Im a bit stuk im using GIMP 2 to make a EAF P39 skin i have got red and white spinners, more will be added and shark mouths if people request them. All i need to know is what font are the squadron id letters on the side and what HTML notation e.g 0b2c03 are the brown and green if thats the cam i should use. Any help to make my first skin would be much appreciated cheers.
Aceman Swoop has got a P39 skin that he did for 19 to use in EIF im sure he would let you have a copy.
And all your resources for VVS aircraft are here…
What graphics program do you use? I’ve got Paintshop Pro 9, and for the lettering I use a macro, or script, that first flips then mirrors the selected object. Use it to quickly reverse ID codes, serial numbers etc., for the other side of the aircraft.
Well i’ve never got my head around skinning and i doubt i ever will, but with such a fine bunch of artists throughout every EAF squadron thankfully there will never be a need for me to master it 
I’ll stick to making missions/templates, flying and keeping up the fine reputation of the EAF 
Ive made a basic 19sqn p39. i will post it up later for consructive critasism since its my first one.
Having a few problems with gimp, ive finished the P39 skin and put it in the correct folder. But when i try to use my skin it wont show up in the game. The skin is 1024 x 1024 and saved as a bmp, any suggestions
Whatever you use to work on it (generally 16 million colours) you need to save it as a 256 colour 1024x1024 .bmp file. Anything other than 256 colour (ie. 1 megabyte) won’t be recognised by Il2.
To get the best conversion, a lot of people work in 16 million colour, then convert to 256 colour using a utility called Bright (command line version) or Brighter (Windows GUI version). I don’t have it to hand, but someone will have the link for that if you want it.
Check this post out Aceman.
http://www.europeanaf.org/forum/showthread.php?p=27412#post27412
Links to Bright and Brighter. Better approximation for your colours during the conversion which reduces the amount of pixellation.
Cheers guys for your help, well here it is. Critisism is needed its my first one and im learning. No comments about the cornish flag its me in that plane, The Cornish Liberation Army have commandered swoops P39
Critisism is needed its my first one and im learning.
That’s pretty good for your first one - You’ll spot worse used online. 
As you asked for criticism I’d perhaps mention about the opacity (darkness) of the panel lines and maybe they need toning down a touch. I think they’re a touch on the heavy side. I’ve never used gimp so I don’t know if it supports layered templates which will allow you to do this.
I’ll point at Hammerd’s skins which for me are the benchmark for realism.
Now you’ve started skinning which is the hard part, you’ll spot techniques and styles online - then there’s no stopping you.
I’ve never used gimp so I don’t know if it supports layered templates which will allow you to do this.
It does
I can not say I like GIMP, but there are things GIMP does that I can not do in either of PSP or PhotoShop.
Aceman, that’s a good start, I’d just echo Keets, so I’ll leave it there
I’ll just leave you with a link: http://www.simmerspaintshop.com
Certainly better than my first one You have made a good job of the ID letters and markings, nice and clear, I always found those tricky myself.
Definitely look at the tutorials around, but try this as an experiment. Make a copy of your panel lines and make one set darker, the other set lighter. Offset them by one pixel each direction to give a 3D effect. Do the same for rivets, and play around with the shades and the opacities.
Oh, and if you are going to be making a lot of skins, you’ll need to give up work, get a divorce, lock yourself in a little room 24 hours a day…:rolleyes: