Hi everyone!
I've been posting some of my skins over at the ROF site forums. I thought I would share them over here.
I made all the folders you need to put them in your game. For the most part you will extract them to a temp place and put the folder 'graphics' in your ROF data folder and the planes will show up in your game.
Please note these skins will NOT show up in multiplayer! I advise you do not use them in multiplayer because no one else will see them. They will just be all white.

Billy Bishop SE5a.
Download here. http://www.mediafire.com/?nz4mjimetny


Capt Leslie Holden SE5a. Updated/
Download. http://www.mediafire.com/?jnntzzzzgnm



Ernst Udet Fokker DVII.
Download. http://www.mediafire.com/?ndzymmqzjzj



Updated...
Everyone remembers this guy for his famous DR1. Did you know he had a DVII also?
Fokker D.VII 365/18 Ltn Josef Jacobs JAFU, Jasta 7 June 1918
Faded, weathered, dirty, textured. See how this one is.
Download. http://www.mediafire.com/?tlytidzjm2z





Blue Max Collection. These are fictional from movie.
I made a movie useing these planes here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuOoA9t5UGw

I reworked all my Blue Max Planes.
More texture and weathering and some other touch-ups. I think you'll like them better.
All other downloads have been removed.
This is all the planes.
2 Dr1
2 DVII
1 Pfalz DIIIa
If you already have them, this will replace them all.
I recommend these over the old ones. If you like the old ones better, then please back them up.

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?kt4krtmalx0









Fictional Pfalz DIIIa. Early cross and later cross. Both included.
Download. http://www.mediafire.com/?1tnhijnzilz



If the above bee Pfalz are too bright for you try these. Still has the two.
Download. http://www.mediafire.com/?znymrd5h11a



Here's another one I had in my archives.

Pfalz DIIIa Red nose.
Download. http://www.mediafire.com/?ndnmmlcqqqt



As promised. Another Pfalz DIII to the collection.
I made this one to look like the one in the loading screen. These last two.
Download. http://www.mediafire.com/?gtkn14iz0wj



Another Pfalz DIII. This Time I did a historical one of
Ltn. Busso von Alvensleben Rocourt. June 1918
Download. http://www.mediafire.com/?kvigv2nmul3
Updated more weathered





MvR's 152/17 is up for grabs.

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?mmjzjyzjmkj





Ltn. Eberhardt Mohnicke Jasta 11
I don't know the serial number but what pics I have it should be close.

Download:
http://www.mediafire.com/?jrgejihtmgn





Ltn. Friedrich 'Fritz' Kempf Dr.I 213/17 of Jasta Boelcke

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?mdmrzzyidnk





Here some more of my personal paints some of you are requesting.
As you can see I'm into black and yellow. LOL!

Black And Yellow DR1: http://www.mediafire.com/?ijiutzjntzt



Download black Dr1: http://www.mediafire.com/?vzednhziduj



Black Yellow DVII: http://www.mediafire.com/?gjnywmmww1a



Black Yellow Abatros DVa: http://www.mediafire.com/?gwgkyyfzzky



I hope you enjoy these as much as I had making them!
Cheers! MM

Nice stuff MusicMan! Love the "Bumble-Bee" Pfalz too,

Bravo!

Even though i posted in your threads in the other forum already, i just have to do it here aswell. Great job! The Ernst Udet DVII is just perfect, probably the best skin i've seen so far, the Billy Bishop SE5 is my default skin when flying the SE5.

The red SE5 looks a bit too red for me, could probably use a "washing". But it still looks great, because it's just unique.

MattM I agree on the too red SE5. I might work on that one again. Thanks for your compliments!
I added another PhalzDIII above.

What a treat thanks Musicman, gorgeous Circus!

I've spotted a gap in the market for a BillySmart callsign for a skin artist

[SoundFX: Entry Of The Gladiators]

Ming

Yeah the red nose Pfalz is great. We definately need more Pfalz skins.

How about Max Holtzem's one with its famous comet? Looks a bit tricky to do. The tail and stripes would have been the usual thin black paint washed over the original silver dope. The comet was black and white and probably quite well executed. The comet was a symbol of his "guardian angel", in memory of his mother who died when he was nine. Windsock's profile suggests the wing struts were yellow. He also applied the markings to a Fokker D.VII.

Best WWI paint job ever?

Far more tasteful than that vulgar red stuff Richthofen used.

Cheers,

RD.



I can supply photos if anyone wants a go.

I must learn these skills so I can put my Kitty In The Ring on a NP17 skin!

Thanks guys!
Capt Leslie Holden SE5a updated. Little more dull I'd say.
RocketDog. That looks interesting maybe a challenge. I like doeing the Phalz DIII. Got more pics?

I've got the Windsock profile with a couple of photos. I'll scan them in tomorrow at work and put them up here for you to have a look at.

I've also got the Osprey book, which has some rather cool looking D.IIIa schemes. There's one flown by the wonderfully-named Ltn Busso von Alvensleben that looks doable. It had a black fuselage with white tail and a black centre half of the upper and lower wing with white outer halves.

Cheers,

RD.

MM and friends, is there an idiots guide to working with dds skins in paintshop pro anywhere? I have psp7 and really ought to have a go at this myself - even if only to show just how good the skins in this thread are...

RD.

I use PSP 7 also. You need to have DXTBmp to use PSP. It will covert the files to DDS for you. Handy app.
Here's the link. http://fly.to/mwgfx/

I can knock up a N17 with the Kitty/Ring image fairly easily, if you like... let me know which N.17 skin you'd like it based off and I can have it done by the end of the week no problem... drop me a PM.


M.

Bishop and Udet -- NICE!

Bumblebee Pfalz - colors are too saturated. (yellow too bright and black is too...black)

BlueMax losenge - pretty cool! Will always be a favorite for me also. (I prefer the white banded German markings for some reason, the early stuff I suppose)

Great Stuff Music' - Thanks!

Here are some pictures of the Pfalz D.III and D.IIIa. They're from the Osprey and Windsock books. I'll take them down in a few days. I hope they inspire some of our skinners to have a go at a beautiful aircraft that is surprisingly poorly represented in terms of RoF's skins.

Cheers,

Nick

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v402/RocketDog/PfalzDIII-10.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v402/RocketDog/PfalzDIII-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v402/RocketDog/PfalzDIII-2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v402/RocketDog/PfalzDIII-3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v402/RocketDog/PfalzDIII-4.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v402/RocketDog/PfalzDIII-5.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v402/RocketDog/PfalzDIII-6.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v402/RocketDog/PfalzDIII-7.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v402/RocketDog/PfalzDIII-8.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v402/RocketDog/PfalzDXII-14.jpg

Admin Edit - copyrighted images

Just like opening up a toy box.

C'mon skinners, show us your stuff!

PM sent!

Btw, here is the awesomeness of the Kitty in the Ring:

Yep. There's alot of work there alright. Refering to RocketDogs Phalz pics.
I kept some pictures. let's see what I come with. Some of those wouldn't be that hard to do and some would take a week! LOL!
Thanks for posting.

I added another less vibrent bee Phalz. link on page one just below the others.
I'm working on the one you see in loadup screens with the silver and yellow nose and tail and then I will tackle some of these new ones.

Well done indeed!

...doesn't that look more realistic to everyone else too? Or are my eyes just sensative to vibrant colors or something?

Anyone for Dart's Kitty in the Ring circus?

It's historically correct, honest.
(Image updated with a second version - looks much nicer. Refresh if you're seeing an empty kitty instead of a filled kitty.)

And for the N17...

Hehehe...looks great Masaq!

I wouldn't what to try and pet that kitty tho.....

And with Dart's permission to use the Kitty in the Ring for a skin for myself, I too have joined KITR circus, flying a Dolphin

I am so jazzed!

Btw, it's something of an homage to the CannonUK Hello Kitty skin he did for the 109 in the IL-2 series, but much less over the top.



WooHoo!

Just in time for the next Martin mission, too!

Shame that A) it won't work in multiplayer and 2) the ability to put custom art onto default skins (as a marking) was built into the sim.

I've read somewhere that skins that are preloaded onto the hosting server are viewable by all. I don't believe this *can* be the case at the moment, but I'm planning to test it over the next few days, to see.

Could be, but that's the rub - the host has to have one's custom skin placed before launching the mission.

Oh, but for a netcache and "upload skins" option.

uploaded another Phalz from the loading screen.

Gorgeous!

Wow. That's my default Pfalz DIII skin for now. Thank you.

Glad you like it! I'm blushing.

Thanks for the time you put into making a few new skins for our use, they are fantastic!

I really do like the ones that are equal in detail (realistic wise) to the RoF skins. Hope you can do more for thoughts of us who do not have this artistic talent.

MM, anyway to redo Voss's D.III skin with the correct Indian Good Luck symbol on the side of the fuselage, maybe?

Cheers.

MrFox made a real nice one for the DVa if you want to try that one out.
Here. http://riseofflight.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=3034
I don't have the DIII. I'm waiting for the DR1 to come out and then I'll go wild with that one.
MM

+1

Musicman - www.RoF-tools.de have developed a quick way of sharing skins with others; "trusted" members of the community can upload up to seven skins per plane to the site, and they're added to a sync list.

