HB's skins

[JV44HeinzBar]

S!,

I submitted the 2 latest PzIV tanks to HSD. These are unmarked as requested. They should be available for download within a day or so.

 

HB

[JV44HeinzBar]

S!,

Work has really gotten in the way of skinning, lately. Anyhow, I thought I'd post another skin that I plan on uploading to HSD. I will also include a no number version. This PzIVg is based on 633 2nd SS Pzr Reg Das Reich Div St Lo France 7/44. I don't know what color the numbers are suppose to be, but the numbers where not white, nor were they completely black, so I made them red   .

 

"The Allied Normandy landings took place on 6 June 1944. On 7 June Das Reich was ordered to move to Normandy to reinforce the German units contesting the Allied invasion. An unopposed movement of men and equipment by railroad would have taken three or four days over approximately 700 kilometres (430 mi)." Wiki snippet.

 

These PzIVs are a real pain compared to the tiger & panther.....so many little parts. I've just started ignoring the tiny parts, for the most part. I simply don't have the time to find and do it properly.

 

HB

 

 

Edited June 15, 2022 by JV44HeinzBar

[JV44HeinzBar]

S!,

Just another quick PzIVg. I added a simple scheme of vertical stripes. This PzIV is black 314 from the 21st Panzer Division. The 21st fought in Normandy shortly after D-Day. The division fought to exhaustion, and by 45, had used up its entire inventory of AFVs.

 

"The last major action the 21st Panzer took part in on the Western Front was the stubborn resistance it gave the British Guards Armoured Division during Operation Bluecoat, on 1 August 1944. The surviving forces of the 21st Panzer were then almost entirely lost in the Falaise Pocket. The remnants of the unit merged with the 16th Luftwaffe Field Division. Of the 223 tanks of the 21st and other Divisions captured in the area by British forces between 8–31 August, about three quarters were abandoned/destroyed by their crews." Tank Wiki

 

HB

 

Edited June 17, 2022 by JV44HeinzBar

[Yankee_One]

Hi HB,

 

please stop it, this is too much for me?

 

As always, fantastic jpb mate.

 

Thank you for time making me happy??

 

 

[JV44HeinzBar]

10 hours ago, Yankee_One said:

Hi HB,

 

please stop it, this is too much for me?

 

As always, fantastic jpb mate.

 

Thank you for time making me happy??

 

 

S!,

I appreciate the thanks.

 

I deal with tons of data, which includes importing, sorting, collating, and analysis. Skinning tanks is like mental therapy for me that I enjoy. Sure, skinning tanks can be a bit frustrating, but sure beats sifting through 100k+ record sets to answer a question posed by my boss  

 

I'd like to populate HSD with more PzIVs for the folks here, and others. As mentioned by Moustache earlier, there's just not enough PzIVs skinned, even though it was the workhorse of Wehrmacht. I'm going to do my best to change that problem. If anyone has some interesting PzIVs pics that they would like to see skinned, I'll be willing to try and skin it for TC.

 

HB

[SMARTAZZ]

You are doing fantastic with the skins, they look great

[JV44HeinzBar]

1 hour ago, SMARTAZZ said:

You are doing fantastic with the skins, they look great

 

Thanks for the compliment. I used the same PzIV to develop a new zimmerit layer. My old one was rather crude. I'm not finished with the latest zimmerit layer, but it's coming along.  I can't decide if I need to increase the opacity to make the zimmerit stand out more or just leave it as is for now. As it stands, this is @50 opacity. I'm thinking I'll increase it to 75% and post it here. Anyhow, here's a preview:

 

 

HB

Edited June 17, 2022 by JV44HeinzBar

[JV44HeinzBar]

S!,

This is my last PzIV for the weekend. I tried a different technique instead of hand painting. I think it turned out nice and was much quicker. Basically taking any pattern and stitching the pattern together with a little blending/smudging and apply it over top of everything I did find a pzIV with a similar pattern, but the picture is very small, so I had to use some artistic license. Hope y'all like this one.

 

HB

 

Edited June 19, 2022 by JV44HeinzBar

[Yankee_One]

The last one is an eye catcher!

 

Outstansing

 

[Maillon21]

One of the best results that I ever seen on a PzIV! ?

