Sabertooth

Also we have created a site for the major projects themselves. Check out www.carrierpilots.com

Also, an update from Badger with the newest Texture added to the Tomcat. :smilewink:

It is our goal to release them one at a time untill they are all complete and make a giant mod out of it Super.

This baby is ready to touch down. :thumbup: Racer:"Oh ya!! 16,000 poly main gear and doors reduced down to 2,900 with no loss of detail! Who's your daddy.. Total pieces thus far in the model = 302"

See ya on the three wire. :thumbup: :pilotfly:

I will keep the updates coming as they are posted. :smilewink: Badger has posted some new pics. He is really going to town on it. And Racer posted another update as well. Racer:"I have finished the weapons pilons and the intakes and fan. We also now have the top side detail on here. All that is left model wise is the main gear, airbrakes ,tail hook and nozzle details. We are getting closer....... F-14D Total Polygon Count: 39,204"

Cockpit and pilot texture maps and animations finished. :thumbup:

Some updated cockpit pics.

Aeroscout, I have since talked to Racer and he has enlarged the heads and moved the arm. And Janko I can promise their is something "special" about someone in the cockpit. I had to ask Racer about it to so dont worry if you did not get it the first time.

Looks like someone is behind the controls now. Racer:"A big step was taken here with the introduction of the pilot and weapons officer into the model. I was able to get each person down to 8,500 poly's each which was no small feat. Now it is time to animate and texture map them. I though they came out very well and should work out well for us. (Can you see anything unique here)? (No hints Badger) Total F-14D Polygon Count: 32,430 (Yep...they were a big poly hit )"

A little update from Badger, Badger:"Here's an update on the texture front. Spent 10 hours today getting the technique right and perfecting the lines on the belly. I have changed my MO and will be able to be more precise with the lines. Basically I've shifted the project out of photoshop and into Illustrator. I'll only use photoshop for the photographic details (like the bays and the pilot/RIO and boy are you guys going to love them, wait and see) and weathering. That keeps my file sizes down and everything gets done in vector and will have a higher output quality. Better order in the Photoshop files makes everything easier. It's more of a production line kinda gig, Ordnung muss sein, jah? So, I need to redo the lines on the top (burning daylight to quote Racer) and I'll revisit weathering. I'm sure the final result will reflect the hours I'm putting into this. Phew, time for a cuppa and a break." "Every single line drawn by hand. In Illustrator I have better control over all elements and their strokes etc, though I haven't gone into emphasizing anything yet." "Perfect transistion from one part of the texture to the next." "All this has to be redone." "Good thing I don't go out anymore " As you can see everything is coming along smoothly. :pilotfly:

Ladies and Gentlemen, dont push the ejection button just yet. But this baby is lookin smooth. Racer:"Well we have completed the cockpit and its mapping on this beast! Now it is time for some personel manning the controls. Total Polygon Count Thus far: 21,045"

"What are you doin Mave, we don't have fuel for this." :megalol: Enjoy! :thumbup: Racer:"I have finished up the fueling probe. I have also added a short animation movie. Now on to the cockpit! Whooohooo " And grab the popcorn for the short film. http://www.virtualnavairops.com/FTP/VNAOMods/probe.wmv

And another update for ya.... Racer:"These shots are showing the left and right nose gear steering action. This baby has 90 degree left and right steering to be able to manuver on those tight flight decks. The last shot shows the cat tow bar in it's launch position into the shuttle. Total time for cleaning up the pieces and animating them. 7 hours Next step is mapping all 32 pieces now to the detail texture map. Total F-14D Polygon Count to Date: 15,065"

Torwak looks like Racer heard ya and got back to work. :lol: Racer:"I have now completed all of the animations for the nose gear system. Here are a couple of sequence shots. The last one is the nose wheel compression."

Gear, NOW!! :thumbup:

:megalol: Well now that I can breath again, a little update date for you guys. Oh and Bobby, I am just posting pic's for the masses Racer modeling it with countless others like EricJ and Badger Texturing the aircraft. Racer:"I have uploaded 2 new texture maps for everyone to have a crack at painting if you wish. For those who have used the maps already supplied you will see a slight shift (the size is the same) in some of the pieces as I had to recreate them. Got burned with the 2008 max to Max 8 conversion. I am sticking strickly with the Max 8 version for all Lock-On models till ED comes up with the tools. This will be the last time these 2 maps are touched by me. (I promise ) Total F-14D Polygon Count to Date: 13,084"

Put'n on the Brakes.

Racer is still working on the Animations for the Tomcat...he is cookin with gas baby. :pilotfly: Racer:" Things are going very well with the F-14D wing animations. In the first shot this is the first flap position which is the low speed manuvering position of the sweep. Notice the front slat is also deployed 7 degrees at this attitude. In the sencond picture, as we go to full flaps for landing, the slat extends to 17 degrees and the flap are down 35 degrees. Also, the spoilers will pop up to their landing position of 15 degrees. The aileron will be able to move independently."

Hold on to your socks ladies and gentlemen. The F-14D Tomcat is getting some animations. :thumbup: Some notes from Racer. "I have decided to start adding some of the animations onto the F-14D model. Makes it look like it is getting somewhere. You can see the stabilizers and the rudders at there max throws. I will go after the wings and their components next." "Here are the wings in the various positions. It is interesting that the model in its normal state will have the wings sweep back to the 68 degrees high speed flight attitude. It is when we drop the first notch flaps when they will swing to the 20 degree position. I am thinking that with the first notch flaps position I will still have the flaps in the up postion even though the flight model will have them at first notch down. This will give the illusion of manuvering with the wings out without flaps hanging down. It is when we fo full flaps that the flaps will move and the spoilers pop up. Got to love the Lock-On workarounds. :)"

Racer is at it again. Some Super Hornet updates this time.

The F-14D is starting to come alive.... Racer: "Well I finally got my newer version of 3ds Max 2008 running on my Macbook Pro . This newer version has much better math modifiers when it comes to reducing the polys. In version 8 the lowest I could get the fuselage down to was 13,135 before distortion occured. In this new one you see pictured the fuslage is only 4356 poly's with NO distortion at all. So when we add it all together thus far, here are the results. Total Polygon count to date: 11,293 I have had to re-do the fuslage texture map as I have had to separate the components of the fuslage a little differently. (Always learning.....it is the best part)" Racer: "Well guys, I have finished the fuselage of the F14-D whewwww. As you can see from the different colors each one is its own texture to keep the writing right side up and keep pieces from overlaping other pieces. This should keep the F14D texture guys busy for awhile. . Now we are onto the F-18F fuslage to get it to this same point before we come back to the F-14D to start the little detail pieces. Total F-14D Polygon Count to Date: 11,838"

The Super Hornet is starting to come to life...:thumbup:

Rhino...you were thinking right up my alley kid. :thumbup: :pilotfly:

Eric...I just emailed them to Racer.