JohnnyJohnJohn Posted September 1, 2019 Share Posted September 1, 2019 Hey all - Anyone good with Repaints? I'm looking for a nice custom Duke Turbine bare metal scheme, with red/white/and blue form of Pin Striping and N308JT Reg number. Also, could you maybe place a small American Flag on the Tail as well? Hoping someone can help with this. You will be met with much praise in the screen shot section if you do it. Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dominique Posted September 1, 2019 Share Posted September 1, 2019 Some say that flight simulation is all about flying. Partially true. It is also about repainting aircraft, making sceneries., clouds etc. Painting an aircraft is not so difficult and is some fun. You need the developer template (paintkit), a paint program using layers (you can find excellent freeware), a small freeware to reformat the painted template called DXTBmp and your imagination. And a little time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodger Pettichord Posted September 1, 2019 Share Posted September 1, 2019 13 hours ago, dominique said: Some say that flight simulation is all about flying. Partially true. It is also about repainting aircraft, making sceneries., clouds etc. Painting an aircraft is not so difficult and is some fun. You need the developer template (paintkit), a paint program using layers (you can find excellent freeware), a small freeware to reformat the painted template called DXTBmp and your imagination. And a little time. dominique, I admire your optimism and can-do spirit. As for me, the repainting process is as intimidating as neurosurgery. I have nothing but admiration and respect for you folks who do it easily. That being said, does anyone do repaints on us who have bald heads? LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyJohnJohn Posted September 1, 2019 Author Share Posted September 1, 2019 13 hours ago, dominique said: Some say that flight simulation is all about flying. Partially true. It is also about repainting aircraft, making sceneries., clouds etc. Painting an aircraft is not so difficult and is some fun. You need the developer template (paintkit), a paint program using layers (you can find excellent freeware), a small freeware to reformat the painted template called DXTBmp and your imagination. And a little time. True, but I'm not sure how the reflectivity plays out on Repaint textures, or the like - especially with the bare metal one that I would like to have done for the Duke. 15 minutes ago, Rodger Pettichord said: dominique, I admire your optimism and can-do spirit. As for me, the repainting process is as intimidating as neurosurgery. I have nothing but admiration and respect for you folks who do it easily. That being said, does anyone do repaints on us who have bald heads? LOL Yeah - I spent a while repainting for older sims. The newer sim is kind of a different beast. Planes have new layers for reflections, etc....that has me scratching my head! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dominique Posted September 2, 2019 Share Posted September 2, 2019 Try your luck here, they have a request thread (and tutorials, FAQ too) https://www.avsim.com/forums/forum/200-the-paint-shop-the-aircraft-painters-forum-how-to/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dominique Posted September 2, 2019 Share Posted September 2, 2019 10 hours ago, Rodger Pettichord said: dominique, I admire your optimism and can-do spirit. As for me, the repainting process is as intimidating as neurosurgery. I have nothing but admiration and respect for you folks who do it easily. That being said, does anyone do repaints on us who have bald heads? LOL Have you ever tried before using big words like neurosurgery ? What was so intimidating ? You did coloring books when you were a kid, didn't you ? Painting an aircraft is the same. Almost. You basically pour colors in empty spaces and add decalcs. You don't need hair for that. The result might not be perfect but it is yours. Among all the side hobbies of simming, only flight modeling is really beyond most of us abilities. All others are just home handicraft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyJohnJohn Posted September 2, 2019 Author Share Posted September 2, 2019 14 hours ago, dominique said: Have you ever tried before using big words like neurosurgery ? What was so intimidating ? You did coloring books when you were a kid, didn't you ? Painting an aircraft is the same. Almost. You basically pour colors in empty spaces and add decalcs. You don't need hair for that. The result might not be perfect but it is yours. Among all the side hobbies of simming, only flight modeling is really beyond most of us abilities. All others are just home handicraft. Instead of doing the bare metal at least, you inspired me to start off with a stock white aircraft for the repaint texture that I want to do and see how it goes from there. Do you know what format they save these days in? I know its DDS but the number formula on DXT.Bmp first? Downloaded that already too. Thanks dominique. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodger Pettichord Posted September 3, 2019 Share Posted September 3, 2019 20 hours ago, dominique said: Have you ever tried before using big words like neurosurgery ? What was so intimidating ? You did coloring books when you were a kid, didn't you ? Painting an aircraft is the same. Almost. You basically pour colors in empty spaces and add decalcs. You don't need hair for that. The result might not be perfect but it is yours. Among all the side hobbies of simming, only flight modeling is really beyond most of us abilities. All others are just home handicraft. Thanks for the insight, dominique. Maybe one of these days... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dominique Posted September 3, 2019 Share Posted September 3, 2019 11 hours ago, JohnnyJohnJohn said: Instead of doing the bare metal at least, you inspired me to start off with a stock white aircraft for the repaint texture that I want to do and see how it goes from there. Do you know what format they save these days in? I know its DDS but the number formula on DXT.Bmp first? Downloaded that already too. Thanks dominique. Thats the way to go. I save from .psd into .dds. Never done bare metal. I do fictitious liveries. I've an idea and try to make something of it. My last was the Comanche Air TAxi you can see on two of my videos. EDIT I forgot to download the paintkit when RA was alive. Had a look at a substitute on the Avsim library. Not exactly user friendly... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dominique Posted September 3, 2019 Share Posted September 3, 2019 4 hours ago, Rodger Pettichord said: Thanks for the insight, dominique. Maybe one of these days... No insight Rodger, call that a nudge . The 70 yo who writes this post does a lot of trials and errors, the result is not always up to what I had in mind when I started my doodles (most of them are never released) but I have a little fun in the meantime. This is what it is all about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dominique Posted September 3, 2019 Share Posted September 3, 2019 About nudge,it works both ways . Your posts, you two, drove me to open for the first time in weeks if not months a project that I've working for some time, a T6 with an Air Mail livery. Get a nagging aliasing problem with a decalc ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodger Pettichord Posted September 3, 2019 Share Posted September 3, 2019 14 hours ago, dominique said: About nudge,it works both ways . Your posts, you two, drove me to open for the first time in weeks if not months a project that I've working for some time, a T6 with an Air Mail livery. Get a nagging aliasing problem with a decalc ! We're here to encourage those who can do, dominque. Hope to see your project when it's done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Heaton Posted September 4, 2019 Share Posted September 4, 2019 All I want to change on my aircraft is for PD3 to change the rego number as per the action in the setup The colours are fine IE for eg - N - 1234 - to my ozzy numbers prefix VH-XXXX No matter how many times I try - I have to fly with the American numbers I am OK with changing them on stills/screenshots with my Photoimpact software Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dominique Posted September 4, 2019 Share Posted September 4, 2019 1 hour ago, John Heaton said: All I want to change on my aircraft is for PD3 to change the rego number as per the action in the setup The colours are fine IE for eg - N - 1234 - to my ozzy numbers prefix VH-XXXX No matter how many times I try - I have to fly with the American numbers I am OK with changing them on stills/screenshots with my Photoimpact software I am not sure that I understand your problem, John. Let's see and sorry if I miss the point. Registration of an aircraft shows up in two independent ways : - on the exterior fuselage. It cannot be changed but by repainting the texture. It can be simple or tricky, it depends of the underlying texture and the way the number is "painted". When I do my repaints I have a special layer for that. It eases things up if I want to change. When the texture is changed with a new number, it is permanently changed. - in the AIr Traffic Control block of the Aircraft in Select vehicle. You just have to write a new registration for the ATC to recognize you as a VH-something. If there is a small plate in the cockpit with the number, the new number will also be displayed there. And when it is changed, the new number stays for further sessions. To have a full change, you have to do both. But if you just want to hear the ATC call you by your VH number the second solution is pretty easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottb613 Posted September 4, 2019 Share Posted September 4, 2019 On 9/2/2019 at 5:06 PM, JohnnyJohnJohn said: Instead of doing the bare metal at least, you inspired me to start off with a stock white aircraft for the repaint texture that I want to do and see how it goes from there. Do you know what format they save these days in? I know its DDS but the number formula on DXT.Bmp first? Downloaded that already too. Thanks dominique. Hi Folks, Welcome to the wonderful world of painting... If you're working in PS or PSP - look into "Vector Graphics" (Gimp