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FS2000 Aircraft Painting Tutorial

Using Paint Shop Pro 6

Part 1

By Jim Oates

Proof reading and quality control Barry Blaisdell

Let's Get the show on the road

last update 23rd September 2001

I am going to take you through the process, step by step exactly how I paint my aircraft. I am also going to tell you everything you need to know from finding your aircraft, obtaining permission to paint it, painting it and renaming the textures. Although this is primarily a painting tutorial you need to know all the other "bits and pieces" as well. You just can't paint someone else's aircraft and put it on the web. Hopefully with this tutorial you will avoid any pitfalls and come out with a nice new aircraft ready to fly. I hope we have a little bit of fun, a lot of learning and my humour does not leave you groaning. So, let's get going.

 

Who is this tutorial aimed at and what version of Flight Simulator?

This tutorial is aimed at everyone from beginners and up. I have tried to cover every aspect with text and pictures to make it as easy as I can. You need to be using FS2000 only and of course you need Barry Blaisdells' aircraft, Canadair/Bombardier CRJ200-ER version 5. Lastly you need Paint Shop Pro v6 or greater..

The only reason I am specifying FS2000 is that the techniques used here will not work, directly with FS98, without conversion of the textures. I will cover that later but if you are happy converting textures from the *.af format to bitmaps and back again then you can use these painting techniques. I don't want to go into converting textures at this stage but, if go to my downloads page, there is several texture converters with instructions included by the authors.

 

Find the aircraft you wish to paint and install it.

To make things simple from the start, install an aircraft and make sure it works. How? by flying it in FS2000. There is nothing worse than trying to put a texture onto an aircraft that would not fly or has files missing and you have to start all over again. So install it first, check it works, then paint it.

I look for aircraft such as Air Canada or Virgin because I want a mainly white aircraft to start with. It does not mean it will be any easier to paint than one with lots of colours. It really depends on what you want it to look like. Choose an aircraft that has what you want. Be it panel lines, colour scheme, transparent windows, etc.

For this tutorial we are going to be using:

Barry Blaisdells FS2000 Canadair/Bombardier CRJ200-ER version 5 Eurowings. Paint by Bob May

All the textures on this aircraft are already in bitmap format and can be painted directly in PSP. This aircraft also has night textures which we will paint in the latter part of this tutorial.

 

Do I need permission to paint this aircraft?

Do you intend to use the aircraft for your own personal use or do you intend to have it on a website for others to download? If it is just for yourself to use, then enjoy your efforts. However, if it is for download on a website for others to use, please read on and I will explain what you need to do.

I have Barrys' kind permission to repaint his aircraft. The original textures; on which I am painting on top of; are still the sole property of Barry. Think of it this way. When you get a painter to paint your house. Who's house is it? It is not the painters, he is just painting on top of your property.

Read the documentation. It may allow repaints without having to contact the author. If it doesn't, It is a very simple process to ask for permission and with a little courtesy it is usually given. Send an e-mail. State clearly the purpose of your repaint. For example, "it is for XYZ Virtual Airlines Pilots use". Check the authors website. It may have the restrictions, if any, clearly explained there.

I upload the file to my site and send an e-mail to the author, with the url of the page the aircraft zip file is on. Do not send the zip file to their e-mail! How would you feel if you had several dozen large zip files slowing down your e-mail? Let the author decide if they want to view the zip file and if they ask for it then send it.

If, after you have sent the author at least 2 emails and given them the chance to respond and they don't then I use their files anyway, let me explain. It may be that they are too busy to respond to the many requests they get for repaints. Make sure you include all the documentation and send the author a final e-mail letting them know the location of the web site were the file is. They may be too busy to worry about what you are doing but you are still giving them the chance to view their files.

If you want to add you own documents then do so but don't change any that came with the aircraft.

So that's the first couple of steps out of the way. You have found a nice aircraft to paint. For us it is Barrys' CRJ200 version 5. You are using it only for personal use so you don't need permission to use it and you are using Paint Shop Pro v6 or greater and have Flight Simulator 2000.

We are now at the stage where we can start to paint our aircraft. I would like you to follow exactly what I am doing, step by step please. It will make things so much easier.

In the next section we will be getting rid of the text on the aircraft body and adding our own. All the time keeping the background nice and clean. The word you will come across a lot as we progress is "Layers" If you don't know what they are, you will grow to love them. So in true Scottish style

" Lang may yer lum reak"

Until next time. Good luck and good painting.

Jim Oates