Using the Panel Finder Tool

Many people have downloaded and used my Panelfinder over the last couple years, and ocassionally there is some question as to how best use this tool. Hopefully this article will provide some guidance.

Firstly, the most basic part of using the panel find is loading it up as a skin in IL2/FB. The download is provided in the proper format to load in to IL2/FB immediately. Just put the panel finder into the folder of the plane you need help on, and select that skin and run a quick mission. Take a look at the trouble area, and see if you can find the colors and hopefully numbers showing on the part. Also look to see if there are any dotted lines or divider lines/boxes visible to help locate the area. Take note of any details, preferably take a few screenshots of the part while the panel finder is on the plane for future reference without reloading the game.

Now, come back into your paint program and load up the screenshots you took. These will be your reference when comparing to the panel finder.

The easiest way to compare the panel finder to the skin you are painting is to add the panel finder directly into your skin PSD as a new layer. Now by simpy toggling the panel finder layer on and off, you can direcltly spot the area where the hidden part is close to. Here's an animation showing the panel finder layer hiding and showing, with the example red box illustrating the area I might be looking for on each.



Now, most certainly there are some parts which will just be too small or oddly mapped to be findable with the panel finder. For these parts, you'll have to use trial and error, but at least you'll be close to the right place.

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