Gordon

Well, it had to happen someday. Even the world's longest mod has to be posted eventually, and that day has arrived. I have posted four (4) separate files to CMMods. 1. CMMOS Ambush Pz VIB mod. This is the one with all the bells and whistles. Three, yes three complete sets of tactical numbers, your choice of zero to nineteen gun barrel kill rings, armored fenders mounted or removed and front hull unit markings for schwere Panzer Abteilung 501, schwere Panzer Abteilung 503, schwere Panzer Abteilung 509, schwere SS Panzer Abteilung 501, and schwere SS Panzer Abteilung 502. 2. My Vehicle RuleSet for CMMOS. CMMOS USERS, INSTALL THIS FIRST before installing the actual mod. Non CMMOS users don't need this. 3. A "plain", non-CMMOS Ambush King Tiger mod. 4. A "plain", non-CMMOS Ambush King Tiger with armored fenders removed mod. I hope it was worth the wait, enjoy.

Dey, Very nice work. If you are interested in learning how to add snow to the suspension and vehicles, drop me a line and I can share how I've done it in the past.

Ok. I am done drawing. Just a little packaging stuff to finish up and when CMMODS returns (no hurry, of course, there are more important things to deal with than a mod), I'll be uploading this puppy. And so, a final preview: You'll get a dirty, worn, tired Pz VIB in Ambush camouflage scheme and the following options for CMMOS: Front hull markings for schwere Panzer Abteilungen 501, 503, and 509, and schwere SS Panzer Abteilungen 501, and 502 (and if I had a reference for the unit markings for s.SS.Pz.Abt. 503 you'd get that too, but I don't). 3 complete sets of rear turret tactical numbers in black/white, red/white and blue/yellow allowing you to select any of the 45 vehicles that would be present in a full-strength s.Pz.Abt. I wasn't going to do turret side tactical numbers due to the mirroring problem, but if enough of you want 'em, I'll throw them in at no extra charge). Armoured fenders/mud-guards installed or removed. Gun barrel kill rings. For the non-CMMOS people out there, there will be separate mod packages for regular and "fender-less" versions. That's all for now.

V, Well, it won't be as heavily weathered/worn as the suspension for instance.

We're getting really close now. If my carpal tunnel can just subside for a little and if I can get some free time ...

Very nice jobs.

V, Yes, the barrel hasn't had weathering and wearing applied to it. Also spots are needed on the mantlet and a few on the barrel. MikeyD, Nope, those are the stock CMBB tracks which I dirtied up. I'm still working on a set of tracks to release with the mod, but they still look too "fresh from the foundry."

Well, we're in the home stretch. Here's the latest preview There were quite a number of detail additions/improvements that probably aren't real obvious in this picture, of course the wear/weathering is 99% done, and then I need to dirty it up and then it should be ready for release. Of course I'm planning a number of suprises, but those will have to wait for the release.

Zitadelle, Before I started weathering this baby, I climbed the moutain and communed with my mod guru. Scattered amongst the normal what is the answer to the great question of Life, the Universe and Everything, sorts of discussions, it was decided that small-scale modelling/weathering techniques look better in CM than 1/35 scale techniques. Hence the depiction of bare metal and not primer and bright rust. Now, granted this particular King Tiger is definitely "high mileage", but one of the main criticisms of my previous mods was that they were too "factory fresh" so I'm trying to give my "customers" what they want. I'm experimenting with exposed primer for the chipped and missing patches of zimmerit for the s.Pz. Abt. 505 version of the mod, so we'll see how that's received. I'll hopefully have a preview of that in the not so distant future.

Yes, I hate doing ambush schemes because they're such a pain in the butt to do. I got concerned that maybe I was overdoing it with the weathering/chipping, so that's one vote for not too much. The Germans used smokeless powder, so I'm with MikeyD on this, I haven't seen conclusive evidence that there was smoke residue on the German barrels. What I am doing is wearing away the paint on the edges of the muzzle brake from use of the gun cleaning rod. Maybe to keep both camps happy there will be an alternate BMP with a blackened muzzle brake. Tracks!?! OMG, I forgot to redo the tracks! That's another month's worth of work! MikeyD's early Tiger tracks are very nice, but they weren't used on the King Tiger. Agreed. I'm planning on having the lower front hull much more heavily worn and scratched (from running over all the mangled T-34 corpses), and the upper front hull scratching/chipping reduced the higher you go. And I will take another look at your KT mod to see how you proportioned your markings. Of course it will all depend on which exact KTs from which units I'll be simulating. Marco's still around, just been very busy, and I've been soliciting mucho advice from him during this project. I'll see what I can do in terms of extras (would anyone expect anything less from moi?). I'm also still toying with the idea of a non-ambush zimmerit version as well. junk2drive, Alkiviadis, Vergeltungswaffe, Jack Carr, Redwolf, and British Tommy, thanks for the nice comments. Ok, so it appears that I'm not making her look overly made up, say like Tammy Faye Baker, :eek: so I shall endeavor to persevere and get this baby released.

