# AG 103rd Sand Sharks: Fictitious US Apache Squadron Livery Pack
by Koder (Amoeba Games)

#### Introduction:

Thank you for downloading this skin pack! I appreciate your interest in my work. This project both started and ended completely by accident. To set the context, I find many of the default skins to be a little too clean. As a case study, I wanted to see if I could use plastic scale model painting techniques, like pre- and post- shading, airbrushing, weathering, chipping and rust, grime, oil and grease streaking, etc., in a digital world, to create something one might consider hyper- or photo-realistic. I approached it from the perspective of a scale model builder, not a 3D texture painter, and had to come up with some clever ways of reproducing those techniques I have been using for years in the real world in a convincing way.

This skin pack contains the efforts of my 90+ hours of first finding, then meticulously hand painting virtually every surface of this bird (including rocket and missile pods, as well as the 230 gal fuel tank), before some catastrophic dumbassery happened. The master files with all of the weathering layers, editable numbers, etc., which I intended to release as a reusable template for any color Apache skin you could possibly want to create, was accidentally deleted, both from disk, as well as from the recycle bin. Therefore, I can no longer make edits to the master files, generate new tail numbers, etc. meaning these bad boys are as done as theyre getting. Every attempt was made to make the textures seamless, but there are some minor areas that were not "completed" in my mind, but alas, they are set in stone. I hope you enjoy them! -Koder

#### Project Overview:

So... I have really been enjoying the Apache. I typically enjoy flying maps where sandy paint schemes seem more appropriate (Syria, Persian Gulf, even NTTR). Since ED released the Apache template, and I recently learned that I should be using ModelViewer 2 to test my skins as I paint them (saving me countless hours!), I felt like the alignment of all of the forces in the Universe, made this a great candidate for my case study and to help me refine my skin painting process flow as a whole.

I needed a concept for the skin. After some thought, I decided I wanted to use a shark insignia of some type (but did not want to do a cliche shark mouth around the front of the aircraft). Being from New Jersey, where we have plenty of them, I landed on the name "Sand Sharks", and after some research to determine the number wasnt in use, the 103rd Aviation Unit, a fictitious Apache squadron, operating in Syria and the Persian Gulf, was born. I settled on a warm tan color to use as the base and set it as the background color for all of the textures that would be referenced by my skin. I changed the color for all of the stenciling as well, and added the editable tail and front identification numbers.

I found a royalty-free illustration of a shark flexing his muscle, and thought "103rd" would look cool as a tattoo. I recolored the image to make it fit the color scheme and added it to the engine shoulders, and the Pilot and CPG right shoulder patches. This created the basic clean version, then it was on to weathering.

#### Download:

I invite you to check out the gallery below. However, if you just want to jump to the download section so you can grab the skins, click the button below.

Jump to Downloads

#### Gallery:

This section is just meant to feature certain areas of the aircraft that I was happiest with.

#### Download by Tail Number:

I have created ten different tail numbers in both clean and realistic (dirty) variants, for you to use however you want. These numbers all have some significant meaning to me personally, but they provide a generic way for you to have up to ten different numbers assigned to Apaches in your mission. The numbers are spread out with some grouping so it should be flexible. I tried to be mindful of your hard drive by packing each one separately. Use the links to download only the numbers you want of the realistic version, the clean version or both.

### #214

### #327

### #620

### #621

### #691

### #707

### #712

### #719

### #804

### #809

#### Installation Instructions:

After downloading the individual files, you will need to unzip them and copy their contents to the Liveries folder in your Saved Games folder (typically located in C:\Users\[YourUsername]\Saved Games\[DCS or DCS.openbeta]). If you do not have a Liveries folder there you will need to create it. Inside the Liveries folder, you will need a folder named exactly AH-64D_BLK_II. Again, if you do not have this folder, manually create it, paying close attention to the name.

Each of the AG Sand Sharks folders downloaded and unzipped above will go directly into this folder. In my case, for example, if I wanted to add #214 to my Open Beta installation, I might end up with a path like C:\Users\Koder\Saved Games\DCS.openbeta\Liveries\AH-64D_BLK_II\AG Sand Sharks - 214, which would directly contain the description.lua file and all of the related .dds texture files.

#### Customizing the Skins Further:

Given the trauma I suffered of losing almost 100 hours of work, I have taken these skins as far as I plan to for now. Should you wish to take them further, or add some variations to different numbers, I can offer you the following advice and information I learned both from the experience of this undertaking, as well as my 40+ years of building plastic scale models.

