repainting, how to do it...

[jankees 917]

In the Saab 340 thread, we diversified into some ins and outs of repainting, so I thought I'd start a new thread explaining some aspects of repainting.

 

Maybe it's good idea to have a look at the tutorial I made for flightsim.com as well, you'll find it here.

 

Here, I will be open for questions that you may have, and give tips and tricks.

 

So let's start at the basics: you want to repaint an aircraft.

For that, you will need two pieces of software:

- DXTbmp, which is available here: http://www.mwgfx.co.uk/programs/dxtbmp.htm

- a graphics program to do the actual repainting, like Photoshop (which I use), Paintshop or the freeware Gimp. Any will do just fine, as long as they work with layers. It helps if you know how the software works, if you don't, you will learn..

and then you need perseverance, it will be hard in the beginning, but is gets easier after a while.

 

The way I see it, there are three different ways to repaint a aircraft model:

1) you adapt the original textures

2) you use the white textures that come with the model (Carenado, Alabeo)

3) you use the paintkit that the modeller has provided

 

and all three have their own ways and peculiarities. I have done all three, and I can tell you that 1) is the hardest, unless you want to make small changes, and that 2) and 3) requires slightly different techniques and tricks, but both allow you to make anything you want.

 

Here's a few examples:

1: adapting the textures:

When the P-51 by warbirdsim first came out, there was no paintkit included, so I adapted the original textures to end up with this:

which I still think looks very nice. So, it can be done, but you are limited in what can be achieved. A fully camouflaged P-51 would have been much harder for instance, since it only came with bare metal paintschemes.

 

2: using the white textures:

all Carenado/Alabeo models come without a paintkit, but they always have completely white textures. Some people complain about this, but if you know what you are doing, it is really easy to make anything you like, even bare metal paintschemes:

for this, you will have to make your own alpha textures (see the tutorial), but that is relatively easy.

 

3: using the paintkit:

if you have a paintkit, and they often come with the model, then there too there is almost no limit to what you can paint. All the details that make up the exterior of your model will be present in different layers, and this gives you the widest range of possibilities.

This paint

includes hand drawn parts (the markings), large camouflage colour parts, photoreal parts (the exhaust stains) and layers with dirt and weathering to give a 'real' feeling. It's all relatively easy to do because of the layered paintkit, where you can put one layer on top or below others.

 

So there you have it, three ways of doing things!

What else do you want to know?

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 4, 2018 by jankees

[needles 1,013]

Thanks for this JK, a refresher course is what I need at the moment, so I'll  be taking another look at your tut's.

 

[mutley 4,498]

1 hour ago, needles said:

Thanks for this JK, a refresher course is what I need at the moment, so I'll  be taking another look at your tut's.

 

 

Me too, I would love to paint a few aircraft in some local colours