Newie, skinning an oldie..... B17-2

[toast_1]

I'm new and have really enjoyed reading SPS. I've done a little bit of skinning in older sims mostly (EAW , Mig Alley, etc). Currently I'm trying to do a Bf 109 for another oldie B17-2.

I have a question . In the past I have just painted directly on skin files. Sometimes they look good, but usually not. The color I'm applying usually gets modified by the underlying background. I usually have to play with the color blends to get the right color. Is there something I'm not doing right.? Should first start wih a base color? Is it better to" layer" colors on top of a background when you have something like a .tga file?

I'm looking for some general ponters on how to start out. BTW. I use Corel Photo Paint which is similar to Photoshop.

toast

[Serval]

What file (TGA, BMP etc.) and how many colors is the final image?
The colordepth does matter mostly I think.

And it sure helps to use layers instead of drawing it all in one layer.
You can adjust things much more easy afterward or even remove them wher it doesn't work as you want.
I paint every color in the camouflage scheme on a seperate layer. I have several layers for dir, dust and weathering. Then I have several layers to create a bit of highlights and shading.

[toast_1]

Thanks Serval,
My current project is a Bf109 for the sim B17-2. In this sim the aircraft "parts" (fuselage, port wings , elevators etc) are stored in separate TGAs which can be edited. The TGAs are composed of RGB and alpha data. The RGB is 24 bit color mode.
I'm going to try experimenting with layers (btw. layers are called objects in Corel) and see how it works.

Reading through the forum I see a lot about "templates". What are these exactly? Are they redraws? or blanks for painting?

toast