Addon Research Topic 2

[jagheterjan 10]

The canards on the F-14s wing root are commonly referred to as 'glove vanes'. Designed to maintain a more even control input throughout the flight envelope (as normally the center of lift would shift backwards with increasing air speed, altering the effect of the elevators), the glove vanes were functional on the original F-14 Alpha design. But they offered too little aerodynamic benefit vs weight and added mechanical stress to the wing box area so they were rendered inop on the Bravo and Delta models.

The vanes would auto-extend about 15° out of their idle position during certain high-speed maneuvres, but I never found out more about the How's and When's. NASA has a bit of useful information though: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/pao/History/SP-468/ch11-6.htm

[wolfbite 8]

Can anyone find detailed drawings of a C-2 Greyhound? 4 plan?

[max power 21]

I notice that US military helicopters from the 80s until now have all kinds of different colourations. Now, it's obvious what desert tan is all about, but what about the helicopters in Helo Drab vs. Olive Drab vs. Green drab vs. Black? What are the meanings of those colourations? Is it a distiction in theatre? Unit? Era? What would be the most appropriate for an Ah-1F in 1985, garrisoned at some podunk island in the North Atlantic?

[johncage 30]

It'd be olive drab.

[Darkhorse 1-6 16]

Have anything referencing that, Mr. Troll?

(I'd like to know this as well, but with a source/proof. All the slightly different color schemes intrigue me)

Unlike him, I back up what I say. :p

http://forums.bistudio.com/showpost.php?p=1868600&postcount=31

http://forums.bistudio.com/showpost.php?p=1868608&postcount=3554

http://forums.bistudio.com/showpost.php?p=1868603&postcount=220

Edited March 5, 2011 by Darkhorse 1-6

[johncage 30]

The surest sign of a troll is quickness of accusing others of being trolls.

[jagheterjan 10]

Per Tech Manual 55-1500-345-23 the authorised colours on US Army rotary wing aircraft are Aircraft Green (Or Helo Drab, Federal Standard code #34031), Dark Tan (FS #30219) when operating in desert climate and Aircraft White (FS #37875) when operating in arctic climate. For fixed wing aircraft the only authorised colour is Aircraft Grey #36231. Only exception I know of are the 160th SOAR birds which seem to come in a range of non-standard paints.

Edit: For a bird stationed by the sea, I'd say heavily weathered/corroding Field Drab FS #30118.

Edited March 6, 2011 by jagheterjan

[max power 21]

The surest sign of a troll is quickness of accusing others of being trolls.

Regardless, your 'reference' isn't helpful at all. Please provide actual information here.

Per Tech Manual 55-1500-345-23 the authorised colours on US Army rotary wing aircraft are Aircraft Green (Or Helo Drab, Federal Standard code #34031), Dark Tan (FS #30219) when operating in desert climate and Aircraft White (FS #37875) when operating in arctic climate. For fixed wing aircraft the only authorised colour is Aircraft Grey #36231. Only exception I know of are the 160th SOAR birds which seem to come in a range of non-standard paints.

Edit: For a bird stationed by the sea, I'd say heavily weathered/corroding Field Drab FS #30118.

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/1/1/5/1336511.jpg

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_EMhFVzj94PY/S7kZGypqtqI/AAAAAAAAIWw/TdG7Qcm-jqY/DSC_8193.JPG

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3099/3193006084_9022486964.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4103/5018134240_a999e5225d_o.jpg

http://www.vrtulnik.cz/cizina2/helo3942.jpg

Thanks for the reference, Blink. It seems like there's more options than that for Army aircraft, or at least their were at some point. It looks like cobras came in all colours of the rainbow :p

Edited March 6, 2011 by Max Power

[da12thMonkey 1943]

s

Regardless, your 'reference' isn't helpful at all. Please provide actual information here.

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/1/1/5/1336511.jpg

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_EMhFVzj94PY/S7kZGypqtqI/AAAAAAAAIWw/TdG7Qcm-jqY/DSC_8193.JPG

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3099/3193006084_9022486964.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4103/5018134240_a999e5225d_o.jpg

http://www.vrtulnik.cz/cizina2/helo3942.jpg

Thanks for the reference, Blink. It seems like there's more options than that for Army aircraft, or at least their were at some point. It looks like cobras came in all colours of the rainbow :p

Most of those appear to be in museums. I wouldn't rely on the colours used for museum pieces for reference as they don't always use the correct paint or maintain the paintwork to the same standard as the military. You can also say something of the quality of scans of old photographs...

