DCS Skin Submission

[Klaiber]

After watching a few 1980s East German Air Force videos, it looks like anyone with a stripe on their helmet is apart of some form of crew, either a ground crew, or a helicopter crew, or a flight crew.  Their are a number of different colored stripes I'm seeing, so I'm wondering if a different color represents a different job?  Honestly, it's probably different in different eras.

I'm just not sure about the stripe, as documentation is very hard to come by.

But, on the positive side, I found a period appropriate East German flight suit, circa 1962 to 1978:

The helmet, as far as I can tell, is a Soviet-style ZSh-3:

http://www.hightechscience.org/russian_zsh-3_flight_helmet.htm

Here are some more examples, grabbed from Ebay: https://pilotflightsecurity.com/nva-lsk-lv-mil-mi-8-helicopter-pilot-named-zsh-3-flight-helmet-gdr-cold-war-ddr.html

Note that some have the stripe and others don't.

Regardless, orange as a color for the helmet would definitely work.  Another example:

And I think the original color of the flight suit is some form of Steingrau (RAL #555548), made lighter by age and wear and tear.

 

Btw: here is the rank that I was thinking of.  This is an Unterleutnant (Ult.), which corresponds to a NATO OF-1c:

 

[Flyboy]

[Vonrd]

What about the MiG-15 & 19? I think they are doable also. Any examples?

[Balge]

Those stripes don't seem to be rank insignia but mean something else. But I think you figured out asmuch. I sadly don't know much about the uniforms and insignia of the NVA(Nationale Volksarmee). I'm from the western part of germany and I'm too young to have remembered anything about such details even if I was born in the east. 

[Klaiber]

Thanks @Balge.  They're definitely crew of some type.  I wish I could find some better form of documentation.  It's just so rare, unfortunately.

I've actually ordered a book on East German uniforms, as I'd like to have a better idea of what's going on.

1 hour ago, Vonrd said:

What about the MiG-15 & 19? I think they are doable also. Any examples?

The sometimes orange/sometimes white ZSH-3 helmet is early 1960s onward, as is the uniform (1962 to 1978).  So anything in the 1960s (even the MiG-19P for example) could use the above.

However, if you wanted to have a 1950s version for the MiG-15bis, the flight suit would basically be the same.

However, instead of the ZSH helmet, you'd replace it with a leather helmet, which outside of pressurized suits you see for early MiG-21s, is what they would have worn from 1956 into the early 1960s.  The leather helmet actually doesn't go away.  It becomes the padding of the early Soviet pilot helmets, meaning they wore the leather underneath.

http://www.hightechscience.org/russian_zsh-3_flight_helmet.htm

Here are some examples of Soviet-style 1950s leather helmets:

Here is a Bulgarian pilot (still the same kit, just a different country) with a MiG-17.

Here is a group of East German pilots with MiG-17s.  Note the leather helmets in their hands.

Pilots and crew around a MiG-15UTI.  Note the back-seater with the leather helmet.

And it's hard to see, but you can see the pilot of this JG-7 MiG-15UTI in 1957 with a leather helmet:

[Vonrd]

I'm going to blow off the white stripe on the helmet (or any other type of straight lines for that matter). As you can see, everything gets warped from the UV map to the 3D model. Not worth the struggle and suffering  

[Vonrd]

Does this look OK?

[Klaiber]

Yeah, I think that looks great.  Outside of the fur collar (which I know isn't in game), I think that's dead on.  What do you think?

[Vonrd]

I like it. If there are no objections, I'll port him over to all of the JG-1 MiG-21s.

[Klaiber]

Yeah, I think that would be great.

Will you have to create a different pilot for the 15, 19, and helos?

For the helos, I think it's basically the same - stone grey uniform with a orange helmet.

Here is a screenshot of a East German Hip pilot in 1983:

It's from this video:

And you can see that the pilot is solid orange.  And the crew chief has the white stripe.

The uniforms here are also slightly different, as this is 1983.  It's blue with the rank bars on the left breast.  But I think we can still go with the pre-1978 stone gray and the bars on the sleeve.

[Vonrd]

4 hours ago, Klaiber said:

Will you have to create a different pilot for the 15, 19, and helos?

Yes. Each model has a different UV map. If you look at the 15 and the 19, the pilot body / uniform is pretty rudimentary. I wouldn't even bother with the KA-50 since it's so bad and you never see the pilot anyway. The Hind and the Mi-8 are good though.

[Klaiber]

The in-game 15 and the 19 pilot look like they're both wearing basically the same.  I think that's an interpretation of the ZSH-3 helmet on their heads.

For the Hip and the Hind, I guess you'll need to create two to three different bodies.

If so, here are some more fake people from This Person Does Not Exist.  If you want/need them.

You might be able to photoshop a Robin Olds mustache on one of them. 

[TedsOnMeds]

I know this would probably be very difficult with the way it's mapped, so don't waste any time on it if it's too crazy hard; but I was wondering if there would be any option to get my helmet design wrapped onto the pilots helm?

Zip file contains proofs and vectors of the design. 

Ted_helmets (1).7z

[Klaiber]

Which aircraft were you looking for?  Each pilot is different, I think.

[TedsOnMeds]

Probably the MiG-21, that's the only official squadron use module I have currently. F5-E is the only other one I have. 

[Vonrd]

On 6/1/2022 at 7:34 AM, TedsOnMeds said:

I know this would probably be very difficult with the way it's mapped, so don't waste any time on it if it's too crazy hard; but I was wondering if there would be any option to get my helmet design wrapped onto the pilots helm?

Zip file contains proofs and vectors of the design. 

Ted_helmets (1).7z 1.56 MB · 2 downloads

Sorry Ted. The straight lines are a major PITA. The UV map is all squiggly. Besides, I would have to make a seperate skin for every pilot who had a custom helmet and everybody would have to download and install all of those skins. I just went with generic JG-1 pilots. See next post.

 

[Vonrd]

I think I'm finished... here's a sample for each plane, take a look and let me know. If all's OK, I'll port the modifications over to all JG-1 skins.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/11bv48x8013w1tg/AADw5kk0Lmi-tzgDxEUqyS8da?dl=0

 

[Klaiber]

These look great Vonrd!

[Flyboy]

These all look great, and I can't believe how you can do this so well. But for some reason the eyes of the M21 pilot remind me a little of a Monty Python cartoon. Only a little and just the eyes. Maybe this one?

Plus they all look so young..........

 

[Klaiber]

Yeah, the pilot eyes for the -21 has always been a bit severe.

[Vonrd]

Is this better? I lightened the eyelids, toned down the eyeballs.

[TedsOnMeds]

2 hours ago, Vonrd said:

Sorry Ted. The straight lines are a major PITA. The UV map is all squiggly. Besides, I would have to make a seperate skin for every pilot who had a custom helmet and everybody would have to download and install all of those skins. I just went with generic JG-1 pilots. See next post.

 

A okay with that Vonrd. Didnt want to cause any trouble  

[Vonrd]

47 minutes ago, Flyboy said:

Plus they all look so young..........

Well, pretty much most people look so young to me...  

[Klaiber]

6 minutes ago, Vonrd said:

Is this better? I lightened the eyelids, toned down the eyeballs.

That looks great, Von.  Better.

[Vonrd]

So, OK to add them to the other skins? What about the post unification skins? Should I do the L-39, MiG-29, Yak 52?