Fabric effects tutorial

[Greebo]

I was asked in another thread how I do fabric effects. Usually when I try to explain how I do something like this it comes out as gobbledegook, hopefully the pictures will help a bit.

First thing I do is to make a mask of the framework of the fabric control surfaces. This is shown in red on the top two pictures with the layer opacity set at 50% for clarity. To create this layer I draw the framework that the fabric is stretched over for each control surface. This framework usually needs editing a few times between viewings in the skin viewer, particularly the trailing edges. I then flood fill the rest of layer around the frameworks. You end up with a completely solid layer, except for the holes where the fabric sags.

I also create a test layer giving a light direction for each panel, shown as a yellow arrow below. This is so the light direction is consistent with the light effects on panel lines, rivets etc. On my skins the light always comes from above and in front on the vertical surfaces and from the left and in front on horizontal.

Next the fabric shadow layer is made. A crescent shape is airbrushed in black and the top half of this is cut off, as shown in the top left picture. This is copied and pasted on the side of the ribs away from the light source, below them in the case of the rudder. Once these shadows are in place I use a wide airbrush tool (about half the gap wide) and create a faint vertical shadow towards the leading edge of the rudder.

The red mask layer created earlier can be incorporated as a mask into the fabric shadow layer. This will automatically remove any shadows from the red areas, as in the top right picture. Masks are a bit of a pain to work with in PSP though. So what I do instead is move to the mask layer, select the entire mask layer, move back to the shadow layer, and use the eraser tool to remove all the shadows from the red areas.

A fabric highlight layer is made the same way as the shadow layer, except using white and with the highlights above the ribs and vertically along the trailing edge of the rudder. Once done these two layers should look like the bottom left picture . The elevators and ailerons are done the same way, except with a lower opacity airbrush tool. In RL the shadows would show up more on the vertical surfaces of the rudder, than on horizontal surfaces. These layers are then reduced in opacity to taste and the test and mask layers switched off.

A rib stitching layer is simply white lines with black lines as shadows, shown in the bottom right picture at full opacity.

[Saxman]

There may also be some variation between aircraft types, as well:



Note the fabric-covered elevator of the F4U lacks the "sagging." I used to have a page bookmarked that very clearly showed the appearance of the fabric surfaces on the F4Us. The same pattern as above was also visible on the rudder, however on the wings it appears that the STRUCTURAL frame was recessed, rather than the fabric itself (different type/construction?).

[Krusty]

Most skins over-do the shadows BIG time.

Most real aircraft with fabric covered controls are almost indistinguishable from metal. You often can barely even see the ribs.

I don't think people should over-do them, but they do. It's a sour note on an otherwise nice skin.

Like 13FG/44FS by Octavius, on the P-40E, or Airmess' C205 rudders. I mean, I LOVE these skins except for that one bit. (I fly Oct's skin quite often lately, and cringe when I look at my own wing)

[Saxman]

Generally the best way to handle ANY sort of panel detail is to do it light. It should be more implied than overt because if you look at photos unless there's a lot of heavy discoloration from panel to panel, or in the case of birds like the F4Us a lot of heavy paint chipping, there's often very little distinction with panel lines.

[Greebo]

The examples shown above were left way too heavy for clarity. They are faded right down on the actual skins.

[Serenity]

Greebo, thank you SO much! I really appreciate you taking the time to make this tutorial!

[moot]

So these patterns are invariably because they're fabric, or did metal control surfaces ever have that superficial shape too (for aerodynamic reasons or soemthing)?
Specificaly asking because I'm doing that part on a Ta152 skin..  I can't tell those surfaces from the rest of the metal skin on the pictures I've looked at so far.