MB339PAN Work in Progress

In the past few months, I've received several appreciation e-mails for the Fs04 MB339 PAN "Frecce Tricolori" I've released several years ago.

Being Italian, this plane means much to me. I think that the Frecce Tricolori, our beloved national Aerobatic team, is one of those things that make us Italians feel proud of our country - like Ferrari cars - despite the problems our country is facing.

First, I'd like to say "thank you" to all those people who have downloaded and appreciated my efforts.

Second, I'd like to answer to the most recurrent question that is:"What about a FSX version?

Well, of course I've been working on it. Compliling an FSX version using gmax (the modeling tool I've used for the FS04 version) should be a relatively small task. Basically you need to create new FSX materials, assign them to the parts and tag the new animations. Not a big deal.

Still, gmax is an obsolete tool now. There are several reasons why you'd prefer to have the source files in 3D Studio Max, first one being the fact that .max can be converted to other file formats very easily (that means you can reuse your source on any new version of Flight Simulator - andlmost any other game that allows user-created models).

So I've decided to start a completely new project in 3D Studio Max. The base mesh for this project is Massimo Taccoli's excellent 3d mesh (thank you Massimo!) he built for FS2002 / 2004.

My intent is merge the best of my 339 with the best of Massimo's one and add completely new textures (highest possible definintion and with self shadowing and bump mapping).

As a side note, should anyone be interested, *IT IS* possible to convert gmax models to 3ds...well, at least partially. This is done using Quake 3d file format as interchange file format. Still, it is a long process as you have to split the model in small bits. While the textures coordinates are usually preserved, animations and materials are lost. And in most cases the geometry needs some manual fix.

These are a couple of screenshots of 3D Studio Max wip. I really cannot tell when I'll have the time to work on this. My first priority is complete the Goshawk. Then I'll switch to the 339.

3Ds Max Model - Work in progress