A6M2-N Rufe

[jkbon]

I needed a break with my Dakota so I started this.
Basic shape is done, now I'm coorecting and adding details.

[kevjon]

Cool, its a great subject. Looking forward to progress on it.

A few areas of you mesh needs a bit of tweaking.

[jkbon]

Cool, its a great subject. Looking forward to progress on it.

A few areas of you mesh needs a bit of tweaking.


I'm sure that I've to tweak:

the bottom of the rudder
the fuselage just above the wing
and maybe the machinegun area

Have you another part in mind ?

[kevjon]

- Wing looks like it is pushed to far into the fuselage at this stage.
- bit of pinching in the top corner of the fin/rudder joint
- rear of canopy should be smoother and rounder
- trailing edges of wings and tail plane look to soft and round.
- side of fuselage should be a neater fit to the cowling
- intake opening under the cowl looks a little small

They are the main things I've noticed. If you email or PM me with your email address I can send you good plans of the Rufe by Matsuba Minoru if you want them. I've already scanned them in for somebody else.

[jkbon]

Well, I've tried something new to me:
to model panels :cool:
But it was not easy with these rounded shapes on the engine cover. But I think it's not too bad.

[jkbon]

a small update

[jkbon]

Another update

[chrisken]

Looking very nice

[Mirko]

Nice going!
Good work with the modelled panel lines!

:salute:

[Galgot]

Very well done !

[kevjon]

Very fast work, looks very good.

[Skyraider3D]

Good progress indeed, but somehow it doesn't look like a Zero yet. I can't put my finger on it. Maybe I simply need to wait for the canopy. But one thing that strikes me as odd is the cowling. The curvature and cowling ring just don't seem right.

What plans are you using? You might want to get the hardcover Maru Mechanic on the Zero series, I can highly recommend it: http://www.hlj.com/product/KJSMM05

[chrisken]

Good progress indeed, but somehow it doesn't look like a Zero yet. I can't put my finger on it. Maybe I simply need to wait for the canopy. But one thing that strikes me as odd is the cowling. The curvature and cowling ring just don't seem right.

What plans are you using? You might want to get the hardcover Maru Mechanic on the Zero series, I can highly recommend it: http://www.hlj.com/product/KJSMM05

Maybe this overlay from the drawings kevjons kindly supplied me will help you visualise what a nice mesh it is Skyraider.??

[jkbon]

I'm using the plans provided by kevjon (by Matsuba Minoru) as shown by chrisken.
And the cowling is also exactly the same that the one which is on the bleuprint I found on airwar.ru
I don't have a lot of picture for reference, excepted some of plastic model :err: and they all have the same cowling that the one I made.
In fact the rudder excepted, and the floats of course, it really looks like a Zero.

[Skyraider3D]

I had no doubt the sideview would match :)
There's something odd going on and I can't put my finger on it. Maybe it simply is the lighting or the lack of canopy. I'll keep watching your progress and maybe it will "click" at some point. You managed to do the Dakota, which has a incredibly tricky nose shape... The Zero should be a walk in the park :)

[jkbon]

Added the canopy, engine and propeller (which are not very accurate but good enough for me at this stage :err: )

PS : Do you click now ?

[Knight-Templar]

That is cool, one question to create this plane did you box model or use splines. I am trying the to find the best way for me and would be interested in how other people produce theirs.

Great work

Simon

[jkbon]

I create a spline for each cross-sections I have.
When it's done, I attach all the splines and connect them to have 4 sides polygons then I apply the surface modifier. So I have a basic shape and start to add details. I do this for the fuselage, then for the wings and attach them together.

Sometimes I apply the Surface Modifier at just 2 cross-sections. To create the other sections I just select the edges at the extremity and "SHIFT+MOVE" them to the next cros-section, and so on. You can see more quickly your surface by this way. But in another way it hides your blueprint. Of course you can "ALT+X" your mesh to make it transparent.
It's a question of feeling.

[Skyraider3D]

O look! It's a Zero now :)

[jkbon]

Almost yes ! Just the tail to change.

[kevjon]

That is looking really good. The fuselage sides just next to the cowling could do with a bit more volume to match the cowl diameter as it looks from the shadow like you have a very loose fit there.

Your panel line work looks great and will save a lot of bump map time.
Are your panel lines created after you collapse you mesh to high poly or are you modelling panel by panel ?

