Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Custom Skins => Topic started by: FTJR on May 27, 2021, 03:02:46 AM
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As per the title, updating the skin and hopefully getting the bare metal a bit more acceptable. Despite the material files set to complete black I cant prevent the white on the tail from washing out in the harsh sunlight.
(https://i.postimg.cc/7hq6Qdvc/Clipboard01.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/mz6BPdgN) (https://i.postimg.cc/Bnj5JYbk/Clipboard02.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/BjGPgCxB)
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Wow. That looks amazing. Hopefully you'll get the washed out white tail fixed. :aok
Also, I can't be the only one seeing an very nice influx of white tails. :x
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The metal work is looking quite good.
For the white and yellow paint, you want to make those areas a little more shiny than the other painted parts on the P and S maps. That will focus the washed out part to a smaller area. I use RGB 66/66/66 for white on the P ans S maps.
Also you need to use a fairly dark color for each on the diffuse map - especially the white. On my recent Pacific P-39's and P-40's, I've been using RGB 166/166/163 for white and RGB 191/148/16 for yellow.
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:aok
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The metal looks really good FTJR, a big improvement.
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That looks great!
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Looking good man. Big improvements continue. Keep it up.
If you dial back the wringroot fasteners with a reduced opacity they'll turn into circles.
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The metal work is looking quite good.
For the white and yellow paint, you want to make those areas a little more shiny than the other painted parts on the P and S maps. That will focus the washed out part to a smaller area. I use RGB 66/66/66 for white on the P ans S maps.
Also you need to use a fairly dark color for each on the diffuse map - especially the white. On my recent Pacific P-39's and P-40's, I've been using RGB 166/166/163 for white and RGB 191/148/16 for yellow.
Great stuff, thanks for the tip, i'll do that.
Looking good man. Big improvements continue. Keep it up.
If you dial back the wringroot fasteners with a reduced opacity they'll turn into circles.
Understood thanks.
Thanks everyone.
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Suggestions applied
(https://i.postimg.cc/7YwN7WHt/Clipboard03.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/w34JYFsD)
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That looks much better, but the horizontal and vertical stabilizer looks a touch too grey. Appears light grey to me anyway. Rudder and elevator looks good though. :aok
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Looks good. White is a real bear. See if Devil can email you a patch from his P-39 to try and match up to see how it behaves for you.
The metal has really come along great.
Don't get discouraged by the critiques. I've been through the gauntlet for quite awhile now and I understand it can make you want to bash your keyboard into the monitor. This is marathon not a sprint. Steady as she goes.
:salute
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Also, one trick Oboe taught me is to dial back the opacity a tad with the paint. You may need a mask under it if you go too far, but a few percent here or there will make it look painted on and reduce that flare you get with white and yellow.
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Looks good. White is a real bear. See if Devil can email you a patch from his P-39 to try and match up to see how it behaves for you.
The metal has really come along great.
Don't get discouraged by the critiques. I've been through the gauntlet for quite awhile now and I understand it can make you want to bash your keyboard into the monitor. This is marathon not a sprint. Steady as she goes.
:salute
Not discouraged, yet :lol thanks man.
That looks much better, but the horizontal and vertical stabilizer looks a touch too grey. Appears light grey to me anyway. Rudder and elevator looks good though. :aok
Yeah, I agree, though I've applied Devils suggestions, it looks like I have to tweak a few of the other layers which are on the diffuse map, as Vraciu mentioned white is a real bear to deal with.
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Backed off the "Devils White" (tm) :lol as much as I dared.. Opinons please.
(https://i.postimg.cc/W13XRVVQ/Clipboard04.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/hfk9xHfr)
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Rudder and elevator look even better. Hor and Vert stabilizers look better, but, and I hate to say it, the white on them appears to be a slighty "off white" now. You are much closer though, maybe a touch whiter might do it? I'm going to guess that the rudder/elevator is using the same values as the hor and vert stabilizers? I mean, are they separate or is it all one package? If only you could get what I see on the rudder/elevator onto the hor and vert stabilizers, I think you'd be set. :aok
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Rudder and elevator look even better. Hor and Vert stabilizers look better, but, and I hate to say it, the white on them appears to be a slighty "off white" now. You are much closer though, maybe a touch whiter might do it? I'm going to guess that the rudder/elevator is using the same values as the hor and vert stabilizers? I mean, are they separate or is it all one package? If only you could get what I see on the rudder/elevator onto the hor and vert stabilizers, I think you'd be set. :aok
Thanks for the input.
No they, sadly, are not on one layer, it is just the way the skin has evolved.
(https://i.postimg.cc/8529PLxv/Clipboard05.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/N9xpd2sG)
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That looks much better, but the horizontal and vertical stabilizer looks a touch too grey. Appears light grey to me anyway. Rudder and elevator looks good though. :aok
Well, that's because the shade I suggested to him, and also the exact shade I used on my most recent skins with white tails, is distinctly light gray. The AH3 lighting engine takes light and bright colors and washes them out, so you need to compensate for this by using darker/duller tones for these colors - white being the worst offender.
Here is a chart I made discussing this in a thread about winter whitewashes:
"Now, here are the colors I used with actual pure white (RGB 225/225/225) and pure neutral gray (RGB 128/128/128) to show how much closer to neutral gray you need to make white paints to appear well in the game.
