Classic British Flight Sim

The Aero Flight offices are very similar to the NAD ones, so that was a blessing! A couple of extensions and funny stairwells added. I seem to be getting really good frame rates, even though the models are pretty complex. I'm wondering if its my system or if Sketchup + MCX do things more efficiently.

A word of caution when using Sketchup. I've had some flickering textures and some I knew the cause, Others I didn't. It seems when using Sketchup, if you apply a colour to a material and then change it for another one, it doesn't replace the existing one, but sits ontop of it, this can cause some of the flickering.

As an aside, I've gone back to the Tower and the "green" MOD paint wasn't always green. I suspect it may have been a blue or white, but need a colour photo from 1975 or so to confirm.

TSR2 wrote:The Aero Flight offices are very similar to the NAD ones, so that was a blessing! A couple of extensions and funny stairwells added. I seem to be getting really good frame rates, even though the models are pretty complex. I'm wondering if its my system or if Sketchup + MCX do things more efficiently.

That looks braw mate!

Cheers Colin. Its getting there... Slowly. The pain in the arse is like today, I thought the tower was done and dusted, but I was sitting looking at the AI harrier taking off and noticed the green doors on the rear of the tower building flickering red. I've opened the model up in SketchUp again, removed all of the materials and started again. Now I've decided I don't like the green, so want to find out the original colour. Theres a photo with some of the green scraped away on a door, and it looks blue underneath, similar to the blue on the office blocks. Oh the joys.

Be careful how much detail you put in, Ben.....Official Secrets Act and all that

I wish it was that detailed Mike, but its no reflection on what a fascinating place it was. When I took the little detour the other night to drive up to it, the silence is strange. having read so much about it lately you'd expect it to be brimming with activity.

Right, dilemma. As I mentioned the other night, I'm not convinced by the standard MoD Olive Green all over the control tower, and certainly the B&W photos from the early 70's indicate a light colour, white in places around the frame of the tower glass. I'm thinking of replacing the olive green for an RAF blue / grey. I've seen some evidence that this was used, and was definitely used in other areas. Would it be wrong of me to change the colour when I don't know for sure? I've just remodelled all of the railings, including those on the Kine Towers and on the office buildings so they shouldn't flicker any more.

The best you can do is go with what info you have mate. Bedford must have changed more than a little over it's lifetime and I'm sure that while some things were 'brought up to the modern'.. others probably stayed original or didn't move at the same pace

ATB
DaveB

That's the problem mate, the facts I have in front of me are green. The B&W shots from the 70's are definitely not green, but could be anything light. Its only the '96 colour shot where the green has peeled away to reveal some blue underneath that I have to go on.

Well.. the thing I've always done with aircraft paints (real ones.. not 'what if's') is to go with what you see for a given shot and fill in the blanks with evidence from other shots of the same time. Unless the green you mention was really dark green, it may well display in B&W as looking a much paler colour and NOT green.. certain colours do this. However.. you have a later, colour shot showing the doors as green but with the paint peeling off to reveal a shade of blue. One is the 70's and one is from the 90's. A lot can happen in 20years Go with what you're happy with

ATB
DaveB

Hi Chaps,

Not much progress this week. I have managed to knock this one up in the hotel this evening using the laptop, building 206 at the NAD side of the airfield...