[raf]

What, no pointy tail. It is not a Zero than. :cry:

Seriously looking very nice. the only thing that I can see is that trailing edge on rudder is not sharp enough, but you said that there is more work to be done there. Oh Yes, and it is missing that huge trim tab. :lol:

[jkbon]

Damn, you're right kevjon, I will correct it.
And I need to add the trim tab ;) , still need to add a lot of things in fact :lol:

Yes I cut the panels after having collapsed my mesh. I spent one day to try to do it on the lowpoly but was not happy with the result (especially with the cowling). I need to find the "trick" to keep rounded shapes when I cut them.

I know it's not a clean solution to do like that, it's the first time I do it, but the result is not to bad IMO.

[Peter Ewbank]

On this shot, the horizontal piece immediately above the spinner is missing. Note that the cowl is not a circle when viewed from the front. When viewed from the front it is very subtly more like a fat egg shape. The designers stretched it upwards to cover the guns.

http://www.nasm.si.edu/imagedetail.cfm?imageID=1023

Here's a better place to go http://www.warbird-photos.com/flight-zero-12-04/index.html

[chrisken]

On this shot, the horizontal piece immediately above the spinner is missing. Note that the cowl is not a circle when viewed from the front. When viewed from the front it is very subtly more like a fat egg shape. The designers stretched it upwards to cover the guns.

http://www.nasm.si.edu/imagedetail.cfm?imageID=1023

Here's a better place to go http://www.warbird-photos.com/flight-zero-12-04/index.html

Peter the cowl you show is not the correct cowl for the rufe, the front of the rufe is round as shown on kevjons kindly supplied drawing. The reference you supplied is for a later model with a different exhaust

[Skyraider3D]

Chrisken is correct. The A6M2 and -N had the chin scoop, while on later models this was relocated to the top of the cowling.

The other day I've ordered this Japanese book with Zero factory drawings (http://www.hlj.com/product/HRS001). I might tackle one myself... one day...

[jkbon]

It's not a zero anymore :lol:
Modelling is finished I think (<= I always forget something :err: )
The cockpit is very low detailed, no detail at all should I say, but for the pictures I have in mind it's not a problem.

My next step is UV the "panelled model" as well as the classic one.

[kevjon]

Super quick, nice job.

[mrys]

Top work mate! Fantastic!!!

[Lukem]

That looks superb!

Didn't the Japanese carry these on some of their warships? If you want some ideas for scenes, I've got some pictures of the aircraft handling gear on the Yamato - give me a shout if you're interested.:)

[giant551]

really looking good mate:)

[jkbon]

Here is a brand new Nakajima A6m2-N "Rufe" :p

[kiwi123]

Sweet ! Now it really does need a gorgeous damage and dirt paint job !

[Skyraider3D]

Bleeding hell, you don't waste any time on this do you? :D
Awesome progress.

[jkbon]

It's now that I will lose time :(
I like to model, but I don't like to texture and render because I don't control it very well :cry:

[Galgot]

It looks like a nice Tamigawa model build out of the box :) like you see on catalogs...
Super nice modeling, for sure when weathered it's gonna be a killer.

[mrys]

Only small notice: change background colour - your materpiece will be more visible for us:D


I like it...

[kevjon]

Its a beauty. Galgots right, it does look like a Tamiya model at the moment straight out of their catalogue.

Can't wait to see it with the weathering.

[Hitori Kyo]

Great work on a nice model!

- Hitori Kyo

[chrisken]

Very nice model and quick work

[jkbon]

I've started the weathering of the main float.

What do you think about it: good, too much ..., not enough ... ?

Very nice model and quick work

How is yours going ?

[Antonio Carlos]

Very nice!!!

[Galgot]

Looks good !
Some time ago found this page on an A6m5 scale model, it is imho one of the best weathered Japanese markings example. And a very good ref for color dicoloration and all that...
http://theftl.net/modeling/aviation_tamiyazero52pt2.htm
Maybe this can help...

(ps... too bad the guy has dropped both ailerons down :-/ )

[jkbon]

Maybe this can help...


Of course !

Thank you very much, I think I will use it a lot :lol:

[jkbon]

Still aging this baby, top is almost done, i will start the bottom now.

[kiwi123]

That is starting to look really sweet !

[Mirko]

Great job jkbon, love that texture.

:salute:

[kevjon]

Its really starting to come alive. I'd be a bit careful with the yellow green color tho as I think you really need to head towards a faded dark green.

