[Albatros DIII] MPG Skins Factory: Mod Alpha Layer for early tail.

August 20

The Albatros DIII offered in FC features a late tailplane, prefiguring the Albatros DV.

By modifying the Alpha layer, it is possible to return to a tailplane more common on the Albatros DIII.

Download : HERE

August 22

Thank you sir!!!!

August 22

For sample, here is a skin from Rise of Flight in 2K resized in 4K for FC, the exposure has been reworked and I used the alpha layer which allows to have a tail corresponding to the albatross DIII.

August 22

The new alpha layer is great! If you want to use the old ROF skins (after toning and resizing them) you need to place them in the new template and use the layers for the louve and access covers to overlay ontop.....so they don't just look black in the finished skin. I should also add that the layer providing the color textures for the interplane bracing and control wires needs to be overlayed on the ROF skins as well. I'm still trying to locate and determine which layers are necessary. This new Flying Circus template is a brute!. I can see why not too many people have worked with it.

Edited August 23 by wackywings

August 23

It's been a long time since I've made a skin for IL-2 and have forgotten many things.

I added this new alpha channel to the .psd template and deleted the existing alpha channel. I saved as .DDS but the changes aren't showing up in-game.

What am I missing (or doing wrong)?

Thanks for any help...

August 24

On 8/23/2025 at 4:27 AM, Pea_Shooter said:

It's been a long time since I've made a skin for IL-2 and have forgotten many things.

I added this new alpha channel to the .psd template and deleted the existing alpha channel. I saved as .DDS but the changes aren't showing up in-game.

What am I missing (or doing wrong)?

Thanks for any help...

I use GIMP.

I load the DDS file.

I go to the 3 base colors and the Alpha channel.

I deactivate the Alpha channel.

The skin appears clearly.

I make the copy visible by right-clicking.

I paste in place it into a new image.

I export this image as a PNG or BMP file.

I load this new image into GIMP after closing the previous work.

I open my new Alpha file in another image.

I make a copy to anchor it in my BMP skin file.

And I export to DDS.

Edited August 24 by MarcoPegase44

August 25

Thanks a million for this tutorial, MarcoPegase44! I've always bounced back and forth between DXTBmp and Gimp to accomplish the same thing. Thanks for setting me straight! 😊

September 3

September 3

There you go! Excellent!!!

September 7

My skin, using the alpha layer, is a little too shiney (wings only). What am I doing wrong?

Edited September 7 by Pea_Shooter

September 7

9 hours ago, Pea_Shooter said:

My skin, using the alpha layer, is a little too shiney (wings only). What am I doing wrong?

Hello,

I think it's difficult to form an opinion about the skin because you're using the object viewer, which doesn't give a good rendering of the skin.

Personally, I always use the quick-mission editor and place the skin in an airfield with various weather and lighting conditions. In this case, you can get a better idea of how the skin will look.

September 7

Hello,

Here is a conversion of the ROF skin to FC, from 2k to 4K, it is the plane of Julius Buckler of the Jasta 17.

The skin is not one of my creations, I only made a new Alpha layer and added new layers and filters to correct the missing details to match a skin for FC.