P3dV4 Shiny MD 80 MadDog in the sun.

[Steve Dra 7,588]

Really enjoyed David's post showcasing the excellent Leonardo MD 80 in her best colors...which is AA of course.

However, the AA version that came with the package is soooo ready for the boneyard, so badly maintained that I know every AA employee seeing her like this cringes and says "we'd never let a plane in service get that bad!"

If only there was a painter out there who'd be willing to bring her back to her glory days, when she looked something like this:

If only...............................

[scottb613 1,188]

6 minutes ago, Steve Dra said:

Really enjoyed David's post showcasing the excellent Leonardo MD 80 in her best colors...which is AA of course.

Ehm Ehhmm...

:)

OK - given - shiny metal does look pretty good - had a fantastic shot saved somewhere of an AA MD landing at KSAN - one of the best airliner shots I've ever seen - can't seem to find it at the moment...

Regards,
Scott

Edited March 5, 2018 by scottb613

[Steve Dra 7,588]

4 minutes ago, scottb613 said:

Ehm Ehhmm...

Well SOME mis-guided simmers have an affinity for an Airline that changed its branding so many times it made my head spin.... was it USAir, USAirways, bare metal, red stripes, red & blue stripes, all (hidious) blue with a monochrome US Flag flying the wrong way on the starboard vertical stab (that's the right side since I know you have no nautical background), a mix between a great alirline's livery (America West), and something from out of the blue....I could go on. Like all bad airlines, they were absorbed by  great one!! 

Anyway...good luck finding a painter who'd ever paint USAir on any plane for you! 

Ribbing App disabled....

End Program.

[Nyxx 6,993]

Steve that looks stunning.

Please let me know when it’s done. Really looking forward to your release. 

Thanks as always for your hard/brilliant work.

Dave.

[Wink207 78]

4 hours ago, Steve Dra said:

Well SOME mis-guided simmers have an affinity for an Airline that changed its branding so many times it made my head spin.... was it USAir, USAirways, bare metal, red stripes, red & blue stripes, all (hidious) blue with a monochrome US Flag flying the wrong way on the starboard vertical stab (that's the right side since I know you have no nautical background), a mix between a great alirline's livery (America West), and something from out of the blue....I could go on. Like all bad airlines, they were absorbed by  great one!! 

Anyway...good luck finding a painter who'd ever paint USAir on any plane for you! 

Ribbing App disabled....

End Program.

I remember when USAir changed their call sign to "Cactus" . One of the great call signs topped only by "Speedbird", spoken with a Brit accent :)

[Phantom88 3,287]

Looking Good!!!

[Paul Golding 92]

Outstanding Steve!

[Steve Dra 7,588]

Thanks guys!  I guess my "if someone would only paint it" didn't fool too many of you..LOL

18 hours ago, Nyxx said:

Thanks as always for your hard/brilliant work

Thanks Dave.  There are select simmers who beta test my paints (especially the hard ones)...I can't be trusted to QA my paints after staring at them for days and days...painting every detail I can find. 

17 hours ago, Wink207 said:

I remember when USAir changed their call sign to "Cactus" . One of the great call signs topped only by "Speedbird", spoken with a Brit accent :)

Hey Wink...yeah I've always liked "Cactus" and Speedbird for that matter.  When listening to ATC you have to know the callsigns or you'll be lost. 

 

5 hours ago, Paul Golding said:

Outstanding Steve!

Thanks Paul!

We go waaaaay back don't we?   

I was recently looking at some of my oooooold FFG and SGA paints....OMG what horrible quality compared to what we paint now-a-days...then again most planes had all their textures on 1 or 2 1024x1024 texture maps...this MD has 3 4096x4096 maps just for the fuse! (for those who don't realize...that is not only 4 times the size of 1024 maps...it's the square of the number 4 so actually they are 16 times bigger!) 

[skully 1,045]

Epic paint Steve!   

 

Thank you sir!

[Steve Dra 7,588]

28 minutes ago, skully said:

Epic paint Steve!   

 

Thank you sir!

Thanks Skully!

Somehow I thought you'd enjoy this paint....just can't figure out why I thought that.

[skully 1,045]

4 hours ago, Steve Dra said:

Thanks Skully!

Somehow I thought you'd enjoy this paint....just can't figure out why I thought that.

[mwilk 1,106]

On 3/5/2018 at 11:19 AM, Steve Dra said:

Well SOME mis-guided simmers have an affinity for an Airline that changed its branding so many times it made my head spin.... was it USAir, USAirways, bare metal, red stripes, red & blue stripes, all (hidious) blue with a monochrome US Flag flying the wrong way on the starboard vertical stab (that's the right side since I know you have no nautical background), a mix between a great alirline's livery (America West), and something from out of the blue....I could go on. Like all bad airlines, they were absorbed by  great one!! 

Anyway...good luck finding a painter who'd ever paint USAir on any plane for you! 

Ribbing App disabled....

End Program.

Easy with the US Air shots there buddy. I saw all of them come and go. Four mergers in 36 years. My least favorite was the America West merger. Is the clean AA aluminum available yet? I'm just getting ready to purchase the MD-80 and want to fly it in the colors of the airline I retired from.

[Steve Dra 7,588]

1 hour ago, mwilk said:

Easy with the US Air shots there buddy. I saw all of them come and go. Four mergers in 36 years. My least favorite was the America West merger. Is the clean AA aluminum available yet? I'm just getting ready to purchase the MD-80 and want to fly it in the colors of the airline I retired from.

Hey Mike....I agreed to paint a USAir EMB-120 for this joker a few years ago and he's been bugging me ever since.

Anyway....I secretly like USAir (but like AWE more)....but don't tell Scott...he'll never stop bugging me for paints!

Anyway....she is not ready yet, still have a lot of work to do on the details. However select simmers, esp ones who've worked on her and live in AA land, have been reported to been seen flying early versions of my paints. 

[mwilk 1,106]

13 minutes ago, Steve Dra said:

Hey Mike....I agreed to paint a USAir EMB-120 for this joker a few years ago and he's been bugging me ever since.

Anyway....I secretly like USAir (but like AWE more)....but don't tell Scott...he'll never stop bugging me for paints!

Anyway....she is not ready yet, still have a lot of work to do on the details. However select simmers, esp ones who've worked on her and live in AA land, have been reported to been seen flying early versions of my paints. 

I didn't work the AA version because I retired right after the merger but I worked a lot of the US Air Maddogs. It was an absolutely brutal airplane to work in the bins. There are three cargo bins and they hold a lot of whatever you're loading.

[thibodba57 462]

I can promise everyone that this plane is already superior to the provided American livery.  The mix of reflection with signs of many hours in the air is evident.  Steve did an awesome job and I can't wait to see add more to the textures.