Clients using their skin tool can then sync with the server and skins are automatically downloaded and shared to the appropriate place.

Dunno if you're interested but until the offering from Neoqb comes along, it's maybe a good way to distribute your work?


Regards,


Mas

Masaq.
Sounds interesting. I don't play multi much cause there is no respond and the waiting to get back in sucks. Also there is still too many bugs that need to be fixed before I take online play more seriously.
Anyway. That is nice to know. Thanks for the heads up!
MM

I would just like the skins for SP and some SP missions. MP is not convenient for me, way to much time lost as mentioned before. I did try MP a few times, not my cup of tea.
Now new skins ..... I like!

I like the new yellow-nosed Pfalz D.IIIa!

Thanks,

RD

So where did y'all get the templates? One of my squaddies wants to know....

So the Germans won the war on cool paint schemes eh?

I don't use templates, personally. Someone did knock one up, but I prefer to go it from scratch.

What you do is this:

Use "unGTP.exe" - available at www.RoF-tools.de to uncompress the GTP archives that Neoqb have bundled up game assets in to. Do this by downloading and unpacking unGTP, and placing it in your Rise of Flight directory. Drag the GTP file you want to extract onto unGTP.exe, it'll unpack it into a directory named (null). I forget which GTP file most of the aircraft skins are in - just unpack 'em all then look for the /null/data/graphics/skins/ folder. You can delete all the others.

Aircraft skins are in a folder named after the aircraft. They're stored in .dds format, which is a compressed texture format often used by games. You'll need the DDS tool from nVidia for Photoshop (or a similar tool for Paint Shop Pro) to be able to load and create them.

Load one of the basic DDS files into Photoshop, you get a 2048x4095 pixel image. The first 2048x2048 pixels are the main skin - what's seen up close. The next bit is 1024x1024, which is seen slightly when you're a little further away, then it's 512x512, 256x256 etc etc. Each of these different areas of the image are loaded as the camera moves away from the aircraft (saves on resources).

What needs to be understood is that this skin is a 2D image of a 3D object. So, it's like a peeled orange skin - it makes a 3D form when folded back up together. All the parts of the plane are there... just not where you'd maybe expect to find them. The wheels could be placed next to the tail, for example. The game itself knows where everything is, and will piece it all back together properly.

You can now edit this skin as you wish. The best way to do this, if you want to change the colour of the aircraft, for example (rather than just add icons/logos/text over the top of the current skin) - is to do the following:

Promote the locked background image to a new layer. Call it "Base" or something similar.

On the base layer, use the selection tools to only select an area you want to change the colour of. For example, the top/left/right sides of the fuselage. Get the selection to be a nice, snug fit around the aircraft body.

Then, with this selection still active, create a new layer. Call this one "Fuselage" (or whatever part of the plane you've got selected). Now, fill the selected area with pure white.

Go to the blending options for the new layer, and make pure white invisible by adjusting the blending slider. You can now use the "Colour Overlay" options to quickly and easily experiment with a fill mode and colour hue that will adjust the underlying base layer to the new colour you want. I find for light areas, using: DARKEN with about 60% opacity on the colour fill works well. For dark areas, LIGHTEN with about 30% works well.

This is MUCH harder if there is a lot of detail underneath the colour overlay. Ideally you want the base skin to be as simple and plain as possible. Most of the aircraft have at least one skin that's not got much on it.

It's important to leave some of the detail on the original skin showing through, otherwise you end up with a plastic-looking skin. By simply lightening or darkening the current skin with a new colour, you get a pretty good effect.

I'm trying to find a free video capture program that will work with photoshop so I can do a quick tutorial. Looks like FRAPS struggles to record Photoshop tho.


Hope this helps him, tho he'll need some prior understanding of photoshop or it'll make no sense at all.


M.

Masaq.
I'm glad you took the time to explain all that. I do it a little different but get same results.
The file you need to extract is in you ROF data folder and it's called graphics2.GTP
Here's a few samples of what they look like laid out in your paint program.
I'm showing the lastest Phalz I did. This plane did not take me long because I had already by this time knew where all the parts are. Took the stock one image one and all I did here was draw out or highlight what I wanted painted yellow and use a simple bucket fill overlay so as not cover up the original detail. Getting the color right took some time in and out of game but you can get an idea how it works. A matter of eraseing the numbers and or changing them. Image two.
This plane was for me pretty simple and took me about an hour.
Hope this helps some of you who want to try it.

Well, here's how I do it

Watch at Youtube (for full screen) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OmIn1Y49qQ to actually make out what's going on.

Another Pfalz DIII. This Time I did a historical one of
Ltn. Busso von Alvensleben Rocourt. June 1918
Download. http://www.mediafire.com/?kvigv2nmul3
Updated more weathered.

Very nice MM!

Jason

indeed very nice skins, Musicman!

Thanks guys. You're very welcome. I've noticed I spelled Pfalz wrong here and there by spelling it Phalz. Sorry for the miss spell.

nice skins Musicman....just a suggestion...I would make the whites a bit darker, maybe a bit dirty....thats all

I did do that some on it. You're right I agree, it does look too new.

I love the dirty yellow one above, most realistic. Wear out the paint some too, like rubbing it with sandpaper.

Thanks for all your hard work and letting us enjoy them too.

Cheers.

Hi all,

very intersting thread

I´ve just done some skins for IL2 and even purchased RoF, so i will check out this stuff. I´m very interested in ww 1 aviation, may be i can do some colourfull Albatros DV skins. Will take some time ...

One question: When the skins are done, how will they be converted back into the RoF format (GTP)?

They're not compressed back into the GTP archives; you create a new folder for skins for each plane (there's a set nomenclature) - and the game checks those folders for additional skins.

Like he said and the skins will be in DDS format.

Thanks Musicman. I flew last night on TT server with your Leslie Holden skin. Some of the squad flying out took the Mick saying that I stuck out like a sore thumb. I decided that caution was in order so I stayed high above until I saw someone giving SAS a hard time, dropped in behind and scored my first multiplayer. Having lived in Adelaide like Les perhaps brought me luck.

Cheers,
Lfox

Lfox,

Uhm....actually, it was pretty hard to not notice you. I was blinded by the glare when you took off beside me.

Is the Leslie Holden skin supposed to be pure white?

That was how it showed up

Does everyone in Adelaide fly white airplanes or just Leslie Holden (and you, of course)????

And do the Adelaide Crows wear white as well?

Congrats on your kill



HT

HotTom
Actually it should have been Red perhaps there is something to add to make it show up in Multiplayer. From memory a lot of the a/c at Parafield were white but not quite that intense.

Cheers
Lfox

As have been stated many times, custom skins wont work in multiplayer if others dont have same skins (your plane will be totally white to players that havent installed that skin).

As I stated at the beginning of this post.
"Please note these skins will NOT show up in multiplayer! I advise you do not use them in multiplayer because no one else will see them. They will just be all white."

I guess he skipped the very first page and what I wrote. Tisk tisk. Shame on you for not reading the instructions. LOL!

If you want to try these skins online, read this post.
http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2881023/rof_tools_de_Skinsharing_Tool.html#Post2881023

Updated more weathered.
Ltn. Busso von Alvensleben Rocourt. June 1918
Download. http://www.mediafire.com/?kvigv2nmul3

MM, your skins are beauties!

Thx!

HT

Thanks again everybody!
I have a new one. Everyone remembers this guy for his famous DR1. Did you know he had a DVII also?
Fokker D.VII 365/18
Ltn Josef Jacobs
JAFU, Jasta 7
June 1918

Download. http://www.mediafire.com/?ttjqmme2dq5

No love for the Allies?

>sniff<

I kid, nice looking skins MusicMan!

What, you didn't see the Kitty-In-The-Ring skins?

The jaunty tilt of the hat is quite inspired, but the "kitty?"

Not so much...

Latest skin looks a little too clean, MM. That very dark black appears to have stripped all the detail from the texture.

I do love the new skin's but, they are starting to have an artificial look to them for some reason. They do not seem to match the look of the original planes have in the presentation.

The yellow striped DIIIa is right on in looks.

IMHO.

Just for the record, I can't do anything in skin artwork.

Originaly I had it weathered and textured different. For some reason when I converted it to DDS and be in game it looked too grainy. Just wasn't right. Udets came out great cause it was red but doing this in black caused some problems. I ended up starting with a clean slate with smooth textures. Beleive me, I went back and forth on this one. One idea I played with a little is the alpha channel. With some more testing I can help it out some.
I wasn't going to upload this one yet but put it up as is. Just pretend that Jacob just got done painting it and it's still wet. LOL!
I like doing German skins cause there is so many options. I'll probably udate this one but after that I'm waiting for the DR1 to come out.
Keep the suggestions and ideas comming. That's what it's all about. Cheers!

I agree with the others.

...and to be quite frank, I do not like critisising others' work (even constuctivly) when it's a whole lot better than I can do - since I can't do it at all...

...but is there a way to just make black a really dark grey or something?

like before with the bumblebee Pfalz, when the black is so...well, black, that the skin loses much of the texture details, the whole aircraft loses alot of its appeal. (in my humble opinion)

Nice work though Musicman!

p.s. I would venture a guess that there is no luv for the Entente machines as they're so much more "conservative" in their paint schemes.

Black is very hard to do mostly because it should not be black but shades of grey...All black takes away detail and looks like a void rather than an object. I did a few black planes for wwi sims and they were really tough and never did look quite right.

The black on the original plane was faded to shades of grey for sure and the whites were probably cream colored after a few days in the sun. Try streaking the grey or varying its shades on the plane so it looks weathered.

Good to see someone doing these planes,,your Fokker was the best and looks just right.

Some details of a painting that may help you weather a black airplane.



WW-1 Art

Here is a rule I always followed,,,never use the full tint of a color,,,always desaturate the color,,a full color will look too vivid and fake on a pc screen.

An easy way to desaturate any color including black is to reduce the contrast of that color until it looks natural..I used Paint Shop Pro and went into color tool and clicked contrast down until it looked about right.

With most colors on planes I misted over the finished panel with spray tool using a very light mist of a shade or two off from the base color. I set the tool to mostly transparent so very little color was in the mist..Mist it in varying degrees and even use streaks of mist. Also the spray tool can be set to a fine splatter look that makes a subtle texture.

I've been working on it. Thanks for the input.
Faded, weathered, dirty, textured. See how this one is.
Download. http://www.mediafire.com/?tlytidzjm2z

Much nicer, good one.

Thanks man. I think this one will do for now.

That's not weathering!

Fokker Triplanes and early D.VII's were painted using a great big brush and a tin of olive paint. The paint was drawn over the finished surface until the brush was dry, then it was re-dipped in the paint and started again. This gives the streaky camouflage on the aircraft. Field repaints were done with thin washes of colour over the top (to keep the weight down) so the original paint often showed through. The picture above shows the streaky olive-on-natural-linen camouflage showing through the overpainted black.

Now, Jacob's D.VII, No 365/18, was from the early batch with streaky camouflage on the fuselage so it's fine. The wings would have been lozenge fabric no matter what the fuselage. There is a suggestion that they were initially left unpainted, before the whole aircraft was painted black.

The fact that I know this stuff may qualify me as a nerd.

Cheers,

RD.

Yes, you got it! Very nice.

..... and yes RD, I know that. Just trying to give and idea here. Cheers.

I thought you'd have known, smart lady!

Cheers,

RD.

Oooh, Masaq discovered nasty glitch in skins.

If the name of the skin is too long it will show fine in the selection windows but in game will be the bog standard all white no skin look. Shortening the name fixed it.

I don't know the character count that causes this, btw.

You guys are too much fun!
Yes long names will mess up your ingame with white skins. I try to keep mine short and sweet. All have been tested before I ship em out.
Other problems can be spaces or caps.

Your blacks look great now,,,good job.

The fact that I know this stuff may qualify me as a nerd.

You think so? Christ, as a teenager I used to paint things called 'Gamesworkshop' Citadel lead Miniatures (Fantasy Dragons and such like) so you have nowt on me lol. Nice little hobby, and it kept me off the streets, and out of Durham Jail. You think I'm kidding? I grew up in 'Walker' lol...Never mind. I am now 33 however and those days are long gone. Hmmmmm....might have a crack at this skinning lark, never bothered with IL-2 either.

A nerd you may be Nick, but yee be a learned Nerd. Gets my vote everytime and you learn something new everyday.....Thanks for the info!

Mark, I spent some years in my youth painting minatures for Dungeons & Dragons, so I can match your nerdiness - and raise you an elf and a frost giant.

I never got into skinning in IL-2, but the possibilities with RoF are much more exciting. There aere some really good paint jobs to have a go at. The D.VII should be a good place to start because the fuselage sides are flat so there's no distortion as the map gets wrapped round the 3D shape. I've got the two Osprey books on D.VII Aces which have a lot of colourful schemes. I might scan some profiles and put them up in a new thread for inspiration. Neoqb are supposed to be releasing templates soon, so maybe that will be a good time to start. I guess Gimp (free) or something like Paintshop Pro (not so free) will be needed.

Cheers,

RD/NickM

+1 on painting D&D miniatures!

Nerd qualification.

Still got all my wargame minis from over thirty years in the hobby (how could I ever part with them after all that painting time)!

On the black Fokker D.VII skin, another technique to add realism, would be to overlay it on top of a default skin when texturing, like the included "factory-fresh" lozenge scheme, and "erase" with a very low setting some of the top skin's texture, exposing the underneath skin base at times (especially at the wear points, like on the leading edges, and around the cockpit area due to "handling", etc). The principle here, is to give the overpaint scheme the look that it's actually painted over the underlying colors/patterns.

You are exactly right. Now that the DR1 is coming out there will be allot of overlay cause the DR1 had very noticeable streaky paint.
I'm so happy this plane is finnally on it's way, I can't control myself!

That's for sure Musicman, especially since the Fokker Dr.I makes such a great canvas with all the historical paint schemes available for it!

The last stuff I was experimenting with before I got involved with KOTS/ROF was adding the look of canvas to my skins. I wasn't totally successful, but I was thinking on the order of conveying the materials that WWI aircraft were made of, and trying to portray the look of linen in my skinning. Today, with these newest sim engines, and with surfaces able to reflect light and better convey the look of metal, varnished wood, and doped linen, the work of indicating these different types of materials texturally becomes much easier. I would have liked to have seen how the technique would have appeared, like the following examples I did for OFF Phase 2 for instance, but within the hgh-fidelity rendering environment of ROF.

Samples of my Fokker Dr.I "canvas" and "metal" texturing attempts, and the technique as used for making things like squadron insignia game art, with fabric weave and folds included (similar detailing we're seeing done nicely on the recent ROF Camel skin):

+1 on painting miniatures

For me it wasnt D&D Miniatures, it was 1/72nd scale planes for a fun-filled little miniatures version of Rise of Flight. It wasn't the 1/144th scale lead planes (too small) but very similar.

It was like playing Richthofen's War but without the limitations of a board and hexes.

Fun Stuff!

Brian, small world!

I started off with plastic 1/72nd scale too, moved down to 1/285th (CinC WWI planes), and finally back up to 1/144th scale.

(apologize for the temporary hijack)

One of our game days:





My Minis!

I'll see your collective D&D minis, 1/72nd scale planes and Citadel minis and raise you a set of Doctor Who and GHQ minis!

Very nice job on the aircraft FlyRetired. I did some 1/72nd planes for Blue Max years ago but I think yours look better I did however construct some 3D bases using extendable walkie talkie antennae and flex straw elbows for altitude, pitch and roll.

Back OT though, very nice work Musicman. Keep up the good job. The improvement in your black is like night and day!

Anybody good with Paint Shop Pro? What I want to do is extract the default aircraft skins. I simply cannot separate the parts that I want to skin from the parts that I do not. The pieces literally run into each other.

Any tips?

I'm okay with PSP. Wether or not i'm good, i let decide other people.

I'm still waiting for "fresh" templates, because i don't want to reskin the shemes used in ROF right now.

I don't have any problem with the plane-parts though, i think it's pretty easy to distinguish, atleast most of them.

I love those "minis" BTW.

Back in the day, i had some 1/72 WW1 planes, probably have to do a search if i still have them.

I'd love to learn how to skin!!

...anyone know if my Adobe Photoshop Elements would work?

Like ROF's ME - it looks too intimidating at initial inspection to learn. So I still have no clue how to use the software.

How do you upload skins to the Jasta 99 skin sync thingie? I wouldn't mind loading my personal skin up there. I am a huge The Birthday Massacre fan, so I made a TBM themed DVII. =)





Here is a video, including the TBM Skin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7X04PEg6Kw

I don't know if Paint Shop Pro supports "Layers", but I imagine it probably does.

What you need to do is use the available selection tools to outline the area you want to skin. It can take time and be very fiddly - you usually end up spending a lot of time at max level of zoom, going around little bumps and such.

When you've got the part selected, create a new layer and do one of two things:

1) Cut the selected part of the texture out and paste it into the new layer; allowing you to only edit the wing or whatever part it is you've highlighted.

or

2) Fill the new layer, within the selected area, with any of the changes you want to make - overlaying them over the existing skin.


A quick example is available here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OmIn1Y49qQ





You need to ask Longarth over at RoF-tools.de for upload permission. He'll allow one member per Clan/Community/Squadron to upload 7 skins per aircraft on behalf of clan/squadmates. He'll also probably ask to see the skins you wish to upload before hand - any skin you upload will be automatically downloaded by a couple of hundred people, so it has to be worth including if that makes sense...

Sounds silly but you gave me the clue that I need. What I have to do is make a rectangular selection around the part first, then promote that part to a layer. Within that rectangular selection will be things that I do not want to include. Now I can work on the layer and delete segments that do not form the desired part.

Thanks.

Yup, that's the exact process I use, more or less. Some changes I'll paint directly onto the original skin (like painting over squad numerals/ident marks, for example - clone brush straight over them, but any time I'm doing something entirely new to a part of the aircraft and don't want to meddle with other areas- layer masks keep things clean

Glad it helped.


Mas

Here is a fictional Pfalz DIII I made. Its in Hungarian colors.

