P-51B Photo Request - Sandy Sansing IV-C

[Vraciu]

Good stuff there. I will give this a shot after Christmas.  I am sure to have questions.   

[Vraciu]

Should I paint the pylons the same color as the wing stripe or leave it metal/silver?

[Devil 505]

Paint the pylons. They were fixed to the wings.

[Vraciu]

Paint the pylons. They were fixed to the wings.

Wow that was tough to find.  Got them though.   The default map has everything gray.  Had to hunt around for them with a layer...

[Devil 505]

Sounds like you need the panelfinder tool. http://www.simmerspaintshop.com/downloads.php?do=cat&id=12

Use this as your bitmap to find those hard to find parts.

[Vraciu]

Sounds like you need the panelfinder tool. http://www.simmerspaintshop.com/downloads.php?do=cat&id=12

Use this as your bitmap to find those hard to find parts.

I will try that.  Thank you.   

[Vraciu]

The latest (without bump effects).

I think this could wind up being my best effort so far.    Not happy with how the game shows some things, but I am working around them as best I can.

Screen shots not the best....   The angles on this airplane that are dictated by the game are making me crazy.  Polygon.    When you add noise to smooth them out it looks cartoonish...

[Devil 505]

It's coming along fine. I agree that it's your best so far.

My major issue is that the plane still looks like its painted gray and not unpainted metal. First you need to bake in a faint highlight to your panel lines and rivets. This should be consistent over painted and non-painted surfaces alike. Next, add those baked in metal effects I mentioned before. That should make the bare metal metal pop. Also, the wings on the pony were painted silver so leave the wings alone with the metal effects. It's worth mentioning that the panel lines on the wings were also puttied and sanded smooth before painting - I would NOT try to do this on a skin because the wing will lack all texture and appear more fake in spite of being more accurate. The flaps and ailerons are not painted, and the gun bay hatches not puttied. Here's a pic from the 332nd showing the top of the wing:

[Vraciu]

That's a good picture.   

It looks more metallic with the spec map enabled but I will give it another crack.  I basically have everything lined up and the default stuff eliminated.   So now the tweaking begins.

What noise level would you use for  the invasion stripes?

[Devil 505]

The noise should be just apparent enough to replicate the level of weathering you're going for. Hard to give you an opacity level for what I usually do as I have 3 different layers of noise type weathering on my skins, each set between 1-3%. So I guess between 4-9% for a single noise layer would do for you. Be careful, noise layers can make the 3D model seams very apparent and kill the realism the noise is meant to achieve. 

[Vraciu]

I think I added noise directly to the stripes instead of as a layer over them.  I tried the noise layer on my previous releases as you and Greebo suggested but I don't know that I did it right.

Other than the ease of changing the effect does it have an advantage?

I obviously have a ways to go. Sorry to always be asking questions.  Hope you guys don't get sick of me.

[Vraciu]

Looking at that aileron gap makes me wish I could clone your Ki-84.  It is tough to get the gap lines to square up.  I am not sure I can ever bump them properly.   

[Devil 505]

Looking at that aileron gap makes me wish I could clone your Ki-84.  It is tough to get the gap lines to square up.  I am not sure I can ever bump them properly.

Don't use the Frank as a model of perfection in the case of the Pony. The Ki-84 model actually separates the aileron from the rest of the wing. There is a physical step at the joint. The P-40's is the same way. You would do better to examine the 190s and 109s that I have done, as the graphic model is rendered as a single piece with the ailerons in the neutral position.

I think I added noise directly to the stripes instead of as a layer over them.  I tried the noise layer on my previous releases as you and Greebo suggested but I don't know that I did it right.

Other than the ease of changing the effect does it have an advantage?

Having a noise layer or layers helps to blend all of your base elements together. Remember, the real plane was entirely exposed to the elements, not just the painted parts.

Also, it is worth noting the position in the layer stack that you place the noise is important as well. I place mine directly above the layers that represent anything painted, this included markings, artwork, and kill boards. All weathering layers are above the noise layer.

I obviously have a ways to go. Sorry to always be asking questions.  Hope you guys don't get sick of me.

Ask away. We all benefit from having the best skins possible. Nobody benefits from hording tips and techniques. Hell, I'm sure even Greebo asked a ton of questions when he began skinning.

[Vraciu]

Thanks. 

I appreciate the help. 


Let me ask though, why not add noise directly to the layer itself?   Does doing the noise as its own layer change how the noise is seen in the final bmp?

[Devil 505]

If you add the noise to the paint layer itself then it becomes permanent. Having the layer separate allows you to fine tune the effect and to reuse the layer on another plane with a different level. Remember I said before how I have 3 noise layers? Lets say that I have two skins, one is a fairly clean plane and the other is a war-weary plane from North Africa. Like these 190A-5's:





See how much more worn the paint looks in the second picture? It's subtle, but noticeably more gritty. That is the result of a 1% change in two of the layers.