Just a small update to the Reagan photo album showing current progress, sadly progress has slowed to a crawl with other issues taking precedence, this has culminated in the removal of all other works in progress, some will just be deleted, others that are more advanced may be offered elsewhere in a take as seen status.

 

Merry Xmas to all and best wishes for the new year.

 

Kindest

 

Michael

I really should visit here more often, I've just noticed that all blog image links have been broken, not quite sure how that happened, some were due to images in the photo albums being deleted, in other instances the source images are still present but the link is defunct, more probably down to some name changes in the URLs or some such technical excuse, they should all be sorted now so apologies if you visited and found a page full of little red Xs.

 

I've finally got to the point of having to address exactly which CVN I should model, so far all of the modelling has been generic, or layered parts for each type of vessel to keep options open, however the point has been reached where crunch decisions need to be made. I've finally decided on the Ronald Reagan, CVN76, primarily because she is the newest and more digital information is available, some fundamental changes were needed to sponsons and openings etc, and the bridge structure is quite a bit different from the previous vessels in the class. The largest area of change is the fan tail area and it has been cleaned up a lot from previous vessels. The original first few vessels in the class were quiet clean but later vessels have seen a profusion of pods and sponsons added over the years until, one presumes, the USN took stock and decided to clean it all up.

 

Heres a new render of the preliminary hull for CVN76, hopefully now that the decision has been made as to which model will be built, progress will once again begin to pick up.

 

 

 

I've also added some more aircraft WIP images that I've slowly been working on over the year, and finally I've left Gmax behind, the program has been deleted and several part built models were bundled up and given away for free on the Sim Outhouse and CBFS forums, I've not used Gmax in three years so decided it was time to clean up that part of the shop.

 

 

Well the FSx bug has well and truly bitten, as usual my lagging behind has caught me short, learning the new compiler and materials wasn't as hard as I anticipated, though some niggles remain, the animation tool only seems to accept certain animations, for instance l_flap_key fails to work in the sim, yet l_flap_percent_key does ?, I'm sure there is a logical explanation or correct work flow, however once I find a way I tend to stick to it and ignore the other ways.

 

I've always liked the glass effect in FSx, though the default reflection of a ...church ?... hardly seems appropriate at 10,000 feet, maybe a better reflection map can be used once I'm more up to speed on bits and pieces. The conversion of FS9 materials into FSx materials was problematic to say the least, none of the SDKs or on line tutorials I found helped, I didn't fancy remapping the Jetstream 41 to new FSx materials at all, in the end the good old approach of clicking every button helped, though it took several hours to work out which button did help and which buttons just messed it all up, the old adage of back up often certainly played its part here. For those struggling heres a little tip, if you have a FS9 model and want to convert the materials then open the FSx ACEs tools roll out and select the materials manager, in the preview window on the left select the material or mapped texture you want to convert, then click the visualise in DirectX button and wait, seriously you need to wait, it wont look like anything is happening but it is, each fuselage material on the Jetstream took 3-4 mins to convert. If you can see the model in the main Max screen then the material you are converting will grey out on the model, do not touch anything until that mapping reappears, only then will the material be converted to FSx use. That might be the right way to do it, but I couldn't find any thing written anywhere that told me that.

 

The default material assigned to FSx models is very bright and shiny, unlike FS9 where you could adjust a base material to give specular shine, I personally prefer specular shine to reflective shine, but each to there own, the shine is about right for passenger liners, but hopelessly too bright for military aircraft of ships. FSx materials do allow differing levels of specular shine with a specular map, but it looks like you can also alter the underlying material specular attributes at the materials base level, that will be something to experiment with over the next few days.

 

Self Shadowing, this is a new feature in FSx and one of those that I'm unhappy with, not only does it hog FPS but it never seems to match up with the actual model, its almost like a layer is off set from the model, shadows never line up with the actual part making the shadow, normally this is only a few inches but on the Jetstream the 3D modelled windows are creating havoc with the self shadowing map, I suspect there isn't a resolution to this, its a shame as it could be a nice feature, one of those, if it isn't just right then best left off features.

 

So what has been ported into FSx, so far the BAe-146, Jetstream41, Lynx Mk8 are fully integrated ( bigger images in their respective folders if you select download ), both the Essex and CVN carriers are in as well ( moving AI and 1st person models ), none of these are actually finished models, really must get a grip and finish one or two  before moving onto others. Whats left to convert, well theres the Huey's to port over, they should rather splendid, there low poly count will laugh at FPS, actually more on FPS below, then maybe the HH-3E and probably the Choctaw will get moved across.

 

Anyway heres some tasters more in photo albums and more over the next few days will be added.

   

 

FPS, well theres been a lot of talk saying that FSx generic models are better than FS9 port overs, having never had a problem with FS9 port overs I found this hard to comprehend, in fact in the case of the Alphasim Blackhawk, I got significantly better game play with the FS9 model ported over than the specific FSx model, even now entering the FSx VC of the Blackhawk just crashes the sim to a stuttering 4-6 FPS, I've not got to the bottom of it and being as its not a aircraft I fly anymore its not a issue I need to dig into very much, in Alphasims defence the default FA-18 does the same, yet Rick Pipers vastly more complex Hawk doesn't ?. 

 

Having ported the Jetstream 41 into FSx I had a stable and comfortable locked 24 FPS so figured everything was fine, the conversion to FSx proved different, whilst still locked at 24FPS the pan was infinitely smoother, if I pan too fast then odd clouds at the peripheral vision will appear as small black boxes for a brief moment as the textures struggle to get loaded, mind I'm talking a pan rate of about Mach3 so its bound to struggle, yet with the FSx Jetstream this no longer occurs, I suspect that I can probably ramp up my locked FPS, though in reality I'll probably use the saved FPS for more AI or Autogen. So, yes pure FSx models do have an impact, it might not be in your face obvious but for me the fluidity is enhanced.

I've been putting this off for a long time now, compiling a model into FSx, I don't know why, maybe because it was new or a change in working procedures ?, either way it has been a long time coming. I'm not fully conversant with all the FSx attributes but just seeing a model in FSx SP2/ACCEL was personally gratifying. The compiler had no problems with the Essex model, even at 125,000 polys it whizzed through, some errors were generated but did not seem to impact on the model. The CVN went through even faster and easier, having said that it should do as its only 29,000 polys at present.

 

Through hints and tips on forums the models were made drivable, camera views added and for the first time they can be explored in the sim. Oddly the test threw up some mesh anomalies, generally when you render it shows all the ugly poly's in torsion and allows remedial work, in this instance it did not show some on the CVN model, once into FSx there were a few surprises, a work around is easy enough, but it does go to show how each sim FS9, FSx and Max each render and present the model differently.

 

Here is a couple of shots in FSx, a few more can be found in the respective vessel photo albums.

 

    

The CVNxx project still rumbles on, I read a comment somewhere that no two CVN vessels were the same, they were not kidding either, negating SLEPs and weapons systems upgrades, there is still a lot of large structures that differ between the nine current vessels. CVN76 USS Ronald Reagan differs the greatest with a new hull form and new redesigned bridge structure, current released images show that CVN77 H W Bush will follow a similar format but vessels after that will be of a new design. Both CVN76 and 77 are designed as step through vessels toward the next generation, mainly in the internal regions and systems suites as opposed to physical structures, though expect these to change as well.

 

Currently the CVN class are undergoing extension programs, two obvious changes to the eye are the CIWS systems and the life rafts ( though not always fitted at SLEP visits ), the old Mk15 Phalanx is being replaced by the new RIM-116 multi missile weapon, ironically the rocket pod sits on old modified Mk15 mounts. The life rafts are the new 50 man versions, this reduces the fit by over 50%, manning levels are also down due to new integrated systems on board as well as reduced manning due to less types of aircraft carried.

 

Both the RIM-116 and larger life rafts are a modellers bonus, a reduction in the number of rafts will have a big bearing on the overall poly count for the model, and the RIM-116 is a much cleaner weapon to model and texture with the added bonus of fewer polys to consider.

 

Attached two images of the low poly weapons at the moment, the Mk15 changed very little during its life time, but the Mk29 changed quite a lot, the initial form was a solid block of eight missiles in two rows of four, later versions were split into two pods either side of the mount with four missiles in each pod, these also had large mushroom vents on top for missile gasses, the final version dispensed with the vents and cleaned up the mount.

 

        

 

I'll probably end up doing all three versions for other carriers further down the production line, certainly Forrestal or Ranger in their Vietnam guise will need the initial version, others depending on the time modelled will require other versions and associated directors. The Mk15 is currently a little high on polys but I might be able to squeeze the belt feeder in as well, that ammo drum looks awfully large and lonely slung under the gun.

Well after a long break from serious modeling its back into the saddle as the nights draw in, so time for a little update.

