Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Custom Skins => Topic started by: ink on October 30, 2011, 07:54:14 PM
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ok Gents I need your critique once again......this is a P40 from Australia....I see I missed the flags on the tail...... :rofl
http://www.p40warhawk.com/WW2_Era/Photos/MickGrinter/P-40_4/P-40_4.htm
http://www.p40warhawk.com/WW2_Era/Photos/MickGrinter/P-40_3/P-40_3.htm
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_01Oct302031.jpg)
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_02Oct302031.jpg)
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_03Oct302031.jpg)
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_04Oct302032.jpg)
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_05Oct302032.jpg)
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_06Oct302033.jpg)
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_07Oct302033.jpg)
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_08Oct302034.jpg)
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_09Oct302034.jpg)
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ok Gents I need your critique once again......this is a P40 from Australia....I see I missed the flags on the tail...... :rofl
http://www.p40warhawk.com/WW2_Era/Photos/MickGrinter/P-40_4/P-40_4.htm
http://www.p40warhawk.com/WW2_Era/Photos/MickGrinter/P-40_3/P-40_3.htm
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_01Oct302031.jpg)
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_02Oct302031.jpg)
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_03Oct302031.jpg)
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_04Oct302032.jpg)
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_05Oct302032.jpg)
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_06Oct302033.jpg)
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_07Oct302033.jpg)
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_08Oct302034.jpg)
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_09Oct302034.jpg)
looks great bro :O :aok
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Very nice Ink. :aok
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woah, tone down the weathering a bit on the middle of the fus. other than that, :O wow.
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I did notice though that there are 2 guns per wing but 3 smoke trails.
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I noticed the smoke trails as well. I also think there should be more "blueing" around and behind the exhaust, but other than that I think it looks pretty good
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NICE! But do NOT wait too long to get it done and get it in!!! Supposedly, Skuzzy has sent some "accepted" emails which means he is in the process of approving and adding them to AH.
Very nice skin for the P40!!!! :aok
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ya I was wondering about the 2 guns....can you choose a 3 gun load out?
thanx guys.
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The "ribs" on the control surfaces are far too prominent. They would also be a silver doped shade of paint, instead of metal (assuming they're fabric covered, which I think is correct off the top of my head).
I also think you need to redo the blue. It looks more like a light blue spraying of paint that is wearing away. It doesn't convey "bare metal" to me. This is one area VERY hard to get right, and it took me several skins to get to where I felt I was happy with a bare metal result.
Kev did a nice comparison graphics showing some of the steps he used to build the BMF layers up. Does anbody have the link for that one? It could be useful here. Generally speaking you have to bake on the reflection map. You have to paint the metal as if it's reflecting different things along the different curves of the fuselage/wings. Some "bulging" or whatever term you prefer can also add a little pop to the individual panels themselves.
As an after thought, I'm not convinced by the port-side cowling drips, but the BMF to me would be the more important thing to work on.
Look at some of the previous BMF screenshots you showed. Add just a bit of that (maybe 10%), and it may help a lot.
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In the skin viewer there are attachements/options at the bottom right side. It is a combo box with rows showing hardpoints, pylons, gunpods, whatever "goodies" a plane has in the hangard.
You have to find the right one for the outboard guns, and highlight it. This will toggle it on (in the skin viewere) and allow your skin/screenshots to have all 6 guns.
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Thanx for tips Krusty :salute
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Love the bare metal treatment. :aok
Not so sure about the grease/oil stain eminating from the prop hub - I don't think a greae trail would stay so concentrated and dark, or have such a wandering trail under the influence of the propwash. I think it would thin out/spread out more quickly than that...
