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[mojojojo]

this looks great!!!!!
cant wait to see it in the game!!!!!
keep up the good work!!!!!

[LiddleMaus]

Looks very good so far... 
...and I hate to say it, but what you need to take care when looking at the polycount for IL-2, is not number of polys but number of tris (triangles in the mesh).
If you right-click  over the title of the viewport in 3dsMax and choose in the menu that appears, the option "configure...", you will find in the new opened window, a tab called "statistics".

Thanks for the insight. I was wondering if I have to change my parts to editable mesh to get a more accurate count. I also realized that my cowling and rear control cable wasn't converted to editable poly/mesh. So, I made adjustments to get a more accurate count.

If you check now this option you will see that actually your polycount is a bit shorter of 17.000 tris...

So, is it going to be a problem if the total aircraft model is over 17k polys? The IL-2 modding bible says a single engine model has to be 3K or less. But, I am confused because in this thread it seems that the 3K poly limit only applies for separate parts: https://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php?topic=13676.0

Also, is the information in this thread accurate: http://allaircraftsimulations.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=82&t=29459

If what is listed in the threads above is true, I should be fine if the finished model weigh in at 20-30K for external only -- with separate parts kept at less than 3k. Hopefully, I can get some questions answered. And yes, I do keep a close eye on my polys -- I just didn't know about the "tris" part. Also, I make full use of polygon smoothing groups.

Here is what my screen looks like with all parts unfrozen, internal aircraft frame frozen, and all parts converted to editable mesh. Tris are also turned on:

[Verhängnis]

Well I still wonder this myself from time to time, but AFAIK a single mesh can be up to 3000 poly's (more or less;seems to depend) except certain meshes like collision and shadow, especially since these are rendered at the same time as the mesh they are apart of.
So as long as none of your meshes are over 3000 poly's you will be fine. Although ideally your model should be no more than 25000 poly's because you will have differing levels of detail which will change your model into the lower poly version at a distance you specify. So really it is unnessacary to have so much detail - since it will get simpler at a distance.

[Dreamk]

I thing that Verhängnis is definitively right - we are dealing with Il2 sim meshes and a lot of practical info has emerged through modding that contradicts so-called rules and limitations that were once thought to be "sacred" - just giving a look at the model released by TD of the R-5 is enough to understand the distance between these rules and practice - though the case of the R-5 is really extreme - the fact that till now it did now, no user complained about problems with the management of this plane by Il2 engine, proves that rules can be pushed well beyond their known limits, even in excess of what is "reasonable".

[SAS~Loku]

From my own experience i can say, stay below 10K tris,its really a problem to divide plane into 3K meshes and keep model hierarchy:Engine,Cf,Tail (those 3 are best to keep them under 3K as a one mesh),Keel,StabL,StabR,WingIn,WingMid,WingOut,Arones,Rudder,Vators,Gear (those are not so poly heavy).Imagine you have a 20-30k tris model,you would need cut it into more pieces than stock models has,wich is not good.One of my prevoius models i get to adoption (R-XIII) was 30k tris heavy, had to redo some parts of it to fit under 15K.Sometimes even meshes they are less than 3k poly cause an error:"to many faces" and cant be displayed in game,so keeping them 2,5K is best.

[LiddleMaus]

Thanks for the advice everyone,

I ran optimizer modifier on a few items, plus experimented with deleting some superfluous edges and was pleased to note a reduction in "tris" but with little or no effect on the model's quality. I just have to play with it later. I'm pretty much done with the fuselage. I just have to add the grills, so it shouldn't contribute too much poly.

One last question. Can gun nacelles be counted out of the fuselage as well as other bulge details? If so, that would really contribute to the poly reduction on the fuselage. I also figured that if the gun nacelles can be separate, they can disappear as the LOD gets further and further away.

[Dreamk]

You can without any problem define gun nacelles as a separate mesh "Wgun1_D0" for instance if it's a fixed gun - or a turret unit "Turret1A_D0" & Turret1B_D0" if it's a rotating gun - it's a way of reducing the number of polygons from the CF_D0 fuselage part. Once again,a s Loku told you, the important thing is to cut the model in individual meshes samll enough to be managed easily by the Il2 engine. The hier.him can accomodate quite a number of meshes for a single model in addition to the basic usual list and this is something to use wisely if you keep having to large polygons count for a given mesh.

[just champi]

So, is it going to be a problem if the total aircraft model is over 17k polys?

I didn't wanted to imply that having this or that polycount would be a problem.
I just wanted to warn you about this diference between polys and tris related to polycount for IL-2.

Polycount for IL-2 models is an issue on its own, where evryone may have a slightly different and personal aproach on it.
Maybe should be good to put an ear to more experience people, have a look on your own to what's in game and how it is done, and then, take whatever fits you right to make your own aproach when doing your models. Don't be afraid to test, because as Loku points out with the R-XIII example, sometimes practice is the best teacher, and you can see better what works best for you. Also, every model/modeller is different, and may have its own particularities.

As example, I aim to below 2k tris for every main mesh, instead of 3k. Usually, most of the parts you will find in a plane won't need as much tris at all, to be good represented, (engines or turrets, being an exception). I first model something without worrying about polycount, just use the polys that you need without wasting them, and then refine the model and add/simplify details where is needed, optimizer tool may be good, but you can be best. Plus trying to optimize manually you will learn how and where you don't need to build so complex in advance.

And if you want a tip, as you mentioned the step before: Most of the time, you can change from mesh to polymesh or viceversa at any time while modelling without any penalty (you don't loose anything on your mesh or model that previously was there)
So if your model currently is a mesh, you can convert it to polymesh.or in reverse, you can convert your polymesh to a mesh. this works back and forth (and the polycount doesn't change, polymeshes are divided in tris also, it's only that their diagonals are hidden).
But, as you only need to have the parts of your model as meshes BEFORE exporting, generally is a good idea to have your parts as polymeshes while you are modelling, because you got a lot more of tools and options for use with polymeshes than just meshes.
Once you are done with the modelling you can switch and convert to mesh before exporting to the game readable .msh format.

[radko1111]

Curtiss Hawk III ????

[mojojojo]

Curtiss Hawk III ????

yes the curtiss hawk. im surprised your against this plane radko, as it did see service in china in WWI

[Kazegami]

Against?
Maybe he's saying
"Are we really gonna get this?! ??? Yay!"

[mojojojo]

Against?
Maybe he's saying
"Are we really gonna get this?! ??? Yay!"

why would he be using the <huh?> smiley then?