616 Sqn Spitfire Mk VII

[Greebo]

Thanks to Lyric1 for finding me the info for this skin.

This 616 Squadron Spitfire Mk VII was flown by New Zealander Flt. Lt. Jack Cleland. Cleland shot down a pair of FW 190s over their airfield in France in June 1944 but while doing so was hit by flak. He was later rescued after bailing out over the channel. Shortly after this incident Meteor Cleland became the only New Zealander to fly for the USAAF's 8th Air Force when he was transferred to the 363rd FS, flying Mustangs operationally for a couple of months. He returned to 616 Squadron in September just as they were transitioning to the Meteor but took the time to visit his American colleagues' airfield in this Spitfire. The lower surfaces of this aircraft were painted in the undersized D Day stripes used by the RAF's high altitude Spitfire squadrons.

The Mk VII is considered an acceptable substitution for the AH Mk VIII, the main difference being the Mk VII had a pressurised cockpit and the Mk VIII didn't. Both types employed the Spifire's normal or high altitude extended wing tips from time to time.

[lyric1]

 

[Nefarious]

Looking good!

[FTJR]

 

[Devil 505]

 

[Vraciu]

I approve. 

Lol

Are the wing blisters a bump map effect or are they part of the default skin rendering?   That's quite an effect. 

[hgtonyvi]

That kinda resembles the spit14 don't it?

[Greebo]

The wing blisters on the Spit are part of the 3D model rather than the bump map. There are some smaller bump mapped raised objects on the skin, like the scoop above the RH exhaust stack and the elevator trim tab linkage fairings.

The Spit 14 is similar at a glance but has a few visual differences to the 8. The nose is longer on the 14 with big blisters above the exhausts to cover the larger Griffon engine. It also has the cannons outboard of 0.5 inch guns rather than inboard of .303 inch guns. There is also the 14's five rather than four-bladed propeller although that isn't visible in the air. There are similarities between the marks as well, both aircraft having the smaller ailerons, larger vertical tail and retracting tail gear.

[Vraciu]

The wing blisters on the Spit are part of the 3D model rather than the bump map. There are some smaller bump mapped raised objects on the skin, like the scoop above the RH exhaust stack and the elevator trim tab linkage fairings.

The Spit 14 is similar at a glance but has a few visual differences to the 8. The nose is longer on the 14 with big blisters above the exhausts to cover the larger Griffon engine. It also has the cannons outboard of 0.5 inch guns rather than inboard of .303 inch guns. There is also the 14's five rather than four-bladed propeller although that isn't visible in the air. There are similarities between the marks as well, both aircraft having the smaller ailerons, larger vertical tail and retracting tail gear.

How do you get them to appear so smooth?

I am doing aileron linkages on the Pony but they look nowhere near as rounded.   That's some magic you got going on there.

[Greebo]

The scoop and fairings are not just bump mapped, they are also painted onto the main map as well. It was years ago I did that stuff on the Spits but I would probably have made the scoop from an ellipse shape with one end cut off, the centre portion softly of this erased, the top turned white and the bottom black.