Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Custom Skins => Topic started by: whiteman on November 14, 2008, 12:24:58 PM
-
Your F6F's skins are amazing and would like you to work on this if you'd like or can.
I came across Images of VF-17 F6F-5's, they were formed later after the the original F4U squad became VF-84. Formed in 1944 and flew from the USS Hornet during the Tokyo raids of 1945. The only one i could find images of both sides is 35. I highlighted the skull and cross bones which is hard to see. The second & third are from Wings Pallette, I haven't found any pics that show the white ring around the front except in artwork like the fourth.
(http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h141/whiteman78/WII%20Profile%20Images/vf17f6f-1.jpg)
(http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h141/whiteman78/WII%20Profile%20Images/vf17f6f-2.jpg)
(http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h141/whiteman78/WII%20Profile%20Images/vf17f6f-3.png)
(http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h141/whiteman78/WII%20Profile%20Images/vf17f6f-4.jpg)
EDIT: wingtip image
(http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h141/whiteman78/WII%20Profile%20Images/vf17f6f-6.jpg)
I was also looking VF-83 F6F's and F4U's with the Double Triangle on the tail and right wing but not having any luck finding images. Mainly the F6F-5 "Death N Destruction" that is on page 69 of of Barret Tillman's "Hellcat Aces of WW2". I haven't ordered the book yet so i have nothing to scan.
-
VF-17 skins for something without bent wings is just blasphemous. :O
-
LOL i know right, but i need just cause for flying when I do. :D
-
I'm happy to do those F6Fs for you Whiteman, although it might be a while before I can get round to it. Currently I'm working on Popkov's La-5FN, then there's a BPF F6F for Redd and a B-25H that Lyric1 found for me. Plus any default skins that HTC come up with. Also I have some real world stuff that is eating into my spare time at the moment.
-
Awesome! I know what your talking about I'm a graphic designer and my schedule is loaded and don't really have time for much of anything when I do get home. If I ever have free time I'm going to have to quiz you and saxman on what you use to create your templates (panel lines, rivets, the detailed stuff).
-
TTT, sorry for a new squadie to see. :salute
-
Please keep us informed as to when you just 'bout got it done Greebo :)
-
Sorry, for the last couple of months I've been decorating a flat on most of my days off and evenings and so have had little free time for skinning. We have just about finished it now though so I should have some more spare time. I'm half way through a nice B-25H that Lyric1 found for me and after that I'll start the VF-17 Hellcat.
-
Your F6F's skins are amazing and would like you to work on this if you'd like or can.
I came across Images of VF-17 F6F-5's, they were formed later after the the original F4U squad became VF-84. Formed in 1944 and flew from the USS Hornet during the Tokyo raids of 1945. The only one i could find images of both sides is 35. I highlighted the skull and cross bones which is hard to see. The second & third are from Wings Pallette, I haven't found any pics that show the white ring around the front except in artwork like the fourth.
(http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h141/whiteman78/WII%20Profile%20Images/vf17f6f-1.jpg)
(http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h141/whiteman78/WII%20Profile%20Images/vf17f6f-2.jpg)
(http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h141/whiteman78/WII%20Profile%20Images/vf17f6f-3.png)
(http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h141/whiteman78/WII%20Profile%20Images/vf17f6f-4.jpg)
EDIT: wingtip image
(http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h141/whiteman78/WII%20Profile%20Images/vf17f6f-6.jpg)
I was also looking VF-83 F6F's and F4U's with the Double Triangle on the tail and right wing but not having any luck finding images. Mainly the F6F-5 "Death N Destruction" that is on page 69 of of Barret Tillman's "Hellcat Aces of WW2". I haven't ordered the book yet so i have nothing to scan.
I have a video of a white nosed f6f crash landing on a cv. That is about all you can see on it though.
-
Please keep us informed as to when you just 'bout got it done Greebo :)
Off-topic:
I just read your signature, tried it, and laughed so hard I blew chunks of cheese out of my nose!
-
Dont worry lyric the only skin vf-17 needs is a crashed or on fire skin! :devil
-
Here is my VF-17 Hellcat skin. One thing I'm not too sure about is the double square markings on the wings. Were the squares painted on both wingtips top and bottom as I've done it or only on the top right and bottom left wingtips? The photos only show the top right wingtip. Profiles and diecast models show them on all four wingtips but these are never too reliable a source.
(http://www.gfg06.dial.pipex.com/screenshots2/VF17_F6F_SC1.jpg)
(http://www.gfg06.dial.pipex.com/screenshots2/VF17_F6F_SC2.jpg)
-
Looking nice Greebo!
Also, what terrain was that second screenshot taken in?
-
Looks great, thank you very much! I'll see if i can find pics of the other wing.
-
Thanks guys, the squares looked a little odd being so close to the US insignia. They could be right, but thought it wouldn't hurt to make sure. None of my books show a VF-17 Hellcat photo with that part on view.
The terrain is my MA terrain project called CraterMA. I've been working on it off and on for a couple of years now and its close to being ready to submit. There is a thread in the Terrain Editor forum about it and I've just added a link in that thread which will let you download the terrain files for offline use. This is the thread:
http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,216707.0.html
-
looks very very nice greebo, thanks!
(dude, Tex, F4U1, F4U1A, and F6F runs together ftw!)
-
Thanks guys, the squares looked a little odd being so close to the US insignia. They could be right, but thought it wouldn't hurt to make sure. None of my books show a VF-17 Hellcat photo with that part on view.
The terrain is my MA terrain project called CraterMA. I've been working on it off and on for a couple of years now and its close to being ready to submit. There is a thread in the Terrain Editor forum about it and I've just added a link in that thread which will let you download the terrain files for offline use. This is the thread:
http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,216707.0.html
Every photo I found shows the right wing of the planes only, go figure. Only thing I can think of is that all the photo's I see of F6F's from late WWII that used geometric shapes for ID only have the markings on the right wing. Profiles are the only place i see the shapes on both wings. Sure as i say this someone will prove me wrong.
-
Markings on just the non-insignia panels was the more common arrangement. There were exceptions however, VF-9 on the USS Lexington for instance had diagonal white stripes upper right and lower left. Later on, this air group was replaced by VF-94, who used the same scheme, but added the stripes to the other two panels as well. I also found a photo of a TBM with stripes on all four panels, which was handy since the AH TBM has mirrored wings.
I'll leave this skin a week or so before submitting it, maybe some more info will turn up. Failing that, I'll submit it with just the upper right and lower left markings since that was the normal setup for the period.
-
Thanks Greebo, looks great! can't wait to use it and your new B-25H.
-
(http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h141/whiteman78/WII%20Profile%20Images/vf17f6f-1.jpg)
(http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h141/whiteman78/WII%20Profile%20Images/vf17f6f-6.jpg)
(http://www.gfg06.dial.pipex.com/screenshots2/VF17_F6F_SC1.jpg)
Greebo, I have been looking at the B&W photos and your skin, and I have to come to the conclusion that the B&W photos use either a different shade of blue, or perhaps black, in the checkers pattern. It is not the same shade as the fuselage (the tail is noticably darker) and I can see a demarcation line on the checkers on the wings as well.
Any idea what other shades might have been used? Doesn't look like simply showing the fuselage colors underneath.
-
I'd like to think you are right Krusty, as it would make it a more interesting colour scheme. However the only non-white colour I have ever heard of being used in this type of USN scheme is yellow. This was used together with white on the markings for some squadrons that operated from the smaller US carriers.
I think its more likely it is just a trick of the light. Looking at the shadow on the deck of the number 35 aircraft photo, the sun is very bright, directly above and a little behind the aircraft. The fuselage on the F6F tapers to the top from quite low down, so almost all the side will be in sunlight, while the vertical stabilizer and rudder is in shadow.
-
You shouldn't feel bad about any confusion about late war USN markings. It was confusing to those present at the time and unit markings changed twice in about a six month period, meaning some units had 3 different markings at the same time since not all aircraft in all units were changed before the next iteration of markings was instituted.
Generally, upper right and lower left wing markings were later than both upper wing marking arrangements.
Here is some info about markings:
"Back on 7 October 1944, ComAirPac issued direction for a standard set of twenty-eight geometrical designs for the CV and CVL class carriers that made up Task Force 58. These designs were assigned to the carriers themselves, not to air groups, and were applied to all aircraft of the attached air group as long as it was aboard.
