Trying paintkits ...

[flyingip]

Well my first try at it, no alpha channels and some faults on the underside
There's much to doo though I think it doesn't really look good :isadizzy:
I placed Bomber_12th's upupa epops prop spinner on it just to see how it would look like in fs, I'll make my own of course

Any help is welcome :ernae:

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[Tako_Kichi]

Take your time Phil and the skills will come. You have perhaps started on a more difficult subject than I would normally recommend for a beginner but there's nothing like jumping in with both feet to learn how to do things quickly!

As you have discovered getting the left and right sides to match up on the 'seam' lines is difficult at times and it requires precise painting skills as very often you will only have 1 pixel of leeway (if that) before the join shows.

Keep an eye on the layer order too. By moving you paint layer up or down in the 'stack' you can affect what shows and what doesn't. In your case it looks like your paint layer is sitting above the layer with the 'breather' holes on it but the holes are still on the alpha layer and thus appear as a faint 'shadow' showing where the holes should be. If you move your paint layer down the holes should reappear (unless you have deleted them of course ).

[jankees]

oohh, you tackled a nice one for the first try!!
Good luck lining up those squares below the nose. It might be an idea to use one done by Bomber as an example (I don't think I've ever done a 353rd a/c), assuming he managed to line them up of course. Sometimes it just isn't possible, but here there are possibilities I think.
The nose art looks great!
Good luck!

[flyingip]

Thanks guy's
Some updates:
The underside needs to be fixed yet
I changed layer orders
Retouched colours
Added some text
Added call sign numbers (they look a bit small, maybe)
Added reg. text on the fuselage.
Done prop spinner

I might need some help on that Alpha thingy :mixedsmi:

Cheers,

Philippe

[DaveQ]

Nice going Phil! The nose art looks great!

When you do the squadron codes make sure you use the same font size on both fuselage textures P-51D_1 and_2. For AmarilloUSAF it's around 180pt. But lining them up is a bitch!

For the alphas just copy your new layers onto the existing alpha channel set, and convert them to white if they have no 'shine'. They should be near the top of the layer stack but you may want some rivet or other detail to show through

Best of luck

DaveQ

[flyingip]

Thanks Dave :ernae:

First try on alpha channels though the quality is quite bad and a bit hard on frames too
I saved it as Extended Bipmap 256 colours cause when I save it like DXT3 or DDS my textures get black ..

EDIT:Quick question, where can I paint exaust pipes cause they need to be silver
Like here: http://www.mustangsmustangs.com/p-51...44-73856.shtml

[DaveQ]

The exhaust stack texture is on P-51D_1_t near the bottom on the right hand side next to the texture for the exhaust cover; it's the reddish square.

The picture looks fine Phil. Do you use Martin Wright's DXTBmp application for conversion to extended bitmaps or .dds textures?
If so save your new alphas as .bmp files (e.g. P-51D_1_tAlpha) then use DXTBmp to pick them up. Open your texture .bmp in DXTBmp then go the top menus 'Alpha'. Select Import Alpha and browse to your alpha.bmp. and click. Save the texture as an extended 32-bit 888 file or go to top line 'Image' and select 'Flip Image and Alpha'. Save as a .dds file. Make sure you don't save mipmaps. Should be OK.

Best of Luck

DaveQ

[Tako_Kichi]

If you are using Photoshop you can copy and paste your flattened Alpha layers directly into the Alpha channel. When you save as a DDS file the Alpha channel is automatically included.

[flyingip]

Thanks everyone :ernae:
I think I'm getting there


Things to be done:
Wings
Wheels
Line up both sides of the tail
Line up the squares
Might correct color of the nose a bit(it's a bit to orange)
Cockpit


Cheers

[flyingip]

Nearing completation...
Where can I find the tailwings? Can't find them anywere

Thanks everyone, :ernae:
Philippe

[jankees]

they are on the right side of P-51D5_t: