Heck

Thanks for all your help and tips, Wrench. I'm going to finish just a few more of these, at least one from every JG present in Baltika's BOB campaign, then I have a couple of ideas I'm going to try. I'd like to come up with a SquadronList.ini and a decal system for my BOB installation that would present every Spitfire and Hurricane squadron from 10, 11, and 12 Groups, so I'm going to have to try my hand at painting out the squadron letters on the present skins, unless someone has a template without them. After that, with Baltika's Kursk campaign, there's the 109F to start painting, and a whole bunch of East Front 109e's. Maybe some 110s too... Heck

How?

Check these out. They should cure most of your problems with addon aircraft: http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?autoc...p;showfile=7234

All the detail work; panel lines, weathering, etc., is Russouk2004. The choice of colors underneath that detail is what I did, because I can at least get my simplistic paint program to create shapes. And the decals are mine also, so at least I did something. This is not ready for Prime time, but at least I'm able to learn. Looking at the .psd, I can see how much work, effort, and pure skill some of the modders here possess. These shots are just my way of saying thanks... On my way to England for the afternoon....

Doh! Reduce by 15%! That's what I meant to say, before my brain got in the way. And yes, I culled everything I could find from SimmerPaintShop. Great resource. Gotta put these on hold for a few days, because the work week is the week from.... Heck, but I'll be back on them by the end of the week. Heck

Still updating my decal files for the white, black, and yellow numerals, but I'm having fun with this and learning a lot. So, here's some of the nine skins I'm working on. These won't be specifically "historical," since they won't attempt to represent an individual historic aircraft, but will be an attempt to show the changes during the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain. Each skin will have multiple decal.ini's so you can change Gruppe and Staffel at will. Took Wrench's advice and reworked the Gruppe symbol and numerals to a 15% transparency. Had to learn to install Photoshop brushes into Gimp to paint this. I'm going to try three different styles of overpainting. Couldn't forget the white noses. So many variations during this time period.

Bandy, for an interesting comparison, download the E-1 from Capun's Spain campaign if you can get it. I think the tail was removed to "mimic" the lack of rudder trim on this aircraft, but, and this is my personal taste, others may disagree, I think it overmodels it. So, I just copied in the aerodynamic data from Wolf's 109f for that tail and it works fine. Just don't alter the min max extents. Now my 109e swings on take off, but not excessively, and her tight gear does make her kind of wobbly, which I think it was. I'm much happier with the altered version that I fly now, and by using p10ppy's trick for removing parts I've made her into a passable E-1 (still has bulges under the wings though), which was still common in the summer of 40. I love flying prop planes in WOI. I love the departures, spins, etc., and I've even had the prop slowly stop when I ran out of fuel hassling with a mass of Hurricanes, leaving me a guest of the RAF. Definately alter her weight, tail, and engine power, and you'll see a different airplane; a light, nimble aircraft that will come close to turning with those infernal big wing RAF jobs, but miss by just a bit, which is frustrating. Just what many a 109 pilot felt during that summer. This may be just my imagination, but in her original form, she behaves like a big, heavy airplane with a huge engine pulling all that weight, much like a P-47, when the 109e was a light airplane with ample power, but a relatively small wing and high wing loading, which somewhat compromised her sustained turning ability. To me, the "altered state" just feels right... Heck

Thanks, Wrench!

With Russouk2004's permission, I uploaded the Me-109e psd file for the skin painters. I'm even going to try to paint one or two myself. Heaven help us.....

