Gascan's Paint Kitchen

[gascan 147]

I started on some personal skins a while back, and have been working on them sporadically. I finally finished the SE5a skins for Kotori and I. The colors are red and blue to distinguish between Kotori and I. There is a large letter on the top wing and bottom wing for the pilot name. The wheels have a radiation symbol, and there is a dolphin fish on the side. The tail number is F728 and G729. Kotori and I both serve on submarines, and the fish represents the Submarine Warfare qualification, while the number is for the ships we served on (USS Florida SSGN 728 and USS Georgia SSGN 729).

Here are a few pictures, links to download the skins will be up tomorrow.

 

[keeno 295]

Beautiful!

[gascan 147]

All right, here is the link to the test skins. I still want to add a bit of weathering effects to the color on the struts and tweak the font, so right now the files are all listed as "a test Gascan" so they can easily be deleted once I finish the final version. Big thanks to Oliver88 who shared his work on the RNAS10 skins, which saved countless hours trying to make my own version of such a distinctive pattern.

 

 

Here's the Bristol and SE5. The Trident on the Bristol is a symbol of striking power, and I added a little message for any gunners wiling to ride along with me. I also swapped the color on the radiation symbol from blue-and-yellow to black-and-yellow, which looks a bit better.

[gascan 147]

Already getting feedback. The yellow on the wheels is a bit eye-catching, drawing the eye a bit more than it probably should. Accordingly, here's a test with white instead. Does this work a bit better? I'll come back to the yellow when I start on Central planes.

Also, does anyone have any advice on how to add some weathering or texture? The color on the struts looks a bit flat and plasticky to me, and I want to break it up a tad bit.

Edited December 11, 2020 by gascan
Central planes.

[gascan 147]

All right, I did another pass on the SE5a, Bristol, and Camel. Mostly just minor tweaks, nothing too significant. I also made a first attempt at the SPAD. I have two initial versions for Kotori and I. One has most of the cowling colored, with eye marks. It was somewhat inspired by Stephen Bigelow's SPAD 7, with the colored area expanded a bit so it should be more visible from the cockpit. The other one as a colored ring around the nose with a scalloped bar on the leading edge of the wing. I really like the look of the scalloping, and I think it will help identify which pilot is which in any videos recorded from the cockpit. That way I won't need to paint the struts like I have with the other planes so far. I may use both the full cowl and eyes from Bigelow and the leading edge. I also have the head rest (or razorback, or whatever you want to call it) colored as well, though that may just mark where to shoot for any aggressive Central pilots. Fish emblem and lettering have not been applied yet.

All files, including the tweaked planes and the new SPADs can be found here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vve0dBvMLRbmbTxEntWIXtFcDOWt6jYD/view?usp=sharing

 

 

[gascan 147]

Took out some of the skins for a test run on the FlugPark, looking to see how I like flying with them. The SPAD still needs some work, but I think the other ones are pretty much done. I need to figure out something to do with the roundels on the wings, since the red color of the leading edge overlaps them and makes it harder to see. Overall, coloring the leading edge on top and bottom makes it very easy to tell the difference between Kotori and I, so that's locked in. Now I need to decide if I want to paint the full cowling like Kotori tried, or stick with just a ring like I used, then add a serial number and a fish emblem.

[Beebop 675]

On 12/10/2020 at 9:25 PM, gascan said:

Also, does anyone have any advice on how to add some weathering or texture?

Often I'll use a closeup of a fern, leaves, a slab of marble, swampy ground, Google "psychedelic images" and choose something 'watery', anything that is random with saturation variations.

Depending on the effect I'm looking for I'll de-saturate the image or recolor it to match the basic paint color and apply it over the top paint layer, or above insignia/stencil layers if I want them variegated as well.  I've even put it over the mechanicals layer to give landing gear, flaps and other internals some variation.  Then lower the opacity to the point you can barely see it and you'll get some interesting reflections.  If there's an area that it doesn't look right on I'll erase that area, maybe putting a different 'filter' over it.

Just a few thoughts.

 

I like what you are doing with these planes.  👍  Keep up the good work!

[gascan 147]

Great advice there Beebop. So far I've tried using some of the different brush shapes in Photoshop, and it just isn't quite working out how I'd hoped. I'll give it a shot!

[gascan 147]

Well, I flew a bit more on Thursday night, this time focusing on the Camel and SE5. In the middle of a fight, it seems a bit easier to spot shapes/letters on the top/bottom of the wing or stripes on the tail than a colored nose. Although the Camel skin doesn't have anything on the wing, I'm still pretty satisfied with it. I think I may try and straighten out the colored stipes on the struts. It just looks a bit odd, especially next to the stripes on the cowling. I think the SE5 could use similar work, and there's a strange bit where the skin doesn't quite wrap correctly around the strut.

[gascan 147]

Does anyone know why this bit doesn't line up with the template? It shows up on every single custom skin, so I'm pretty sure it's an issue with the template. I can't see it from the cockpit, and if anyone else is close enough to notice it, there are probably other concerns. However, I'm wondering if I should try to fix it on my skins while I'm finalizing everything?

[J5_HotWaffle 361]

There are a lot of little errors like this on many of the templates. The albatros has the same issue on its fuselage. Its up to you to decide if its worth fixing or not. In general I always fix inaccuracies like that on my skins and model airplanes because I've got ridiculous OCD for things like that.