[JV44HeinzBar]

Ok, I have a problem. I can't seem to escape testing different ideas when it comes to skinning these tanks Using the same technique I used on the previous PzIV, I created diagonal line pattern and wrapped the PzIV in it. I got the idea from seeing some pics of winter panthers that were white-washed with this type of pattern.  I didn't make any adjustment or corrections, as I didn't want to spend a whole lot of time tweaking such a complex, 2d pattern over a 3d model.

 

I'm looking for input from you tankers. Do you think the pattern bands are too narrow?  Is this something tankers would be interested in using? Color choice? Please chime in with your comments. The more feedback I receive will allow me to create skins that the community is interested in using.

 

HB

 

 

Edited June 20, 2022 by JV44HeinzBar

[Yankee_One]

Hi HB,

 

 

first of all a big thank you. It seems, you are the only one here, making tank skins.

 

There are people, who love these kind of skins, so please go on.

 

From my side, i never liked these camouflage pattern (on real tanks)

 

Pattern bands are too narrow for me.

 

(I am a big fan of the dotted ambush camo on late war tanks)

S!

[MajorMagee]

Take a look at what I did with this.

Overall Patterning Example

 

This was done using the same technique you're experimenting with.

 

There is an old, old plug-in for Photoshop by Martjin W. van der Lee that creates these random Camouflage patterns with a lot of control over the number, size and ratios of the selected colors. I have mine set up with the various RAL pigment shades, so I can quickly do different WW2 time periods. To do an ambush scheme you just need to hand paint the dots over the underlying large scale pattern.

 

Free Camouflage Plug-In

[JV44HeinzBar]

1 hour ago, MajorMagee said:

Take a look at what I did with this.

Overall Patterning Example

 

This was done using the same technique you're experimenting with.

 

There is an old, old plug-in for Photoshop by Martjin W. van der Lee that creates these random Camouflage patterns with a lot of control over the number, size and ratios of the selected colors. I have mine set up with the various RAL pigment shades, so I can quickly do different WW2 time periods. To do an ambush scheme you just need to hand paint the dots over the underlying large scale pattern.

 

Free Camouflage Plug-In

 

S! Major & Yankee,

Thank you so much for this link, Major. I'll be exploring how to use this plug-in properly over the coming weeks. Also, thank you, Yankee, for the critique concerning the width of the bands. They looked too small to me on the finished product. However, it took me about an hour to align the bands by stitching and smudging. I was too lazy to start try again to make broader bands

 

Below, I posted some of the swatches I've been using, the 2nd & 3rd swatches are the ones I use the most. I wish I could find some better swatches that represent the colors more accurately.  If anyone can provide better sources for colors, I'd appreciate it.

 

HB

 

[MajorMagee]

The Photoshop "Camouflage" Plug-In's cfs files are in text readable format.

 

The color number it stores is the decimal equivalent to the color hexidecimal value in BGR format
For example RGB 168, 153, 106 is Hex a8996a reversed to BGR is Hex 6a99a8 which is 6986152 in decimal 

 

The Plug-In lets you create custom pallets by clicking on each of the 8 color samples which opens the Photoshop pallet tool to edit that slot. 
Once you have them all modified you can use the Save function to give it a custom name. 
The Open function lets you reload it for later reuse. 

 

Apparent Color Values for the WW2 RAL Pigments varied considerably based on Field Application Techniques (dilution/concentration, solvent type, application method, underlying surface finish, lighting conditions, dust, mud, etc.)

Keep this in mind when you're using online color sample references that represent the ideal pigment values.

 

Here are some examples to show the variations from textbook shades I've used.

I've included the Hue, Saturation, and Brightness (HSB) values so you can get a feel for the shifts that can happen within a pigment family.

 

WW2 German Lt Dunkelgelb
    7027 Sandgrau RGB 207, 195, 136 - HSB 50, 34, 81 - cfs# 8963023
    6003 Olivgrun RGB 147, 168, 84 - HSB 75, 50, 66 - cfs# 5548179
    8000 Gelbbraun RGB 168, 132, 84 - HSB 34, 50, 66 - cfs# 5538984

 

WW2 German Muted Dunkelgelb
    7028 Dunkelgelb RGB 184, 164, 106 - HSB 45, 42, 72 - cfs# 6988984
    6003 Olivgrun RGB 127, 143, 83 - HSB 76, 42, 56 - cfs# 5476223
    8000 Gelbbraun RGB 143, 117, 83 - HSB 34, 42, 56 - cfs# 5469583

 

