Hi guys, I am fairly new to re-painting Aircraft and was wondering if there was a Tutorial on how to paint Chrome or Silver on Aircraft's?ThanksUly

Hi guys, I am fairly new to re-painting Aircraft and was wondering if there was a Tutorial on how to paint Chrome or Silver on Aircraft's?ThanksUly

Hi UlyOn top of this Aircraft Painters Forum you`l find Painting FAQ`s.Go there and look for question number 3.There you`ll find links to several tutorial pages.I`ll advise you to study Morgan Dainow`s excellent tutorial.He gives an explanation about making glossy surfaces for FS9.Aluminium and chrome can be reproduced by using a grey texture with a reasonable dark alphalayer.For this grey texturepart you may prefer the use of "cut and paste" from a bare-metal airplane-photo.A big disadvantage of this method is the fact your airplane will always show traces of the scenery in wich the photo was taken.Cut and paste from bare-metal-pictures can not be used in a realistic way for FSX models with bumpmapped fuselages .The bumps and lines simply never correspond with the real thing on the photo.In other words the models shows its lines and bumps on places where the pasted texture does not show them and vice versa.Creating bare-metal-textures for FSX is ,due to the fact FSX uses specular textures and normal textures ( bumpmapping)in combination with the diffuse texture, far more complicated.Nevertheless the procedure is more or less the same.regardsLeen de Jager

Hi Here is a link to a quick tutorial I would not call it painting :( , in the sense that you can claim to have painted the aircraft but it will give you the effect you are looking for .The end results can be mixed to say the least , but it will give you a layer that you can work with http://www.projectopensky.com/index.php?showtopic=39293

Hi Here is a link to a quick tutorial I would not call it painting :( , in the sense that you can claim to have painted the aircraft but it will give you the effect you are looking for .The end results can be mixed to say the least , but it will give you a layer that you can work with http://www.projectopensky.com/index.php?showtopic=39293

Thanks this is a nice tutorial too.There is however, the issue I mentioned above.The bare metal fuselage in the tutorial is in fact a stretched mirror showing the airfield.Blue air on top.Terrain surrounding the concrete platform in the middle.And the concrete platform itself.We have to get rid of the terrain first.After cutting the image from the fuselage photo, we have to remove the "terrain" by simply cutting it away, then we have to join the parts again, making the texture going smooth from one to another.Then its time for the stretching etc.OK the belly will stay grey during a flight over sparkling blue seas and the top will always stay kind of blue flying under severe clouded grey skies.Thats one of the limitations we will have to live with.There is a workaround for this , simply convert the texture to greyscale , use the alpha ( and other) layers to make it look like aluminium and let the envmap.bmp file do its job , wich is giving glossy objects some kind of natural mirroring.Big advantage in this case is the fact that custom-made envmapfiles* can be used to make extreem realistic screenshots.E.g. an airplane flying over the Sahara showing a yellow belly and flying over the north pole a white one.We cannot have it all, but we certainly have no desire for a static brownish or green stripe from nose to tail.Leen de Jagerset of three differend envmapfilesfrom l to rdesert , north pole and green forests/ meadowsthe same plane seen from another derection with the same north pole envmap.as you can see the texture up and under are the same , the plane itself is totally alu glossy with very little colorThese screens were made during the painting process years ago, so forget about the strange flags etc the paint was WIP

Leen I agree with you totally about this type of "repaint"It will make the aircraft appear as bare metal , and if you place it in the right spot in the sim , so the reflection that is in the fuselage matches the background it will make for a great screenshot , But !!place the same aircraft at 30000 ft over water and what was once a great repaint looks very odd to say the least.This question of bare metal textures comes up at least once a month ,understandably so .I don't think there is one simple way to do it , An American Airlines 777 will have a completely different look and feel to the metal in question compared to a DC3 for example .The only thing I could recommend is to look at photos of "bare metal" aircraft and see how the light affects them , how the shadows come into play , wear and tear , age all play a part in the overall effect.I have said this before and I will state it again .The bare metal texture effect is something that only a few repainters have mastered , the rest of us are still trying :(

Thanks for your support Mark.While you was writing your reaction I was editing my post and I added an example of a 100% manually created bare metal fuselage .Hard to imagine this horrible texture and its "misterious" alpha can create this on a model.Imagine this model in full HD bumps and specs in FSX.RegardsLeen

Hi Leen That is a great tip about changing the envmap , quick and effective.I have found when doing paint requests that you have to consider what type of envmap the user is using .One type of Envmap can work well with a dark alpha , but I have seen envmaps which when combined with a dark alpha totally overwhelm the aircraft .Besides I am sure at Mcphat they do a little more than alter envmaps , In my personal opinion there work is second to none .I have found the bare metal effect in FS9 is quite hard to achieve due to the fact you are limited to just the paint layer and alpha layer so I try to paint the aircraft to look like it has no paint , then use the shine that is incorporated into the model, and leave the alpha layer almost white I have attached a couple of jpegs of a repaint for FS9 that i am working on / struggling with , as I would be interested in your opinion and any advice you may have for improving this effect for FS9 ( as would the guy who requested it I'm sure ) . I was going to attach a couple more but it appears I have deleted them ,I don't know how much you can help from one Jpeg but any advice would be greatly received

A....I have found when doing paint requests that you have to consider what type of envmap the user is using .B.....One type of Envmap can work well with a dark alpha , but I have seen envmaps which when combined with a dark alpha totally overwhelm the aircraft .C.....Besides I am sure at Mcphat they do a little more than alter envmaps , D.....In my personal opinion there work is second to none .E.....I have found the bare metal effect in FS9 is quite hard to achieve due to the fact you are limited to just the paint layer and alpha layer so I try to paint the aircraft to look like it has no paint , then use the shine that is incorporated into the model, and leave the alpha layer almost white

Hi Mark,A.....I do not agree there. Always make the paint look optimal with the default evmap.The envmap manipulation is for screenshots only and has nothing to do with repainting.B.....I do not agree there again. Always make the paint look optimal with the default evmap.An envmapfile must contain horizontal lines , in fact my nort pole envmap above is an exeption.All non horizontal lines have a caleidoscopic effect on the result on the model.There is an envmapfile on the internet showing complete trees and mountains , using that one makes you complete crazy.Give it a try yourself ,you`ll be amazed by the insane and terrible result.C....McPhatstudios always make their paints optimal for the default envmap.Our paints must be McPhattish in every default installation of FSX.REX and things like that may be added to improve the overall looks of the sim but have no role in the development of our paints.D....Thanks for the compliment. We at McPhatstudio always are going for the maximum result achieveable in paintwork for FSXE....Sorry I disagree. The dynamic shine from the mdl file is only working at the sun lit side of the plane.De shine from the alphalayer is visable at the sun and shaded side, in fact most effective on the shaded side.Besides that the alphalayer can be manipulated the gloss from the mdl file not.Have a loot at the screenshot showing the F28 texture with the inserted topview of the little bird.We are looking at the shaded side of the plane and see the gloss and shine on the fuse and the engines.This side would be dull and death without an alpha.Even the cabinwindows have all their individual alpha making the gloss differ from the baremetal-gloss.As I said before , I made this paint several years ago for FS9, long before I joined McPhatstudios.For me FS9 is a closed book now , I am working on a few FSX paints ( only GA ) and started making high definition paints for X-Plane.I do not paint for McPhatstudios, at McPhatstudios I do quality control and research.( besides some management tasks)It is hard for me to give an opinion about just one screenshot.The fuselage-texture looks good to me but it certainly deserves a nice alpha.Leen

Hi Leen I suppose when I was talking about the envmap I should have explained my thoughts better .With the amount of Envmaps that are available for download , and bundled with all the various weather and environment addons that are out there , how many people use the default envmap these days ?I have a couple on my laptop alone that are quite popular , judging by the downloads , and changing them dramatically changes the appearance of the aircraft , as you demonstrated so well earlier in this post .I think even had that crazy envmap you mention at one stage , I remember trying out a repaint in the sim and all the dark areas looked like a photograph of the Swiss alps ,needless to say that one got replaced I should explain my thinking regarding the mdl shine of this particular aircraft, it may be that a combination of a light grey alpha and the current envmap I have installed on my laptop seem to make this repaint look as though it has just come out of a varnish plant , it is far too shiny for my liking .having said ( or written) all that , I think with your advice I will go back to the envmap that is originally installed with fs9/fsxRegarding the screenshot , yes one screenshot was almost pointless really , and as I stated earlier I had deleted the others as they were only test shots .I will take your advice and put some effort into the alpha layer, and hopefully with the default envmap I can produce something that I at least, can be happy with. Thanks Leen