Skurj, you are absolutely correct... the skins will have to be an integral part of a terrain,
a specific terrain. But that's part of the plan

Ben... I'm assuming (uh-oh!) that the skins will be set up similar to other programs, for example MSFS, etc. Check out this sample skin of a Canadian F-18 from MSFS....
All of the planes in AH already have skins, all you have to do is replace the defaults with something like this. You will probably be able to access the existing skins and use them as a template.
how do you know how the skins will work anyway? I'll make them work
Kev... PhotoShop is easy at it's most basic, but it can do just about anything you'd ever want. I've been using it since version 1... 1989 or sometime around then? You'll like it alot once you try it. That's not to say other programs won't be better... this is the one I know.