(https://i.postimg.cc/Z5zms6jr/White-Balance.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)
Colors left to right: pure white, (German) insignia white, whitewash white, pure neutral gray"
The white I used for my white tailed P-40's and P-39 is just slightly darker and more yellow then the whitewash white in the chart above - about 1% different in each aspect from the sample in the chart. Also, I have other subtle dirt weathering layers which will shift the final white color even more towards an off-white or cream.
The only aspect of the rudder and elevator that would make them appear different is the fact that they are at slightly different angles to their associated stabilizers. This will change the angle of the reflected light and not appear washed out as much from the viewpoint compared to the associated stabilizers. A change in view angle or plane position relative to the viewpoint could make the rudder and elevators washout more than the stabilizers. The idea of using darker colors and making them more glossy in the specular maps is to lessen the effect and to focus/reduce the area of the inevitable washout.
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That's a lot better FT.
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Backed off the "Devils White" (tm) :lol as much as I dared.. Opinons please.
I think it looked better with the white I suggested. This looks too washed out to me, as does the later iteration. I like to see more detail.
To make the white look less gray, you may want to add a touch more red and yellow (about 1-2% each). It will make it look more like an off-white or cream, but it may also help it look more like white paint. I also think it will show in game closer to the final color I used on my New Guinea P-39 and P-40N's.
I'd also suggest changing the white of the insignia to match the shade on the tail, it will help tie it all together (also, a darker blue for the insignia might be a good idea.)
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The original was washed out. The revision was too gray. This landed in the middle.
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What V said - now it looks great. Good work FTJR - skinning is hard work, especially for us amateur military historians trying to keep the skins as real as possible.
It's amazing how much information is now online. I mean, look at The Deacon skinning work - 3 years ago we couldn't find that level of information that is now available on the web. We found the original comics the artist used to come up with the drawing. And even then, a couple months later, the group found an even more detailed picture of the artwork. Amazing!
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It's funny you mentioned that skin. I was considering posting a link to it so FT can see the white I used for comparison.
https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,401118.0.html
I may bump up the shine on the white when I update the nose art.
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Thanks for the input.
No they, sadly, are not on one layer, it is just the way the skin has evolved.
(https://i.postimg.cc/8529PLxv/Clipboard05.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/N9xpd2sG)
Oof.
Well in this shot, I believe you nailed it! :x
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Oof.
Well in this shot, I believe you nailed it! :x
It's certainly close. On my desktop it's slightly too bright like Devil said.
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I think it looked better with the white I suggested. This looks too washed out to me, as does the later iteration. I like to see more detail.
To make the white look less gray, you may want to add a touch more red and yellow (about 1-2% each). It will make it look more like an off-white or cream, but it may also help it look more like white paint. I also think it will show in game closer to the final color I used on my New Guinea P-39 and P-40N's.
I'd also suggest changing the white of the insignia to match the shade on the tail, it will help tie it all together (also, a darker blue for the insignia might be a good idea.)
Thank Devil for the suggestions. I have been trying to match the white in the insignia and the leading edges to keep it uniform.
Thanks everyone for their replies.
Back to the easel.
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Changelog.. Gone back to Devils white, with red and yellow layers set at 1% opacity. Darkened the insignia blue. put all the white on one layer for ease of adjustment.
It has the creamy look now..
(https://i.postimg.cc/VvyhpNCj/Clipboard06.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/2bwTBrT6)
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Yeah, that looks way too creamy.
Do you have any weathering over the white?
Funny thing is that it looks good in the insignia - also the blue looks great now.
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Yeah, that looks way too creamy.
Do you have any weathering over the white?
Funny thing is that it looks good in the insignia - also the blue looks great now.
It needs some noise maybe.... :headscratch:
The white on the insignia looks right due to contrast perhaps...
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It needs some noise maybe.... :headscratch:
The white on the insignia looks right due to contrast perhaps...
Yeah, I'm thinking a dirt colored noise layer and reverting to my original white might do the trick.
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Change log... I tried different combo's on the tail.. added extra noise, adjusted whites
(https://i.postimg.cc/B6VqNBz7/Clipboard07.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/yg048cs0)
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Better.
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Not sure I can get any closer
(https://i.postimg.cc/59DFTnVV/Clipboard08.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/grqJ6yjS)
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Looks good. I'll check on my PC but I like it from what my phone shows.
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Looks good. I'll check on my PC but I like it from what my phone shows.
Thanks V. no rush...
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It looks good to me like this.
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It looks good to me like this.
I agree. Looks pretty spot on.
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Not sure I can get any closer
(https://i.postimg.cc/59DFTnVV/Clipboard08.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/grqJ6yjS)
That looks fan-fraking-tastic! You got it! :aok
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Phew, Thanks guys.
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Way to hang in there, FTJR.
Note: I was waiting for the troll to do his thing. I got you guys. ;)
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That is great-looking metal, FTJR.
I took it up last night, sorry but I got shot up by an N1K and its missing the left aileron and left elevator now. :frown:
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That is great-looking metal, FTJR.
I took it up last night, sorry but I got shot up by an N1K and its missing the left aileron and left elevator now. :frown:
:rofl
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That is great-looking metal, FTJR.
I took it up last night, sorry but I got shot up by an N1K and its missing the left aileron and left elevator now. :frown:
Thanks Oboe, i've been on the road since before the release so I haven't had the chance yet. I get home this weekend.. Please replace those missing parts for me :)
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Done!
Welcome back :banana: