Just for kicks and giggles, I decided to test my hand at making bare metal textures from scratch. To further push the bounds of what can be learned from this exercise, a plane that I'd never before skinned was chosen for the testbed. Here's the results of about a day's work; this is the second version of the test skin, using Jesters-Ink's template.







As you can see, a few kinks still need to be worked out. The problem with the SBD Dauntless is that the mapping is somewhat unintuitive, particularly around the upper fuselage decking, where it meets the tail, and the cowling. However, there is little doubt that these issues can be overcome -- the question is, is it worth it?

Only time will tell...

Bump.

Anyone know where I can find references for pre-war Dauntlesses and/or Wildcats? I'd love to use this template to make a boatload of those colourful aircraft, if only to make a pretty screenshot...

Here are some more shots, depicting a plane from the U.S.S. Enterprise (at least, that's what this looks like).







The underside shot shows that there are still a few fiddly bits to iron out.

Nice work!!

A question about the screens... I see two pretty bombs under the wings in the fourth image... Where can I get this reskinned bombs? Are they yours?

Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the compliment, Wily. That's actually the bog-standard 250lb U.S. bomb the Dauntless is carrying.

~S~

Great job, Goodwood!

BTW, that totally "naked" Dauntless looks very good as a starting point for some early war North American BC-1 and AT-6 Texan trainers...

Changing the dotted Star for a later Star 'n Bars ya can make some late-war birds, too.

And the pre-war Dauntless looks really wonderful!

Thank you for the effort, most appreciated...

Nice work Goodwood. You're right about the rear deck-it's a PITA. The 'pit framing is a masochist's delight also.

Great skin!
But it's 2B2 not 282 !

D'oh!

Thanks for the compliments, guys. But I must ask again; does anyone know where to find references for pre-war Dauntlesses and, for that matter, Wildcats?

Hi
Very nice work you have done
This site may be of some use.
http://www.vectorsite.net/avsbd.html

Keep them coming.

Hello Goodwood,

sorry for nit-picking, just checked my sources, the plane you depict is from VB-2 of CV-2 USS Lexington ( 2B2 = 2nd a/c of B(ombing Squadron) 2 ).
The E on the fuselage is the " "E" for Excellence " , a commendation for the whole carrier and it's units. It has nothing to do with the "Big E" used for the USS Enterprise (CV-6).

But anyway it'a a great skin and I hope to d/l it soon.

Cheers,
Hogey

Thanks Hogey!

Whelp, due in no small part to one of the links Rudi Jaeger supplied (the Battle Colors one), I've managed to set things up with the baremetal Dauntless template so that it will be possible, within a few minutes, to create skins for just about any prewar carrier-borne squadron, regardless of carrier, squadron, or section. Thankfully, the numbering of individual planes is pretty straightforward, and thus it's easy to "simulate" just about any prewar Dauntless that flew from the high seas. The only hangups for fully-historical aircraft are build numbers and/or squadron badges, which I've yet to suss out for VB-2.

This image depicts the three planes from that unit's first section:



Unfortunately, the quirky mapping of the Dauntless's aft fuselage makes it impossible to line up the leader stripe completely. But this is the best thing we're probably going to get, unless there's some mapping wizard out there who can point out just where I've gone wrong.

Looking forward to final version!

Thanks mate. I've decided to abandon this particular pack of birds in favor of a trio from 3 Section, VB-4 off of U.S.S. Ranger; bit more colourful, that'll be.

Edit: Here's a nice picture.

And here they are!

Fantastic work.
Can in take the 1000 lb centre bomb as well?

The mustang is great, one of the 352nd FG, 8th AF if I'm right.
Here is a real one in same colors, still in flying condition.

Mate this is amazing!! Very nice job on those Dauntless!!

Gorgeous!

Thank you everyone! <S>

Nicolaas, while the SBD-3 Dauntless (which is subbing for the earlier-model SBD-2) can carry a 1,000lb and even a 1,600lb bomb in the game, in real life it was limited to a bombload of one 500lb and two 250lb bombs at the most (more accurate to say it could only carry three 250lb bombs).

Thank you too for the compliment about the P-51. I would have assembled a massive pack of that group had it not been done many times before by other, more talented skinners. That one was actually done on request.