[gascan 147]

2 hours ago, J5_HotWaffle said:

There are a lot of little errors like this on many of the templates. The albatros has the same issue on its fuselage. Its up to you to decide if its worth fixing or not. In general I always fix inaccuracies like that on my skins and model airplanes because I've got ridiculous OCD for things like that.

Thanks, I'll keep an eye out for that more often. I'm still working on the camo for the spad, so I'll fix it before publishing.

 

The Bristol, Camel, and SE5 are finished. You can find them here, although ultimately I'd like to get added to the unofficial skin bundle. I've been flying with them for the past couple weeks and been making small tweaks to make sure I like them. For the Bristols, I darkened up the red and blue highlights just a tiny bit. On the SE5a, I put some white to highlight the colors on the fuselage and straightened out the bands on the struts. Fixing the misaligned bits on the struts took probably two or three hours to get right! And for the Camel, I simply straightened out the bands on the struts. They were really bothering me when looking at screenshots of the two of us flying together, since the bands on the struts were at a different angle than the bands on the engine cowling.

I still have some work for the SPAD, but it should be done tomorrow. Like I said, I'm working on a custom camo scheme, and I may tweak the roundels so the American colors stand out against the red on Kotori's wing.

[US213_Talbot 1336]

On 1/1/2021 at 2:45 PM, gascan said:

Does anyone know why this bit doesn't line up with the template? It shows up on every single custom skin, so I'm pretty sure it's an issue with the template. I can't see it from the cockpit, and if anyone else is close enough to notice it, there are probably other concerns. However, I'm wondering if I should try to fix it on my skins while I'm finalizing everything?

 

@US93_Larner

[US93_Larner 1609]

@gascan IIRC those parts weren't 3D-modelled on the RoF SPAD, and some of the RoF template textures have been reused for the FC template, so I'm guessing that the old '2D' textures from RoF have snuck their way into the FC template. I'd say you could safely get rid of them! 

Edited January 6 by US93_Larner

[gascan 147]

I adjusted the shadows/holes to line up with the 3d modeled part, and they disappeared underneath it. I agree, it's probably safe to get rid of them, and I'm going to look and see if there are any other similar structures (possibly under the upper wing or near the tail).

[gascan 147]

Here's a link for my current set, SE5a, Sopwith Camel, both Bristols, and now the SPAD.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1L-uP6b46cZO2-1HQWHfQSKZLCpKrYEwI/view?usp=sharing

 

I just finished making a custom non-historical camo scheme for the SPAD and applied the red and blue markings I had earlier to differentiate between Kotori and I. Apparently most camo schemes for the SPAD are applied at the factory, so there are a couple patterns that they tend to follow. Mine is unique, but inspired by the historical paints, so it should fit right in with more historical planes. I haven't quite mastered the weathering effects I've seen on some of the other skins (brush marks, exhaust and oil stains, etc), so we'll just say my plane is factory-fresh because I never seem to live long enough to really weather it much anyway. It still has the red or blue markings from earlier. The nose is inspired by Cpl Stephen Bigelow's SPAD 7, and the scallops on the wing are to make it easier to identify which pilot is flying when editing videos. The serial number on the tail and the dolphin fish on the side are of personal significance (that's why it's called a personal skin).

Edited February 16 by gascan
Add link

[Oliver88 246]

10 hours ago, gascan said:

Here's a link for my current set, SE5a, Sopwith Camel, both Bristols, and now the SPAD.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/16MonF32wi9mwyLLKkJ1LldF8Xs_NH_s0/view?usp=sharing

 

I just finished making a custom non-historical camo scheme for the SPAD and applied the red and blue markings I had earlier to differentiate between Kotori and I. Apparently most camo schemes for the SPAD are applied at the factory, so there are a couple patterns that they tend to follow. Mine is unique, but inspired by the historical paints, so it should fit right in with more historical planes. I haven't quite mastered the weathering effects I've seen on some of the other skins (brush marks, exhaust and oil stains, etc), so we'll just say my plane is factory-fresh because I never seem to live long enough to really weather it much anyway. It still has the red or blue markings from earlier. The nose is inspired by Cpl Stephen Bigelow's SPAD 7, and the scallops on the wing are to make it easier to identify which pilot is flying when editing videos. The serial number on the tail and the dolphin fish on the side are of personal significance (that's why it's called a personal skin).

 

Just downloaded them but discovered that the link provided here was for some skins for Friday Night Flights and not your personal skins. Looks like the link you posted in the bundle thread are though.

[gascan 147]

9 hours ago, Oliver88 said:

 

Just downloaded them but discovered that the link provided here was for some skins for Friday Night Flights and not your personal skins. Looks like the link you posted in the bundle thread are though.

Fixed. Thanks for catching that!

[Tomi_099 1301]

Very nice ... keep it up! 

[Klipper 0]

Great job! I will be installing some of these, when I learn more about FC.

Edited February 19 by ClipperKlipper

[gascan 147]

I used my skins to make some skins for use on Friday Night Flights by Combat Box. I only have skins for Entente planes, since that's all I made. The Camel, SE5 and Bristol are all available in Red, Blue, Black, and Gold, while the SPAD is available in Blue or Red. I haven't made anything for Central yet, nor for the Dolphin. Soon. 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/16n44HY_zagSi9id6JDQLnKJmlp3X8NT3/view?usp=sharing