On 28 July 1945, a 2d Fast Carrier Task Force (TF-38) order assigning one or two alphabet letter characters to each fast carrier (not air group) went into effect. The impetus behind the change was that in the whirl of combat the geometric markings were often difficult to discern and, when described in a report or, worse, over the radio, seemed to lose something in the translation. Thus it was sometime difficult to decipher the involvement of aircraft from different ships in various actions. Aboard the FCTF flagship, VAdm McCain ordered that something be done to remove confusion, that a new, Navy-wide, system for CV, CVL, and CVB carriers be created. In the Operations shop, Ops Officer Captain John S. “Jimmy” Thach turned the problem over to his assistant who decided that letters were the answer and assigned letters, one or two, two these classes of carriers (CVEs had their own system of stripes and colors), specifying 24 inch high, block capital letters with 2 inches wide strokes to be placed on both sides of the vertical tail surfaces and the upper right and lower left wing tips of the aircraft assigned to the carrier. These codes remained in effect until 7 November 1946. These codes were:
A - USS Cowpens (CVL 25)
AA - USS Lake Champlain (CV 39)
B - USS San Jacinto (CVL 30)
C - USS Monterey (CVL 26)
CC - USS Saratoga (CV 3)
D - USS Independence (CVL 22)
E - USS Intrepid (CV 11)
EE - USS Coral Sea (CVB 43)
F - USS Essex (CV 9)
FF - USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVB 42)
H - USS Lexington (CV 16)
K - USS Langley (CVL 27)
L - USS Randolph (CV 15)
LL - USS Franklin (CV 13)
M - USS Enterprise (CV 6)
P - USS Belleau Wood (CVL 24)
PP - USS Ranger (CV 4)
R - USS Cabot (CVL 28)
RR - USS Yorktown (CV 10)
S - USS Hornet (CV 12)
SS - USS Bon Homme Richard (CV 31)
T - USS Bataan (CVL 29)
TT - USS Bennington (CV 20)
U - USS Hancock (CV 19)"
This can be seen in Greebo's (excellent) skins of our F4U-4 (VBF-94) and one he made for our F6F-5 (VF-94). Both were the same Air Group on the Lexington, but the F4U-4 is post July, 1945 and the F6F-5 is pre July, 1945.
-
Bingo.....
(http://www.navsource.org/archives/02/021285.jpg)
-
Bingo.....
(http://www.navsource.org/archives/02/021285.jpg)
? No picture?
-
didn't show up for me either, but went to the site he got the image from and it shows the shape on the top of the left wing also(like he skined it) and not on the bottom of the right wing. Hell a there's a second image of a deck full that show it that way LOL.
here's the second image, will probably only work for me. if so go to
www.navsource.org>Aircraft Carriers>USS HORNET CV12
scroll down to find two picks of VF-17 Hellcats. NS021285 & NS021277
http://www.navsource.org/archives/02/021277.jpg (http://www.navsource.org/archives/02/021277.jpg)
-
Sorry guys, I'll stop trying to link from other sites. It often appears to work when I do it initially but not later and no one else can see the photo at all.
Still the photos are handy. A VT-17 TBM would work on the AH skin and the rest of the site may bring up some other skinnable USN schemes.
-
Just incredibly awesome stuff! I would like to get into that but not sure how.
-
That TBM would be nice to match the F6F, lot of cool images.
-
after looking at those photos, that reminds me my grandpa gave us an prettythang load of similar type photos from all over the place. I'll see if i can find them
-
Thanks Whiteman, new sources of info are always welcome.
Getback, if you want to get into skinning you will need some sort of graphics editing software, Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, Gimp or similar. MS Paint won't hack it though, it needs to be a program that can break an image up into layers. You should also download the skin viewer from HTC's website.
Creating a skin is a long process though, it takes me a month to do a new template and I've been doing it for years. It is a lot easier if you are proficient with your graphics editing software. You need to create all the panel lines, rivets, colour scheme, markings and weathering as seperate layers. The program merges these all into one image when you save it as a bmp file for the game.
The "Skins Submissions" thread in this forum links to instructions about how to get started.