[kslmn]

Love it. very nice job there

[mrys]

Wow, wow, wow!:eek:

[kiwi123]

I really like what you've done with this so far, welcome to the header !!

[mrys]

Congrats! Well deserved header!

[Galgot]

:eek: That's what i call weathered ! Very nice !
And congrats !

[Evan]

Well done on the header, and well deserved. Great model!

[jkbon]

Thanks guys !

[Skyraider3D]

That's looking very cool mate! Lovely weathering! I can see the model reference worked out ;)
One tiny comment though... shift the colour of the green paint a bit towards blue, as it's too yellow now. I'd recommend a Hue shift on the green colour of about +25 and a saturation shift of -20 to get pretty close to the actual Japanese navy colour of the time.

[cobra6]

heeey looks like I missed something good :D congrats on the header!

Cobra 6

[jkbon]

Here is another one with a different king of weathering, more painting is gone to let appear the metal.

Is it realistic or too much ?

I didn't play on the green color like for the other one, just brushed some places with "sand" colour.

And a third one almost white, almost new.

[Skyraider3D]

Cool stuff but I have the feeling both are non-operational machines, left in the open for a few years or more. I.e. too battered to be airworthy, which is probably not what you're after. This photo (http://www.warbirdphotographs.com/NavyBWZeros/Rufe-34.jpg) gives a good idea for realistic weathering levels.

Another thing, I believe the hinomauru ("meatballs") on the wing are too small. Check this (http://www.warbirdphotographs.com/NavyBWZeros/Rufe-41.jpg) for instance.

And a third one almost white, almost new.Just to be sure, white Zeroes, or Rufes, did not exist. The colour was a pale kind of greenish beige. Not unlike the German RLM 02 colour. The colour tended to bleach in the hot pacific sun, but never became white.

[Nils]

Didn't we have a thread some time back discussing that pale japanese colour?
And as far as I remember, it ended up with something like a pale champagne colour..

[kiwi123]

I do not think they look too weathered at all.

[bzhyoyo]

IMHO, the green one looks to weather-beaten : I would decrease a bit the size of the silver scratches (I suppose that's what they are). Something I usually do when I've gone overboard is to play with an eraser with a grunge brush tip and a low opacity and flow to erase some parts - it gives a quite nice random effect.
The "white" one looks very good. I would just blend the two contrasting whites a bit more together (there seems to be a "light" and a "dark" white - to break the base colour I suppose). Or maybe it's the specular texture playing tricks on the contrast between these two tones?

[Galgot]

Nice, but I liked the earlier green one better... One thing that should be very weathered like on the second one is the float, it's in salted water, maybe people walk on it to get to the engine, it maybe scratches the sand some time...well done. So maybe take the second one float texture and plug it on the first one... with some tweaking to match the colours of course...Maybe some whitish salt stains would mark the water line of the floats too, but very light...
As for the grey one, it's nice too. Looks more new. Just maybe the colour variations in the light grey is too regularly spaced on the all airframe, it look a bit like a procedural...
Agree with Ronnie, the Hinomaru on wings should be bigger...
Anyway, just my opinion, hope you don't mind... It's a superb model already.

(ps) Btw... one funny thing, i agree the previous green one looks too yellowish in hue... but if you change the colour of the spinner it looks more a normal discolored green... that yellow spinner...

[jkbon]

Thanks all for your comments and critics, I will make these changes.

hope you don't mind...

Of course not, I'm here to learn and recieve advice, go on

[digiartist]

Congrats on the header and your Rufe, looking very nice!

[jkbon]

Here is a part of my final picture with this Rufe.

I'm working on the plane material and want your opinion on the result.

The diffuse map is the my first one (like in the header) I applied the correction suggested by some of you and reduce the level of yellow in the green. (but I'm still hesitating on the level of painting scratches) .
So it's a raytraced material with a fresnel fallof set at 12% (for reflection).
A bump map (for rivets), a specular-level map and a specular-color map to reduce the saturation of the "white" color.
Concerning the lighting, there is a e-light (0.8) and a direct light (1).

Feel free to critic and comment this render, i'm ready to ear everything :p

[Lukem]

Great texturing mate!

What side did the pilots get in? I gather that there would be a lot of scratches on the wing on the access side.

Beyond that, I'm not sure I like the shadows underneath the plane - there appears to be too much of a difference between them - by the strength of some of the shadows, you are aiming for a daylight render, I feel that the other shadows would be a lot darker than they are. Also being a daylight render, presumably you would have stronger highlights?

