HB's skins

[Frinik22]

Now these are the kind of skins all of us ? can agree upon!

[JV44HeinzBar]

S!,

It took me longer than I thought to do Noel's request for Red II01 Panther A. I did what I could, but there are still parts on the template that elude me. I also dirty the tank up unlike the museum piece seen the the Youtube video. For those that haven't seen the video, the link is posted near the bottom on the 1st page. Note: there is a small cursive L which I believe stands for SS Panzer Lehr division which is located on the left upper glacis in the Youtube video. Other than that, I don't have any more historical info for this tank.

 

Edit: Some information about this tank: "Panther Ausf. A Befehlspanzer – Munster Panzer Museum (Germany) – running condition
This tank was bought by Sweden in 1948 for trial purposes (Petter Baeckström). It was given back to the Panzerlehrbrigade at Munster
in 1960. Some years later it was handed over to the Panzertruppenschule. In the 80s the commander of the Panzertruppenschule
initiated a total restoration. Also the original HL 230 was overhauled by MTU at Friedrichshafen. After some problems with the HL 230
engine and the lack of spareparts, the engine was replaced by a modern MTU Diesel. So the sound of this tank, while being moved, is
not original. However it is in running condition (Rudi Ehninger, Brigadier General (rtd) German Panzertruppe)."

 

As always, critiques are welcomed. If there are no major complaints, then I'll upload this skin to HSD tomorrow. Also, I'll be posting a no number version of this skin.

 

HB

 

PS. I'll start on Black 801 this weekend when I get the chance.

 

 

 

Edited January 29, 2022 by JV44HeinzBar
spaced the pics; history

[JV44HeinzBar]

S!,

I finished the 2nd panther that Noel requested. This one is Black 801 which is based on a G model panther. See previous posts about it's history (very limited). I'm not quite sure that I like it due to the lack of weathering. The paint looks too new. Maybe I need to turn the opacity down a bit on the paint? Your thoughts? I also forgot to do the paint the wheels different colors, but now I'm thinking of it, I don't think you can tell from the YT video if the wheels are painted?

 

Anyhow, please leave your critiques. Is this skin good enough to post on HSD?

 

HB

 

EDIT: VERSION 2 OF BLACK 801

 

 

 

 

Edited January 30, 2022 by JV44HeinzBar
Updated skins-decreased opacity to 80%

[Rickrick123]

I feel faint just looking at them.!!!!!!!!

[MajorMagee]

Yes, 801's wheels had camo patterns on them as well.

 

What you notice most different in the videos is the dirt and tarnish on the track steel.

Edited January 30, 2022 by MajorMagee

[moustache]

1 hour ago, MajorMagee said:

What you notice most different in the videos is the dirt and tarnish on the track steel.

it seems to me that @DetCord12B or @Tomi_099 had succeeded in making dirtier and more realistic tracks... so it must be possible...

 

9 hours ago, JV44HeinzBar said:

The paint looks too new. Maybe I need to turn the opacity down a bit on the paint? Your thoughts?

there are these skins there which are very nice for the dirty side

 

from @Jaws2002

 

from @SR603-Flowbee

[JV44HeinzBar]

S!,

Those cats look fantastic! I'm going to play around with both Red II 01 & Black 801 today. My other tanks don't seem to be as "bright" in color. Even Red II 01 looks more faded that Black 801.  Knowing me, I probably forgot to click on one of the dirt layers I made.

 

HB

 

EDIT: CHANGED THE OPACITY OF BLACK 801 TO 80%. I need to reach out to the more experienced skinners to understand how to apply the dull, weathered look.

Edited January 30, 2022 by JV44HeinzBar

[MajorMagee]

The tracks are kept in the graphic vehicle textures folders, rather than the skins directory.

 

They are named using the vehicle type with the suffix lenta, and/or track.

Edited January 31, 2022 by MajorMagee

[JV44HeinzBar]

6 hours ago, MajorMagee said:

The tracks are kept in the graphic vehicle textures folders, rather than the skins directory.

 

They are named using the vehicle type with the suffix lenta, and/or track.

 

S!,

Don't you have to have a special program to access things like tracks?

 

Taking a break from Panthers for a bit. I fooled around with the Tiger this evening. I spent most of my time creating Zimmerit pieces for the Tiger. I didn't fool around with the wheels, gun, etc. I'm not done by a far margin, though. There are so many little objects on the Tiger crammed into a single template. I thought the Panther would be difficult, but the Tiger is no cake walk.

 

Just a sneak peek of PzVIH1_SpringenderTeufel_2nd_Pzr_Reg_1st_Pzr_Div_8th_Com entering a town at dusk. It's completely fictional, but it looks menacing Did a quick stripe job on the 2nd version. Siberian Tiger now

 

HB

 

 

 

Edited January 31, 2022 by JV44HeinzBar
Added pics.

[MajorMagee]

The tracks are not included in the official skin template files.

 

The stock ones can be found lurking in the various GTP files that requires unGTP to unpack.

 

As it turns out, the vehicle folders work for replacing them in a mod, but the stock GTP locations are different.

 

I think I'll spend some time looking into developing this as a comprehensive Mod project to match various terrain conditions.

[JV44HeinzBar]

9 hours ago, MajorMagee said:

I think I'll spend some time looking into developing this as a comprehensive Mod project to match various terrain conditions.

 

S!,

Is there a way to access stock treads? I know a lot of folks that play online, of which many servers don't allow mods. I would hate putting in the work on the treads only to have them not used for online play.

 

HB

[JV44HeinzBar]

S!,

@black_swan I did a quick skin you requested. Turned down the opacity, added 1st SS Pzr Div LSSAD, black 233 & a swan insignia. Let me know if you like it. I can't add pics to PMs, so I'm adding it here.

 

HB

 

Edited February 5, 2022 by JV44HeinzBar

[Yankee_One]

What i can say, i like your skins, you made a big progress since your first skins.

 

I for myself like it more dirty and weathered but this is only my "gusto".

 

Thank you for taking your spare time to make me (us?) happy?

[JV44HeinzBar]

10 hours ago, Yankee_One said:

I for myself like it more dirty and weathered but this is only my "gusto".

 

Thank you for taking your spare time to make me (us?) happy?

 

S!,

I agree whole heartedly. I haven't quite figured out how to make the tanks look naturally grungy yet. I'll post another pic here soon. I've been trying to develop a nice, random dirt layer with multiple colors, shape, and size. So far, even though I try to make it random, it still looks "artificial".

 

HB

[JV44HeinzBar]

S!,

Updated Black Swan 233. Added a lot of dirt & grime. Doctored the wheels some. The tires I kinda forgot about...doh!

 

 

 

Edited February 5, 2022 by JV44HeinzBar

[Blackswan]

14 hours ago, JV44HeinzBar said:

S!,

@black_swan I did a quick skin you requested. Turned down the opacity, added 1st SS Pzr Div LSSAD, black 233 & a swan insignia. Let me know if you like it. I can't add pics to PMs, so I'm adding it here.

 

HB

 

 

Perfect! The second pic seems brighter and doesn't have the number 322 on the turret side. I like that one the best. (Kind of a factory fresh feel to it. Can you add the number to that one? Thanks.  

[JV44HeinzBar]

S! Black Swan,

Factory fresh with number for you. I'll send you a link soon.

 

HB

Edited February 5, 2022 by JV44HeinzBar

[352ndOscar]

1 hour ago, JV44HeinzBar said:

S!,

Updated Black Swan 233. Added a lot of dirt & grime. Doctored the wheels some. The tires I kinda forgot about...doh!

 

 

 

HSD please with no number.  That’s gonna look great in the snowy Ardennes……

[JV44HeinzBar]

1 hour ago, 352ndOscar said:

HSD please with no number.  That’s gonna look great in the snowy Ardennes……

 

S!,

Loaded up to HSD. I put both factory fresh and dirty no number version on HSD. Hopefully, it will be available sometime tomorrow...unless I screwed up the upload process

 

HB

 

PS, Now that you mention it, I wonder how this tank would look with a coat of white wash? Hmm. Another thing, I just noticed that I'm the only one that's been putting up any panther skins on HSD, lately. I know nearly all of my skins are based on later versions of the panther, but I would have thought by now more people would be posting skins.

Edited February 5, 2022 by JV44HeinzBar

[352ndOscar]

About PS: Agreed, but many skins here came before HSD, so…….  Would hope that others make use of that tool…..

[JV44HeinzBar]

2 hours ago, 352ndOscar said:

About PS: Agreed, but many skins here came before HSD, so…….  Would hope that others make use of that tool…..

S!,

If I had permission, I'd do my best to upload those skins. Some are so good it's a shame that they're not on HSD.

 

HB

[Yankee_One]

14 hours ago, JV44HeinzBar said:

 

S!,

I agree whole heartedly. I haven't quite figured out how to make the tanks look naturally grungy yet. I'll post another pic here soon. I've been trying to develop a nice, random dirt layer with multiple colors, shape, and size. So far, even though I try to make it random, it still looks "artificial".

 

HB

 

 

 

S!

Btw, your Zimmerit looks fantastic, it makes a much more difference!

[NoelGallagher]

On 2/6/2022 at 5:27 AM, JV44HeinzBar said:

S!,

Updated Black Swan 233. Added a lot of dirt & grime. Doctored the wheels some. The tires I kinda forgot about...doh!

 

 

 

it's getting better all the time~~~ 

[ShampooX]

Hey HB - how can one get Black Swan?

[JV44HeinzBar]

5 hours ago, Jawbreaker1-6 said:

Hey HB - how can one get Black Swan?

S! Jaw

I put both of them up on Haluter's Skin Downloader. They made the cut so you should be able to download them from there.

 

HB

[MajorMagee]

On 1/31/2022 at 6:30 AM, MajorMagee said:

The tracks are not included in the official skin template files.

 

The stock ones can be found lurking in the various GTP files that requires unGTP to unpack.

 

As it turns out, the vehicle folders work for replacing them in a mod, but the stock GTP locations are different.

 

I think I'll spend some time looking into developing this as a comprehensive Mod project to match various terrain conditions.

 

I've started to investigate how these work on the Panther and Tiger, and look more closely at the visual effect that the stock ones are producing. I've come to the conclusion that the underlying issue with the stock ones looking out of place in most conditions is that they have the alpha layer set to produce a very reflective finish on a large proportion of the track surface. This ends up looking like fairly new tracks that have just been running on hard surfaces to polish them.

 

Most of the other efforts to modify the look of the tracks that have been published in the past have gone for making them look dark / rusty / muddy. I didn't find any of those to look particularly realistic either. The snow dappled ones do seem to hit the mark pretty well.

 

So, first I tried simply rebalancing the alpha layer to tone down the brightness with some success, but it still ends up looking like tracks that have been mostly running on concrete.

 

What I ended up doing was partially desaturating some of the rusty tarnish, highlighting the bare steel rubbed areas slightly, and setting the alpha layer to all white to take away the polished look. This produces the look of metallic tracks that have been in use for a while in dirt and gravel that have picked up a film of dust that inhibits any sharp reflections off the bare metal. 

 

I've looked at enough vintage photos to know that there was a broad spectrum of how tracks actually looked in service. The one big condition we can't really simulate through texture changes is being caked with dirt and mud. 

 

At the end of the day it's all a matter of taste as to what one might think looks most realistic in a particular setting.

[JV44HeinzBar]

S! Major,

Can you post some pics of the tracks you've modded? Could you also explain the steps you took to get to the tracks? Once modded, will end users be able to use these skins in multiplayer or will "Mods" have to be enabled? 

 

I've stepped back a little in my skinning because of work. This is the beginning of my busy time and will be until summer. However, when I have some time to kill, I'm exploring the Pz IV G. I've found a lot of different zimmerit styles and I'm trying to create those, but it's not easy for me. See this link for zimmerit types: https://panzerworld.com/zimmerit   See the PzIVg zimmerit. It's unique compared to other zimmerit. However, I haven't seen any profiles or photos that use this type of zimmerit.  Can anyone provide photo evidence of this type of zimmerit?

 

I've also found that the PzIV & Tiger template to be more complicated than I expected. The only saving grace, at least for the Tiger, is that it's 1 template vs 2 templates for the Panther, PzIV, & PzIII.  I'm willing to supply others with my PSD Panther template, which includes the zimmerit I created. Perhaps, we, as a community, can collaborate to create a skinning resource for tanks, e.g. default skin with zimmerit, dirt layer, rust layer, etc. ?  When one looks at the number of tank skins vs airplane skins in HSD, there is a huge gap in the number of custom skins.

 

HB

 

 

 

Edited February 12, 2022 by JV44HeinzBar

[ShampooX]

Hi HB, I got the Skin Downloader but when I transfer the DD files to my PZV-D Skin File it does not show up in the Custom Skin menu in-game.  Could this be because it's seen by the system as a "mod" and I need mods turned on?  In that case I don't use mods.    I really love 432 from page 1.  Could you just post that one here in the thread.  For some reason that way my skins can be loaded into the game.  The non-numbered version and the number versions.  Many thanks bro!!

[JV44HeinzBar]

S! Jaw,

HSD isn't a mod, so that shouldn't be the reason. Double check the HSD install.