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Its just the usual worthless piece of...
looks real nice. Cant wait for your 109 skin tho : )
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I love the top side bare metal, but should there be blue on the underside? I would have thought it would be either green or brown to represent the world below that it was reflecting. Really nice though :aok
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ink,
Tone down some of the oil stains, grease and grime a little bit. Your bare metal finish looks too "white" to me. Could just be my computer though. I recommend putting in more silver/gray colors to give a more metal look. The current bare metal finish gives me the impression that they took this P40 and scraped a large bar of soap over the whole plane. Panel lines and rivet detail looks good. I would also reduce the weathering over the spinner, some. Spinners don't normally show heavy weathering unless there is a lot of paint chipping off of it. Check the position of the roundels on the top sides of the wings. They appear to be too far forward to the leading edge of the wings. Is the paint on the engine supposed to be matte black or olive drab? Looks black to me. May want to verify which paint it is.
If you can maintain the same balance of panel line and rivet opacity, and make your BMF look more metal/silver/gray, then you have it right.
Best of luck.
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ink,
Tone down some of the oil stains, grease and grime a little bit. Your bare metal finish looks too "white" to me. Could just be my computer though. I recommend putting in more silver/gray colors to give a more metal look. The current bare metal finish gives me the impression that they took this P40 and scraped a large bar of soap over the whole plane. Panel lines and rivet detail looks good. I would also reduce the weathering over the spinner, some. Spinners don't normally show heavy weathering unless there is a lot of paint chipping off of it. Check the position of the roundels on the top sides of the wings. They appear to be too far forward to the leading edge of the wings. Is the paint on the engine supposed to be matte black or olive drab? Looks black to me. May want to verify which paint it is.
If you can maintain the same balance of panel line and rivet opacity, and make your BMF look more metal/silver/gray, then you have it right.
Best of luck.
pretty sure the glare panel should be black.....
Love the bare metal treatment. :aok
Not so sure about the grease/oil stain eminating from the prop hub - I don't think a greae trail would stay so concentrated and dark, or have such a wandering trail under the influence of the propwash. I think it would thin out/spread out more quickly than that...
I have seen photos of the grease trail coming from the prop hub on P 40's...maybe spreading it out at the tail end....will work it..
I love the top side bare metal, but should there be blue on the underside? I would have thought it would be either green or brown to represent the world below that it was reflecting. Really nice though :aok
ya will work that a bit.
Thanx all for your comments :salute
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The oil stain from the front of cowling should be more dispersed. The oil stain from the access panels on left side of cowl should "blow back" toward the tail, not drain down.
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Ink, the overall effect doesn't look like bare metal at all. I agree with Krusty, it looks like a fine mist of blue over a white base. Also agree with the oil streak on the cowling. Needs to be blown back parallel to the deck, because, at rest, it would run straight down. The only thing that would make it streak back would be prop wash, so that needs to go laterally. The weathering on the belly looks great, as usual, and I'll always make the same comment about the gun soot aft of the barrels. I think most of the good BMF effects start with a silver/gray color, and then use the specularity in the materials file to get the proper amount of "sheen". Greebo has the best BMF IMO, so perhaps you can message him for some recommendations...
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The oil stain from the front of cowling should be more dispersed. The oil stain from the access panels on left side of cowl should "blow back" toward the tail, not drain down.
I thought I had a pic of the oil draining/staining down....I know I saw one but cant find it..... :headscratch:
Ink, the overall effect doesn't look like bare metal at all. I agree with Krusty, it looks like a fine mist of blue over a white base. Also agree with the oil streak on the cowling. Needs to be blown back parallel to the deck, because, at rest, it would run straight down. The only thing that would make it streak back would be prop wash, so that needs to go laterally. The weathering on the belly looks great, as usual, and I'll always make the same comment about the gun soot aft of the barrels. I think most of the good BMF effects start with a silver/gray color, and then use the specularity in the materials file to get the proper amount of "sheen". Greebo has the best BMF IMO, so perhaps you can message him for some recommendations...
ya gonna rework it some
Thanx for comments :salute
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Greebo is okay. I like some of his work. It's better than some of the more "bland" bare metal skins. I don't want to start a popularity contest or anything, but I think Fester's rare BMF examples are well done. MotleyCH did a very interesting B-17G skin (457BG/749BS) that's worth looking at for the baked-on reflection effect., as well as subtle use of rivets to interact with this baked-on effect.
