.

Watch at .5x speed

@Turkeydriver @Mike-Metcalf Are you guys still active here?

@Tazz You may not remember but you shared those with me already years ago. VF-31 final cruise right? I remember there only being 8-10 pics so anymore you have would be greatly appreciated. Just send me a DM.

@buraktunahan That looks awesome!!

This has been going on for too long and I need to see an end so it won’t be perfect but at least I can bring an amateur model that is better and more functional than the current one to BMS and that would make me very happy.

Also there’s been countless valuable contributions over the years especially when it comes to flight model characteristics, combat capability, history and details of the big cat in my threads and @mykinge’s pit thread (I’m sure he won’t mind) by various individuals and I’ve compiled a .pdf that I will share in the coming days so at least we have some documentation should anyone ever try this again.

@Aragorn said in WIP: F-14 B/D:

@stingray_SIX_TWO said: Not that I lack any ideas myself…

Your extensive collection of skins back in the FF days was amazing, dude.

(Hat still off to you)

Man I’ve been browsing through my skin references for the model…that collection was clearly a sign of my having way (WAY) too much time…haha good times. I actually skinned that old Zaggy model with Onesimus’ template from 2008-2013!

I will obviously attempt to recreate every single one of these shots with these skins on the new model in-sim asap!

In case anyone is interested in the old skins and can then subsequently hold me to account to recreate them for the new model, I will host them on mega and share the link here.

On the model: Does anyone know if animation axis are importable in 3DS? I have 28 rigged components with limits that I’d like to export if possible.

Anytime, Baby!

–-

Just wanted to present my 3D model project of the Grumman F-14B/D.

Below some impressions from the modelling process so far…

Focusing on the glovebox for now as that is the integral piece of the Tomcat. Front fuselage and main canopy are also started.
I’ll answer some questions preemptively :D:

• I’m learning modelling from 0 as I go along, will sure have some questions throughout the process

• I’m using Blender 2.76b for all modelling, it’s quite different from MAX in some regards, in others quite similar, below a standard setup with blueprints:

• Thread title says B/D but this is primarily focused on the D cat meaning: GE engines, no glove vanes, Twin-Chinpod (TCS, IRST, ALQ-100), LANTIRN pod, awesomeness

• Texture mapping will be done during modelling so quality/packaging considerations will be part of the process from the get go

• Textures I’ll do myself as I have the whole bird practically skinned in above 4096x4096 quality throughout

• All moving surfaces will be modelled, however we know from previous projects there are limitations in terms of avionics/flight model

• Blueprints on this bird are not good, getting proportions right is mostly a question of good measure and experience with the Tomcat from all angles, my skinning experience is helpful there

Why do a (nother) Tomcat model now you may ask…

• The interest in a new pit/model is evident by the almost quarter million views the respective threads have gotten in the past

• The beautiful yet unfinished F-14D pit by MyKinge has been donated to BMS and could go live at some point in the future

• There’s been a lot of work on the flight model (Mike Metcalf et al), the AIM-54 (Molni), the pit (MyKinge), carrier ops (BMS)

• The most iconic plane of all time deserves a quality representation in the most iconic flightsim of all time

Looking forward to any feedback you may have, Baby!

@sobo-87 said in WIP: F-14 B/D:

@stingray_six_two

I hate to be “That guy” but that jet isn’t Thief of Baghdad, its Camel Smoker.

ToB looked like this:

Otherwise great work on your Cat, looking forward to seeing more progress!

You’re so right, I stand corrected. I had both decals (Thief and Chief of Baghdad with the Camel Smoker insignia) on the same texture set. I like the smooth edges of the camo on the Camel Smoker better.

By the way, the cooles gimmick is visible on the picture you posted (looks like David F. Brown image) - the painted canopy on the bottom side!

Here it is in the editor…probably the most difficult yet most rewarding skin I’ve done - ages ago.

Would this still be of interest to anyone? I can’t seem to post images or additional text as it is flagged as spam…

Model is in much better state than I remember. Landing gear and refueling probe ‘animation’ are coming up!

On another note, is the sound logic in BMS 4.3.6+ still the same as in Free Falcon 5.5.5 11 years ago?

Always planned to bring some authentic sound to the model as well.

@Aragorn said in WIP: F-14 B/D:

@stingray_SIX_TWO said: Not that I lack any ideas myself…

Your extensive collection of skins back in the FF days was amazing, dude.

(Hat still off to you)

You need to up the doseage dude, you are way too nice.

Yes, the skinning days I definitely went way overboard with that. Thank goodness I saved all the stencils as scalable vectors in PSD format and did a redraw of the panel lines based on original blueprints in 2019 so that’ll save some time.

Lo-Vis VF-103 with Phoenix Award…still my all time favorite!

@PumpyHead said in WIP: F-14 B/D:

@stingray_SIX_TWO said in WIP: F-14 B/D:

The base axis for the probe still needs to be finalized to create accurate rotation as the fuselage cover part is attached to the probe so they move together.

