Military AI Works

I've been reading up on the Blackburn Buccaneer and there's some great paint schemes that I have found in the in the "On Target" book I have on the subject (must give the painters here some new material to work with). I know the aircraft was high on the list of "most wanted" I canvassed for a while back, so I think I might give it a go now that the Vulcan packages are largely done. I also have some nice plans that Andy at ACG sent me and some good photos I took of the example at Duxford.

I need to do a bit more research but I think I want to build a Royal Navy S2D and a Royal Air Force S2B. I'll probably do two models of each - one with an animated wing fold (working like an xml coded open/closed canopy on a parked aircraft) and without a wing fold so users can choose to have a flight line with the mix they want. With FS9 and FSX models, that's 8 models. I think I may limit the number of load-out options because that just makes things so much more complicated when designing for both sims, particularly if I discover a mistake late on and I have to do some retrospective correction through the LODs. I think adding the S1 with it's different engine shape is a variation too far, so I'll forget that I think.

Does that sound OK?

John

Better than ok, John - it sounds like a great plan.

Okay John?????

I would bet there are some members who would quite gladly have your children!!!

music to my ear's John

Just one word......wwwwwwwwwwwhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhoooooooooooooooooooopppppppppppppppppppppeeeeeeeeeee!!

Stewart Pearson wrote:Okay John?????

I would bet there are some members who would quite gladly have your children!!!

Me included!!

Really looking forward to the Buccaneer John (although slightly disappointed about no S1, but you're the maestro), a decent AI version is well overdue.

In terms of wing variations, there is another one to consider; the Buccs used during the Gulf War had the older S1-style wingtips as this was felt to give a smoother ride. Would that influence your decision on the earlier variant in anyway? *whistles innocently*

Sounds like a great plan and one that I can't wait for. Good luck with the project

Let me think about the S1 Andy and how I might manage the alternative shape. It might be better to start with that one. I'll have a better feel once I start experimenting with the modelling in Gmax. More reading to do yet.

John

John. We currently have no Buccaneers - and you are asking if only 8 Buccaneers will be alright? I don't think I can really give a sensible answer.

On loadouts, for the RAF, the ubiquitous 2x slipper tanks is a must but with Martel, Sea Eagle, Gulf War (laser designator and smart bombs) and RAFG loads I could see it getting out of control so I will leave it to you.

For the SAAF S.50, I think that a standard slipper tank version would suffice, as although they were for the A-S role their missiles were different, AS-30's, and they quite often carried SNEB's, bombs and AS-30s for their A-G actions. It would mean another couple of loads there.

John Young wrote:Let me think about the S1 Andy and how I might manage the alternative shape. It might be better to start with that one. I'll have a better feel once I start experimenting with the modelling in Gmax. More reading to do yet.

John

Would be marvellous if you could John, but understand that it may be a lot of work. It was always a sadness that Flying Stations never released their Mk 1 for FS9 as well (I do dabble in FSX, but not much) and we really don't have a decent S2 in FS9 either, flyable or AI, so you will be filling an awful ot of gaps. BTW, you have mail.

The two books I now have are overwhelming me with choices so I just need a bit of time to work this through and see what I can do sensibly. I want to avoid the situation I had with the Vulcan where it looked OK in FS9 but once converted for FSX, I found the "dent" in the upper wings in the stronger FSX lighting. Going back over the first 3 LODs in 9 models to take it out was a real pain. If I were to just provide 1 example of each of the popular types rather than whole Squadrons of them, I might be able to manage more and leave the painters or the users to do the serial number variations for any squadrons they fancy. I don't have airfield scenery for this one in any case.

John

John, far be it for me to tell you how to work, but perhaps a good way to find any problems as you did with the dent in the vulcan would be to make a clean version first and then test that for problems before the different loadouts are created.

Regards
Dale

Dont forget the "buddy" tanker version

Just read Phoenix Squadron again (Bucs over Belize)

Gary

Really looking forward to this one !!!

Wouldn't care too much about many different loadouts, real bombs and rockets are seldomly seen when operating from their home bases in peace time... Just a pair of practice CBLS 100 Bomblet Carriers and slipper tanks would do !

Great news John, looking forward to this

John, I'm really pleased that you have chosen the Buccaneer as your next project. This is will be a valuable addition to the UK retro AI scene. Having worked on Buccaneers in the dim and distant past I am particularly looking forward to this. I'm sure you have lots of info on the Bucc already, but this website is a great resource, especially for the various loadout combinations and other details.

http://www.blackburn-buccaneer.co.uk/0_Contents.html

I understand that you don't want to produce too many variants, but as Bora said above, the typical peace time load out would have been CBLS's. So it would be great if you could include that combination.

As I mentioned I used to work on Buccs so if I can help you with any info please don't hesitate to ask.

Looking forward to this one

Derek

John
ANY Fuccaneer would be Bucking nice !! Looking forward to another JY goody.

Derek, many thanks for that link. I think the resource will be most useful. I'm going to have a quiet afternoon away from the PC reading about the Buccaneer and trying to boil down what I want to do and how to do it.

John

Nice video of 12 Squadron RAF on exercise in the Med.

Quality a bit low (copied from a VHS) but it might give you some pointers John. If not, just enjoy the film anyway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz3ECzpu6CQ

Thanks for that one Stew. I did actually watch it the other day with my stop watch in hand to time things like take-off run and gear retraction and to see how the tailplane moved. I find videos like that one really useful when researching the subject.

I've started the build.........

John