Also, of the spitfires, Kev367th has done a BMF recon skin for every spitfire mark. As his work was some of the early stuff I referenced when trying my first BMF skin, I'd suggest looking at some of his shadows/highlights work just for some inspiration.
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Greebo is okay. I like some of his work. It's better than some of the more "bland" bare metal skins. I don't want to start a popularity contest or anything, but I think Fester's rare BMF examples are well done. MotleyCH did a very interesting B-17G skin (457BG/749BS) that's worth looking at for the baked-on reflection effect., as well as subtle use of rivets to interact with this baked-on effect.
Also, of the spitfires, Kev367th has done a BMF recon skin for every spitfire mark. As his work was some of the early stuff I referenced when trying my first BMF skin, I'd suggest looking at some of his shadows/highlights work just for some inspiration.
Agree on this. Greebo's P-51s with BMF are excellent. Most of his stuff is painted, so I usually don't count him in the BMF crowd. Kev used to do some excellent work as well. Those three have contributed the highest quality BMF skins in game, IMO. Kev has some really good BMF Spits.
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Agree on this. Greebo's P-51s with BMF are excellent. Most of his stuff is painted, so I usually don't count him in the BMF crowd. Kev used to do some excellent work as well. Those three have contributed the highest quality BMF skins in game, IMO. Kev has some really good BMF Spits.
Thx Krusty. I meant to say Fester's P-51s...
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Slight problem with the skin. Only just found this looking for an example/reference to help out...
(http://www.p40warhawk.com/WW2_Era/Photos/MickGrinter/P-40_3/pic022.jpg)
A29-480 is not an N. It is Allison powered. Might better fit on the -F airframe in-game?
Not sure, just found that.
EDIT: Actually, if you don't mind putting a white tail on it, you can change it to this:
(http://www.p40warhawk.com/WW2_Era/Photos/MickGrinter/P-40_3/pic080.jpg)
But, pretty much every -N I see has the white tail. By the time they arrived I guess it was the standard.
EDIT2: P.S. Note the downward slope of the anti-glare... Might double check yours to see if it's the same.
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Slight problem with the skin. Only just found this looking for an example/reference to help out...
(http://www.p40warhawk.com/WW2_Era/Photos/MickGrinter/P-40_3/pic022.jpg)
A29-480 is not an N. It is Allison powered. Might better fit on the -F airframe in-game?
Not sure, just found that.
It looks like a M model to me. I would assume the M would be Ok to put on the N, but I haven't heard any official word on substitutions. Might be worth finding out.
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Overall the performance isn't too different, but the loadouts were. The looks (the cut down rear deck) definitely stand out. If we had the old E with WEP it would be closest to that, but since the E lost its WEP there's no perfect solution. I think the -F is better because it predates the -N, and the -N is the one of the lot that rather stands apart in terms of stripped-down performance and bombed-up loadouts.
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Slight problem with the skin. Only just found this looking for an example/reference to help out...
(http://www.p40warhawk.com/WW2_Era/Photos/MickGrinter/P-40_3/pic022.jpg)
A29-480 is not an N. It is Allison powered. Might better fit on the -F airframe in-game?
Not sure, just found that.
EDIT: Actually, if you don't mind putting a white tail on it, you can change it to this:
(http://www.p40warhawk.com/WW2_Era/Photos/MickGrinter/P-40_3/pic080.jpg)
But, pretty much every -N I see has the white tail. By the time they arrived I guess it was the standard.
EDIT2: P.S. Note the downward slope of the anti-glare... Might double check yours to see if it's the same.
Per this site it is a N model.
http://www.adf-serials.com/2a29-N1.shtml
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Look at the picture. That's not a cut-down rear deck. That's a full rear deck. It also doesn't have the white tail that all -Ns seem to have in that region. It doesn't share the canopy frame for the -N either, even assuming it was some quirk that didn't have the cut-down rear decking. It looks to me like an earlier model!