WW2 German Med Dunkelgelb
    7028 Dunkelgelb RGB 184, 164, 106 - HSB 45, 42, 72 - cfs# 6988984
    6003 Olivgrun RGB 111, 125, 41 - HSB 70, 67, 49 - cfs# 2719087
    8000 Rotbraun RGB 107, 80, 39 - HSB 36, 64, 42 - cfs# 2576491

 

WW2 German Dunkelgelb
    7008 Graugrun RGB 162, 150, 71 - HSB 52, 56, 64 - cfs# 4691618
    6003 Olivgrun RGB 74, 97, 12 - HSB 76, 88, 38 - cfs# 811338
    8017 Rotbraun RGB 75, 45, 6 - HSB 34, 92, 29 - cfs# 404811

 

WW2 German Dk Dunkelgelb
    7028 Dunkelgelb RGB 145, 130, 84 - HSB 45, 42, 57 - cfs# 5538449
    6003 Olivgrun RGB 77, 87, 29 - HSB 70, 67, 34 - cfs# 1922893
    8017 Rotbraun RGB 107, 80, 39 - HSB 36, 64, 42 - cfs# 2576491

 

WW2 German Extr Dk Dunkelgelb
    7028 Dunkelgelb RGB 145, 130, 84 - HSB 45, 42, 57 - cfs# 5538449
    6003 Olivgrun RGB 53, 63, 5 - HSB 70, 92, 25 - cfs# 343861
    8017 Rotbraun RGB 74, 44, 6 - HSB 34, 92, 29 - cfs# 404554

 

1944 German Dunkelgelb 
    7028 Dunkelgelb RGB 168, 153, 106 - HSB 45, 37, 66 - cfs# 6986152
    6003 Olivgrun RGB 74, 97, 12 - HSB 76, 88, 38 - cfs# 811338
    8017 Rotbraun RGB 75, 45, 6 - HSB 34, 92, 29 - cfs# 404811

 

1944 German Dunkelgelb2
    7028 Dunkelgelb RGB 168, 153, 106 - HSB 45, 37, 66 - cfs# 6986152
    6003 Olivgrun RGB 104, 107, 65 - HSB 64, 39, 42 - cfs# 4287336
    8017 Rotbraun RGB 84, 59, 29 - HSB 33, 65, 33 - cfs# 1915732

 

Alt 3 color
    8000 Gelbbraun RGB 173, 143, 82 - HSB 40, 53, 68 - cfs# 5410733
    6003 Olivgrun RGB 73, 82, 53 - HSB 79, 35, 32 - cfs# 3494473
    8017 Rotbraun RGB 92, 71, 52 - HSB 29, 43, 36 - cfs# 3426140

 

Late War Suply
    7021 Panzergrau RGB 71, 69, 79 - HSB 252, 13, 31 - cfs# 5195079
    6003 Olivgrun v74, 97, 12 - HSB 76, 88, 38 - cfs# 811338
    8012 Rot RGB 125, 59, 51 - HSB 6, 59, 51 - cfs# 3357565

 

Edited June 20, 2022 by MajorMagee

[MajorMagee]

One of the other things we have to consider is that we're working in a simulated environment. The actual paints were formulated and applied in ways that they best matched the local situation to provide the best camouflage effect. Maintaining high fidelity to the original schemes may not be optimal in our sim world. For example, with the Elephant skin I did, I started with a few screenshots of the area. I used those to sample the predominant colors in the game, and then built the experimental camouflage scheme from variations of the original RAL colors to match that look as best I could. 

[JV44HeinzBar]

S!,

I took a small break from skinning due to work. I had some free time today, so I gave a panther a shot. I took artistic license and added some "ambush" spots to this skin. I may keep the spots...I haven't decided. Anyhow, this skin is based on the 9th SS Pzr Div while fighting near Ardennes. There are 2 versions of this tank, not including the future no number variant, which include a summer & winter scheme. For the winter, I simply took the existing skin and randomly white washed it. I actually like the way the white wash looks against the autumn background

 

Any suggestions on how to improve these skins is appreciated.

 

HB

 

 

Edited July 3, 2022 by JV44HeinzBar

[JV44HeinzBar]

S!,

I updated the previous panther skins. I created 2 different white wash versions. I used a "splatter" brush on the 1st white wash, while I used a coarse dry brush on the 2nd. Please let me know which version you like more. If equal, I'll post them to HSD. I also experimented with the late "circle" type of camo found on PzIVs & Stug IIIg.

