HMS Victory

[Milton Shupe]

Sometimes you have to go full Nelson, Admiral Nelson that is.

Several years ago I downloaded this freebie 3ds model from the net. It was way too poly heavy for FS9 but I hung onto it thinking maybe one day we can get it in FSX.

Unfortunately, the 84 textures it used are .jpegs and are random sizes (not FS friendly).
So, I invested two days resizing textures to FS standards and getting them working with the model in a format that is workable.

Well, just got over that major hump at least with these old basic textures.

I have the model resized to actual specs (length wise) and it is starting to look decent in the sim.

I have it working with HMS Bounty "flight model" and wind controls.

Of course, there are no animations and wind direction and speed dependent visibility for sails and flags.

I really do not know if this can be taken that far but certainly static models are possible.

Here are two FS9 screen shots that showed all I could get exported to FS9 without textures. Looked impressive then.
Two shots are from gmax.

The remaining textured shots are from FSX.

 

[Sundog]

Ship's Ahoy! It looks good. Someone could have fun TacPacking all of those cannons.

 

[Brytskiva]

Ship

Looks very nice !!

 

[Paul K]

Very nice indeed. I know it's WIP, but is it not a little high out of the water ?


Below is a painting by Geoff Hunt, with HMS Victory leading, to illustrate:

 

[Seahawk72s]

Thank you for bringing her to life. (I've had my fingers crossed since you first mentioned the model)
With the very nice detail and color the screen shots give a hint of, this is very exciting stuff.
With all the fun I've had with Bounty she is something to look forward to.

 

[rcbarend]

Hi Milton,

Looks impressive .....

By the way (if you succeed in making the sails/other animations controllable in the visual model):
I'm surely willing to help making the control code for it in a gauge.
Same goes if there is something specific you need adapted in the wind-"flightmodel".

Cheers, Rob

 

[Milton Shupe]

Ship's Ahoy! It looks good. Someone could have fun TacPacking all of those cannons.

LOL OMG!

Looks very nice !!

Thank you Sir; it does, at a distance.

Very nice indeed. I know it's WIP, but is it not a little high out of the water ?


Below is a painting by Geoff Hunt, with HMS Victory leading, to illustrate:

Great painting Paul; thanks for posting that.

Yes, it is quite high at the moment. But, with only me aboard, no "stores", no rocks in the "hole", no ammo, I'm just cannon fodder.
It will be appropriately "loaded" and set properly once I am assured this is a viable project, or at least a static scenery candidate.

Thank you for bringing her to life. (I've had my fingers crossed since you first mentioned the model)
With the very nice detail and color the screen shots give a hint of, this is very exciting stuff.
With all the fun I've had with Bounty she is something to look forward to.

I agree, it would be great to bring her to life but the work appears enormous at the moment. A lot of her will have to be taken apart, reassembled, remapped for textures, animated, and special programming required to get it all working correctly. We'll see how it goes. The current poly count is 220K and when looking from a VC perspective (up close and personal), she is rough. Much will have to be rebuilt.

Hi Milton,

Looks impressive .....

By the way (if you succeed in making the sails/other animations controllable in the visual model):
I'm surely willing to help making the control code for it in a gauge.
Same goes if there is something specific you need adapted in the wind-"flightmodel".

Cheers, Rob

Thank you Rob. There is no way I would attempt this as a project without your expertise and magic. I'll keep you informed of progress should I pursue it.

 

[Eoraptor1]

"England expects that every man will do his duty."

Someone had to say it. You could cut the tension with a knife.

Funny. I just finished rereading Sharpe's Trafalgar, by Bernard Cornwell. Richard Sharpe is very much an infantryman, but he managed to find his way into Admiral Lord Nelson's company at Trafalgar.

JAMES

 

[Milton Shupe]

"England expects that every man will do his duty."

Someone had to say it. You could cut the tension with a knife.

Funny. I just finished rereading Sharpe's Trafalgar, by Bernard Cornwell. Richard Sharpe is very much an infantryman, but he managed to find his way into Admiral Lord Nelson's company at Trafalgar.

JAMES

Good one James

BTW, "Unforgiven" is an all time favorite of mine.

 

[Eoraptor1]

Good one James

BTW, "Unforgiven" is an all time favorite of mine.

Love Unforgiven. It's one of those movies I get more out of every time I see it. I find new little things, like "English Bob" losing his Brit accent for a moment when he first sees Little Bill. I missed that the first 20 times I saw the movie. I was lukewarm on it at first, but managed to be in friends or relatives' home when they were watching it and it grew on me. I think Clint Eastwood has a very interesting body of work. There are things I don't like, but it would be a boring life if I agreed with everything.

Well, I've hijacked the thread, so watch this:

Enjoy,


JAMES

 

[Milton Shupe]

Good one James. I also recommend this excellent HMS Victory documentary, 45 minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_pMAcHO858

 

[Milton Shupe]

I have finished the basic textures cleanup to get a reasonable FSX rendering. These are "standard FS9-like" texture materials, not FSX materials yet. But, looking pretty good for now.
FSX materials and bump and spec maps would do wonders for this.

I also set the model in the water as far as I could get it without crashing the sim. Will likely need to alter the keel and lower belly infrastructure a bit to get as low as it needs to be.

 

[Eoraptor1]

Good one James. I also recommend this excellent HMS Victory documentary, 45 minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_pMAcHO858

I saw that one back when History Channel actually had historical content; way back in the "before time". Before HISTORY became the Ancient Astronaut Channel. H2 still has history on it, but where I live you have buy the big cable package to get that channel.