Just my opinion:)

[Skyraider3D]

Looking great!

Concerning the lighting, there is a e-light (0.8) and a direct light (1).Do you have any ambient colour set up as well? I normally get values between 1.25 and 1.5 for both E-Light and directional, with black or near-black ambient colour (in the Environment panel).

[raf]

Textures look fine to me. There can never be too much chipping on Japanese plane, I guess.

Sun doesn't appear to be as bright as on perfectly sunny day, but it all depends what are you trying to do.

One thing stands out in this render that I haven't seen before. The prop blades are very concave on aft side. Looks to much. Often that side is slightly concave towards the trailing edge or not at all. And trailing edge looks like it has same sharpness as leading edge. All fairly easy to fix if mesh is not collapsed.

[jkbon]

What side did the pilots get in? I gather that there would be a lot of scratches on the wing on the access side.

You are perfectly right, and it's this side. I've just remove the scratches layer (one the the layer) to concentrate on the render of the green color.
I have also to add a foot plate which I forgot (I forget always something in modeling part :( )

you're also right for the shadows on the plane but the plane was just there for this render.

Do you have any ambient colour set up as well?

No, I've never touch this option in the Environment panel so it was the default value (tint: white, level: 1, ambient: black)

Sun doesn't appear to be as bright as on perfectly sunny day, but it all depends what are you trying to do.


Yes, my background is not very sunny ...

[kevjon]

Looks good to me jkbon

I personally would probably make the shadows a little darker and the specular a little stronger and maybe a little sunnier but that is only how I would tackle the scene.

[Skyraider3D]

PS. An article on the colour of early Zeros:
http://modelingmadness.com/earlya6mcolors.htm

The Rufe however was built by Nakajima and possibly didn't conform to these colours as "ame-iro" (the caramel colour) was a typical Mitsubishi paint! It is not unlikely Nakajima painted some of the Rufes in their light grey colour (as found on the Ki-27). But that's just guesswork on my part. Best consult the forum at www.j-aircraft.com (http://www.j-aircraft.org/smf/index.php) to be sure...

Also see:
http://www.j-aircraft.com/research/zeroclr.htm
http://www.j-aircraft.com/a6mresearch/accolors.htm


More on the subject, posted moments ago on Hyperscale: http://www.network54.com/Forum/149674/message/1186395364/Ame-iro+-+again%21
I've replied with a question about the Rufe colours there for your convenience :) Nick Millman is an expert on this stuff so I hope he'll have a comprehensive answer for you.

[jkbon]

Thank you very much ! That's interesting :cool:

[Skyraider3D]

Check Hyperscale again, Nick has answered. Looks like your Rufe is gonna need quite a rich colour :)

[jkbon]

I think you're right, I have to repaint my plane !
And I also think that once it's done, I will post some render on http://www.j-aircraft.com to have some feedback :)

[Skyraider3D]

Good idea :)

Here is an actual sample from a Rufe: http://groups.msn.com/japanesemodelaircraft/colorsamples.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=127

Here's a good colour sample for the green scheme, by the way: http://groups.msn.com/japanesemodelaircraft/colorsamples.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=1526

[jkbon]

What is funny with this picture is that if you zoom, it's almost impossible to find a green pixel, they are all a kind of blue.

[Archetype]

Gausian blur it and see what you can get out colorwise

[arai]

while photo's can give an idea, I think that they arent really all that useful unless they were shot with a proper color calibration card in the shot, if your looking for acurate colors anyway. Its so hard to tell what the white balance was at and under what lighting conditions it was shot.

[Skyraider3D]

What is funny with this picture is that if you zoom, it's almost impossible to find a green pixel, they are all a kind of blue.
It's for part because the Japanese black-green colour has a very blueish colour to it. Not unlike the German RLM 70, I think.

Some wartime colour photos:
http://www.ww2incolor.com/gallery/albums/japan/aab.jpg
http://www.ww2incolor.com/gallery/albums/japan/aac.jpg
http://www.ww2incolor.com/gallery/albums/japan/01003_G.jpg

None terribly reliable, but they give you a feel for the colour's appearance. Attached a better one.

[Skyraider3D]

For what it's worth, here are a few colour photos of Japanese Navy aircraft:
http://www.razyboard.com/system/morethread-revinoiika4003japanesewwiiaircraftincolor-raidenjack-802831-4322646-0.html