Cargo hauling with the 777...(If you like flying off the beaten path)

[aceridgey 330]

The paints look awesome Steve,

 

Would you consider doing more non-fictional 77F paints?

 

Alex

[CaptCraig 226]

Hey Steve,

 

Have you done any paints for the new-ish Aerosoft Airbus X?  I have a love affair with Skyservice.  They don't fly passengers any more but I remember flying on one of these 320s as a kid and I'd love to see a repaint.  

 

 

No worries if you don't have time, and I really don't want to derail the thread.  I love your work.  I can't wait to see what you come up with once the PMDG W is out! 

[mcnobody 172]

Hello Steve,

 

it's good to see you painting the 777X. I think the first time I downloaded one of your repaints was for the FFX 737, probably Lufthansa. Back then Erik Cantu's models and your repaints were a fantastic combination. I am not sure how many still remember FFX.
The repaints you did for the Level-D Simulations 767 really enriched that addon. Your skills and techniques regarding photoreal textures must have been a milestone for lots of users and painters. :smile:

 

Do whatever repaint you want to and at the pace you choose, don't let the community make you loose the fun doing those repaints. It would be a shame seeing your splendid repaints vanishing again, now that we have got you back. :smile:

 

Regarding you last paragaph, I or lots of other people should cut a few slices off from your mentality. In my eyes that certain attitude makes the flight simming community quite fascianting but somehow I have the impression this got lost over the years a bit. Maybe it's turning up again.

 

Looking forward to your upcoming releases, whatever product, aircraft or livery it is.

 

best regards,

Christian

 

 

 

I can tell you that I'll never paint to the frequency I did in the old days (back when some of you were in diapers), and I'm not really taking requests. That's not to say I never consider them, but I want to be clear that I'm not seeking to paint every airline that ever existed (been there, tried that, only got about half of them done :Just Kidding: ), so please don't be upset if I don't paint the livery you want, no matter how many times (and ways) you ask me.


Just think of me as a retired painter who used to paint like that, got burned out, and just wants to share some of his favorite liveries with this great PMDG community. Right now as you can see, I'm on a cargo kick. When the -300 comes out, who knows? In fact I'm not sure if I'll be a day one owner since I'm having so much fun hauling cargo and they don't make a -300F that I know of, hehe.

Anyway, the liveries are there, the cargo world is there...if you want to challenge your piloting and navigation skills...I'm giving you the liveries to do it.



Have fun with them guys, and if you haven't...try grabbing some screens and post them in the "Where is your 777 now" post over in the screenshot forum. There is even a "Where is your 737 now" post there too, Its a great way to show where you've been, and start interesting discussions with your fellow captains.

We all have a passion for flying, and a passion for the 777...I share them just the same. But I also have a passion to paint what I like, fortunate enough to have acquired the skills to do it, and probably my greatest passion is to share my efforts with my community. Been doing it 11+ years...I think I can say that with confidence while not sounding too arrogant. :smile:

[Steve Dra 7,574]

Same here Steve. Cannot paint though, to save myself

You'd be surprised what you can do when you give it a shot. I taught myself to paint, and started when I got tired of requesting a paint the FFX painters wouldn't paint.  Took me over a month to do my 1st repaint, and it was horrible.  But I got better. :wink:

Start small and work your way up I always say....same applies to flying.  We didn't start off flying these big ones...we started flying Cessna's and Piper's, then progressed (well you know what I mean).  Start your 1st paint project as wanting to change the registration number on your favorite plane.  I'm not going to lie and say its "easy" because its not when you are just starting out.  Anyway...view the dozens of tutorials on youtube (including mine here on how to paint a photo tail https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zsCmBiCnSE). As an educator in real life, its my intense desire to create a whole series of paint tutorials, nuts to bolts on how I paint. Sharing knowledge is actually more gratifying than sharing my paints...because when I teach someone something, its something they can go off and apply with their unique style.  That's gonna have to wait until I "really" retire a few years from now. :Whistle:

(Been teaching various things from SH-3 Seaking avionics/ASW gear in the Navy, to helpdesk reps at Lotus, to my current job 27 years later...docs and nurses how to use their Electronic Health Record).

Oh and if you think you have to spend a fortune to get a good paint program...get what I use...Highly suggest the 64bit version for memory considerations.

I got mine online for 29.99.  I don't want to drop advertisements here on Avsim, but google "paintshop pro for 29.99" and you'll find it.  Paintshop Pro X6 64bit...with a little practice (and alot of patience), you can be painting just like me!

Be advised, while I'd love to teach every one of you out there how to paint...I'm not in a position to.  I'll help as best I can, but I can only do so much as I hope you understand.  Like I mentioned...one day...I'll be making tutorials.  Your venue would be the Painter's forum here on Avsim...packed with many great poeple waiting to help painters of all experience levels.

 

 

 

Would you consider doing more non-fictional 77F paints?

Hey Alex, I already have a few in the hopper...what were you thinking of?  A little painter's secret:  Most painters I know have several projects going on simultaneously. The reasons are much the same we all fly multiple aircraft types.  I can't speak for others, but I get a little bored sometimes when I get on a paint that is tedious. And besides, a lot of times I'm waiting for permission to use a photo, waiting for feedback on a pre-release (Steve's check airman program...LoL), or a file from another painter in our loose network.  So instead of sitting around twiddling my thumbs, I start another project (or work on an existing one).  That is one way I'm able to crank them out so fast.  Plus after years of painting, I have the logos, fonts etc of most of the airlines out there, so it's just a matter of grabbing them off my last project and applying them to the new one.

And if you ask me what planes I have in the "hopper" or tucked away in the back of the paint hangar, that is a closely guarded secret.  Long ago, I made the mistake of post previews of a lot of them I had in the "hopper", that for one reason or another, I could never release (Never got permission to use a photo, never found the right font, just threw my hands up trying to paint on a texture map that was poorly laid out, etc).  So I don't preview them anymore.  For those waiting for the Landor I previewed long ago, she is coming, I promise.  Just like PMDG, there are a lot of things that can delay a paint release.

Anyway...I know I more than answered your question, hehe.  If anyone is wondering, I will say without a doubt I will be doing my own FedEx (if that was the one you were asking about Alex)

 

 

 

Have you done any paints for the new-ish Aerosoft Airbus X?  I have a love affair with Skyservice.  They don't fly passengers any more but I remember flying on one of these 320s as a kid and I'd love to see a repaint.  

Hey Craig, I don't have the plane, but that is another thing on my bucket list... to be as comfortable in an Airbus cockpit as I am in a Boeing.  The package looks excellent (Froogle review), and if there were 126 hours in a day I might learn to fly them, then of course want to paint them...so short answer, no for now.  :wink:

 

Hey Christian,

Good to see you!  Yeah painting is a very rewarding hobby, and the rewards of seeing our community enjoying my work are a great incentive to keep it going.  Burnout is a real concern, because just like flying, it is very addictive, and sneakily so.  And when you see your first creation move off the 2d map you paint on into the full, 3d version of it in flightsim, the feeling is indescribable. I still get a kick out of it a few hundred paints later...especially when you get a tricky one done (read: METAL!).  With metal, you work on multiple maps to get the paint done, then the reflections and specular details.  I'm just glad most modelers are moving away from individual light maps. :Applause: (Read:PMDG..THANK YOU!)

Yeah I put some serious time and effort into the LevelD paints...it still to this day is one of my favorite planes in real life and of course their rendition of it in FS.  I have been flying the panel since Eric  Ernst built it waaaaay back in fs98 (I think, maybe FS2000?).  Anyway...awesome package, awesome people to work with (Actually met Gary Hayes their painter at KATL when he was coming back from overseas in the military.  Bought him lunch at the airport..He' got excellent paint tutorials on how to paint the LevelD bird in Photoshop.

 

Anyway, I hope PMDG finds it in their heart to do a 767.  Based on the feedback I see here, it could be a hit! (I know...have to face the market reality...but hey..I can always ask).  I've already committed to move all my LevelD paints over to their 767, with enhancements of course.

[A320FAN 370]

Looking amazing!

[Steve Dra 7,574]

 

 

I think the first time I downloaded one of your repaints was for the FFX 737, probably Lufthansa. Back then Erik Cantu's models and your repaints were a fantastic combination. I am not sure how many still remember FFX.

 

I remember FFX, FFG and SGA, hehe.  I remember that Lufthansa as well...if it was the -300/400, then it was reg D-ABEK...I thought it was hilarious when I saw that registration...I just had to paint it.   Vanity?  Well...maybe a little...after all they named a plane after me!

[aceridgey 330]

 

 

[...] Hey Alex, I already have a few in the hopper...what were you thinking of?  [...]

 

 

Hi matey, thank you for your response,

 

I was maybe thinking of ~German Cargo (AEROLOGIC) or Lufthansa Cargo. If you have that on your list of course,

 

 

Alex

[Steve Dra 7,574]

Hi matey, thank you for your response,

 

I was maybe thinking of ~German Cargo (AEROLOGIC) or Lufthansa Cargo. If you have that on your list of course,

 

 

Alex

 

 

Hey Alex,

I've had the tail done for Lufthansa cargo for a long time now....just need to finish the rest of the plane.  This is by far my favorite plane and I've taken her around the world already.  