Ok, I've got a set of weathering techniques for this beast that I'm pretty happy with, so I thought I'd solicit feedback to see if this is what the mod using community is looking for. The turret is still unweathered, while the hull sides and skirt are pretty much done, and the front hull is about 50% done. So, is this what folks are looking for in a King Tiger mod? If not, what are people looking for? Speak now or forever hold your peace, as I think I can see the light at the end of this (mod) tunnel. Thanks. [ May 26, 2005, 07:01 PM: Message edited by: Gordon ]

It's good to hear you are working on that. Mighty useful tool there. I suppose you want to keep those killer features secret up to release point ? Care to tell us when that would be ? I guess this almost qualify as a bone . Cheers </font>

Why? Someone else has already done it?

Why? Someone else has already done it?

Well folks, I'm overdue for an update on what seems like the eternal mod project, my Pz VIB. I had to put it on the shelf for awhile, because I was sick and tired of futzing with it and because I was helping Andreas out with his Sea Lion project for CMAK. But, I've started back on it, and have the ambush "spots" (I've just started doing the sides), weathering, rust, etc. and markings to finalize and then we should be good to go. ETA? Hard to say, but hopefully before Christmas. As usual, jpeg fuzzes up some of the details. Sorry for the delay, hopefully it will be worth the wait. Gordon

Well folks, I'm overdue for an update on what seems like the eternal mod project, my Pz VIB. I had to put it on the shelf for awhile, because I was sick and tired of futzing with it and because I was helping Andreas out with his Sea Lion project for CMAK. But, I've started back on it, and have the ambush "spots" (I've just started doing the sides), weathering, rust, etc. and markings to finalize and then we should be good to go. ETA? Hard to say, but hopefully before Christmas. As usual, jpeg fuzzes up some of the details. Sorry for the delay, hopefully it will be worth the wait. Gordon

Aristotoles, No need to apologize or to delete the mod. If people enjoy it, by all means let them have it. Just try to be more careful in determining the origins of the BMPs you are working with, and document what your modding base was. For instance, it wouldn't hurt to explicitly acknowledge that your mod(s) were based on original BFC artwork, as opposed to "from scratch" or total redraws. Given that mods often spur additional mods, it's important to maintain the provenance so that people are properly credited for their work. Gordon

Here's some feedback. Please provide proper attribution when you use another's mod as a base for one of your mods. It's not much to ask, considering you make the same request. Gordon

I just know you've all been holding your breath So, here are a couple of shots of my King Tiger mod which has now reached beta quality. I'll be working on the rust, weathering, dust/dirt and marking options, a factory ambush camouflage scheme, possibly snow covered and whitewashed winter versions, but I probably won't end up doing a zimmerit alternative. Anyway, we're getting close, so it should only be a couple more months. Gordon

I was floored when Marco gave me a copy of his assault boat mod to test. It's amazing what he's done for the poor little assault boat. Gordon

Mikey, Well you just about wrote the book on Hetzer mods with those. I think it would be very hard if not impossible for anyone to equal or exceed them. Fantastic work. Gordon

Folks, Just so you know that I'm still working on this, and to let you provide feedback, here's a shot of the hull side of my King Tiger mod. Now, the first thing to note is not to worry that everything is too shiny and new looking. All the metal tools will get varying amounts of rust/dirt applied before I'm finished and the brightness of some of the metal parts will be toned down. This is just to make sure that everything is in the right place and the right size, etc., etc. So, at this pace, I should be done for Christmas. Gordon

Ok, since MikeT's back on the job, coordinate with him. It appears mike8g's got the vehicle lists done, so folks can start concentrating on the terrain, infantry uniforms, etc. Gordon

Gurra, Thanks for the feedback on the errors, we'll see if we can incorporate them with the revision of CMMOS, assuming it does happen (see Survivor: CMMOS thread). To answer your question of why there aren't more CMMOS mods lately? As someone who's been around since the dawn of CMBO and modding, CMMOS evolved to serve the needs of folks who wanted to coordinate changes across many different mods. E.g., Changing all your German vehicles from tri-color camouflage to ambush camouflage, and giving them all markings for the Hitlerjungen. Or changing all your winter allied vehicles from whitewashed to snow covered, and then adding aerial recognition panels, all with just a few clicks of the mouse. It appears that the era of the big, mega mods as described above is past. How many total terrain mods are available for CMBB? For CMBO there had to be at least 6 different alternative terrain sets out there, each of which had their plusses and minuses, but damn it was nice to be able to switch between them. How many replacement building sets are there for CMBB and CMAK? For CMBO we had Magua's and Panzertruppen's and Tanks a Lot's (and maybe some others I'm forgetting off the top of my head). Modding tends to burn. folks out, and many of the modders who used to favor the types of mods that CMMOS enabled have dropped by the wayside. Gordon

Ok, that's one vote against. This is the first bump. Three bumps and CMMOS is out! Gordon