doesn't support this) - as it's the easiest way to paint stripes and patterns commonly found on aircraft - using Bezier Curves - it takes a little time and effort to master though... If you are using PS or PSP - make sure you get the Free Nvidia PS Plugin (works with both) - so you can read and write DDS files directly... I'm not sure if Gimp has something similar… When saving directly to DDS - you don't need DxtBmp... If you haven't chosen a painting program - give PSP a hard look - been using it for 15 years or so - it has all the features of PS - at a reasonable price without the monthly extortion fee... I would highly recommend getting Arno's (MCX or Model Converter X) from FSDeveloper - as it will save you countless hours in the painting process - it loads the "xxx.mdl" file for the aircraft - presents it in 3D - and with a simple click of the button reloads the textures you are working on to check alignment - this takes a fraction of the time it would take to check your work in the actual sim itself... It's far easier to manipulate the camera in MCX as well - making it quicker to get the area of the model you're actually interested in... This texture checking task is repeated over and over again - hundreds of times - during the painting process... Remember - layers are your friends - put each detail of your paint on a separate layer so you can manipulate them all independently and at will... For exterior textures I use "DDS DXT5 with Interpolated Alpha" - also check the box that you want "MIPMAPS" and to "FLIP" texture while saving... They perform well - look good - and keep Moire in check especially if you have a bunch of closely spaced pinstripes... Best of luck... One of my latest - with a hand drawn (Vector Graphics) American Flag: Regards, Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dominique Posted September 4, 2019 Share Posted September 4, 2019 Thank you the MCX tip Scott. I used it in sceneries, never thought of it to avoid the tedious back and forth to the sim. Never too late to learn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyJohnJohn Posted September 4, 2019 Author Share Posted September 4, 2019 17 hours ago, scottb613 said: Welcome to the wonderful world of painting... Thanks very much Scott. I however am confused because looking at the paint kit that's available for the Duke, there are no labels on the kit its self as far as what parts of the planes they go for. Its very confusing. Not sure what to do with that one. Great repaint by the way! Looks awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Heaton Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 20 hours ago, dominique said: I am not sure that I understand your problem, John. Let's see and sorry if I miss the point. Registration of an aircraft shows up in two independent ways : - on the exterior fuselage. It cannot be changed but by repainting the texture. It can be simple or tricky, it depends of the underlying texture and the way the number is "painted". When I do my repaints I have a special layer for that. It eases things up if I want to change. When the texture is changed with a new number, it is permanently changed. - in the AIr Traffic Control block of the Aircraft in Select vehicle. You just have to write a new registration for the ATC to recognize you as a VH-something. If there is a small plate in the cockpit with the number, the new number will also be displayed there. And when it is changed, the new number stays for further sessions. To have a full change, you have to do both. But if you just want to hear the ATC call you by your VH number the second solution is pretty easy. Thanks for the reply Dom What I want is just what we were able to do in FSX - i.e. in choosing your aircraft from the list - you were able to change the number to whatever you wanted Not only did it change it on the fuselage - but also in the cockpit PS34.5 asks do you want to change - and it does so for their aircraft listed - but not from add ons - obviously when one thinks about it Maybe FSX was like that - I didn't notice Maybe I'll just us the white A/C supplied - and fly around in that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TuFun Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 On 9/1/2019 at 1:33 PM, Rodger Pettichord said: dominique, I admire your optimism and can-do spirit. As for me, the repainting process is as intimidating as neurosurgery. I have nothing but admiration and respect for you folks who do it easily. That being said, does anyone do repaints on us who have bald heads? LOL LoL! Yes it can be intimidating for sure especially if the model has PBR materials. Painting a model with basic colors is fine, but the alphas and specs are another matter for complicated paints. But by all means anyone wanting to paint should give it a shot. I did and started with Paint.NET with basic colors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottb613 Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 13 hours ago, JohnnyJohnJohn said: Thanks very much Scott. I however am confused because looking at the paint kit that's available for the Duke, there are no labels on the kit its self as far as what parts of the planes they