Yes, Lufthansa is in my hangar.  The rest of the plane I use right now is already in the avsim library..I can't remember who painted it and I have to get to work now..his paint is excellent, I just added my tail to his paint. :wink:  Aero Logic may come as well as it fits the criteria of what I paint (There is a method I use to determine what I paint believe it or not, hehe)

Send me your email address and the tail is yours.

 

[aceridgey 330]

Hey Alex,

I've had the tail done for Lufthansa cargo for a long time now....just need to finish the rest of the plane.  This is by far my favorite plane and I've taken her around the world already.  

Yes, Lufthansa is in my hangar.  The rest of the plane I use right now is already in the avsim library..I can't remember who painted it and I have to get to work now..his paint is excellent, I just added my tail to his paint. :wink:  Aero Logic may come as well as it fits the criteria of what I paint (There is a method I use to determine what I paint believe it or not, hehe)

Send me your email address and the tail is yours.

 

 

Cool stuff Steve,

 

All the best

[bjratchf 80]

Hey Alex,

I've had the tail done for Lufthansa cargo for a long time now....just need to finish the rest of the plane.  This is by far my favorite plane and I've taken her around the world already.  

Yes, Lufthansa is in my hangar.  The rest of the plane I use right now is already in the avsim library..I can't remember who painted it and I have to get to work now..his paint is excellent, I just added my tail to his paint. :wink:  Aero Logic may come as well as it fits the criteria of what I paint (There is a method I use to determine what I paint believe it or not, hehe)

Send me your email address and the tail is yours.

 

 

 

Steve,

 

I have to say, I admire your paints very much! I'm not a very big simmer anymore, more of a distant admirer of simming (except when it comes to beta testing), but your paints and trip descriptions evoke some nostalgia- I want to try them out. FSX had become boring for me!

[ideoplastic 86]

Steve

 

Thank you for creating the Freighter liveries for the T7 which are greatly appreciated by this Cargo Jockey. If you get the opportunity would you consider National Air Cargo, ABX & ABSA Cargo liveries for this aircraft?

[Steve Dra 7,574]

Thanks Brendan!

I've been the same way in the decades I've been doing this....my interest in the hobby fading in and out, mirrored closely to the ebbs and flows that life's journey has taken me.

I see you test the Q400...a very nice package that if I had the time to invest to fly her, could see myself island hopping all over the Caribbean. :smile: 

 

And if you ever want to get back into simming...I'm giving you a unique new way to do that with my eclectic paint collection of freighters.

Make a real "milk run" to a remote airport that the 777 could only get into if you're on top of your game...a real challenge that doesn't offer all the cushions we're used to in aviation.  Taking a risk to accomplish a task that will benefit many...that is the essence of life when you think about it. :wink:  

 

Sorry to get philosophical here, but it fits the thread, and my current mood. Hehe.  

 

 

you consider National Air Cargo, ABX & ABSA Cargo liveries for this aircraft?

 

Thanks Joaquin!

The answer is yes, yes, & yes.   I honestly do consider EVERY request, and would love to paint them all (guys this is no different than wanting to fly every plane out there...IF we had the chance...and most importantly...TIME)  Since we don't get that 126 hours a day I've requested from the powers above, I have to work within the 24 like the rest of us.

 

Later I will post my criteria for considering what paints I do paint, and you can gauge the chance of getting the ones you requested from extrapolating from that chart.  :wink:

 

I can tell you that National...while meets several criteria to paint: 

• requested by more pilots than just you 
• I like the livery 
• would be a nice tribute to the crew of the terrible crash we all know about 
• it looks really cool

it also has a checkbox in the column marked "Complexity"..and I even have a rating system for that!  Trust me guys (all who are reading this), Steve has been doing this a LONG time, and has a well refined method of producing paints, taking EVERYTHING into consideration.

 

So rest assured when I tell you I will paint it...I will.  If I say I won't...its not because I hate you or trying to spite someone (Believe me I've gotten emails accusing me of that..and I've never met any of you! hehe).  If I say maybe...its one of those paints that the "Time" column will be the deciding factor if it reached a certain threshold from the other columns.

[Marek2704 6]

Hmmmm, a Fedex, please, please, please?

[downscc 1,327]

There is already a Fedex livery for the 77F, and it includes equipment/options for the company.

[jetsflier 87]

Hmmmm, a Fedex, please, please, please?

 

He has been hinting at creating one recently :wink: