More Dorniers

[Chris B]

...and more?

I have finished both HB-FAA and D-EKUT



Then I tried something completely different. Here's fifteen paints in one screenie - I didn't / couldn't add more - my PC started to complain :lol: Besides, any more and you wouldn't recognise them all. See if you can recognise them? And who left mip maps enabled on their paint then? :wink:



And for further enjoyment and enlightenment, I have recently posted a few more '27s, fictional as well as real world lookalikes:

Fictional New Tealand reg:



Fictional VA for a German club



Real world D-EEPJ



You've seen these?

[Admin]

I like the one that says Airplane on it

[windrunner]

Impressive collection...I was about to join the party! but then, no, these are my own colours, so, any other will get them... ;D







Why is it that GA Swiss planes look always so cool?

[Chris B]

Yerst... "Flugzeug" is deinitely calling a spade a spade! But it is a RW paint...

Hey, Windrunner - where can we get your skins? They look excellent!

Why not pay a visit to the Digital Aviation forums and let folk know what you've done . While you're there, see what has been done and what is being done...

[windrunner]

I go there (DA forums) from time to time, but no more new forums for me, or I'll have to start a manual with all my passwords and sites. ;D

Those skins are for my personnal use only, I'll never upload them and make them public. You know, I only fly planes with my own colors, with the exception of war planes.

[Chris B]

Fair enough, even if it is a shame with such good looking paint jobs.

[Chris B]

One of the things thqat has been niggling me on aircraft paints was rivets. Then i saw bumpmapping in FSX. Raised rivets look so much better in the right locations.

So it was time again, to get out the paint brushes and see what I can do to alleviate the lack of bumps for FS9.

Here's a couple of pics to show where my ideas are going. It's a bit painstaking and the scale is not yet perfect. Although I must say that the Digital Aviation approach to skins is impressive. At least the individual textures are now large enough to allow this effect.

Here's a realworld comparison:



And here's a similar area on the model:



and here on the real world D-ELVK



Now of course it's still W.i.P. but you'll get the drift of the fun iinvolved. Some comments of my own before you spot all the flaws

The rivet heads are still a tad too large of course. I had to go to the effort though to see the effect.

Panel lines need a little more emphasis but less contrast.

Alignment is still way out.

...and yet, I think that this particular plane is worth the effort.

Each "rivet layer" consists o three layers of rivets, two aligned and the top one slightly offset. The bottom layer is 50% coverage with a dab of Gaussian blur to indicate slight dimpling. I may yet edit a single dimple and give it light from the same direction to match the wing shadow.

The second layer is a "multiply" one and the third is called "Farbe ausweich" (I have a German language version of Photopaint, so I can only guess at an English name - colour separation? Windrunner?)

The top layer is moved up and left a bit and that gives the necessary lighting direction and apparent "depth" to the rivets. Do it slightly different and you end up with dimpled rivets, which may be the direction for doing countersunk ones later:



Of course there are rivetting tutorials around. Still, there are so many ways to skin a cat, I thought I'd try something "my way". I'd welcome further comments and suggestions for sure, but most of all I would welcome vector graphic textures instead o bitmaps Now that would change the face of painting for sure.

[windrunner]

It's coming along nicely, and it's a real patience proof. When ready, I'd like to add those rivets to my paints...hehe.

BTW, what's that FSX bumpmapping?

[Chris B]

If you take a look at the Beaver in FSX, you'll see the rivets with a raised appearance. Take a look at the textures and you'll see two extra sheets per skin - specular and bumpmap.

Bumpmap adds depth to textures. Exactly ho this works is still a bit of a puzzle to me, but it does look like we painters now have two extra texture sheets to "muck around with" when we repaint an FSX plane.

[windrunner]

Thanks Chris, my FSX is still at the holding pattern, may be, I'll install it today, just to see what's been changed. BTW, does the Do 27 work fine in FSX?

And one more thing, once you've done all your way around rivets, I'd like you to write a thread explaining step by step how to do it. It'll be a sticky, for sure. Think about it and let me know.

Grüsse!

[Chris B]

OK, I'll think about it...

As for the DO in FSX - I haven't tried yet.

I know there were bound to have been a few horrified comments when you saw my "work in progress" shots concerning the rivets. After all, they did look rather "meccano-ish" - too large etc.

Don't panic! Read the Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy...

Anyway - I have "dumbed down the rivets" and made them more appropriate. Here's the left hand side. (Right is done too, now)

[sgtmajor]

Chris............. as always my friend,

You Da Man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Smile)

Best wishes,