Think the problem is that the Japanese flags end up so small I don't think whatever we do will get much of an improvement over what we are using already.
The spinners dont have the specularity attribute, thats why they come out a different color. Although should be able to approximate color on rest of skin, problem with that is the red on the rest ot the skin 'changes' depending on light conditions.
I looked at your one on ah-skins and it gave me a few ideas. I never thought of pre-shading under the boom intakes, but it makes a hell of a difference. I have been pre-shading under wings etc because they always seem lighted no matter which angle you look at them. So I tried it, and yup, looks better (hope you don't mind). Your materials file seems to give a better overall rendition also, I had been using the default P38L one. Yours doesn't wash out the shading as easily.
The overall weathering layer is easy, takes 2 minutes with a program called 'eye candy'
Now if ONLY I could get the hang of paint chips