Another skin I made is an Albatros DIII in the colors of Godwin Brumowski Austrian Ace.

Looking for a bit of help.....

I'm using win7 64bit and photoshop cs4 but I have a problem. I extracted the dds files from ROF using the unGTP utility and that worked just fine.

Next I went to nVidia's site and downloaded the photoshop plugin current version (8.23.1101) and installed it. Apparently, it installed ok. I checked in the photoshop plugins > File Formats folder, and there I found the dds plugin.

I then went to open one of the newly extracted ROF dds files. Photoshop opens up and cheerfully declares that it could not complete my request because it is not the right kind of document.

Uuhh, What?? I thought the nvidia DDS plugin for photoshop was supposed to open DDS files in photoshop.

Can anyone shed any light on this please? It may be incompatibility with 64bit O.S, or I may need other tools I'm not aware of etc, or I may simply have installed the thing incorrectly, but I have been through the install routine a few times now and can't see anything untoward.

Any helpful suggestions gratefully received. Thanks.



Update:

Ah well,it seems that nvidia's plugins don't work with the latest photoshop. Looks like I'll have to downgrade in order to mess with dds files.

Yeah, probalem is probably that you're opening the 64-bit version of Photoshop, which cannot use the DDS plugin (which is compiled for 32-bit only, IIRC).

There should be a 32-bit executeable for Photoshop CS4; run that rather than the default

The plugin works fine for me in CS4-32.


Regards,


Mas

Download the DXTBmp tool here. http://fly.to/mwgfx/

This is what I use and I also have a 64 bit system.
Run the program and you can select your editing paint program through it.
What it does is converts DDS to BMP to edit and then you can put it back to DDS when done.

Hey, that's cool!

So I could use the DXT tool, work the skins in Gimp, then put them back into DDS format?

Thanks guys.

Masaq, yeah I tried the 32-bit exec too, but got no joy there either. Not sure what's up with that.

Musicman, that's cool. I'll try the DXTBmp tool. If it works It will be better than having two versions of photoshop taking up space. Thing is - I've sort of got used to CS4 now and quite like it but if CS3 is the only solution for this issue then I might stick with CS3.

Thanks again for the help.

This tool DXTBmp, you can use any photo/paint app you want to. I use PSP pro myself. You can use windows paint if you wanted to. LOL!
Make sure when you save the file back in game as dds, that you save as dds dxt5.

Rgr that Musicman. BTW, 1st class skins of yours. Top stuff, especially that Ernst Udet one

Thanks Rivet!
There is allot of first class skinners out there that are doing way better than me. Most of mine I didn't spend much time on so they're not as good as could be.
I'm going to lay off for awhile. Might do a few Dr1s when I get it. Probly Ricthofens 152/17 but I'm not putting many up unless they're top notch. If they get some more of these bugs fixed with next patch, I can spend time playing instead of painting.

Testing out the Dr1 paint.
Would anyone be interested in this one?
MvR 152/17

Looks really wonderful!

IMHO ... I would tone the red down a little. More transparent, red pigment at the time did not hide under colors so well. So the green streakiness would show thought.

Love the weather effect around the crosses, do the same to the red over the green and the rudder, then you will have it.

I would love her.

The red should be a tad thinner, methinks - the custom paintjobs would be a wash over the doping, and the weight of thick paint would be pretty considerable. A thin wash would be much more likely - the grain of the wood or canvas just showing through is the effect you're looking for, I think.

Ideas noted. Thanks.
It was just a first attempt. The red is actually from the in game MVR 425. What I think I'll do is start with the stock Dr1 and paint/wash over it and see what effect it has. Another thing is I've seen two versions of this kite. One with the fuse red matching the sides and the one I did here with top fuse red up to the back of cockpit.
I'll keep posting pics here keeping you updated till I get it right.
Thanks again for the input.

Second attempt.

Oh yes!

Looks just right!

D/L link anywhere? I'd love to add it to the Dr I skins.

Cheers,

RD

Wanted to make sure it was excepted. LOL! It will be on first page sometime today. I might post my personal black and yellow one too. It came out real nice.
Have to finnish fixing my truck today. Real life issues. Bummer!

Interesting question about the transperancy of the field paints. I posted this question at the Aerodrome and so far the thinking is yes the markings and camo did show through. I also looked at many of the top illustrators profile of the red painted planes and most of them show a slight transparancy.

I might have to dust off the brushes and paint a few myself, lol,,maybe not.

The best results for me anyway, is to use the default skins and use a bucket fill overlay as to not cover up the details of the original. Getting the colors right for in game is another matter.

MvR's 152/17 is up for grabs.

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?mmjzjyzjmkj

Some nice skins you guys are making.

