Apophenia's Offerings

[apophenia]

I was amusing myself with the notion of turning a 4th Generation fighter into a stealth type. My hapless victim began as a Dassault profile of their Rafale C. To that, I added features from the Chinese J-35 and general mushed things around.

This improbably semi-stealth Rafale is shown with the Dassault nEUROn experimental UCAV posing as an operational 'Ailier Fidèle'. The no-longer-a-Rafale has its belly weapons bay doors open with a MBDA Meteor missile deploying.*

_________________________

* The original Meteor artwork was done by the Uzbek 3D artist, Akela Freedom.

[GTX_Admin]

Rafale post major mid-life update?

[apophenia]

Rafale post major mid-life update?

A very major mid-life 

[apophenia]

For reasons that I can't readily explain, I keep coming back to variations on modernising the Dewoitine D.500 series...

I wrote a long-winded backstory for this scenario but the short version is: what-if the initially feeble Dewoitine D.520-01 had been declared a complete failure and, as an interim, French decided to update their aging Dewoitine D.500/D.501/D.510 fleet. Here, the earlier airframes are rebuilt to accept shorter-span wooden wings and retractable undercarriages based on those of the experimental Arsenal VG.30 light fighter.

The première série SNCAN D.514 EC1s were rebuilt Dewoitine D.500 airframes to be employed by the Armée de l'air in the advanced fighter-trainer role. These were followed by HS 9 moteur canon-armed SNCAN D.515 AC1s rebuilt from Dewoitine D.501 airframes for a new attack-fighter role. The faster SNCAN D.516 C1 fighter was derived from D.510 components and similarly armed with the more powerful HS 404 moteur canon.

A proposed SNCAN D.517 for the Aéronavale was not realised. Instead, SNCAN began remanufacturing poorer-condition Dewoitine aircrafts for the more heavily-revised SNCAN D.518 C1. These most extensive rebuilds had reshaped radiator baths, taller tails, fully-enclosing canopies taken from the Arsenal VG.33 series, and other detail changes. Like the D.516s, the D.518 C1 were powered by HS 12Y-31 engines and armed with HS 404 moteur canons.

At the start of the WW2, many D.516 C1s were still in operation with three Groupes de Chasse. By May of 1940, some frontline D.516s were still flying as backups in regular D.518 units. However, by then, most D.516s had been transferred to the Escadrilles Régionale de Chasse replacing older types. A few D.516s were also transferred to equipment-starved Aéronavale squadrons after the German assault had begun.

[Litvyak]

This improbably semi-stealth Rafale is shown with the Dassault nEUROn experimental UCAV posing as an operational 'Ailier Fidèle'. The no-longer-a-Rafale has its belly weapons bay doors open with a MBDA Meteor missile deploying.*\
* The original Meteor artwork was done by the Uzbek 3D artist, Akela Freedom.

Something about it really makes me think Su-57...

[apophenia]

Something about it really makes me think Su-57...

Cheers Litvak. Maybe the 'Egg Plane' version of the Su-57? 

The Sukhoi is a much swoopier-looking design. I'm hoping that the Russians never get around whatever it was the originally slowed-down their stealth fighter programme. That said, it can't be denied that the Su-57 is a looker!

[apophenia]

Not much of a backstory for this one. It just seemed odd that India licensed-built a number of Soviet aircraft but, AFAIK, never evolved distinctly domestic derivatives. So, I've been playing with an Indian MiG-21 evolution well beyond the local Bison upgrade. However, the somewhat dated Tumansky R-25 turbojet - licensed for in-service IAF MiG-21 FLs - would be retained for the new fighter to manage costs.

The idea is that India revived and updated the MiG Ye-8 concept for its Future Fighter Aircraft (FFA) aka 'Fighter 90' programme. The Ye-8 ventral intake was retained but revised to incorporate lessons learned or surmised from the earlier US F-16. Other than that intake and a raised forward fuselage, for the prototype FFA, Hindustan Aerospace attempted to reuse as much of its MiG-21 tooling as possible.

After test flights, a range of changes and modifications were incorporated. Most noticeably, the vertical tailplane was changed. The need for increased control led to the adoption on an entirely new and much larger fin and rudder. After a number of tail strikes with the original ventral fin, those too were changed. In the latter case, the solution was easier - HAL simply adopted the folding ventral fin from their licensed
MiG-27 Bahadur attack aircraft.

In Indian Air Force service, the FFA became the HAL Shikra (Banded Goshawk). These aircraft served in the fighter-interceptor role from the late 1980s until 2009. Illustrated are the prototype FFA demonstrator (in its original form) and an upgraded HAL Shikra-C of No. 45 (Flying Daggers) Squadron, IAF in the early 2000s.

[perttime]

I like that! Especially the green FFA, because it has the "rakish" MiG-21 tail.

[apophenia]

I like that! Especially the green FFA, because it has the "rakish" MiG-21 tail.

Thanks perttime   The MiG-21 really did have a 'go-faster' tail 

I got the FFA done and mounted just in time. This morning, my HP laptop officially carked it ... or, at least, the dreaded HP 'XYZ' glitch now freezes everything after 4 x keystrokes. Fun!