 

The Essex class project has some new updates and new images in that folder, the project is split into two parallel projects, the WWII version and the Korean version, the Korean version will be close to but not exactly the same as the WWII version, much of the weapons remained the same in the early part of the conflict but there were structural changes, mainly to the bridge and antenna fits. Below a couple of images of current progress, more in the photo album.

 

  

 

I've also started a new US carier project, based on the CVN Nimitz class, the exact hull hasnt been decided apon so many parts ( specifically weapons sponsons etc ) are built with variations in mind, a new photo album shows current work in progress and will hopefully fill up as time goes on.

 

 

Finally I got round to rendering a real life enviroment, its not perfect by a wide margin, but it was a good project to experiment with, a couple of images ( the best from the bunch ) are below and large ones can be collected from the respective vessel photo albums by download, as can all other images.

 

  

 

Having resisted FSx for so long, for all the usual reasons, too lazy to re learn all the new tools, too comfortable with FS9 and its modeling techniques, annoyed at having to reinvent the wheel yet again etc etc, I decided to push the Jetstream into FSx SP2/Accel.

 

Although the model is a port over and still retains full FS9 compatability I was frankly quite suprised at the increase in game play, I have no idea where it came from, nothing has changed since the last time I test flew the Blackhawk in FSx, but it was an enjoyable test flight non the less.

 

I'm still not sure FSx will be half the success that FS9 ever was, but that one single flight may well be the trigger I need to explore some more and see 'what all the fuss is about'.

Well with Xmas finally over, its time to get back to some projects, the Essex project is gathering pace and is joined by a Cruiser and some planes, hopefully in a few days I will have some renders of the planes and some better progress shots of the Cruiser but for now this image added to the ship folder will have to suffice.

 

I've been longing to make something that floats and debated on several types of vessel I see at work, however I dragged out the old Gmax model of and Essex carrier I had started years ago, after much work converting to Max8 its finally begining to look like an aircraft carrier should. The objective is to make a carrier for WWII, one for Korea and one for Vietnam, Essex carriers served in all these conflicts but over there life time were considerably upgraded and rebuilt, there final form looking nothing like there built form.

 

 

Some new pictures added in the library and hopefully more as time goes by.

Its been a long and strange week in Flight sim land and whilst looking for something new to do, l trawled back through some old Gmax models l had built and converted to Max, the Fw-190 and Ju-88 were both converted across from Gmax to Max, all the mapping and animation was lost but the mesh retained its shape so the hardest work was saved. Some mapping could have been saved as I found out later when converting the Seaking models, l suppose l could go back and redo the Fw-190 and Ju-88 but to be honest not much was lost so its no great shakes to carry on from here.

 

Anyway, heres a view of the Fw-190 now fully integrated into Max8, the previous image was from Gmax and rendered via Yafray and Yagmax

 

 

Having finally got around to begin scaning in hundreds of 35mm negative's I thought l'd post a few up here, check the Real Trains photo folder, these few are from the period when Felixstowe Freighliners were entrusted to class 56 on a regular basis. Its hard to believe this was ten years ago.

Like it or not, its a daily occurrence and something we have little control over, so I thought I'd share some of the more extreme weather we have seen at work this year.

 

First up is the fog, this is actually quite common for us at Felixstowe, however here is a view that many do not see whilst they are blundering around at ground level

 

Next up is rain, yes we get lots of it around here and yes we get hose pipe bans too ?, go figure. Our terminal is so large that it can have different weather patterns along its length and this photo shows that quite clearly.

 

Finally we have Thunderstorms, certainly the most impressive and this one did not disappoint, giving a fantastic light display before hand and an even better lightning display later.

 

The big images are in the Shipping folder, download to your PC for the big picture.

 

 

Well l've worked out how to add photo folders, so enjoy the images in there, if you want to see them in large size then use the download button to your PC, my spaces does a very good job of compressing them for the page, but saving them will get you the big picture.

Well, l've finally plucked up the courage to open a blog.

 

I suppose l'd better start with a little resume, my name is Michael, l work for the Port of Felixstowe as a crane engineer, l have a long standing interest in merchant and naval shipping so its a rather nice place to work, hopefully l'll post some images as time goes by.

 

For hobbies l model in 3DStudio Max8 and make models for Microsoft flightsims and trainsims so hopefully some images and renders of work and works in progress will find there way here as well.

 

Anyway, heres a rare public image of me at work, having some fun for a change with a visit on board the Hanjin Budapest