FS2000 Repainting Tutorial

last update 14th September 2001

****** Please note these pages are in a state of update along with the Paint Shop Pro tutorial. I appologise for any problems with links but I am moving all my tutorials from my own site onto AVSIM.com. Please be patient while I complete this task. Many thanks.

Welcome to this tutorial on how to paint FS2000 Aircraft. I will do my best to respond to readers requests and will eventually add an FAQ section if I feel there is enough demand. I cannot promise I will respond directly to emails but I will try and use the information/questions to improve this site for the benefit off all my readers. The greater part of this tutorial is here with the permission of Simon Jamie of Fingermouse Air for which I am most gratefull. I hope to build upon what Simon has already done and keep, you the readers, coming back.

If you need direct assistance please could you try the Aircraft Design Forum at simflight.com.

There is a new section in progress in which I paint a CRJ200-LR for Celtic World Airways VA. We will use layers, bitmaps, paint shop pro files and within a matter of minutes I promise you, you will surprise yourself at how easy this is by using the layers technique provided by most paint programs in use today. I will be switching the main tool of choice from Fireworks to Paint Shop Pro version 6.02. Only reason being is that will give you a chance to see it in use. Simon has used Fireworks for his sections on the default aircraft.

Basic tools

Learn about the basic things you'll need to start repainting an FS2000 aircraft.

Research

For a simple guide to researching your repaint properly - make sure you get things right!

Painting the Default 737 (Basic)

Find out how to prepare your blank texture for painting, set up the initial components and get some artwork onto the aircraft. The 737-400 is one of the easiest FS2000 aircraft to paint, so it makes a good starting point if you're not too experienced.

Painting the Default Learjet 45 (Advanced)

This is a more complicated bitmap and this section of the tutorial covers some of the more advanced techniques you may need to use when repainting some aircraft.

Painting FS2000 Bitmaps. (Non default Aircraft)

A new section explaining how to paint bitmap textures other than those used on the default aircraft. This section is completely new and shows you how to use layers on texture.bmp files to save a lot of work. It develops on what Simon has already done. I have taken Barry Blaisdells Air Canada CRJ200-ER for FS2000 with night lighting as the work in progress for this section.

File formats and Testing

How to actually get your aircraft texture into FS2000 and how to test your texture.

How do I use my graphics application?

For links to online tutorials about how to use various paint packages. This is not meant to be a tutorial on how to use your paint packages hence the link.

Comments and Suggestions

A repainting forum simflight.aircraft.design has now been started on simflight.com to cover the subjects covered here.