Nightowl702 Posted October 30, 2016 Share Posted October 30, 2016 Been experimenting with Formation lighting on Mike Stones C-17 and KC-10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomTweak Posted October 30, 2016 Share Posted October 30, 2016 Very nice looking. Are those add-on sorts of things, or integral to the model? It'd be nice to be able to add them to some other planes I have...? Just wondering :) Pat☺ [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Had a thought...then there was the smell of something burning, and sparks, and then a big fire, and then the lights went out! I guess I better not do that again! Sgt, USMC, 10 years proud service, Inactive reserve now :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightowl702 Posted October 31, 2016 Author Share Posted October 31, 2016 The C-17 already had them on the lightmap file so I just tweaked the color from yellow to a more realistic shade of green. I added them from scratch to the KC-10. I also added alpha channels to both so they would stay illuminated when the landing lights are off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomTweak Posted October 31, 2016 Share Posted October 31, 2016 Very, very well done! I am lousy at trying to change the texture files, so I'll leave it to you :) The color on the C-17 is definately close to real, although, and, this is purely from what little memory I have left any more, they're not as bright as you made them. They're made to be for refueling (for the KC-10, anyway) and not seen from any distance to speak of. Other planes, like fighters they're really just for, well, formations :D I don't know how the Air Force flies, but the Navy and Marines, formations are a pretty tight affair. Not Blue Angel tight, but you get the idea. Those are the visiblity distances they're designed for. Do C-17's fly formation? I haven't the foggiest. I would guess if they do, they're a bit looser than fighters do, so I suppose their lights would be a bit brighter. Hmmm... Anyway, thank you for your answer, I appreciate it, and the pictures are both very nice. Again, very good work, sir! Pat [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Had a thought...then there was the smell of something burning, and sparks, and then a big fire, and then the lights went out! I guess I better not do that again! Sgt, USMC, 10 years proud service, Inactive reserve now :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightowl702 Posted November 1, 2016 Author Share Posted November 1, 2016 Yeah they did come out a little brighter than I wanted but it was a good first try. I know on fighters the light intensity is adjustable. I have seen video of an F-22 going through startup and you can see the formation light intensity change as the switch is turned. These are just stuck on full brightness! ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 Very, very well done! I am lousy at trying to change the texture files, so I'll leave it to you :) The color on the C-17 is definately close to real, although, and, this is purely from what little memory I have left any more, they're not as bright as you made them. They're made to be for refueling (for the KC-10, anyway) and not seen from any distance to speak of. Other planes, like fighters they're really just for, well, formations :D I don't know how the Air Force flies, but the Navy and Marines, formations are a pretty tight affair. Not Blue Angel tight, but you get the idea. Those are the visiblity distances they're designed for. Do C-17's fly formation? I haven't the foggiest. I would guess if they do, they're a bit looser than fighters do, so I suppose their lights would be a bit brighter. Hmmm... Anyway, thank you for your answer, I appreciate it, and the pictures are both very nice. Again, very good work, sir! Pat Pat, On our 46's we had formation lights as well. However, as you said they were not nearly that bright. Also they were on the top parts of the plane and the tops of the rotor blade tips. There were none down on the sides as shown here. Of course that's because we in choppers actually landed in bandit country and didn't want to give the Cong a lighted target!!:eek::eek: Being an old chopper guy I usually fly low and slow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomTweak Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 No pun intended, but I can certainly see that! :) Choppers still have their formation lights in a similar format. Now-a-days, though, they have NVG compatible light strips. Virtually invisable without NVG on. They flip a switch, bingo, the cockpit lights and formation lights are now only NVG visible. Makes it a challenge for the PNC to keep a good interior scan under the goggles, though. I think F-18's do also. Probably most Military aircraft do, but I can't say for certain. I understand they have no depth perception with the NVG on. I can relate, only having one eye left. I don't either. I've learned to compensate, though. I wouldn't want to try and fly a helicopter this way though, especially at night in a tight LZ! It probably makes life easier not have to switch back and forth between having and not having perception of depth, like the pilots have to. Anyway, I still think that those are great formation lights. It gives me thoughts of trying to do something like that too! I am about as artistic as a tortoise, but hey, gotta start someplace :D Pat☺ [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Had a thought...then there was the smell of something burning, and sparks, and then a big fire, and then the lights went out! I guess I better not do that again! Sgt, USMC, 10 years proud service, Inactive reserve now :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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