JAMES

 

[Milton Shupe]

I saw that one back when History Channel actually had historical content; way back in the "before time". Before HISTORY became the Ancient Astronaut Channel. H2 still has history on it, but where I live you have buy the big cable package to get that channel.

JAMES

That one also has a lot of good data regarding construction, type and number of trees, time to build, various tonnage of different stores types, number of crew, "recruiting methods", etc.

It follows all the way to Trafalgar, and then the historic restoration.

 

[Eoraptor1]

That one also has a lot of good data regarding construction, type and number of trees, time to build, various tonnage of different stores types, number of crew, "recruiting methods", etc.

It follows all the way to Trafalgar, and then the historic restoration.

Yeah, they almost literally had to cut down a forest just build the hull, and they did it without modern power tools. HMS Victory is one model sailing ship I never built when I was younger. I built a Viking Longship, Drake's Golden Hind, the Santa Maria, The USS Constitution, which is how I knew Lucky Jack Aubrey was fighting a Yankee-built frigate in Master and Commander, and Blackbeard's Queen Anne's Revenge. That last one was largely speculative. I did a lot of kit-bashing and used a lot of epoxy resin for that one. I couldn't tell you what happened to any of those models if you put a deck cannon to my head.

I could never build model ships now; my cats would just destroy them. In their little kitty minds that would be why I built them in the first place, for them to have the pleasure of destroying. I can see them looking up at me now, having done what the French could not, destroying HMS Victory. "You knew we were cats when you brought us here."

Just out of curiosity, Mr. Shupe, do you watch Black Sails?

JAMES

 

[stoney]

I don't want to hack your thread Milton but I would recommend: C. Nepean Longridge's book "The Anatomy of Nelson's Ships" as the ultimate tome on this ship. I just finished a 5 year build of a 1/100 model build of the Victory and this book was an invaluable help in all areas.

 

[Milton Shupe]

Yeah, they almost literally had to cut down a forest just build the hull, and they did it without modern power tools. HMS Victory is one model sailing ship I never built when I was younger. I built a Viking Longship, Drake's Golden Hind, the Santa Maria, The USS Constitution, which is how I knew Lucky Jack Aubrey was fighting a Yankee-built frigate in Master and Commander, and Blackbeard's Queen Anne's Revenge. That last one was largely speculative. I did a lot of kit-bashing and used a lot of epoxy resin for that one. I couldn't tell you what happened to any of those models if you put a deck cannon to my head.

I could never build model ships now; my cats would just destroy them. In their little kitty minds that would be why I built them in the first place, for them to have the pleasure of destroying. I can see them looking up at me now, having done what the French could not, destroying HMS Victory. "You knew we were cats when you brought us here."

Just out of curiosity, Mr. Shupe, do you watch Black Sails?

JAMES

RE: the Cats! LOL Seems every time I get into some serious gmax work, Olly is up on the desk to observe my technique. Hard to get anything done these days.

No, I have not seen Black Sails, nor Master and Commander. I need to see them both.

 

[Milton Shupe]

I don't want to hack your thread Milton but I would recommend: C. Nepean Longridge's book "The Anatomy of Nelson's Ships" as the ultimate tome on this ship. I just finished a 5 year build of a 1/100 model build of the Victory and this book was an invaluable help in all areas.

Stoney, Thank you for that recommendation. Wow! Five year build ... I admire your talent and patience. I did not build this model but it appears to be a fair representation of HMS Victory. I downloaded this back in 2014 I think, but the .3ds model was dated 2002. I have looked at others available on the net; some have much better representation of the deck and on-deck components, standing and running rigging, but none has as good a looking exterior stern as this one.

Also, the poly limits for me using gmax on Win XP (my development machine) are being pushed so I must be careful how I proceed, if I choose to do this.

I am just now assessing if I can deconstruct and properly name parts so they can be animated and controlled visually for different sail configurations, wind speeds, etc.

This ship has 37 sails. In order to animate and accommodate all wind conditions, I will need around 100 sails, and 9 times the visual running rigging that must be positioned and visually controlled for every sail position and wind speed.

My focus therefore will be on getting this ship working in the sim with the help of Rob Barendregt rather than the accuracy of all the details. If that can be done, only then can one afford to take on the larger question. Getting the "VC" acceptable would be first (what is viewed from the wheel and binnacle), and after that whatever the limits will allow. For now, the VC view is unacceptable (as it was never built for this up close scrutiny).

For now, just trying to get everything assessed for viability.

Thanks for your interest.

 

[Eoraptor1]

RE: the Cats! LOL Seems every time I get into some serious gmax work, Olly is up on the desk to observe my technique. Hard to get anything done these days.

No, I have not seen Black Sails, nor Master and Commander. I need to see them both.

I have to have cats, otherwise the mice take over the house. Do see Black Sails. Well-written, fast moving plot, lots of sailing vessels, and large variety of nice looking women. Lots of things about the island colonies I didn't know.

JAMES

 

[Milton Shupe]

Great news re: HMS Victory.

I have completed the inspections and viability tests, some conversions, and visibility and animation tests after breaking down appropriate parts, and all will work as they should.

I have now started the official project to get this ship working in FSX as a native product.

Lots to do with literally hundreds of animations and visibility conditions to code, new functions to add, parts/objects to be replaced, and texture materials to be established.

I'll keep you abreast of progress.

Yeaaa!