Avia 56 Photoshop Paintkit - fully layered and uploaded...

**nigel richards** · April 22nd, 2012, 07:11

Following numerous requests for an Avia 56 paintkit, finally here it is.

Attachment 63872 Attachment 63873 Attachment 63874

We've provided fully layered files for all exterior surfaces to allow completely free access to all areas of texturing.

This means that by accessing the full range of layers, you can now add, subtract or vary all elements - rivets, panels, scratches, highlights, weathering, as well as the actual graphics layers for colours, markings etc.

It is also our hope that those teetering on entering the world of texturing for the very first time, will be encouraged to explore layers, which should also effect a form of hands-on tutorial illustrating the logic involved.

So get some good reference pics, fire-up Photoshop and enjoy going creative with YOUR AVIA-56 paint schemes.

And remember; FS is for sharing - and we'd love to see the results of YOUR work.

Be creative - have fun!

**Milton Shupe** · April 22nd, 2012, 07:58

Thank you Sir! A work of art.

***huub vink*** · April 22nd, 2012, 08:07

Thanks Nigel! As I know how much effort it takes to create a paintkit which can be used by other, your efforts are highly appreciated.

Huub

**nigel richards** · April 22nd, 2012, 08:27

Milton; Thankyou Sir!

This project has been an absolute pleasure to work on - from start to finish.

Huub; Thankyou for the kind words Sir!

I do so look forward to seeing some exciting textures for such an inspiring and versatile prototype.

:salute:

***Duckie*** · April 22nd, 2012, 10:42

Thanks very much Nigel. Looking forward to taking a crack at it. :salute: :salute:

**stuartcox** · April 22nd, 2012, 11:18

Thank You Nigel!

This might help me to get started...
Looking at all the great artwork published by yourself, Matt, Duckie, Steve - only to name a few - I feel encouraged to spend my spare time in more creative way.
Also, the aircraft is one of my all time favourites in the hangar!
It will be a long learning curve though...

Cheers, Stuart

**Milton Shupe** · April 22nd, 2012, 11:55

Originally Posted by Duckie

Thanks very much Nigel. Looking forward to taking a crack at it. :salute: :salute:

Oh Wow! I do look forward to that sir!

Originally Posted by stuartcox

Thank You Nigel!

This might help me to get started...
Looking at all the great artwork published by yourself, Matt, Duckie, Steve - only to name a few - I feel encouraged to spend my spare time in more creative way.
Also, the aircraft is one of my all time favourites in the hangar!
It will be a long learning curve though...

Cheers, Stuart

Stuart, thank you for those comments; I really look forward to whatever those creative juices inspire. Bring it on.

**Matt Wynn** · April 22nd, 2012, 12:56

Originally Posted by stuartcox

Thank You Nigel!

This might help me to get started...
Looking at all the great artwork published by yourself, Matt, Duckie, Steve - only to name a few - I feel encouraged to spend my spare time in more creative way.
Also, the aircraft is one of my all time favourites in the hangar!
It will be a long learning curve though...

Cheers, Stuart

Thanks Stuart, this might help: http://s184.photobucket.com/albums/x...20Productions/

was a video series i did on making a paintkit but the principles apply in all walks of painting... i'll sort series 2 soon..... once i get current workboard cleared :salute:

**stuartcox** · April 22nd, 2012, 13:17

Originally Posted by Matt Wynn

Thanks Stuart, this might help: http://s184.photobucket.com/albums/x...20Productions/

was a video series i did on making a paintkit but the principles apply in all walks of painting... i'll sort series 2 soon..... once i get current workboard cleared :salute:

Cheers Matt,

I will have a close look at that. I will let you know how things progress.
I'm sure many other SOH members would also like to get an introduction to repainting.

Thanks for the link!

Stuart

**nigel richards** · April 22nd, 2012, 13:43

Originally Posted by Duckie

Thanks very much Nigel. Looking forward to taking a crack at it. :salute: :salute:

Thanks Duckie, I'll be looking out for this buddy, I know you'll do full justice to another of Milton's spectacular aeroplanes. :salute: :salute:

Originally Posted by stuartcox

Thank You Nigel!

This might help me to get started...
Looking at all the great artwork published by yourself, Matt, Duckie, Steve - only to name a few - I feel encouraged to spend my spare time in more creative way.
Also, the aircraft is one of my all time favourites in the hangar!
It will be a long learning curve though...

Cheers, Stuart

Stuart my friend, You Sir have made my day.

I've long sensed your eagerness to become involved hands-on.
There is no finer opportunity than this. Come on in - the water's fine.

Please don't hesitate to ask for help - here or by PM.

If this thread may serve as some kind of pooled tutorial, I'll be doubly pleased to see input from so many talented folk here.

Matt; thanks buddy as always, for stepping in whole-heartedly and so willing to share.

**Matt Wynn** · April 22nd, 2012, 14:44

just noticed it's clipped my videos short, i have them backed up and will get the full length ones sorted soon, have fun painting the -56 guys, she's a beauty :salute:

**Hurricane91** · April 23rd, 2012, 15:08

Originally Posted by nigel richards

We've provided fully layered files for all exterior surfaces to allow completely free access to all areas of texturing.

Many thanks Nigel. I have already learned a lot by looking over the layers breakdown.
Thanks again.

John

**nigel richards** · April 23rd, 2012, 21:55

Originally Posted by Hurricane91

Many thanks Nigel. I have already learned a lot by looking over the layers breakdown.
Thanks again.

John

Excellent! :salute:

Two major things to bear in mind for texturing.

1. Spend heaps of time studying photos of real aircraft.
Build up a library of pics for reference.

Your eyes will be your truest teacher ever.
Keep asking questions with your eyes. What is happening to paintwork in access areas? How do wear and tear affect the paintwork? What's happening with light and shade around panels and rivets?
Keep searching!

2. Never, ever use pure colour - anywhere, for any reason...ever!
It's one of the biggest give-aways, and looks totally unnatural -because it is unnatural, and never appears in real life.

When used straight, pure, full-strength colour stands out a mile and appears completely out of place. So as real artists do, you'll be watering down colours or adding a touch of black to strengthen them.
It takes experimenting to get this right, but you'll end up with aircraft that look very convincing.

Real-life light is very powerful, it plays and reflects in very inticate ways. FS can't do this to the extent of real light, hence the need for a little trickery from you, the artist.

For solid colours - especially primaries (reds, yellows, blues) I usually end up tweaking the opacity value on the layers dialogue box until happy with the result.
This usually means somewhere near 80 - 88%.

BLACK?
Big NO-NO Gentlemen.
Its flat and lifeless.

Don't be lazy and use black for shadows and darkening.
Get that colour into your mix!
For shadows work in some COLOUR - if its a warm shadow you'll be mixing in more red, brown yellow, for the opposite blue.
So use your 'black' for darkening/toning COLOURS.
EXPERIMENT!

**Matt Wynn** · April 23rd, 2012, 22:04

i echo what Nigel says.... i use just off white (95%) and just off black (7-10%) when doing those colours.... UNLESS it is for panel lines as they'll have opacity reduced etc.... but yeah 7P's and Practice are all you need..... Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents P*ss Poor Performance.... just go for it guys, it's never as hard as it looks :salute: if needed i'll make a video using Nigels kit to show you some fundamentals

**Hurricane91** · April 24th, 2012, 10:03

Originally Posted by nigel richards

Two major things to bear in mind for texturing.

Thank you Nigel, I appreciate your advice. You packed a lot of valuable information
into those two points. There appears to be some similarities (and differences) with
finishing scale models.