Many thanks to DeanH for skining the SE5 model. I guess our old EAW friends, over on FE forum will be watching developments with interest.



All I have to do is non mirror the model.

Now that is very nice indeed!

How are we on 1WW FMs, guns and such?

Moggy DCM

Hi Moggy.

Thanks to Knegel, we have a fairly realistic FM, but we need at least another one model to oppose the SE5. I'm looking at the Albatross III as a likely contender, in amongst everything else I'm doing.

It's funny, a few weeks ago, this was just a dream, but now we can at last build anything we like, and have in EAW anything from the Wright Flier, to the Hawker Hunter.

Hi Col.,

I don't know why but the model looks very two dimensional in your picture. As if in this particular view the upper elements aren't rendered. I know it's a full 3D model but somehow it looks weird to me, or is it just my eyes suffering from weekend fatigue?
Perhaps it needs a bit more shading?

VBH

Yes I was thinking along similar lines.

We know the wing is being rendered because the skin is showing up correctly.

May be the wing profile is a bit too thin??? What do the experts say?

May be the head of the pilot should be made a bit smaller and skinned with a higher rez skin?

Otherwise a great achievement Col. Gibbon.

Regards sydbod

I think the head is fine it's just not detailed enough but this problem occurs when using only a single texture for the whole plane. I also think that the wings should be either more curved or have an underside so it will appear more 3D.
Another problem we face is the limmited palette which simply doesn't allow skins i've seen in Red Barron upgrades. All skins will have the same coloration as stock EAW planes and having looked at RB3D I don't think that's right. Perhaps a changed day_fade.pal can help here but it also means that all ground objects have to be reskinned using this new palette (a conversion of existing mods isn't too hard but creating an entirely new set of objects with such a palette takes a lot of time).
Such an operation would mean that all planes would get a new stock palette (same as all ground objects), the extended palette can be addapted as well but it's not an easy task.
BTW my main observation concerns the fuselage but I agree with Sydbod, overall it lacks the 3D look we've seen on our latest planes.

VBH

Hi VBH,

It actually does have a 3D wing with the underside there.

Maybe it is just that the rib pattern on the skin makes one think that the wing should be thicker than it actually is.

The picture is just too small to get an proper idea about it.....will be great once we get it onto our machines

Highlights and shadows. That's what is missing.

Otherwise, a sharp and worthy companion to Jan Tuma's biplanes, coming along nicely, bit by bit.

The oversize pilot head has a little transparency trouble. Still a Work In Progress, I'm sure.

That's correct Wuddy, it IS a work in progress.
I only sent Col Gibbon the files (as they stand) today, and they're incomplete as yet.
I'm sure it'll all work out in time.
The hilights ARE there, but perhaps we'll need either an adjustment in where I have them on the base pcx file, or else maybe a mapping adjustment.
It's VERY difficult for me to judge right now as I CANNOT get picpac to work!! I don't know why although I wouldn't be surprised if it had something to do with this new system of mine, perhaps the new video card/drivers grrr!
As a consequence I cannot test the skin myself and have had to send a pcx file to the Col. This is the first time I've seen it in game. I still haven't completed the top of the fuselage or the pilot etc, and that may be what people are commenting on here. The one area I have left off (as yet) from my base art is the upper wing shadow on the cockpit/fuselage area.
Here's a look at the base art to see the hilights/shadows so far.



Cheers
DeanH

A wing isn't very substantial if the underside occupies the same space as the top. It makes it look flimsy and cartoonish, it needs thickness in my opinion, so it won't look like a line when viewed from the side.
Very cool drawing there DeanH, sorry I wasn't aware it wasn't finnished yet, I just posted the reply because I think the RB3D or FE guys won't be very impressed with the above picture, I only hope they will be when you and others are done.

VBH