Definitely odd.
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I was not sure at first what model it was....but I went crazy searching.... everything I could find says its an N
I don't understand why the back of the cockpit looks different :headscratch:
the panel up front with the cooling holes were on the N not the E....
anyways I have basically been working on it since I posted up those pics...for now I will keep it on the N model....and search more to find the truth.....will post up some new screen shots soon.
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ok Gents I need your critique once again......this is a P40 from Australia....I see I missed the flags on the tail...... :rofl
http://www.p40warhawk.com/WW2_Era/Photos/MickGrinter/P-40_4/P-40_4.htm
http://www.p40warhawk.com/WW2_Era/Photos/MickGrinter/P-40_3/P-40_3.htm
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_01Oct302031.jpg)
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_02Oct302031.jpg)
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_03Oct302031.jpg)
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_04Oct302032.jpg)
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_05Oct302032.jpg)
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_06Oct302033.jpg)
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_07Oct302033.jpg)
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_08Oct302034.jpg)
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_09Oct302034.jpg)
:O :huh
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alright some ingame shots....
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_01Nov011847.jpg)
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_02Nov011848.jpg)
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_03Nov011849.jpg)
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_04Nov011853.jpg)
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_05Nov011855.jpg)
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_06Nov011855.jpg)
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_07Nov011855.jpg)
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_08Nov011857.jpg)
and of course an action shot :D
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_09Nov011933.jpg)
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Bare metal is tough to get right, I've never been totally happy with any BMF skin I've done. It would help a lot if AH supported specularity maps so you could make the metal bits shinier than the painted bits, but they don't.
I'd say the reflection effects on this skin look a bit overdone compared to what I'm seeing in the photos. I'd suggest toning down the darker elements of the effects to make the whole skin a bit lighter. Also the rivets could do with being a bit less visible than they are. The markings appear a bit fuzzy edged as well, which can happen if you resize them a lot. Perhaps you could remake them from drawn circles that are the right size. Same thing with the anti glare strip, the edge is a little blurry compared to the photo to my eyes.
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ink,
In my opinion, I think this is your best bare metal finish yet. You may want to make some minor tweaks like Greebo mentioned above. The markings on the plane are fuzzy around the edges. Try making the roundels from scratch at the right size and see if they come out clearer on the aircraft. If this works, you may want to hand make the rest of the markings on the plane to make them look more clear.
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I would make anything you wish to scale/fiddle with in the future a vector.
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I would make anything you wish to scale/fiddle with in the future a vector.
Can you do that in GIMP or PS? I didn't think you could...
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thanx guys I did do what Greebo suggested....I must say I am very happy..(although it still may need some tweaks)..I did make these roundels from scratch, but then blurred the edges so when its close up it does not pixalate as bad....I will post up some pics soon.
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The key is to anti-alias the edges, rather than blur them. That fills in the pixels with averages, rather than makes it look fuzzy.
Often this is an option on the tool itself. Say I choose the circular-shaped tool it will have a checkbox in photoshop for "aliased?" and I can toggle it on or off.
If you can't do that, make it big. Like 5x as big. Then size it down to what you need. The resizing will alias it for you without blurring.
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The key is to anti-alias the edges, rather than blur them. That fills in the pixels with averages, rather than makes it look fuzzy.
Often this is an option on the tool itself. Say I choose the circular-shaped tool it will have a checkbox in photoshop for "aliased?" and I can toggle it on or off.
If you can't do that, make it big. Like 5x as big. Then size it down to what you need. The resizing will alias it for you without blurring.
nice...thanx man, yes GIMP can do that :salute
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I had said that I did greebo's suggestion and I am very happy with the results from that, then I went and did what Krusty said with the Antialaising for the roundels, plus I made them huge and shrunk them down....also tweaked the Glare panel, krusty was right it has a lower slope that what I did at first.
I have to admit this plane is my favorite one so far that I have done, minus the original KI skin(which I got an accepted Email today about :x) still love that one.
anyways here are some pics....
I also want to say THANX for ALL who commented and critiqued....couldn't do it with out you guys. :salute
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_02Nov031920.jpg)
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_05Nov031922.jpg)
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_06Nov031925.jpg)
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_07Nov031928.jpg)
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/ScreenHunter_04Nov031921.jpg)
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:aok
Lets hope it gets to Skuzzy ASAP because it would be a shame to have to wait on it until August of 2012 to have it in game. :frown:
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Gets better every time Ink. :aok
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lookin good bro, gets better and better :aok
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:aok
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I'm personally still wondering if it fits on the -N airframe. I don't think I've ever seen an N with a full spine like that. That aside, it looks pretty nice. I think my nitpick right now would be the black shadows behind the exhaust pipes... They seem a bit blurry and/or maybe too large?
Again, minor point, and doesn't break the skin either way.
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I love metal skins! :)
Good work ink <S>
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I'm personally still wondering if it fits on the -N airframe. I don't think I've ever seen an N with a full spine like that. That aside, it looks pretty nice. I think my nitpick right now would be the black shadows behind the exhaust pipes... They seem a bit blurry and/or maybe too large?
Again, minor point, and doesn't break the skin either way.
definitely an N frame with the early style cockpit....
400... P-40N-1-CU, Im understanding they all had the old canopy
"The P-40N-5-CU variant introduced a modified cockpit canopy with a frameless sliding hood and a deeper, squared-off rectangular aft transparent section to improve the rearward view"
http://www.p40warhawk.com/Variants/P-40N.htm
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Aaaahhhhh.... That might explain it!
Thanks Ink. That was really going to bug me without SOME answer. :aok
I was personally suspecting where it mentions crash damage and being rebuilt that maybe it flipped over and they replaced it with a hacked off rear deck.... But that wouldn't include the rear windows most likely. In that fanciful solution they'd more likely have rebuilt it from sheet metal.
Now I know!
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I had said that I did greebo's suggestion and I am very happy with the results from that, then I went and did what Krusty said with the Antialaising for the roundels, plus I made them huge and shrunk them down....also tweaked the Glare panel, krusty was right it has a lower slope that what I did at first.
I have to admit this plane is my favorite one so far that I have done, minus the original KI skin(which I got an accepted Email today about :x) still love that one.
anyways here are some pics....
I also want to say THANX for ALL who commented and critiqued....couldn't do it with out you guys. :salute
Just beautiful Mate, one thing though, I was just looking at the picture you posted for it on the "skins under construction" thread, on that there is a rectanglar dark area, which isn't represented on your skin. just saying is all.
Congrats on the Ki Skin.
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Just beautiful Mate, one thing though, I was just looking at the picture you posted for it on the "skins under construction" thread, on that there is a rectanglar dark area, which isn't represented on your skin. just saying is all.
Congrats on the Ki Skin.
thanx...I noticed that, was not sure what that was...possibly a replacement panel :headscratch:
I decided not to put it in :uhoh
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Turns out your plane had some nose art & some paint work added at a later point in time.
The first link is an old book I have & it was not sure what the serial number is.
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/P%2040%20pictures/img061.jpg)
Close up of the nose art.
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/P%2040%20pictures/img060.jpg)
At some point some one found the correct serial number & I have found a company that is making decals withe the same serial number.
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/P%2040%20pictures/oldcrowp40.jpg)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/RAAF-P-40N-Kittyhawk-WWII-Decals-1-48-Scale-N48004-/300533581770?pt=AU_Toys_Hobbies_Model_Kits&hash=item45f93287ca
I was working on this one with FTJR & I told him about the serial number I found with the decals & he pointed out you had done an early version of this plane.
So if you want to spruce it up I think you have enough to do it. :aok
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good find Lyric :O
glad it was not after I redid it :rofl
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Nice work Ink. :aok
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Nice work Ink. :aok
Thank ya
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Nice job Ink, grats on the KI skin being accepted aswell
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Thanx