Just in case anyone missed it, JF have put up a load more pictures of their forthcoming 747 on the product page, and it's looking really nice. Check them out here:

https://www.justflight.com/product/747-classic

Just nice for doing BA009 in. Much nicer looking than the CLS one I had.

cockpit looks nice but outside modelling is so plain and simple ...

Looks like here is another 747 classic in works for XP11:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60xVxsPLNYw
I hope the JF 747 comes out, if not for FSX, at least for the new sim!

I've had my eye on this as well.  The aircraft systems list is impressive.  I agree about the model looking a little bland, but I'm more than willing to over look that if everything in the feature list is accurate.  I just wish is that it was a 707 instead, but maybe they'll consider it in the future. 

1 hour ago, Beardyman said:

cockpit looks nice but outside modelling is so plain and simple ...

Yup, I was largely referring to the cockpit shots looking nice, because they do, but I agree, the same cannot be said of the exteriors. I am assuming there is more work to be done on that score, at least I hope so, because the exterior model currently looks a bit uninspired to me. There's nothing actually desperately 'wrong' with it (well, nothing that cannot be fixed shall we say?), but it just doesn't 'pop'.

I think it is for the following reasons:

The metal texturing is a bit too clean and relying too much on PBR to do all the work, rather than a bit more observation and creativity with the texture imagery itself, as opposed to expecting the reflective index to cover all bases every time. PBR is good, but it isn't a magic cure all and it's no excuse for not using good observation. A good example of that is the landing gear, the real landing gear on airliners is pretty filthy - for obvious reasons - with paint scratches, ground in dirt, dried mud splashes, flecks of hot rubber off the tires melt onto the struts and such, but there are some bits which sometimes stand out too, such as a new part that's been put on with a shiny locking wire on it or some anodised coloured metal, and that makes the overall appearance of the landing gear more kaleidoscopic in terms of colours, tones and differing reflectivity.

Same with the tires, they get scrubbed, dirty, splashed, climbed on to reach the GPU socket, etc, etc, so it's very rare that you'll see a full set of tires on an airliner looking like they've all been fitted new, because that never happens at all, apart from when the airliner is brand new and rolling out of Everett.

The PBR on the exterior liveries is just completely wrong in terms of glossiness, or rather the lack thereof. I don't know where all these texture artists who do liveries are getting the idea that all airliners have matt paint jobs from, but the fact is most of them do not. They have shiny paint on them and it reflects details pretty well, and that was especially true on Seventies and Eighties paint jobs.

Note to graphic artists: Go and actually visit an airliner and look closely at it and note what you see, or, if you can't do that, look at some pictures on Airliners.net or somewhere and then compare them to your work. You will observe that you can clearly see things such as runway and taxiway markings sharply reflected in the paint and metal undersides of the airliner. I know you all love PBR and it is true it can do some good stuff, but airliners are not warplanes with scuffed matt paint!

Don't wish to be mean about everything though, I do think the cockpit looks great and the textures in there are good.

Edited March 9, 20206 yr by Chock

With all that nice VC work and PBR, it had better have a windshield rain effect.   JF are known for doing all kinds of good work and then leaving out that key immersive component for a modern-day add-on.  Let's hope they do it here.

I did some extensive beta testing of their in-house INS - along with other several competent people (So I know the 742 will navigate just fine... though we used a different 4 engine test-bed 🤪). 

I might pick this up, just to gaze at the triple Carousel INS installation in the VC.

9 hours ago, Chock said:

I am assuming there is more work to be done on that score, at least I hope so, because the exterior model currently looks a bit uninspired to me

I don't think they will do anything about it.

Changing or updating some of the textures will not help much, cause 3D model is too simple. 

That plane is already in development for a long time, and outside model has not changed from first shot i saw.

Unfortunately, with that level of modelling i will say pass. 

With respect to windshield rain effects, the JF 747 Classic includes TFDi Design's TrueGlass.

Avsim seems to have become the home of pre-release reviews that condemn out of hand something that no-one who is not a developer or beta tester for it has tried. Remarks such as "it had better have a windshield rain effect" reveal that the condemnation can take place even without the published product specifications having been read. Presumably it will not be long before someone comes along and mentions "MSFS", another object of uninformed comment.

Edited March 10, 20206 yr by Reader

55 minutes ago, Reader said:

Avsim seems to have become the home of pre-release reviews that condemn out of hand something that no-one who is not a developer or beta tester for it has tried. 

True, but by the same token, for a developer with their ear to the ground, it can offer some useful feedback as to how something they have spent a lot of time working on will be received, allowing them to delay a release and address such concerns. This is especially useful when one considers that any disappointment and ensuing 'bad press' or opinions for a released product tend to stay with the thing even after such things have been patched after release.

First impressions last; you only have to look at Aerosoft's CRJ, which is now a very good add-on thanks to some patches, but came in for a bit of a slating when it came out with a few issues initially. Shaking off that kind of reputation can be difficult for a product even after the issues have long been sorted out and the initial release excitement has faded.

Being a Brit, and liking older more obscure aircraft type add-ons, I've always unashamedly been a bit of a flag waver for Just Flight, but this does not mean that I will blindly praise anything they do. That's why I was fairly scathing about their exterior textures in the preview shots, because with a bit of batch file processing in Photoshop and a few manual tweaks, it is a comparatively easy fix for the most part. So it could easily be addressed prior to release and it was in this spirit that I made my comments concerning this.

Being an artist myself, I know it can be unpleasant to hear unfavourable comments on your work, but in the end if they have some justification, you can ultimately benefit from hearing them if you acknowledge their worth and don't get blindly defensive over what you have made.

Edited March 10, 20206 yr by Chock

Purely on the basis of some of the other Just Flight products that I have, I have to agree that constructive and informed criticism is indeed well worthwhile but it is not all of the type that you post. I am also a fan of the older aircraft models and also a Brit and I have indeed been disappointed with some of my Just Flight purchases which do sometimes seem to be not quite finished.

This is one of my favourites but, as is so often the case, has what must be a fairly basic error in its exterior model shadow.

I am still not ready to condemn an unreleased product based on an error in one that I do have, though do I respect your informed criticism of it.

8 hours ago, Beardyman said:

I don't think they will do anything about it.

Changing or updating some of the textures will not help much, cause 3D model is too simple. 

That plane is already in development for a long time, and outside model has not changed from first shot i saw.

Unfortunately, with that level of modelling i will say pass. 

From what I’ve read, the level of modelling regarding the FDE and systems could well exceed every other add-on that’s ever been produced. 
I’m excited for this more then any other release in flight simming. 
 

Personally. I feel the opposite and that they’ve spent TOO much time modelling the outside. 
 

And dare I say it, if external modelling is all you’re interested in - the screenshot syndrome - I doubt you’d have the skills to operate it. This isn’t for the ‘push button brigade’. 

3 hours ago, Doug47 said:

I doubt you’d have the skills to operate it. This isn’t for the ‘push button brigade

I respect every voice and opinion here, but how u come to ur judgement ? 

Do we know each other ?

Edited March 10, 20206 yr by Beardyman