The Download Munkey : Download This, Download That :)

I always felt that the instrumental scores of flight sims and other air combat games were a perfect complement to the idea of graceful yet deadly knights dueling in the blue skies high above.

© Ubisoft

Two of my favourite downloadable (legal, of course ) game scores - one from Blazing Angels : Squadrons of WWII and the other from the more recent game Ace Combat 6 : Fires of Liberation.

© Bandai Namco

Ace Combat 6’s ‘M13A’ score starts slow but builds up to a very beautiful melody around 3:15 mins. Blazing Angels’ more energetic ‘End Credits Theme’ employs a different approach with its emotionally stirring tune. While both scores convey the same sense of epic majesty, I much prefer Blazing Angels’ score composed by Rednote Audio (credits which include work on Heroes of Might and Magic V and Blacksite Area 51) for its more memorable tune. I believe the version on Rednote Audio’s site is a shortened version of the music that plays at the Blazing Angels website.

Download and listen to Rednote Audio’s End Theme (2.63 MB - 1.:54 mins) and other works for Blazing Angels - on their official page or the Ace Combat 6 ‘M13A’ MP3 (3.9 MB - 4:13 mins) from the official site. (direct MP3 link)

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Mutt & Davis James Soulful DNB Mix
Drivey - Relaxing Screensaver

Michael James’s Papercraft Paradise is another papercraft blog with an excellent collection of links for papercraft plans. Before you dismiss it as Yet-Another-Papercraft blog, check out the extensive collection of papercraft machines (amongst other papercraft) featured at this wonderful blog.

Below is a selection of ones I like (All images taken from Papercraft Paradise)

There are military papercraft like this destroyer above as well as WWII Imperial Japanese Navy submarines, …

WWII tanks like a US M5 Stuart light tank or a PzKpfw IV Ausf D, …

A paper version of a Ingram M11 with laser, sound suppressor & reflex sight, …

As well as machines like a Toyota Corolla that looks exactly like the one in Colin McRae Rally 2.0, …

Super=deformed (SD) stuff like Tiger tanks & aircraft (A Supermarine Spitfire perhaps?) and Gundams here and here, …

Even an iPhone, …

Heck, even a Sakai steamroller.

If you’re a papercraft fan, check out Papercraft Paradise.

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Sega’s Tiger I Papercraft Model
Papercraft World
Gundam Papercraft
Zaku II Papercraft
Yamaha Motorcycle Papercraft

A promotional website for the brand new Duel series from Osprey Publishing, one of my favourite publishers for high quality (and expensive) military history books.

© Osprey Publishing

Each book in the Duel series is a face off between two opposing war machines and their respective crews. The contents for each book includes development and service history of these machines as well as first hand accounts of combat and tactics used.

As with any Osprey books, I expect the technical drawings, illustrations and photos inside to be nothing but top-notch. See examples of the typical quality of the illustrations at the gallery - marvel at the detail of Major Leonard “Kit” Carson’s P-51K “Nooky Booky IV” (357th FG)

© Osprey Publishing

Sample pages from the first two books (Duel 1 : P-51 Mustang vs Fw 190 and Duel 2 : Sherman Firefly vs Tiger) are available as free PDF downloads. I like the Duel 1 Sample 02 PDF comparing the cockpit instrument layout for the North American P-51D/K vs Focke Wulf Fw 190A-7

© Osprey Publishing

P-51 cockpit (left) vs Fw 190 cockpit (right). The P-51 pilot has much better visibility but the Fw 190 cockpit seems more spacious and comfortable.

You can participate in a contest (closes 1 October 2007) to win a copy of Duel 001: P-51 Mustang vs Fw 190: Europe 1943–45 (3 copies up for grabs). I haven’t won anything from Osprey before but hopefully you will be luckier than me

Can’t wait for the upcoming Duel 4 : T-34 vs Panther - Russian rugged reliability vs German technical excellence. Duel 6 : US Carriers vs IJN Carriers seems quite interesting too.

Some places with quite extensive collections of Osprey’s books in SG: Page One @ VivoCity and Kinokuniya @ Ngee Ann City. Paradigm Infinitium @ Midpoint Orchard, where I get my Warhammer 40,000 stuff, also orders Osprey books upon request (if I’m not wrong)

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
OPFOR Worldwide Equipment Guide
Kyoshi Harada’s Military CG/3D Renders

Found this photo of a brightly-painted F-16 from Google Image Search while looking for military aviation images. Camouflage isn’t actually the best word to describe this gaudy high-visibility colour scheme

© Kevin Jackson

Photo taken from Syhart Decals.

My original impression was that it was either a factory prototype or an Aggressor aircraft (US aircraft painted to simulate Soviet aircraft in military exercises) but since it had USAF-style unit designation, it was probably neither. The caption on Syhart states F-16C Viper CO 87-0284 “Tigermeet of Americas 2003″ 120th FS.

Here’s some extra information after some Googling. The above aircraft was a F-16C Fighting Falcon (known to its pilots as Viper) (S/N: CO 87-0284) from the 120th Fighter Squadron “Cougars”, 140th Fighter Wing, Colorado Air National Guard and was painted for the Tiger Meet of The Americas (TMOTA), a joint military exercise for the US and Canadian air forces in 2003. It also won an award for the 120th FS for being the Best Painted Jet that year.

Read more on TMOTA and view other Tiger Meet aircraft photos in this comprehensive article by Kevin Jackson at Sharpshooter - Military Aviation Journal. I’m pretty sure that Kevin is the original photographer of the F-16C above and credited the photo to him accordingly.

There is also a side profile illustration of this exact aircraft by Mark Styling, an aviation illustrator at www.markstyling.com. It’s the 8th aircraft from the top - you can’t miss it Mark Styling’s website also showcases some of his excellent illustrations of military aircraft at his Full Colour Art Prints gallery. His artwork probably warrants a separate article on its own

If you love artwork of military aircraft, check out this marvellous artwork by Stalinlasar of two Sukhoi Su-37 ‘Flanker-F’ (looks like that both have just taken off)

© Stalinlasar

You can read more about the Su-37 on Wikipedia here.

First saw this artwork on DeskMutations (down!).

Update 19 Oct 2007: DeskMutations’s orginal page has disappeared after revamping - click here to view the artwork on Stalinlasar’s deviantArt page. Click on Download in deviantArt to obtain a 1024×768 version for your desktop. Thanks to DeskMutant for the tip. Hooray!

DeskMutations also hosts some very nice wallpapers, especially in the Dark (down!) category

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Tiger Striped F-16C Fighting Falcon
Kyoshi Harada - 3D Modeller / CG Artist