Bf109F-4/Trop - 2./JG27

[Kweassa]

Ok I've almost finished re-working on the Bf109F-4/Trop. The F-4/Trop was my very first experiment with skinning, and I'm mostly learning from trial and error, so the outcome might look a little crude to experienced skinners

 
 Used the great webpage poopster recommended for coloring the F-4/Trop (thx poop!!). On the picture it looks a little too yellow, but actually that is because the sun is glaring right on top of it.

[Kweassa]

I'm not entirely finished with weathering, and frankly, I'm kind of stumped as to weathering it with realistic looks. I'm just a beginner here!    The panel lines and rivets lost a lot of touch due to 1024x1024 being reduced to 256x256....

 The F-4 texture uses only one side of the fuselage, so unfortuantely, the Tiger/Africa 2./JG-27 logo is mirrored on this side.. but still, it looks OK I guess

 The Swastika should be left out, but leaving an empty space seemed a bit strange.. so a black symbol in Maltese Cross seemed appropriate.

 

[Kweassa]

Emphasized a bit on the leading edges, so it would give the proper impression of the leading edge slats. Took a lot of trials to finally get the panel lines matching the polygons, but I think it was worthwhile. Ofcourse, unfortunately, the spinner stays black..

[Kweassa]

The belly side.. the panel lines are a bit weak. I'll have to try stronger colors for that. The underbelly and the tail part is probably the most frustrating part to skin on the F-4. The lines are configured in a very very strange way. Also, the lines near cockpits are placed in the most wierdest configuration I've ever seen.

[Kweassa]

The hardest part seems to be trying to maintain as much of the original look as possible when the skin size is reduced. Photoshop is a good software, but still, 1024 -> 256 transition is a bit too much. Anybody god tips on how to maintain as much quality as possible?? Would skinning in 512x512 be actually better than 1024x1024, since the quality difference will be less(though depicting options are limited)?

[Heinkel]

VERY NICE! Great work

[Hawklore]

Very Nice

[jbroey3]

It looks good so far... Gotta question though..... hmm.

Why is the German symbol on the Fuselage.. really Blurry????

I mean.. it looks strange.. considering that the ones on the wings look very well done..

Great Job so far

[Kweassa]

Lol, I had that very same question myself!

 The two texture files were both made in 1024x1024 and reduced to 256x256. And yet, I have no idea why the hakenkreuz on the wings are spiffy, but the fuselage ones are porked!!

[SFRT - Frenchy]

Starts to look very very nice Kwea  

[Kweassa]

Bf109F-4/Trop Finished version 2.0

  Started from almost scratch, couldn't get any of the processes right, so pixel by pixel painted the panel lines, using a mix of Photoshop and MSPaint. Once the original was created, added in the weathering layer by Photoshop.

 I admit, my weathering techniques weak, no where near Superfly or Natedog.. but with some distance, it doesn't look all too bad, and the vision inside the cockpit should be limited anyways! Hehehe

 Anyways, here it is! The underbelly lines and stains are pretty good, if I do say so myself, but the weathering is weak on the main fuselages!!

[Kweassa]

I didn't bother posting BMPs so far because none of what I've done was worthwhile for download. But the second version F-4/Trop seems to be a lot better than what I've done before, and just  might be good enough to interest other people

[Kweassa]

And the second file..

[crowbaby]

well you beat me to it

so i had to redo mine in early war camo instead, should have been an E, but, limited as the F is, there's a lot less work to do.

[crowbaby]

I'm going to have a go at the 110 as well