I opened some up, and everything looks good, but there is a checkerboard pattern over everything that I can't seem to get rid of.

I've done quite a few IL2 skins and some skinning for some mods in other games, but can't figure this one out. Might be that I'm using Gimp now, when I used to use photoshop.


These skins are quite large files, how do you guys think that will work when custom skins are allowed online?

-Edit

My thought of the "transparency" of the paint, is that paint is heavy. The more you put on, the more your plane weighs and the less performance you get. Nobody wants to get shot down because their paint job is too fancy.

How & where do these install???

Using the MvR plane above as an example, open up the file and you should see a folder called "graphics".
Extract that to your "Rise of Flight\Data" folder.
The end result should be a file named "MvR15217.dds" located at "\Rise of Flight\data\graphics\skins\fokkerdr1".

Now you should see that skin available in game.

I like the MvR one better now, great job.

Here is another interpretation of Ltn. Ernst Udet's Dr.1 different from the in sim one. Pretty cool too!

How about a try at this one?

Useing the one that came with game as a starter, could be done. I've never seen this one before.
Somewhere I read that the ingame Udet plane was from Hans Kirschstein Jasta 6 Fokker 586/17. Anyone care to share some light on this?

... one cannot get any better info then from the master himself.

Cheers.

Many thanks...more to do instead of work!!!

New skin of Udet will be in works tomorrow. I think.

Looks like fun and should look good in game.

Awesome !

Groovy!

I've got the Osprey book on the Dr I which has some great-looking paint schemes. I'll try and scan some and put them up tomorrow.

Cheers,

RD.

Be very careful, that book has a lot of inaccuracies in it, specially the color references. WindSock Data files are very good.

*Nerd moment*

I've also got the Windsock Profile on the Dr I and Richthofen's Circus, as well as the Alex Imrie and Paul Leaman's books. I'll dig them all out if I can find them and get the best ones posted (builders in at the moment so house is upside down).

Cheers,

RD

PS - my house is older than the USA. But after this week the staircase won't be.

Hey RD, just noticed you are in the same town. Georgian town-house?

I put some more skins up on page one. Injoy!

Womanfly. I started on your plane will take some time but I'm on it.

Awesome! Should look really great in game.

Many thanks MM.

womenfly2,
This is what I have. Could do better with it. It was somewhat of chore to do.
What I do for some people. I tell ya. Who would want to fly a plane like this anyway?

That looks great MM!

I know you have a ton of things on your plate, I hope you don't mind if I make a very small request. It is one that I think will be really easy...

Other then Dart's Hello-Kitty in the Ring, the N.17 has got very little love from skinners. I usually fly it with RFC roundels, but I would really like one done in drab.



That image is supposed to represent a "speculative" Albert Ball scheme based on marking practices for No.60 Sqn at the time. I am not looking for a Ball skin, just a default drab RFC one. (of course if you wanted to do a Ball one in addition that would be nice lol). In text it describes the scheme as:

"finished in French Olive Drab upper surfaces and Clear Doped Linen undersurfaces"

Anyways, like I said I know you probably have a long to-do list for skins, but if this could be added somewhere to the list I would be very appreciative.

Thanks,
S!

I would probably take on the task but I never bought the N17 so I can't paint it.

LOL yeah I can see that would make it tough.. thanks anyways

WOW!

That is really awesome there MM. Thanks for doing her. I can see Udet having this paint scheme, he was a very flamboyant man and was very competitive specially in the presents of MvR and Voss.

Now where can I down load her?

Cheers.

Hi I'm new here. I've just posted this over at ROF site. Thought you might like it here too.
I've always wanted to do a skin and thanks to help from here I've now done my first. I'm an illustrator and photographer by profession and through this I've got to know a pilot of the 'Great War Display Team' and I've used some of these shots to put a skin together of their Dr1.

The GWDT has a Fokker Dr1 built by John Day and it replicates Fokker Dr.1 403/17. This aircraft was flown by Ltn Johann Janzen [13 victories] of Jasta 6, of JG1. He eventually became Staffelfuhrer (leader) of Jasta 6, and survived a crash-landing, when the control wires of his Triplane were shot away in combat.

Apart from some hand painting I decided to use areas of the photos actually in the skin to add extra realism as I prefered the hand washed painted look of the body and wings. I've added below a few of my snaps for comparison. I had great fun doing this, so I'll have a think on another to do.























If you want to download it you can find it here:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/dyzkjzwjtny/DBJJanzen.dds

Alot of GREAT work being done here!!

...like missions, I'd reccommend a SKIN TOPIC up there with the missions and tech support.

Looks great. Very nice addition!

Cheers,

RD.