go for. Its very confusing. Not sure what to do with that one. Great repaint by the way! Looks awesome! Hi... Most paints don't come with labels... When working with an unfamiliar paint - I'll go through and just divide the entire texture in quadrants - each one I'll overlay a basic color - Red, Blue, Green, Yellow - change the layer type to "Overlay" and place the new colored layer at the top - now everything below will be colored however you'll still be able to see the shapes below it (that's what "Overlay" does) - now export and see if you can identify the color of the part of interest - now you're down to searching only a quarter of the texture for the part - or - if it's not colored you know it's on a different texture sheet - on big textures - you can then break the quad down into four quadrants - rinse and repeat - until you find the part of interest... Makes it go pretty quick... Much of the work is on the wings, fuselage, and empennage which are usually pretty obvious - unless you're working on a Carenado/Alabeo product (they're not for the timid or beginners) - LOL... Thanks for the complement - Flysimware just released a massive update for their Lear - reworked just about every aspect and included new 4096 HD PBR AO base textures - that makes a fantastic model absolutely over the top - it's one of my favorites models of all time (and I've been doing this a while)... If you have any interest in this type of flying - this is the BizJet to get... Unlike Carenado BizJets - systems just work on this one... KSFZ ? Were you around in FS9 when Vauchez included his beautiful rendition of your home airport in his "FlightZone Providence" package ? I used to frequent that area quite often back then... Regards, Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottb613 Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 Hi... Oh - and for the record - bare metal textures are about the hardest to do well - not beginner material by any stretch of the imagination - very few masters - do it well... Steve Drabek is one of the true paint masters who's done some of the finest work I've seen with bare metal - but he's a tube liner guy... Regards, Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodger Pettichord Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 11 hours ago, TuFun said: LoL! Yes it can be intimidating for sure especially if the model has PBR materials. Painting a model with basic colors is fine, but the alphas and specs are another matter for complicated paints. But by all means anyone wanting to paint should give it a shot. I did and started with Paint.NET with basic colors. May I note that the distinguished TuFun is a premier painter. He did the paint for Rubber Ducky and the other planes of Duck Flight featured in our new novel (it is getting legal and Amazon clearance as we speak. Should be out soon.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TuFun Posted September 6, 2019 Share Posted September 6, 2019 Hey Rodger thank you! I've done artwork for a C-47 documentary movie/book and also for a Company who has a certified DC-3 Training Simulator. I do like playing with crayons! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyJohnJohn Posted September 6, 2019 Author Share Posted September 6, 2019 15 hours ago, scottb613 said: Hi... Most paints don't come with labels... When working with an unfamiliar paint - I'll go through and just divide the entire texture in quadrants - each one I'll overlay a basic color - Red, Blue, Green, Yellow - change the layer type to "Overlay" and place the new colored layer at the top - now everything below will be colored however you'll still be able to see the shapes below it (that's what "Overlay" does) - now export and see if you can identify the color of the part of interest - now you're down to searching only a quarter of the texture for the part - or - if it's not colored you know it's on a different texture sheet - on big textures - you can then break the quad down into four quadrants - rinse and repeat - until you find the part of interest... Makes it go pretty quick... Much of the work is on the wings, fuselage, and empennage which are usually pretty obvious - unless you're working on a Carenado/Alabeo product (they're not for the timid or beginners) - LOL... Thanks for the complement - Flysimware just released a massive update for their Lear - reworked just about every aspect and included new 4096 HD PBR AO base textures - that makes a fantastic model absolutely over the top - it's one of my favorites models of all time (and I've been doing this a while)... If you have any interest in this type of flying - this is the BizJet to get... Unlike Carenado BizJets - systems just work on this one... KSFZ ? Were you around in FS9 when Vauchez included his beautiful rendition of your home airport in his "FlightZone Providence" package ? I used to frequent that area quite often back then... Regards, Scott Thanks for that tip on the color overlays! I will give it a go......oh, and yes, I was around for the KSFZ. So disappointed they never updated it for FSX, and Prepar3d. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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