Took some time this weekend dusting off an old model and getting it rigged to work in Blender 2.69. Also has the majority of materials set-up to render nicely in Cycles.

Demo Video here: http://youtu.be/IoZu_pN4yvw

"Blender-ized" download here:
http://www.sharecg.com/v/74485/view/5/3D-Model/BD-5J-Blender-2.69

And if anyone has missed it before, I still have the old zipped .obj version at ShareCG. But it lacks all the new bells and whistles. (No rig, materials need work, etc.)

http://www.sharecg.com/v/21677/view/5/3D-Model/BD-5J-Model

Hey, that's real nice. I remember when Jim Bede first designed that little plane, and looking at your rendering of it, I think you have it down perfectly.

Knickers...

Thanks Nicola678122!

I remember these planes being popular in the airshow circuits back in the 1980s. (The James Bond movie is what really made them famous other than their size and decent performance.) It was also the star of a fun MicroProse "flight sim" game I played a bit as a kid. Seems there's some still around and flying (Red Bull has some), but not quite hyped as much as they used to be.

Some parts of my version of the model I made could be considered mixed bag. It seems the interior layout varied quite a bit. (Probably kitbashed, with avionics picked out by the various people or companies that built them. I think the last versions are all electronic inside.) Hard to figure out which references to use with such inconsistencies at the time I modeled it. So I might have the controls from one version with instruments for another. But I like the way I have it since it "looks cool".

I'm considering doing at least one more revision to the Blender version but I'm not sure how long it may be if I get on it again, so it's likely worth downloading this one. If I do work on it again, there may be some support rails for the canopy when it opens, rigging for the instruments (driven by custom properties on the panel they're in?), better remote layout for the existing rig, and maybe a bonus hi-res texture for the exterior.

Being an experimental aircraft, the builder could make whatever changes and adjustments to the craft that they wanted, and I think the planes show that. Instruments and avionics are always at the builders discretion, as is interior trim, and even the powerplant.

(my other half was an aircraft mechanic, so if I give him a chance I get all sorts of stories)

Knickers...