7.JG53 109G6 (Teacher Request)

[VonMessa]

I apparently miss this game, and you guys especially, too, considering I'm researching/refreshing and writing long posts instead of attacking the mound of homework I've got in front me.
Maybe someday.

Homework, girlfriends, Aces High...

Decisions, decisions...   

[GhostCDB]

Profiles are actually really sketchy. They're done by people who just like to paint pictures of planes as a hobby and often times aren't reliable, even if they're printed in books (I've seen a lot of really really bad profiles in books). That's to say, there's no more weight necessarily behind a profile than a skin or a model (and you shouldn't use either of those as references, either- in fact, I don't think HTC accepts them). A lot of profiles are even based on other profiles, judging on the fact that you see the same mistakes popping up again and again  on profiles of a certain plane. Again, they're just people who like to make pictures of planes, it's not like some kind of historical repository of facts or something.

The profile you posted in particular exemplifies why you should stay away from profiles, because it shows only one shade of gray on the upper surfaces and mottling, which is simply wrong- that's just not how Luftwaffe aircraft were painted.

(Image removed from quote.)

This is an extremely typical 109 from the 74/75/76 era [like late 1941ish (I forget when exactly 65/70/71 was phased out, it was by the time the 109F was in widespread service though) to mid 1944, when other colors started to be mixed in]. The camouflage schemes- beside mottling- were very consistent. You will notice that there is both 75 and 74 incorporated into the mottling, however, which a LOT of profilers fail to include. There are variations in where exactly the 74 and 75 trade off from each other, but they're not exactly drastic, just a foot or so each way usually, or sometimes they were reversed. Unfortunately a lot of the time it's difficult to see the demarcation between the colors as they're fairly similar, and the photography of the time was just poor, plus wear on the paint and lighting conditions etc., so people who fail to do the research (i.e., a lot of profilers) and realize how these patterns were actually applied just assume it's all one color of dark grey. If there is no mix of 74/75 on the upper fuselage surface, it's a pretty sure sign that the profile is faulty and poorly researched.

The best way to go by leaps in bounds is to only use photographs and get better at interpreting them. One thing that I think all skinners should do that a lot of skinners don't is just sit and study pictures of the plane they want to skin for.... a long time. Instead of just basing their skins off of other people's skins. That's why you see a lot of overdone panel lines and other silly things persist through the skinning community here. (I've fallen to that practice before)
That's not to say that you shouldn't study the techniques of people who are good at recreating the things you find in photographs.

If you don't have the resources to skin a certain plane (i.e. you only have a single profile, or several conflicting ones), there's nothing wrong with just not skinning it. There are a ton of skins in this game already, especially for some of the popular planes like the 109s. A few really good accurate skins trump a bunch of underresearched, sub par ones (I've definitely fallen to that practice before). Just put more work into perfecting the ones you're working on.

I would like to say that I'm very impressed with the overall look and aesthetic of your skin, plus the way you applied the mottling looks impressively convincing, even if the colors are off. The things you need to work on I think are the details, tedium and minutiae which are fairly easily fixed with some research and trial and error, such as colors and marking details and mapping issues. You have a good hand for skinning though.

Thank you for the great read, and the encouragement.
I will keep all of this in mind when creating the next A/C I skin.

 

Sums up my opinion perfectly.

Thank you, skill will come with trial and error I am assuming.

 

[Shifty]

If you don't have the resources to skin a certain plane (i.e. you only have a single profile, or several conflicting ones), there's nothing wrong with just not skinning it. There are a ton of skins in this game already, especially for some of the popular planes like the 109s. A few really good accurate skins trump a bunch of underresearched, sub par ones (I've definitely fallen to that practice before). Just put more work into perfecting the ones you're working on.

I would like to say that I'm very impressed with the overall look and aesthetic of your skin, plus the way you applied the mottling looks impressively convincing, even if the colors are off. The things you need to work on I think are the details, tedium and minutiae which are fairly easily fixed with some research and trial and error, such as colors and marking details and mapping issues. You have a good hand for skinning though.

  

Encouragement.. Yes?



Hang in there Ghost, all the effort you skinners put into this game is appreciated. Advice from other skinners is a gold mine. 

[Molsman]

Even tho I have not attempted to make any skin's yet these are 2 books I have picked up for reference's first book is by Rosch and it list all the  color codes and markings for everything related to German aircraft from 1939 to 1945. I am still reading thru the page's and it almost looks like a Part list book for color codes.

All the photo's they give in this book are done in black in white




Another book I have to give me a color reference is this one below for when I am looking to see what it would look like



Once again I not attempted to make a skin yet to many other projects in the way and I am not sure if these books would be good reference's but they to me I think would be a good start along with all the other recommendation's given so far by seasoned skinner's here in the game.

Keep on trying you only get better by mistakes made.

[Shifty]

I have the Luftwaffe Fighter Aircraft in profile too. I like because many times it backs up the profile with a photo.
I bought the sequel as well.



I like it even better than the original.

[Devil 505]

Both are great reference.