Hi stingray,

Looking at your reference picture, the rear part of the probe cover actually rotates into the fuselage, so I think your rotation point should be maybe a foot into the fuselage and probably in line with the change in the cover’s width.

Hey Pumpy, nice of you to visit! Your axis placement suggestion sounds spot on. My 3d think has suffered over the past 12 months since I last dealt with the modeling. I’ll work out details and update here soon.

@Aragorn said in WIP: F-14 B/D:

@stingray_SIX_TWO said: Not that I lack any ideas myself…

Your extensive collection of skins back in the FF days was amazing, dude.

(Hat still off to you)

Man I’ve been browsing through my skin references for the model…that collection was clearly a sign of my having way (WAY) too much time…haha good times. I actually skinned that old Zaggy model with Onesimus’ template from 2008-2013!

I will obviously attempt to recreate every single one of these shots with these skins on the new model in-sim asap!

In case anyone is interested in the old skins and can then subsequently hold me to account to recreate them for the new model, I will host them on mega and share the link here.

On the model: Does anyone know if animation axis are importable in 3DS? I have 28 rigged components with limits that I’d like to export if possible.

@Chuckles good to see you’re still around!

Does the old F-14D 2D pit still exist by any chance? You know the one from years ago?

Some initial experimentation with the refueling probe. Took me a few hrs to get back into Blender. I think I’ll smooth out and simplify most of the frontend fuselage as it is overly full with unneeded geometry.

The base axis for the probe still needs to be finalized to create accurate rotation as the fuselage cover part is attached to the probe so they move together.

Probe will get a few (A FEW) more details like the light and some actuator and compartment details. Nothing too wild. It does look cool when deployed.

Why is every moving part on this bird connected to the fuselage through another moving part with a second attachment point? They really love these ‘rotate one part and then rotate another through linkage to that part and a fixed attchment point’ > see the main landing gear and the refueling probe in question

@Aragorn said in WIP: F-14 B/D:

@stingray_SIX_TWO said: Not that I lack any ideas myself…

Your extensive collection of skins back in the FF days was amazing, dude.

(Hat still off to you)

You need to up the doseage dude, you are way too nice.

Yes, the skinning days I definitely went way overboard with that. Thank goodness I saved all the stencils as scalable vectors in PSD format and did a redraw of the panel lines based on original blueprints in 2019 so that’ll save some time.

Lo-Vis VF-103 with Phoenix Award…still my all time favorite!

Model is in much better state than I remember. Landing gear and refueling probe ‘animation’ are coming up!

On another note, is the sound logic in BMS 4.3.6+ still the same as in Free Falcon 5.5.5 11 years ago?

Always planned to bring some authentic sound to the model as well.

@Manos1981

You 3D paint in PS? I think we talked about this years ago

@Manos1981 said in WIP: F-14 B/D:

@stingray_SIX_TWO
Is the model still alive? I would love to work on it Dont get me wrong not add/remove or whatver just some experiments on skins! It looks fabulous!

Once the unwrapping is done I’ll be happy to share with you for some skinning experimentation. Not that I lack any ideas myself…

On the modeling front I compiled my todos for the winter season…among others

• anti-collision and position lights on the wingtips

• the ominous refueling probe

• main landing gear linkage for animation (see youtube video below, posted 2 yrs after I modeled it and finally helped me realize which part of it rotates and why)

• set up 3DS and load model for DOF animation and textures (DOF will be used as far as possible for flaps, slats, spoilers, cove door and moving surfaces logic as well as wing flex and flutter if I can figure it out)

3DS…no comment.

• model geometry correction, lots of uneven areas, flipped normals, etc. I need to clean that up

• pilots need to be modeled, other than that I don’t see anything missing

• weapons will most likely be there already if not I’ll model them as well

I’m focusing on Delta Cat only for now, any A/A+/B configuration needs to wait.

Watch at .5x speed

@Turkeydriver @Mike-Metcalf Are you guys still active here?

@Tazz You may not remember but you shared those with me already years ago. VF-31 final cruise right? I remember there only being 8-10 pics so anymore you have would be greatly appreciated. Just send me a DM.

@buraktunahan That looks awesome!!

This has been going on for too long and I need to see an end so it won’t be perfect but at least I can bring an amateur model that is better and more functional than the current one to BMS and that would make me very happy.

Also there’s been countless valuable contributions over the years especially when it comes to flight model characteristics, combat capability, history and details of the big cat in my threads and @mykinge’s pit thread (I’m sure he won’t mind) by various individuals and I’ve compiled a .pdf that I will share in the coming days so at least we have some documentation should anyone ever try this again.

@Aragorn I got much further with it than the Tomcat thanks to being able to export from Blender to editor and from there to in-game. Learned lots about mapping, animation, etc. which I’ll have to do again in 3DS and the Falcon editor most likely so yeah…

@kouzi thanks for the info on the vapor. I’ll most likely go with static vapor effects on and around the glove area and for the wings set vapor only for certain speeds and AoA when the wings are fully forward. Glancing at the text file that should be no problem.