Lockheed P2 Neptune

[willsonman]

I like the wheels

 

[dhk79]

It's been a long day. I didn't quite get as much done as I would have liked, but I think I'm calling it quits for the night. Here's some pics of the progress.

 

[dhk79]

Exterior cleaned up, smoothed, and sensor blisters added. Poly count now 10,690.

 

[dhk79]

I'm still modeling, but I imported it to RF just to see how everything rendered.

 

[dhk79]

Most of the UVW mapping is complete and I've set up initial pivots (some still need tweaking). I've imported into RF to fine tune the gear, doors, and the other motion I have planned for this plane.

Note: This is just the exterior. No cockpit or observation dome details have been added yet.

 

[flexible]

Doug, that looks very good.

 

[dhk79]

I've gotten started on the paint job.

 

[flexible]

You see me waveing my hand, don't you.

 

[dhk79]

Yeah, Jimmie. I see you, even from this distance.

 

[flexible]

That thing looks realy sick.

 

[dhk79]

I still have a lot of work to do on this, before it's ready for general release. For a big pig, however, this thing is a real blast to fly so here's a preview.

The Neptune was one of the first aircraft to be fitted with both piston and jet engines, and I've replicated that here. Physics have not been fine tuned yet but it's perfectly flyable without any tweaking.

Controls are pretty much standard except for the jet assist, which is on the 3-position switch, giving you 0, 50, & 100% boost. I'm not sure if this plane could fly on just the jets or not. In any case I've set it up such that with the reciprocating engines at idle and jets at full boost, the plane will just barely stay aloft with flaps deployed. This seemed about right to me, but if anyone has any real historical data on this plane please let me know.

Doug

 

[willsonman]

Yes, it does need a bit of work but its a great start!

 

[flip3d]

For an "out of the box" model this works great. The piston/jet engine combination is very interesting.

 

[dhk79]

It is pretty much "out of the box", about the only thing I adjusted was the weight of the fuselage. And this was just so that it wouldn't have a ridiculous wing loading.

 

[kougarok]

Excellent! I tend to fly from the cockpit view because I have a lot of flight time. This is one of the most realistic simulated RC airplanes I have flown.

 

[dhk79]

I just heard from a real Neptune driver. He reported that the ops manual for the plane said not to operate it on jets alone, however, the plane could stay aloft with just the jets functioning. So when I finalize the physics, I'll add a touch more power to the jets (in relation to final aircraft weight, of course). I think just shy of being able to take off with just the jets.

Doug

 

[dhk79]

Made a lot of progress on both the interior details and the colorscheme this evening.

 

[dhk79]

I think I'm done with the 3D model and colorscheme (at least I've pretty much run out of polys, 19,402 used). I should be able to do the final import into RF and then touch up the physics tonight.

 

[HelimanCP2]

WOW! very nice work!!!

 

[Neptune]

A great bird!! Thanks DHK