Straight out of the oven, the TBM-900 project is on a roll!

Goran Matovina of Leading Edge Simulations has sent a few images to Threshold; detailing the rivet work on the fuselage that is nearing completion. Texturing work on other parts of the exterior such as the wings will commence shortly. We’ve covered their exterior shots a few weeks ago here, and the debut here; over the course of just a few weeks, it appears that the project is moving at a very fast pace in the visuals department:

This last preview is a render, and showing a slightly older paintwork; although it highlights Goran’s painstaking work on the nuts and bolts that brings the aircraft together:

No doubt, Matovina is nearing mastering the Substance Painter software; the subtle but rippled reflections, and the metallic bolting on the aircraft nose contrasting the surrounding painted surface is not within a day’s work.

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The announcement of HotStart & LES’s TBM-900 brings into discussion; how could it compare with Carenado’s similar offering the TBM-850? HotStart and LES’s TBM-900 is reaching for a different pool of users, but nonetheless, the TBM-900 *could* pummel Carenado’s TBM-850 rendition. Although the two aircraft aren’t exactly the same, the inevitable comparison from the community will occur.

That said, the stark differences in quality from visuals to systems brings into question: what will Carenado do to up the ante on their TBM-850 rendition? It will definitely take more than tweaks to the flight-model and textures to bring their product to be competitive with HotStart’s rendition to justify a full-price upgrade.

Nevertheless, Threshold remains euphoric over the project’s development and the future of the aforementioned developers. At the rate that this aircraft’s development is going, we can safely expect the TBM-900 to be released this year, in full PBR glory and a solid system to toy around with.

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