#### Tips and Tricks:

- Paint your model at the level of detail it will be viewed from. The level of detail you would paint on a model that is viewed from 4 feet away is very different than the level of detail you would paint on a model viewed from 1 foot away. This is known as Painting to Scale. Spending a lot of time painting minute details may not make sense if you cannot get the camera to zoom in far enough to be able to see them. The counterpart to that would be painting large areas with not enough detail that the color all looks uniform or cartoony. The balance in between is how you achieve the most realism, and is honestly, why I feel nearly all of the stock aircraft skins are too clean. There are some great skin artists out there, and this is what makes their work stand out.
- Sometimes we just need to represent the idea of something without actually having to paint the low level of detail. An example might be stencils that you see on an aircraft. Often, we just create the basic shape of the stencils and dont need to use real letters, but can still achieve the same effect.
- Never use a fully opaque layer. Let the colors of each layer play off of each layer beneath it. I never set a layer's opacity to a value higher than about 75% including the base color, as I usually preshade under that layer and full opacity would block the preshading layer from showing through. That's basically the whole point of preshading.
- On each layer you paint, use layer masks to isolate your painting only to the relevant area (ie specific faces of your model's geometry). Layer masks additionally provide you an easy way to reselect areas you may later be targeting (like those specific parts of your gemoetry). You can do this (in Photoshop), by holding down ctrl and clicking the mask itself in the Layers Panel.
- Do all of your painting on separate layers, and name your layers so you can easily find them. What looks good now, may not later, after you make a change. This way you can selectively turn layers on and off, or change their opacity, to get the desired effect you are going for. Spending the extra time to set your project up correctly will save you tons of time, and probably heartache, in the long run.
- Just like when painting plastic models, find a handful of brushes you like, and create your own toolbox of presets in different sizes that you can easily switch between as you paint. This entire skin pack was painted with 4 brushes in 3 sizes.
- For Adobe Photoshop (Creative Cloud) users, or other resourceful individuals, who may have found other venues for getting them, I cannot recommend the Kyle Brush Presets enough. I cannot share them here as they are the product of someone who is not me. These brushes are amazing, and are a go-to tool used by 3D texture painters across the entire industry. These brushes are free through your Creative Cloud subscription.
- Try not to come up with a formulaic method of texturing all of the parts of the model. This will cause the model to look very uniform and plain. Pick some individual panels, or panel lines and spend a little bit of extra time on those areas. Paint the model lighter on the top, and darker on the bottom, both becasue of light (including sun bleaching), and also becasue most dirt comes from below (you know, where the Earth is).
- Think about what areas would collect dirt, grime, grease, etc. and why. Think of the story you are trying to tell with your skin, and how the aircraft got the way it is.
- Always paint your weathering in the direction that air flows as the aircraft is flying or in the direction of gravity. Dirt and grime always move towards the rear of the aircraft and chipping is always heaviest on the leading edges of surfaces. Fluids typically pool and collect on the lower extents of things like access hatches, wheel struts, etc. Additionally, on areas of significant use, paint tends to wear off, or at least stay cleaner as dirt is worn off through constant contact. Think about grab handles, ladders, cockpit access points, etc. Something like a simple grab handle, for example, may be complex, as it may be worn where it is repetitively grabbed, but you may also have grime built up close to wear it attaches, or even pooled fluids on the bottom of the handle.
- Not all parts of an aircraft age and weather the same way or even last as long. It is very typical to have an old grimey aircraft with brand new panels or parts on it that may have been replaced. Your model should reflect this.
- I have included a color guide below of the colors I used when creating these skins. These colors are good for dirtying up any aircraft, as they are the colors of actual dirt, dust, grime, oil, etc. which would look the same on any aircraft. Use the colors listed in the guide, switching between Normal and Multiply paint modes on whatever brush youre using. This will offer you the ability to generate a lot of physical texture and weathering in an otherwise plain area.
- Most importantly, when painting skins for DCS, or any other 3D game for that matter, whether you are a hobbyist, or a professional 3D Texture Painter, make sure to have fun telling your story and evolving your process and workflow as you learn.

Color Guide:
This section contains the full color palette I used while painting these skins for your reference.
Sandy Base: | HTML: #A88169 RGB: (168, 129, 105) |
Dark Mud: | HTML: #7b5640 RGB: (123, 86, 64) |
Extreme Highlight: | HTML: #e7d2c2 RGB: (231, 210, 194) |
Silver Chipping: | HTML: #707070 RGB: (112, 112, 112) |
Oil Stain 1: | HTML: #302d2b RGB: (48, 45, 43) |
Oil Stain 2: | HTML: #1a1919 RGB: (26, 25, 25) |
* Remember to switch between Normal and Multiply modes with your selected brushes to layer up the effect.

brought to you by Amoeba Games
http://www.amoeba-games.com/FST
Maker of Flight Sim Tools 2022: Software tools for flight simmers by flight simmers