Invasion Stripes - How To? (Black)

[Vraciu]

I've figured out how to make the white invasion stripes look okay from the cockpit but the black ones are eluding me.

Obviously noise is helpful, but how much and what kind?

Any tips on how to do this are appreciated. 

[Devil 505]

I don't do anything special with black. Just make sure that it's between RGB 38,38,38(lighter black) and 51,51,51(darker black). Just be aware that some weathering will be more apparent on the black paint and that panel lines will be less apparent.

[Vraciu]

They either look too smooth or too pixelated.   Basically they look fake.   It's driving me nuts.

I really wish I could skip them.   Gotta' find a pic of that airplane without the darned things...

[Devil 505]

They either look too smooth or too pixelated.   Basically they look fake.   It's driving me nuts.

What's pixelated? Can you post a pic to illustrate?

[Vraciu]

Apologies for the lighting.  These are quick and dirty snaps of a WIP.

The original skin's stripes at top are smooth.   Mine are at the bottom with some noise added.  But I think they need to land somewhere in between.   A single stripe looks decent enough but when you have multiple it looks off, especially when you are rolling the airplane.  The color differences are pretty obvious as the light moves over them.




From a distance they do okay.

[Vraciu]

The stripes for my B aren't really any better.

[Devil 505]

Quite honestly, the black stripes don't look too bad. It's their contrast to the washed out white stripes which makes them look off.

Maybe greebo has some advise since he deal with invasion stripes more often.

[Greebo]

I don't treat invasion stripes any different to other paint really. The black is usually about RGB 30-40 and the white RGB 200-220. The spec file should be a lot darker on the stripes than the metal and the power map dark for the metal but darker still for the stripes.

I do try to replicate how well the stripes were painted on the photo I am using for reference. Some aircraft were very neatly masked and painted and some were very sloppily done. If the stripes weren't freshly painted in RL I will partially erase them on the leading edges of the wings or wherever ground crew walked on them.  If the stripes were freshly painted on the real aircraft then I will create a mask layer in the weathering group that allows me to partially reduce the dirt effects only where the stripes are painted.

The black on the second shot looks too light to me, but the others seem OK.

[Vraciu]

Okay, thanks guys.  I fooled around with it and came up with something that works better than either of the two I posted.  It's not ideal but it will do.