 

Open HSD, goto options and type or paste the pathway to your skins folder. EX. X:\Steam\steamapps\common\IL-2 Sturmovik Battle of Stalingrad\data\graphics\Skins.  HSD will find the appropriate folder for each skin and transfer the skins you've selected. BTW, I linked my Steam account to my store bought version of IL2. Your directory path may be different.

 

While you're in the options tab, be sure to have "Uncensored Restricted Symbols" checked. Some of the skins I've made use SS insignia, which are restricted symbols.

 

In the meanwhile, here's a link to White 432: https://www.mediafire.com/folder/073lo6j8yvorb/Historic_Tank_Skins

[ShampooX]

Dude you rock!!

[MajorMagee]

I did a quick check and you only see the original tracks if you have Mods switched off.

 

Here are a few quick examples of the original shine, limiting the shine to only showing along sharp edges (my preference), and having no shine at all.

 

 

 

 

Edited February 12, 2022 by MajorMagee

[MajorMagee]

The look has continued to evolve during the course of the day (Less Rust, More Dust). I've tried to addresses all of the playable models with both Summer and Winter versions, each in a JSGME friendly format for easy switching to match the season you want to play in. The Winter textures in particular are a significant improvement to the look of vehicles sitting in snow versus the stock ones.

 

Stock Track

 

Summer Track

 

Winter Track (Embedded Snow)

 

Fun fact, when the Germans withdrew from Kharkov in the summer of 1943 they left 5 train loads of new tank tracks, originally intended for Zitadelle, behind.

[MajorMagee]

Here's today's look at progress.

 

Track Mod

 

Stock

 

Track Mod

 

Stock

 

Track Mod

 

Stock

 

Track Mod

 

Stock

Edited February 14, 2022 by MajorMagee

[MajorMagee]

Now for the other side

 

Track Mod

 

Stock

 

Track Mod

 

Stock

 

Track Mod

 

Stock

 

Track Mod

 

Stock

[MajorMagee]

And now the winter versions.

 

 

 

 

 

and the rest

 

 

 

 

Edited February 16, 2022 by MajorMagee

[ralk59]

Hello everyone

MajorMagee, your work is exemplary and I thank you for it. However, I allow myself a small remark on your action. Indeed your representation of the
undercarriages for the different armored vehicles according to the season is amazing, however for the winter season I find the undercarriages a little
too shiny with the exception of that of the PzIV (seeming more real to me), the snow not having to ignore the existing wear and rust.
In any case thank you for these reflections, myself being unable to do this work.

 

 

[MajorMagee]

Thanks for the feedback. There certainly was a variety of winter conditions that produced different effects on the tracks (ice, snow, hard packed roads, mud).

 

When I started reviewing winter photos I was surprised to see how often the tracks were simply packed with snow with only the traction bars of the grousers showing any metal at all.

 

Since the game seems to always represent winter as a layer of fresh snow I went with having the snow stick to the face of the grousers. In almost all cases this ended up looking more natural than using the stock tracks.

 

The skeleton style tracks of the Pz III and IV were the least likely to pick up and carry a lot of snow over the top as the tank moved, so I added less of this effect for those.

 

Again, at the end of the day, it's all a matter of taste as to what one might think looks most realistic in a particular setting.

Edited February 16, 2022 by MajorMagee

[JV44HeinzBar]

S!,

I don't have a lot of information on this Panther. The skin I created is based on a G model Panther that incorporated infared technology.

 

Can anyone provided additional information on this tank? 

 

I plan on creating a "no number" tank as the the German cross will  interfere with user tank call signs. Please let me know if you see anything wrong with this skin.

 

BTW, I did this while setting in 3 virtual meetings today I figured I'd let them talk while I painted a panther, lol.

 

If I don't read about any objections, I'll post it on HSD in a couple of days.

 

HB

 

 

 

Edited February 24, 2022 by JV44HeinzBar
updated pic

[ShampooX]

LOL usually when I am p[aying on Finish, I am working too.  My gaming computer is next to my work computer and I just can't resist - sshhhh don't tell anyone.  As far as "more information" - I don't think that model is a G.   The G had the additional armor "chin" at the base of the mantlet, to prevent downward ricochets, into the driver/funker seat and nearby ammo racks.  It looks more like an A - but I guess could be a G without the mantlet if it also didn't have automatic turret traverse.  The skin looks awesome!!  One could say probably a fore runner of the three color Hinterhalt Tranung ("ambush camouflage)" we started to see in late 44, early 45.

 

Now that I got the skin downloader to work right, I'm looking forward to adding this to my library!!  Many thanks for all your hard work.

[MajorMagee]

The early production run G models had the old mantlet without the chin.