Skirtless Centurion MK 5/1

[norrin]

This is my first attempt at making a Centurion MK 5/1 with the side skirts removed as used by the Australian forces in Vietnam. So far I've got the skirts off and removed the associated decals but I was wondering if anyone knew how to fix the transparency/alpha issues related to the vertical guide horns on the tank's tracks?

Edited November 15, 2017 by norrin

[RENEGADE-623]

guide horns?  is that what we  refer to as return rollers?  If so, is it possible they weren't modeled because of the side skirts? So maybe a skin would do the trick?  not sure but hell, worth a shot to me 

[norrin]

36 minutes ago, RENEGADE-623 said:

is that what we  refer to as return rollers?

 

Oops, to be honest I hadn't even noticed they were missing. I was actually referring to the teeth that run down the centre of the inside of the tracks - not entirely sure what the technical name is. If you look at the picture you can see that each tooth is outlined by a small transparent region.

 

In regards to the missing return rollers you've given me an idea, I may be able to paint/skin them onto the relevant texture regions I have deleted to remove the skirts. I've got no idea how that will look though as they will not be 3D objects so they will look good from directly side-on but may look at little strange at other angles.  I'll also have to remove the front lights and try and to reshape the canvas mantlet cover so it looks more like the following photo.

 

 

[TSe419E]

They're called "center guides."  Keeps the track centered on the wheels and rollers.

 

[Ssnake]

Cosmetics aside, rendering the side skirts transparent doesn't mean that they will be ignored when calculating impact, and the resulting damages (or damage reduction, in this case).

[Gibsonm]

You also have the bigger issue, IMHO, of "adjusting" the in game 105mm L7 (as shown in your screen shot) to have the same properties of the 20Pdr (as shown in your photograph).

 

Edited November 15, 2017 by Gibsonm

[norrin]

10 minutes ago, Ssnake said:

Cosmetics aside...

I think you may have hit the nail on the head as my wife is forever telling me that I'm superficial.

 

@TSe419e - thank you for the information.

@Gibsonm - I've been reading about the Battle for Balmoral and Coral recently in particular the role played by the Centurions in this battle and I wanted to make a scenario roughly based on the forces present. I understand that there are many shortcomings in the approach I'm taking but it is the best that I can do with the resources at hand.  

[Gibsonm]

1 hour ago, norrin said:

@Gibsonm - I've been reading about the Battle for Balmoral and Coral recently in particular the role played by the Centurions in this battle and I wanted to make a scenario roughly based on the forces present. I understand that there are many shortcomings in the approach I'm taking but it is the best that I can do with the resources at hand.  

 

Good luck with that - will be interested in what you come up with.

 

I suspect you'll also have an issue with not being able to model the guns, whose positions and fire had a major impact.

 

Binh Ba (Operation Hammer) might be easier from a SB Pro PE perspective.

 

 

[norrin]

13 hours ago, Gibsonm said:

 

Binh Ba (Operation Hammer) might be easier from a SB Pro PE perspective.

 

 

 

You're right, I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew regarding Firebase Coral but I'd looked at Binh Ba and I wasn't sure how well I could simulate the house-to-house fighting that characterised that battle using Steel Beasts. Then again, I can't think of any sim, or game for that matter, that does AI infantry combat in urban areas particularly well, which isn't surprising really given the variables at play.

 

As you know, despite being involved in several major conflicts since WWII, Australian tanks have only really played an active combat role during the Vietnam War and other than the Vietnam mod released by the ADF, I think, for VBS1 I cannot think of another sim that has really tried to simulate this conflict from the Australian perspective.

 

Given the key models required are available in Steel Beasts, I've recently worked out a method for injecting 3D VR into the sim using my Occulus Rift and a simulation of Vietnam has long been a pipe dream of mine, I'd originally hoped that I get away with reskinning the US 1970 soldiers and M113A1s to look more like their Australian Army counterparts , maybe even creating a small map with a Vietnamese style village but I'm no doubt over reaching - gee I've never done that before Maybe, I'd be better off attempting this in ArmA3 but its going to take a lot longer as I'll have to model, config and animate the centurion and its interior as well as various other bits and pieces and in the past I've found working with parts of that community and the game engine in particular fairly frustrating and disheartening. 

 

Anyway, here's where I got to with the Centurion last night, the return rollers look a bit naff, as does the coaxial mount, so there's still a lot of work to do if I decide to continue.

 

     

[Gibsonm]

It looks nice enough but you still have a Royal Ordnance L7A1 105mm gun modelled as opposed to the Ordnance QF 20 pounder (84mm).

 

It will make a difference in terms of weapon effects, not just cosmetics.

[CharlieB]

On 15/11/2017 at 5:53 AM, TSe419E said:

They're called "center guides."  Keeps the track centered on the wheels and rollers.

 

We call them track horns