P3Dv45 Cargo Door detail....

[Steve Dra 7,588]

Painting in general, you can go to an insane level of detail (if you're crazy enough)

Now.....don't let that statement make you think I'm the only crazy one around here...because when it comes to going to a level of detail way beyond what "normal" people would in day-to-day situations...let's talk about you simmers (yeah I'm one too...but in "painter" mode lately more than "simmer")
Raise your hand if you use :

1. Add-on aircraft vs only aircraft included in flightsim?
2. After-market scenery?
3. After-market airport(s)? 
4. After-market weather program?
5. After-market shaders?
6. After-market sounds?
7. After-market flight planner?
8. After-market subscription to Navigraph?
9. Online ATC service?
10. Hardware other than a keyboard, mouse and $10 joystick?
11. Built your own home cockpit in some form?

OK....I bet every person viewing this post can raise their hand on at least 3 of those items. 🙂  (And this is just a small sample of crazy things we do in the name of simming...let's not even get into whether or not you sit for 8 hours at the controls while crossing the pond, or care if Steve puts the correct SELCAL codes on his cockpit placard.....he does.... hehe)

Alright, now that we established that I'm not the only insane person in this loony bin....
Here is what I'm doing to make myself a nice A330 P2F aircraft (Google A330 P2F if you're curious and never heard the term before)

Challenges:

1. There is not a P2F model included in the Aerosoft package (nor did I expect or ever expect there will be)
   • I can "Paint" the cargo door on....but it will never open (obviously)
   • There are only 2 airlines flying it at the moment from what I can tell (DHL and Egypt Air Cargo)...sooo....very few pics of them to go by
   • Almost no good closeups of the cargo door to use as a guide when painting.
   • Custom bump maps will need to be created to add more than just flat paint to give the illusion of a real door there (that will still never open, hehe)

Anyway....I used up my allowance of typing today in this post....here are pics of the door under construction:

Just getting it in the right position and size is a challenge with the lack of reference material:
Gonna also add dirt and wear as she's a freighter...and will get some even though the few pics I've seen show her clean as a whistle.

Bump map work...there is a lot to do....add the effect for the door and lip itself, remove the bumps for the windows, doors and frames... and the fuse lines that no longer exist on the freighter.  And to top it off...you have to work on one texture and 2 additional channels....so almost 3 times the work just for one effect.

 

So far in the sim (without the dirt that I am adding now:  I put the plane at an angle to the sun where you can see the bump effect on the bottom of the cargo door.

 

Still a ton of work to do...after all..this is only 1/4 of the full paint (well less actually if you include engines and wings but thankfully they are plain Jane and only took a few mins to paint)...I still have 2 more fuse sections and the vertical tail to paint!  Ugh!

A lot of work for what will be a paint only a few simmers will enjoy....but I like flying freighters (when I eventually fly), and I like the challenge of doing something nobody is readily willing to do to produce what will be a cool-looking effect on a plane. 🙂

 

 

 

[thibodba57 462]

Makes me sick to my stomach, but.  I want, I want, I want! Not the air Hong Kong but the freighter haha.

[HighBypass 2,339]

Yes, Steve, you're a loony! (But don't stop being a loony!) 

[Steve Dra 7,588]

Just now, thibodba57 said:

Makes me sick to my stomach, but.  I want, I want, I want! Not the air Hong Kong but the freighter haha.

You won't like my textures I send you...after all...they're only adequate. 😉

 

[Steve Dra 7,588]

Working on the bump maps ....a lot to do but you can see where I took the window bumps off the nose section (as this part is reworked by the cargo conversion process and the window holes are pretty much removed).

Also took the bumps and reflections off the L2 and R2 doors since they are non-functional on the freighter (plus removed the stickers)

And added a "bump" for the rain gutter above the new cargo door.  Of course I added depth to the door itself to give it a 3d appearance.

[P_7878 6,593]

Thought-provoking post about our hobby...shows, you can spend lots and lots of time with laser-focus on a pinpoint or on the broad (flashlight) beam of the wide-view that the hobby also affords...(it all depends on our individual interest and how much time our individual life allows...🙂...)

Regarding the good list, up there, was personally crazy about (and adherent to)   the top 10, on regular basis, a decade ago, but many have dropped out more recently...

And, although I don’t fly Freight in the SIM much, I’ve always had a soft spot for those liveries...(so keep up the good work please)...!

