15.06.2009, 05:02
Well, here it is. I almost lost everything when my PC died recently, but I was able to salvage this and thought it best to release it into the wild now and not tempt fate any further.
The Chaika is quite a significant aircraft for me in the Il-2 series. It was the first one that I chose out of the box when I first got FB v.1 all those years ago, and it's the one I've always come back to over the years too. I'm very happy to be able to share this high resolution retexture with you all. I put a lot of effort into getting the best results I could. I've worked hard to get rid of any of those crawling white lines around textures and added further details to otherwise flat textures in a trompe l'oeil manner. The cockpit floor, control column, instrument panel and cockpit side wall detail are examples of these. Wherever possible, I've saved the textures as indexed colours to keep the size down too. The hi-res floor for example is just 1mb in size.
I also adjusted the lighting via the mat files. That and the deeper shadows on some of the textures make this cockpit a much darker place to be. The I-153 had a fairly dimly lit interior. Especially once the bulk of the pilot was blocking most of the light coming through the coaming. The aircraft has several cut outs in the sides and forward decking to try and remedy this, but it only helped so much. Some of these holes would be filled with wooden plugs in winter time too. Brrr!
There are several compromises that had to be made, considering the age of the 3D model and simplification of the components and texture mapping. Throttle knobs and levers are still somewhat blocky. Some I was able to correct, but a little 3D help would be needed in future to make greater refinements. The magneto switch is no longer functioning - it had to take a dive to make way for a more realistic one. The black box on the right side is also in need of future 3D help. References for this bit have not yet been found (any clues as to how it really looked would be greatly appreciated). The other area I'd love to see refined is the headrest and rear armor plate. I've done the best I can but they still have that Forgotten Battles feel to them.
Overall though, I'm very pleased with the way it's worked out - despite a fairly poor aptitude for photoshop and some red/green colour blindness issues. :?
I owe a big thanks to Flushmeister who's own work provided the inspiration for this. Also Mangas, who has been greatly encouraging throughout the whole process. A big thanks to Mangas too for the loan of his flare gun texture (cheers mate). Thanks to Fly_zo as well. His intel on how to add glass to instruments was an enormous help. Thanks too to Oleg Maddox and the original modeller of the 153. It'll be a very long time before we ever see another one in a new flight simulator!
Download link: http://files.filefront.com/Cockpit+I+15 ... einfo.html
Oh, and you probably require some before and after screenshots....
Before:
![[Image: ChaikaBefore.jpg]](http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd119/Feathered_IV/ChaikaBefore.jpg)
After:
![[Image: ChaikaAfter.jpg]](http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd119/Feathered_IV/ChaikaAfter.jpg)
![[Image: grab0001-16.jpg]](http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd119/Feathered_IV/grab0001-16.jpg)
Later I may add a few more refinements as and when I am able, or when some better references appear. For now though, I hope you will use it and enjoy the Chaika as much as I do!
The Chaika is quite a significant aircraft for me in the Il-2 series. It was the first one that I chose out of the box when I first got FB v.1 all those years ago, and it's the one I've always come back to over the years too. I'm very happy to be able to share this high resolution retexture with you all. I put a lot of effort into getting the best results I could. I've worked hard to get rid of any of those crawling white lines around textures and added further details to otherwise flat textures in a trompe l'oeil manner. The cockpit floor, control column, instrument panel and cockpit side wall detail are examples of these. Wherever possible, I've saved the textures as indexed colours to keep the size down too. The hi-res floor for example is just 1mb in size.
I also adjusted the lighting via the mat files. That and the deeper shadows on some of the textures make this cockpit a much darker place to be. The I-153 had a fairly dimly lit interior. Especially once the bulk of the pilot was blocking most of the light coming through the coaming. The aircraft has several cut outs in the sides and forward decking to try and remedy this, but it only helped so much. Some of these holes would be filled with wooden plugs in winter time too. Brrr!
There are several compromises that had to be made, considering the age of the 3D model and simplification of the components and texture mapping. Throttle knobs and levers are still somewhat blocky. Some I was able to correct, but a little 3D help would be needed in future to make greater refinements. The magneto switch is no longer functioning - it had to take a dive to make way for a more realistic one. The black box on the right side is also in need of future 3D help. References for this bit have not yet been found (any clues as to how it really looked would be greatly appreciated). The other area I'd love to see refined is the headrest and rear armor plate. I've done the best I can but they still have that Forgotten Battles feel to them.
Overall though, I'm very pleased with the way it's worked out - despite a fairly poor aptitude for photoshop and some red/green colour blindness issues. :?
I owe a big thanks to Flushmeister who's own work provided the inspiration for this. Also Mangas, who has been greatly encouraging throughout the whole process. A big thanks to Mangas too for the loan of his flare gun texture (cheers mate). Thanks to Fly_zo as well. His intel on how to add glass to instruments was an enormous help. Thanks too to Oleg Maddox and the original modeller of the 153. It'll be a very long time before we ever see another one in a new flight simulator!
Download link: http://files.filefront.com/Cockpit+I+15 ... einfo.html
Oh, and you probably require some before and after screenshots....
Before:
After:
Later I may add a few more refinements as and when I am able, or when some better references appear. For now though, I hope you will use it and enjoy the Chaika as much as I do!