TBD-1 Devastator

[D.James]

I dunno if this is the appropiate spot for these or not. Not much here for 3d stuff, but you all have been a great resource for me.
Any way, here are a few renders of my TBD-1 3d model.
I'm down to rounding out the cockpit details and few color scheme options.

 

[D.James]

If anyone is interested, the model is available for viewing at the Google 3d warehouse.
Douglas TBD-1 Devastator collected parts by D.James - Google 3D Warehouse
It's in three parts due to filesize, but snaps together very easily. The program to use is Sketchup, which is free.Download here.
There is also a stand alone viewer, also free, but since this particular model is in three parts it is not reallly appropiate for this application. There is an option to download as a collada zip file, although I personally have not had access to a 3d program that makes google's collada version work.

Hopefully my next parts pack will be ready in the next week or two. Working out an early '42 scheme for her next, as well as detailing out the instruments, and the bombardiers bay.

Thanks again to those that have helped out, both knowingly and not.

 

[Lucky13]

Niiiice work mate!

 

[lesofprimus]

So all those images are computer generated??? No real model stuck in a 3d world???

If so, truly amazing work..........

 

[Wildcat]

Agreed! Excellent stuff!

 

[109ROAMING]

Great work! So you made the whole thing with that free program?

 

[Njaco]

Excellent!!!

 

[D.James]

So all those images are computer generated??? No real model stuck in a 3d world???

If so, truly amazing work..........

Yup,the plane, ship structures, 40 mm Bofors (which is another back-shelved ongoing project) are all 100% CGI, drawn by me in sketchup.For the images with sea and clouds, I did use a photograph for the backdrop.

Great work! So you made the whole thing with that free program?

The quick answer is, yes!..
The model is first drawn in sketchup, and then to get the pictures I rendered them through Indigo/SKIndigo which is also free, through the skindigo interface which essentially plugs Indigo directly into sketchup. It basically adds 'sheen' and better defines light and shadow. It takes this
and makes this this. The Val was an early render of one of my earlier models. I'm still working out the all the kinks it's real easy to make a plastic look, a bit more challenging for photo-realism. I didn't discover the rendering process till I was pretty deep into the TBD, which made me change the way I draw things a bit. I wound up stopping to draw a quick plane from scratch (the F1m below) to help me work out a few of the kinks. The water effects in those images I did draw, but the beach and trees are photos. I am still working out some photo texture techniques in sketchup, for aging, distressing and things like rivet details, but sketch up is not real good at it for organic shapes. Works great for large flat pieces, like the side of a building, but it scatters the image over each individual polygon of a more complex piece.

Ultimately, the renders don't do justice to experincng the models in 3d space. You still can't quite hold 'em there, but it's the next best thing.

Thanks for taking a look and commenting guys!

 

[Catch22]

Wow, great work!

 

[Wurger]

With all here.

 

[Airframes]

Impressive stuff!

 

[BombTaxi]

Fantastic work mate!

 

[Wayne Little]

Wow, love your work! especially the Val of Lt.Cdr. Egusa...

 

[timshatz]

Very nice work.

One question about the TBD. Wasn't the torpedo semi-enclosed. IIRC, it stuck out from the belly of the airplane, only the first 18"-24" were exposed.

 

[p51#1wwii]

I don't want to hurt your feelings but the devastator was outdated when it was made

 

[FLYBOYJ]

I don't want to hurt your feelings but the devastator was outdated when it was made

And I don't want to hurt your feelings but that was the dumbest 2nd post we've ever had on here.

 

[Matt308]

Outdated and thus should be totally ignored in historical content. Good night, man. Can't some things be honored for their historical presence? What about the He-177 Grief for goodness sake. Operationally a complete failure, yet one of the most beautiful bombers of WWII.

Hope your third post is more insightful. Love or hate. Admiration tends to be the mantra for a WWII AVIATION WEBSITE!!!

 

[Trebor]

that TBD is absolutely gorgeous

 

[D.James]

Very nice work.

One question about the TBD. Wasn't the torpedo semi-enclosed. IIRC, it stuck out from the belly of the airplane, only the first 18"-24" were exposed.

Yes, the torpedo was semi-enclosed, about the upper quarter to half of the back half as you moved aft, slung at about a 10 degree angle to the line of thrust. There was also some sort of fairing for a portion forward where it cleared the fuselage. My resources have been most lacking as to the torpedo well/fairing and bomb racks, very few pictures out there available (And I would like to thank Micdrow again for the one he provided me, clearest shot of the of a loaded torpedo that I've seen.) It's been a real hanging point for me in the process. One of these days I'll get my hands a copy of the erection and maintenance manual or some proper blue prints and hopefully get a better understanding of it all.

I don't want to hurt your feelings but the devastator was outdated when it was made

Hurt my feelings?...Naw, everyone is entitled to their opinion, however misinformed they are.

The TBD was state of the art for her time, incorporating many innovations and firsts for the USN. Sure, by the time the US muddled into the war she was past her prime, as was a lot of the equipment on all sides. You go in with what ya got. Aviation technology was growing by leaps and bounds and overly specialized aircraft were often left in the dust. Even her replacement, the TBF Avenger, would not be asked to perform missions under similar circumstances as Midway, where her record was nearly as poor as the TBD's. The mission changed as the tactics were better understood, they would seldom again carry torpedoes as they just had to fly too slow and low to press the attack, leaving no room for evasion of hostile fire and aircraft.
Of course, the mk XIII torpedoes that they were carrying did little to help, being notoriously unreliable, often failing to explode on striking a target or just plain running too deep because the War Department was more concerned with expenditures than in live testing, only ever testing them with dummy warheads that weighed differently than live ones. And then continued to deny that there even was a problem long after battlefield reports started coming in.

Don't get me wrong, I've no great personal love of this particular A/C, but more an interest of the men who took her to battle, green and knowing that the odds were stacked against them.
There are no surviving Devastators, the last was scrapped in 1944. I just don't think that a piece that was pivotal in forming US Naval doctrine (rightly or wrongly) for the next six decades should go forgotten and/ or maligned when tactics and bureaucracy are more to blame when the shortcomings of he A/C were well known.

The qoute below says it all to me. They were talking about the fact that neither of them had ever taken off with a torpedo loaded before. "I'll do my best, buddy, if I go into the drink she's too heavy so you ask for more speed to get more wind over the deck."

 

[Gnomey]

Excellent!