 

HB

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 5, 2022 by JV44HeinzBar
added wrong pics

[352ndOscar]

I can use all of these…..

[JV44HeinzBar]

S!,

This is usually out of my wheelhouse, but I had a request to do a couple Shermans.  These are my first allied tanks, I think. Not much to look at, but they serve a purpose.

 

HB

[352ndOscar]

I fear you have opened a Pandora’s box with Normandy on the horizon.  There will be a larger need very soon so experience could be a good thing.

[JV44HeinzBar]

10 hours ago, 352ndOscar said:

I fear you have opened a Pandora’s box with Normandy on the horizon.  There will be a larger need very soon so experience could be a good thing.

S!,

Hopefully, I can get my hands on a Stug IIIg template first   I do need the practice on all tanks, but I believe you're right. When Normandy is released, I imagine people will want more historic skins for the Sherman.

 

The Sherman is much easier than any of the German tanks I've skinned. If there are some interesting pics of Shermans, post them here and I'll give them a shot.

Edited July 6, 2022 by JV44HeinzBar

[Yankee_One]

Great work HB,

 

very nice skins

 

"Any suggestions on how to improve these skins is appreciated"

 

YES!!! GIVE ME PLEASE SOME LATE WAR TANKS??

 

Hopefully we will get in the future TC2

[ShampooX]

Late war tanks?  Yes....but I'd be happy with just a couple more of these darker Panzer skins in the Official Folder.  Seemingly an impossible ask.

[JV44HeinzBar]

S!,

@Wulfkai, I took a shot at doing one of the panthers you suggested in your previous thread. I'll work towards making the rest when I have more time.

 

I went back and updated an old skin from my earlier attempts at learning PS. For the life of me, I can't seem to get rid of a small portion of paint surrounding the MG port. I must be overlooking something. I made 2 versions of this M.A.N. panther. One tank uses RLM 80 Brown, while the other uses RAL 8002 Brown. I like the color on both of them, so I decided to include both for the community's review. If I don't read any complaints about any of these panthers, I'll upload them to HSD this evening. I'll also make No Number versions of these skins.

 

HB

 

 

 

Edited July 8, 2022 by JV44HeinzBar

[Monty_Thrud]

My Dad bought me a Panther VD all metal, working tracks, turret, quite large quality model as a youngster, would still have it but my Nephew took a shine to it, it was in a dark grey, just wondered if the Germans used this colour? as the movies seem to also, not seen any skins done like this for any of the German Tanks apart from non player early vehicles...

 

[MajorMagee]

Yes, that was the official tank production color into 1943. It reappeared, to a limited extent, again in 1945.

 

 

The video is quite long, so I snipped in at the point where he defines what the color was based on a sample item he described earlier. This is the information one would use to create textures for our simulation. The video before this goes into the paint's history. The video after this has his model paint test results.

Edited July 15, 2022 by MajorMagee

[JV44HeinzBar]

S!,

I don't believe I've ever seen a PzVd in dark grey. However, I know many vehicles used Anthrazitgrau (RAL 7016) & Schwartzgrau (RAL 7021). These colors could be found on PzIII, IV, & VI, as well as, SPGs such as the Stug III. Tiger tank in dark grey with sand stripes:

 

I've been thinking of painting some tanks these colors and submitting them to HSD. I attached a couple of pics of tigers I was working on several months ago. I got side tracked before I finished them.

 

HB

 

Anthrazitgrau (RAL 7016)

 

Schwartzgrau (RAL 7021

 

 

Edited July 16, 2022 by JV44HeinzBar

[JV44HeinzBar]

S!,

Since I'm lazy, I thought I'd drape a camouflage over this Ferdi.  I'm thinking of taking this camouflage and replacing the colors for future tanks. Tell me what you think.

 

HB

 

Edited July 19, 2022 by JV44HeinzBar

[MajorMagee]

It works great for a Fall pattern.

[Misty06]

That Ferdi is SWEET Heinz !!!! 

SO few camos fo the Ferdi.

[JV44HeinzBar]

3 hours ago, Misty06 said:

That Ferdi is SWEET Heinz !!!! 

SO few camos fo the Ferdi.

Thanks Misty.

 

It's extremely tough finding good photos of the Ferdi/Elephant with distinctive camo. If you, or anyone else, can find and post some Ferdi pics with camo, I'll try to skin it.

