Well I may be biting off more than I can chew but I decided to make a start on a model of a Hampden using 3ds Max 9.
Why? --- because there's always a shortage of cannon fodder, --- and because there were a lot of them about in the early war period.

Draw back is that I lack experience on 3D Studio, though I've got quite a bit on AutoCad.
Can anybody point me at a good online tutorial for aircraft modelling?

Prior to starting I've sourced a good set of 3 view plans and have a lot of photos including cockpit views so I have enough info to start with -- I think.

Any tips will be gratefully received.

Post your work over at http://www.military-meshes.com. The best site you'll find to get the help and assistance you need.

PM me with your email address and I'll send you a sample IL2 model to study.

Thanks for the tips.

The Military Meshes web site is a superb resource for anyone interested.
It will take me a long time to go through all the stuff there.
http://www.military-meshes.com./

An excellent tutorial which I found a link to on the site is
http://www.3dtotal.com/team/Tutorials/fiat500/fiat500.asp

Not an aircraft, but it seems to cover all the techniques which I was struggling with.

There are a number of hidden gems on the site, including models built for IL-2 which never made it into the sim. -- SM79 for example.
See it here --- http://www.military-meshes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1249

Wow.. That SM79 does look good! Pity it didn't make it to the sim!

Slow progress! -- But it makes you appreciate the efforts of the real model builders all the more.



---and a little more progress on the nose and wing roots.

Gradually the fuselage shape is being refined and the engine cowlings and spinners have been added.
Seems to be some flak damage in the rear fuselage which will need attention.
As this is meant to be a low-poly model I expect I have problems already on the polycount.
Something to worry about later?



And a view from the rear. Cockpit canopy in place and tail "damage" sorted.
8250 poly to get this far, but scope for some tidying up.

Show the grid please, look like you overload geometry. I see misshape for some parts, if you want build a realistic bird, you need see "alive" bird, look for the canadian or GB mates, they have it here and here. At least you can ask to photograph it for you.

If your model is planning to be for SoW, take a look at the released pictures and notice internal structure.

Have refined the mesh to reduce the size.
Now down to 3100 polys which seems better at this stage.
Need to make more progress on the basic model now.
Tailplane needs a bit of work to refine the shape and the rear fuselage although nearly right needs the corners to be slightly more rounded.
The 3-view plans don't seem to match the photos of the rear fuselage.
Also probably need more polys on the leading edges.
Junction of fuselage and rear gunners (both upper and lower) needs to be finished.
I have collected a lot of photo data now.
Probably the best photo ref. is Hampden Squadrons by Mark Postlethwaite.
Some valuable detail stuff was sent to me by Nils Hjelmevoll --- Thanks for that Nils.
I've also got copies of various assembly line shots showing the frame structure.
I now have a good set of internals for each crew position, including Pilot Notes, which provide details of the cockpit controls and flight performance data.
There is an existing engine at the Solway Aviation Museum which I will go and look at soon since the view of the engine in the cowling is quite important visually.
Still keen to add to the data if anybody has any detail shots of anything. I have plenty of general views though.
I did get a chance to see the remains of a fuselage and wing in the workshops at RAF Cosford recently but wasn't able to get up close. The workshops were like an Alladins Cave of aviation history.

Hello!

I was wondering: instead of having to find every bit and piece of documentation again, in the case of the Hampden couldn't you possibly contact the modeler who did it for FS9?
Maybe if he is not interested in making one himself for SoW:BoB he may be open to share his stuff with you?
Maybe also I am incredibly naïve and it is considered as normal not to share (after all I am the French guy who has always indicated his mushroom places to anyone asking...Mushroom lovers in the assistance might understand the extent of my openness!)

JV

Sometimes the journey is as enjoyable as the destination

Otherwise you wouldn't reach it I guess. Hope you keep enjoying the journey, fingers crossed.

But you can't ever have enough reference material, so trying to contact the MSFS guy would be a good idea anyway.

Glazing is tricky. This is still going to take a lot of adjustment to get right, but the rear upper gunner position is looking not bad. Needs more curvature on the front windows, and the nose needs to be narrowed a bit at the start of the nose canopy.

May need to set the windows in a bit to look right --- or is that better done with the texturing?

FYI a Hampden HP51 has been released for FS2004 just today. You can get it at AVSIM if you are interested....

Sorry, it's a HP52 not a HP51. Not bad.....

Thanks for the info --- I expect its a lot less stressful flying the Hampden in FS2004 than it would be in SoW. The worst you could expect is an Me110 blowing you a raspberry.

Image amended 16-09-07

Looks great

Another update.
The engines are kind of installed -- but still need some work on peripheral details -- like exhausts and rear of engine components. Don't have enough info to finish this bit yet.
Greatest advance has been getting the polycount back under control -- with a lot of help from others.
The main undercarriage has just been roughed out to get a feel for it. Not completely sure how the mechanism works yet.

Looking at WiP screenies takes me back five years to Netwings.org, but there were no British aircraft in the offing back then...

Cheers Ashes, it's looking very Hampdenesque!