AG 103rd Sand Sharks: Fictitious US Apache Squadron Livery Pack

by Koder (Amoeba Games)

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.