painting Cesnna 172 Flight One FSX

[kermit]

Hi.
I`d like to try painting the Cessna 172 from Flight One ,
But I have no clue how to start
Whats the best paintprogram ,
can I fit a picture on/in the plane?
Can I put my own registration on the plane and the cockpit.
I`m using FSX and win Xp
greetz

[No Longer Active]

Speak to Ronson2k9 on here as I know that he does alot of re-paints. Although I haven't seen him on here for a while.

[Ronson2k9]

I''m still about. Just been busy moving in to new apartment myself.

I'm not sure what format flight one uses (extended bitmap or DXT)? If DXT then you will first need to convert to extended bitmap to repaint (you can convert back afterward). It's not to hard to do the repaint though once you have converted. First try to find a repaint kit for the aircraft. If you're using Carenados Cessna172N then it's extended bitmap.

Paint Kits including the C172N => scroll down to the bottom of the page
http://www.carenado.com/ecommerce/links.php3

Then you will need this free/donation ware. (DXTBmp). This will let you open the Extended Bitmap file and let you send it to your Graphics Editor.
http://www.mnwright.btinternet.co.uk/programs/dxtbmp.htm

With the Extended Bitmap the Alpha (transparency) layer is encoded in the bitmap. That's why you need the above program to handle your texture file.
In the setup you select your graphics editor to work with. It doesn't have an editor built in.

Then there are a few procedural things you need to do.

1 - Make a copy of your Paint Kit and rename it to what you want to call your texture file. Usually the aircrafts Serial or 'N' number? but it's up to you so long as you know it's your new textures. Make a note of the file names that come in the kit as these are the ones you will be working with.

2 - With the Carenados aircraft paint kits you get the files you can edit. There could be other texture files that don't come in the kit that are standard with all the C172N's These need to be copied from an existing aircraft texture file you have for you C172N.

Then your ready to begin.

1 - Load up one of your Paint Kit texture files into DXTBmp and take a look. You will note many of the major parts of the aircraft. Fuse Wings and so on. His paint kits are well detailed and already have shading and so on so no need to make new shadows. When you have an idea where you want to start your paint job. Export that file to your graphics editor using the EXPORT in DXTBmp. This will open your editor with your texture file loaded up.

2 - It's good idea to use LAYERS. So starting with a new layer start your repaint. It's a good idea to have a different layer for each color you want to put on your plane. This will make adjusting/moving them about a bit easier. As each layer only has the one color you can adjust as needed (without effecting the other colors).

Tip: When painting in layers you can set the visibility (transparency) of the layer. You will want to keep them a bit transparent as the shadows/body work (below on your paint kit BOTTOM layer) won't be visible if not. So you have to keep this in mind as you paint.

3 - When your done will need to save. Let the program save with the name it started with (exported file name from DXTBmp). It will want to FLATTEN the layers you have on (make sure that the painted layers you want to see on your aircraft you can see before you save (VISIBLE - to the degree you want them to be). Then let it do that. Then you will need to IMPORT that file and save it again in DXTBmp for use in FSX. This will preserve the transparency.

4 - Save a few different versions of your repaint as you go so you can go back if you get stuck. Believe me it saves the pain of having to start fresh if you mess up.

For a graphics editor you can use PSP (Paint Shop Pro) or GIMP (freeware Graphics Editor)

http://www.oldversion.com/Paint-Shop-Pro.html <= Paint Shop Pro Free Evaluation Editions
http://www.gimp.org/ <= Gimp 2.6

You can also use Photoshop if you have it.

It's not a cake walk but it's not rocket science either. I'm not sure what graphics software you're using but what ever you're comfortable in is best. If you email me with the details/questions I'll do my best to help.