The book 'Huey Cobra Gunships 1965-2005 - New Vanguard S. No. 125 by Chris Bishop, Jim Laurier ' makes mention of Cobras from this era using FS 34031, and the schemes described by a wernerwings scale model decal sheet for the AH-1F here based on these schemes; all say to use FS 34031 for the green coloured Cobras.

[max power 21]

Thanks very much FailCakes and Da12thmonkey. Lots of food for thought! :)

[maturin 12]

Is Wikipedia a reliable source for the rate of fire on Russian heavy guns, or are they exaggerated? I ask because the the M134 has a RoF of 3,000 RPM, yet this is almost too fast to be practical. Yet the 12.7mm Yak-B gun on the Hind has a RoF of 5,000 RPM, according to Wikipedia, considerably higher than the 2,000 RPM of the .50 GAU-19, a similar weapon.

And I've seen a state RoF of 10,000 RPM on an aerial autocannon.

[Darkhorse 1-6 16]

the M134 is accurate I believe, not sure about the others. I'll do some digging in the morning if nobody else has.

[max power 21]

Such fast firing weapons are practical for engaging airborne targets. Plus, Russian military doctrine for attack helicopters is all about speed. They don't hover around and sneak like Western helicopters are designed to do. So, when you're shooting a machine gun at 300 km/h, it helps if it shoots fast.

[ziiip 1]

Can you tell me what that tube is in the pic? Thanks.

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/1412/thisi.png

[rksl-rock 1300]

Can you tell me what that tube is in the pic? Thanks.

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/1412/thisi.png

Look like the the drinking pipe for a camelbak.

[ziiip 1]

Thanks Rock.

[Darkhorse 1-6 16]

Might be of interest to terrain makers.

*Map of Moscow*

http://www.mom.ru/Engl/Products.htm

[bk1276 0]

could any one help me out with any plans / line drawings of the

british AT 105 Saxon Armored Personnel Carrier

any info would be deaply appreciated as there seams to be a shortege

on the web

[rksl-rock 1300]

could any one help me out with any plans / line drawings of the

british AT 105 Saxon Armored Personnel Carrier

any info would be deaply appreciated as there seams to be a shortege

on the web

Here you go Bill. Its the best i have. Pics and all.

<LINK REMOVED>

Edited March 20, 2011 by RKSL-Rock

[bk1276 0]

thanks ROCK as usual your a star

[rksl-rock 1300]

thanks ROCK as usual your a star

Any time.

I've pulled the Link. If anyone else wants it let me know and I'll PM it you.

[max power 21]

3/4 Orthographic line drawings of ordinance, with photos.

http://maic.jmu.edu/ordata/srdetaildesc.asp?ordid=282

(Scale) Modelling discussions with collections of reference pics. It also has painting tuts and tips that can be applied using some imagination to digital painting. Use google search your keywords site:www.arcforums.com to sort through the threaded info.

http://www.arcforums.com/

Edited March 26, 2011 by Max Power

[ziiip 1]

You think its OK the way I did the millings on the rifle? OR should I just go with normal map or whatever? I mean that I separate out every part of the rifle that needs a milling.

http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/1825/milling.png

Edited April 8, 2011 by ziiip

[max power 21]

I'm interested in what other people think on this issue, too. Nominally, what I have learned, is that anything not contributing to the silhouette of the model should be left to the normal map. Of course, it also depends on how close you expect that portion object to be viewed from. Will that many polys ever be necessary to create a rounded look at your normal viewing distance? What about the resolution of your normal map. Is it adequate to do the job?

[PuFu 4600]

@zip/max :

the rule of thumb in order to keep the poly count low is to keep every detail such as nuts and bolts, etc for the high poly model, and bake it in the normal map. Such millings like zip did will never be more visible if present in the LP model than if they were part of normal map. Quite the opposite unless more geometry/edges is/are present there. Bare in mind that this sort of geometry almost never! has a hard edge like zip did.

I know people that are creating all the nuts, millings and whatever in their HP, while i prefer to use floating geometry for those, since the end result after the bake is exactly the same (if you need the HP as such, and not just for the AO and normal bake, then that's another thing - both maya and modo allows easier creation and manipulation of such objects over 3ds max and similar due to workplane constrains available).

SO, as max says, most of the stuff that doesn't create a shadow/silhouette, or it's not all that obvious at your expected work distance should be left for the normal map.

on the texture size: the UV space is just that - a space. The amount of pixels you give for an UV island is yours to choose, based on the expected viewing angles, distance, focus and so forth.

One more thing as food for thought here. Normals are calculated on a tanget basis, so it is ideal all the geometry that you want baked into the LP to be have an angle related to the base geometry different than 90 degrees. this is what i mean

i find the wiki entry over polycount to be a comprehensive resource on this subject. Use it ;)

Edited April 9, 2011 by PuFu