 

HB

[JV44HeinzBar]

S!,

I went back and revisited a couple of tigers that I never finished. There are 2 "Tiki" skins. One uses a light gray RLM, while the other uses a darker RAL color. Which one do y'all prefer? Also, I'm posting another Totenkopf tank with numbers & without.

 

HB

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 22, 2022 by JV44HeinzBar
added book cover for Tiki tank

[PivoYvo]

 

These are some of my favorite Ferdinand / Elefant schemes. maybe there´s some inspiration for You.

Have a nice Weekend everyone.

 

Edited July 22, 2022 by PivoYvo

[JV44HeinzBar]

S!,

Just a quick skin. This skin is based on PzVIH1 SpringenderTeufel 2nd Panzer Regiment 1st Panzer Division 8th Company. I'll put this up on HSD in the coming days.

 

HB

 

Edited July 26, 2022 by JV44HeinzBar

[JV44HeinzBar]

S!,

I just did a quick count of the skins I've uploaded to HSD. The total count now is at 76 skins   I'm really looking forward to skinning the Stug. I just hope they make it easier to skin than the PzIV & Sk184.

HB

[ShampooX]

On 7/18/2022 at 7:14 PM, JV44HeinzBar said:

S!,

Since I'm lazy, I thought I'd drape a camouflage over this Ferdi.  I'm thinking of taking this camouflage and replacing the colors for future tanks. Tell me what you think.

 

HB

 

Reminds me of British Desert Cammo - SAS Ferdi!!

On 6/18/2022 at 6:09 PM, JV44HeinzBar said:

S!,

This is my last PzIV for the weekend. I tried a different technique instead of hand painting. I think it turned out nice and was much quicker. Basically taking any pattern and stitching the pattern together with a little blending/smudging and apply it over top of everything I did find a pzIV with a similar pattern, but the picture is very small, so I had to use some artistic license. Hope y'all like this one.

 

HB

 

Don't see this one on HSD yet....did it make the cut?

[JV44HeinzBar]

S! Shampoo,

That PzIVg is on HSD. You may have to click "find skin update" on the bottom left.

 

HB

Edited July 27, 2022 by JV44HeinzBar

[ShampooX]

13 hours ago, JV44HeinzBar said:

S! Shampoo,

That PzIVg is on HSD. You may have to click "find skin update" on the bottom left.

 

HB

Thanks dude, I realized I had that "sensitive Content" green check applied so I took it off and boom, there they all were.  Do users of HSD normally just hit "download all" for all skins and updates?  If that's the case there may be a fair amount of pilots who will see your work - and the good news there is darker panzers.

 

Also regarding the PzIV-G that you were working on in Dunglgrau and braun:  If you put a white balkenkreuse on the turret or the side, with small yellow vehicle ID numbers beneath it (turret, right above the hull deck) and also used yellow for the early war unit insignia's you'd have the makings of a pretty legit, early war Pz IV F2.  In theory the L43 long barreled guns were out there as early as mid-1942, however I think that might have been just about the time they moved over to using dunklegelb on everything.  But that transition period between the two, where you started to see "homemade" grey/brown applied in the field, could very well have been done on some white cross/yellow marked F2's.  I put some of the early war, yellow painted, unit markings below.  You might also see a large white "G" or "K" which would denote tanks from Guderians or Von Klienst's Army Groups during this time frame.

 

So an example from around late 1941-42 might be: 2nd Panzer Group, XXIV Panzer Corps: "White G"/White early war BK/Yellow 3rd Panzer Division insignia/Yellow Unit Numbers".  Now as far as I know there is not a picture that exists of this particular kind of tank, but the timing of all the other facts is accurate so it's totally possible that a PzIV-F2 in this scheme could have existed for a couple months until everything was repainted in the DG.  

 

LOL just inspired by your work bro.

 

Edited July 27, 2022 by ShampooActual

[JV44HeinzBar]

5 hours ago, ShampooActual said:

Thanks dude, I realized I had that "sensitive Content" green check applied so I took it off and boom, there they all were.  Do users of HSD normally just hit "download all" for all skins and updates?  If that's the case there may be a fair amount of pilots who will see your work - and the good news there is darker panzers.

 

S! Shampoo,

I normally set my HSD filters to just historic & generic. I don't care about racing, fantasy, etc type of skins. Once HSD is running, I click search for skin updates and go from there. I'm not a sensitive person, so I download everything that is historic regardless of other views

 

HB