So now the search for a replacement laptop begins. I'm currently leaning towards a ChromeBook ... basically because I'm utterly fed up with both HP and Microsoft. But, that means adios 'vintage Photoshop' 

Anyhoo, consider this thread on hiatus until a new laptop is procured with GIMP downloaded and mastered ...

[Frank3k]

Get a Mac laptop - price-wise, they're competitive (maybe even cheaper!) with Windows machines of equal power.

[Litvyak]

Anyhoo, consider this thread on hiatus until a new laptop is procured with GIMP downloaded and mastered ...

GIMP is fun. I think the biggest thing will be learning terminology, some things are just called differently in one than the other.

[perttime]

And if you want/need to work in vector formats, Inkscape can do quite a bit.

[apophenia]

Thanks for the suggestions, folks! With a little research, I quickly realised that a Chromebook would be almost useless for what I want to do (partly because of its modest RAM, mainly because of its low-resolution screen). Oh well ...

GIMP is fun. I think the biggest thing will be learning terminology, some things are just called differently in one than the other.

I've downloaded GIMP  3.0.4. onto a borrowed laptop (Win10) but I have yet to hit "fun"! Since much of what I do begins with the removal of the background, that is what I started with on a trial image. Oh dear!

In Photoshop, you outline part of the unwanted background by playing connect-the-dots with the Lasso tool. Then Control X to cut out that part of the image (leaving, in my case, a white background). Then Control S to save what you've done thus far in psd. Then repeat until you've eliminated as much of the background as you require.

I tried to do the same in GIMP. I was selecting the first area to cut out using the Free Select Tool. As I proceeded (after 3 x clicks), the selection suddenly snapped to a reduced area. I thought 'close enough for an experiment' and Cut. As desired, the selected area turned to background white ... but all around that cut area looked like it had been airbrushed at a fuzzy, low-pressure setting.

Looking around at tutorials, I realised that one must 'commit' Free Select Tool before cutting. I did. Same result. Then I tried deselecting Anti-Alias and Feather Edges separately and then together. Sames results in all cases. After turning Anti-Alias back on, I shut down GIMP and started again. The bold fuzzy outline is now replaced by a subtler 'airbrush' effect ... but it is still there.

So, am I missing something here? Embarrassing to stall on Step 1 of GIMP! But, thus far, very little seems intuitive to me ... and, yes, I am aware that I am whinging about challenges with free software 

[Frank3k]

I could never get my head around GIMP. I use Photoline (https://www.pl32.com/) and it's pretty good. They have a generous free trial period and it's relatively cheap (79 Euros)

[Litvyak]

Using the lasso tool, I selected this house, did 'select inverse', hit the 'delete' key on the keyboard, and there's a blank white background... (this house is in Sandon btw)

But, thus far, very little seems intuitive to me

I know how this feels - I felt the same when I gave Photoshop a try up at SFU... looks so similar, works so different...

[apophenia]

Thanks folks.

Frank: Photoline looks intriguing ... and I had a wander around its support section. I think I'll give Photoline a try.

Using the lasso tool, I selected this house, did 'select inverse', hit the 'delete' key on the keyboard, and there's a blank white background... (this house is in Sandon btw)

That is pretty much the same technique that I was using in PS. Mostly, I just select one small area at a time and 'cut' that before moving on. On occasion, I use 'inverse' but mainly for feathering harsh edges.

ps: Cool to see a bit of Sandon architecture. Their collection of CCF-Brill T48 trolley busses also intrigues. I wonder what their original plan was for the Brills?

[Litvyak]

That is pretty much the same technique that I was using in PS. Mostly, I just select one small area at a time and 'cut' that before moving on. On occasion, I use 'inverse' but mainly for feathering harsh edges.

I use inverse a fair bit, especially when cleaning up or redrawing an airline logo or somesuch from a jpg or a png that's not on a transparent background.

ps: Cool to see a bit of Sandon architecture. Their collection of CCF-Brill T48 trolley busses also intrigues. I wonder what their original plan was for the Brills?

I have no idea - but better there than at the scrapper's! I'm told there's also one or more at Three Valley Gap, though I've passed through there 1000 times, and stopped at Craigellachie a few times, I've never actually stopped at 3VG... and also it's fun when the Transit Museum brings out their Brills for rides around the city. I love them, fond childhood memories.

[apophenia]

I have no idea - but better there than at the scrapper's! I'm told there's also one or more at Three Valley Gap, though I've passed through there 1000 times, and stopped at Craigellachie a few times, I've never actually stopped at 3VG... and also it's fun when the Transit Museum brings out their Brills for rides around the city. I love them, fond childhood memories.

I was imagining a tour route festooned with overhead trolley lines for the Brills. And all fed by Silversmith Power Station's Tesla generator. I'm sure some clever marketing type could do something with that! 

[Litvyak]

I'm now entertaining myself imagining Highway 31A wired for trolleys between New Denver and Kaslo... or maybe from Nakusp to Nakusp Hot Springs...

[apophenia]

I'm now entertaining myself imagining Highway 31A wired for trolleys between New Denver and Kaslo... or maybe from Nakusp to Nakusp Hot Springs...

Overhead wires for transport trucks seems to be the future for German highways. Expanding that to 'inter-urban' trolley buses just makes sense. But how much more fun to (re)use restored CCF-Brills and Flyers?