Today we’re going to learn how to do skinning in LOMAC, and we’ll start with
the Su-33. To get started, you will need these:
• Adobe Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro
• Template of your aircraft (whichever it may be)
• Time
Starting off with the above image, we have the aircraft above. We’ll assume you have a working knowledge of Adobe Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro. Right now the aircraft is in an “unpainted” state, i.e. really nothing but the generic aircraft lines that make it an airplane, or other than 3D model anyways. So then we’ll figure out some kind of pattern to do for this tutorial. For this one, to keep it simple, we’ll give it a rather generic pattern in order to get the basics down and then go into more “advanced” stuff as it goes along. So since I mainly do ground attack missions and I like winter, I’ll do a generic winter scheme.
First off we’ll open the “L” file, which in order to get great resolution, Eagle Dynamics made two files. Since the original files were 512 x 512, we’ll resize them to 1024 x 1024. So this is what we have above, two 1024 x 1024 files. Due to modeling, you can increase it so far up to 2048 x 2048, or “high res” which makes a lot of skins impressive. 1024 x 1024 in my opinion is “medium res” while the original ones are “low res”. Anyways, let’s open the file. First thing though, we’re going to change the opacity
of the “Lines” layer to 20%, which when it comes down to it, helps, not hinders the skin.
At this point, the lines are pretty much invisible, so we’ll add a grey layer so we can see them:
Now we’ll start with a cheap, easy pattern:
As you can see, the camo is covering the panel lines. You’ll also notice that I’m going for a more “standard” look, which shows a single color underside, versus the wraparound camo patterns. So we’ll move the layer down:
Much better, now we don’t have to mess with the color too much. Now we’ll just add another layer, the underside and another shade of grey to complement the white, and a shot in the sim:
As you may notice, the “-L” file handles the wings, tailfins, and ventral fins, as well as the forward fuselage and nose area. This is readily apparent from the color and the opacity of the lines. Next we’ll move on to getting the nose to a standard Russian white, and add white tailcaps to the aircraft:
Let’s say there’s a few hints here… but as a personal preference, when making generic camouflage patterns like this, I prefer a Soft brush over a Hard one anyday.
Reason being is a Soft brush seems to “melt” the camo pattern on, while the Hard just throws it on there, but is good for filling in spots though. It takes some experience to figure out what works for you, and after that it’s all cake:
As you can see, it’s starting to show some shape of being a combat aircraft. It should be noted a lot of trial and error should be applied to making a skin. Since we’re on the “-L” side, we’ll add the other details that came with the original skin. Layers are very important for when you are doing skins. They determine what you can, and cannot do within the limits that ED has for us. It’s in all sense of the word as again, trial and error. Normally your “Details” (what I call it anyways) should be on the top part of the layer, consequently they will go on top of your camo pattern as those are usually best left alone, unless you are doing some custom work on it. You’ll also notice that we’ve added the “Stickers” layer, which has all the normal warnings and other informational stickers associated with a complex fighter aircraft.
As you can see, we’re missing the detail in the cockpit, but that’s on the “-R” file, as well as the engine textures. Never fear, we’ll get there when we do, but we have to finish up the rest on the “-L” side before we move on:
Now we’ll start on the “-R” file, which comprises the main fuselage, and other parts of the aircraft, as well as the canards:
Not bad eh? Looking more and more like a plane, not just a model. Note the area near the left canard. Easy fix really. Now since it’s a cheap skin, we can just pack it up for ModMan, and put it on the web. But not all aircraft are clean. Sure when they come from the factory, but we want to add some weathering to make it “sparkle” in a sense.
Weathering in a sense is a hit or miss depending on the type of aircraft you are doing, as well as how much you really want to do. First off, the aircraft has a “glossy” look to it, which in a sense is true, but a little roughness wouldn’t hurt. In this case, I’m going to use a little tip from the Simmer’s Paintshop on creating such a layer. First you create a new layer. In Photoshop, go to your color picker, and set the RGB values respectively to 128,128, 128, which is just the basic grey:
Then now, on your new layer, bucket fill the ENTIRE thing. Don’t worry,
everything is okay. Now go to Filter>Noise>Add Noise. Select what you like, and then click OK. Right now you have a large grey layer covering the whole entire canvas. Go to your toolbar, and select that layer to be Overlay, leaving it at 100% opacity. From the bottom images, you can see the difference:
This “graininess” helps out a lot for giving a more realistic appearance in my opinion anyways. We’ll save it and check it out in the simulation:
Linear Mode