[Steve Dra 7,588]

Tail is done.   Brand spankin' new. (Because it really is...the plane has only been B-LDO for a few weeks now)

 

The work you don't see is that in order for the textures to be totally correct on the doors....(no metal reflection off the lower door plate on the L4 door....because its not there)...you have to edit 3 maps, and 1 texture and 2 channels on EACH map...for a total of NINE items you have to touch (some is painting, some is removing things).....JUST to capture this ONE effect properly.  Ugh....it is a LOT of work!!!

Forget to edit the bump map or the Metal map.....and you'll see this:

 

What drives a lot of new painters nuts is trying to figure out why they take that metal plate off the main texture map....but still see what "appears" to be the plate...when in reality...that is actually the "metal'ness" and "Bump" of those 2, totally separate maps acting on that area.

[Steve Dra 7,588]

And the finished paint... 🙂

 

[regis9 4,014]

Uh oh, I answered yes to 1-10 and 11 is a life-goal item (or yes if a couple of goflight modules count 🙂 )

[Steve Dra 7,588]

27 minutes ago, regis9 said:

Uh oh, I answered yes to 1-10 and 11 is a life-goal item (or yes if a couple of goflight modules count 🙂 )

Hehe....a few of us in the same boat Dave (or is it plane? LOL)

As far as item 11....I was thinking more in the lines of this:

 

 

I just released the paint....

https://forum.aerosoft.com/index.php?/files/file/5565-air-hongkongdhl-b-ldo-a330p2f-rr/

 

[regis9 4,014]

Ok that definitely falls more into the life goal category then!

Repaint looks great!

[Steve Dra 7,588]

3 hours ago, regis9 said:

Ok that definitely falls more into the life goal category then!

Repaint looks great!

Yeah I agree.....but the only thing that would be a detractor is that you're pretty much locked into one plane with that setup.  Not that its a horrible thing....but I like variety.  I think in a few years VR is going to make huge leaps and we'll all have small VR headsets, and gloves and slippers that will make our appendages come to life in the VR world (I know we have some of that now...but the technology is in its infancy I feel).  So when we put them all on....we're really in the cockpit as far as our brain is concerned. (I see tactile feedback with resistance in the appendage-devices so when we press a rudder peddle, the slipper applies force-feedback as if a peddle was really there....and when we touch a switch and flick it...same type of effect. 🙂 )

 

[thibodba57 462]

I posted on the Aerosoft forums.  I'll repost here also cause I have no shame. Thanks Steve for all your work on stuff like this!🙂

I succesfully hijacked @steve dra's Freighter!  I just wanted to show a preview of planes no one asked for but because I love the liveries I decided to make.  Its just what I do.  Anyways, bit of back story, Atlas has on numerous occasions over the last 3 years stated they are constantly looking at doing A330s because of the availability in feedstock in comparison to 767s.  These are the three concepts I have of what it would look like if operated by them.  For those not in the know.  Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings is the parent company of Atlas, Polar, and Southern.  They are also a large operator of Prime Air aircraft.  The Prime Aircraft isn't finished yet.  But I wanted to post a preview before I left for work tomorrow.  All will be posted when I get back in 10 days.

 

Edited January 14, 2020 by thibodba57

[SP2472 2,302]

Great job Steve, downloaded and installed your Air Hong Kong A333F...not sure I'll use it since this airline only flies in Asian and I have no scenery covering this area.

Maybe when FS 2020 comes!   :-)

[regis9 4,014]

23 hours ago, Steve Dra said:

Yeah I agree.....but the only thing that would be a detractor is that you're pretty much locked into one plane with that setup.  Not that its a horrible thing....but I like variety.  I think in a few years VR is going to make huge leaps and we'll all have small VR headsets, and gloves and slippers that will make our appendages come to life in the VR world (I know we have some of that now...but the technology is in its infancy I feel).  So when we put them all on....we're really in the cockpit as far as our brain is concerned. (I see tactile feedback with resistance in the appendage-devices so when we press a rudder peddle, the slipper applies force-feedback as if a peddle was really there....and when we touch a switch and flick it...same type of effect. 🙂 )

Great points.  I think the tactile gloves etc will be the key, that could be an amazingly immersive experience.

I had an opportunity earlier this year to spend some unexpected disposable income on myself so looked at building a very basic 737 cockpit that was still going to be many many thousands of dollars.  In the end I decided to go with some other high end gear (new throttle, yoke, pedals) that I could use with almost all aircraft as like you I like to fly a variety of different aircraft and I saved my self quite a chunk of money in the process.

However, if I ever win the lottery, my new mansion will have an entire wing (pardon the pun) dedicated to a home cockpit simulators of various types 🙂