Thanks for the tips, Wrench. Forgot about the opacity of the decals. Just learning how to use Gimp, this was created using 3 programs. Don't laugh. Microsucks Picture-It, Arcsoft PhotoImpression 4, and some things in Gimp 2.47. Have to learn more about Gimp so I can utilize more of it. Maybe someday I'll be able to do the things I see in in Russo's psd, but it's going to take time. In fact, so much of this skin is his, he really gets the credit for it. I'm just the guy at the factory that put on the first coat of paint. I can't imagine how long it took for him to create that psd. It's got an awesome amount of detail in it. The terrain is Battle of Britain 1.4. I use it because it has barrage balloons all over the place which really make it look BOB. It could definately use some tree work, though. Thanks for the offer of numbers, but I've also created Red, Black, and White, using Blockschrift. I have a picture in one of my books that shows an early Me with orange numbers. Were these really used? Or is this one source just mistaken? Not only is Russo's psd a great gift to the community, for me, it's a great learning tool. Well, off to work, then some updates to the skin later. Heck

File Name: Russouk2004 Me109e template File Submitter: Heck File Submitted: 8 Sep 2008 File Category: Axis/BF-109/ME-109/Ju-87 With the very kind permission of Russouk2004, I'm uploading his psd template of the Me109e. I hope everyone will add their thanks to mine to Russ for allowing us all access to this file, even novices like myself. You're the best, Russo. Heck Click here to download this file

You know, Wrench, I just might give all this a try. It'll take some time for me, so prepare... to be horrified.... I'll pm Russo... Heck

Having great fun with the campaign, Baltika, so I'm in no hurry for the update, because I can only imagine how difficult it is to get everything to work correctly. I've brewed up a new E-3 data.ini using Russo's new E-1 as a base, because further scrutiny of the two side-by-side revealed that the only areas of the ini that change are the [Flight Control] section, the [Aircraft Data] section, the engine power, and the armament. I haven't done an exacting line-by-line comparison of all the values, but a skim inspection seems to indicate that these are the only sections that changed. I'm having a blast flying the Emil now, and I know the acute frustration of the Luftwaffe pilot who said, "There seems to be no way to nail the bastards, they can make such infernally tight turns." I can come close to matching their turns, but can't quite pull enough lead to get the sights on them. I'm going to putz around with adding mach lock to my aircraft, so their controls freeze at high speeds, which was a distinct problem for all three of these early war fighters. I wish there was a template for the Emil, because I'd like to see more BOB skins for this aircraft. I'd even try to do some myself, although my skin painting talents are non-existant. Still, it would be something new for me, although I'm sure the results will be frightening.

Fantastic instructions, p10ppy. Worked like a charm. Thanks.

When it comes to icons, I've had some luck creating them in a larger size and resolution, like 128 by 128, and then resizing them down to 32 by 32 by using the resizing function of my picture program. It seems to give slightly better quality to the image when I do it this way.

Thank you, Sinbad. Looking forward to the new skins.

The sound of an aircraft is called out in the aircraft data.ini, not the aircraft ini. For example, the F-4B_DATA.INI will have this section: [sound] EngineSoundName=JetEngine>>>>>>> This is the line you want to change AfterburnerSoundName=JetBurner DamagedEngineSoundName= FlapsSoundName=Flaps AirbrakesSoundName=Airbrakes GearsSoundName=Gear WindSoundName=WindLoop

I know nothing about this, but couldn't you add the types you want to this existing ini? Just like you can add things to the data.ini? I'm not sure if it would work, but you could always work on a copy of your terrain, and delete the file if it messed things up. Most of the ini's in the game I've found you can add things to, by copying and pasting parts of the ini back in and renaming them to call out other things. In this case I think you would have to add the items you want to the following: 1. [TextureTypeList] 2. Then add your texture type by copying and pasting one of the existing texture types then renaming it to what you use. Then add it to the: 3. [TextureMapList] remembering to number it next in line, which is what I always forget in other inis 4. And then add the bitmap callouts by copying, pasting, and renaming once again. Don't know if this will work, but if I were attempting this, this is the way I would try it. Hope this helps, Heck

I'm using Tazkiller's Sabres in WOI, and my speedbrakes are always in the closed position when I'm sitting on the runway, waiting to take off. I have to use my joystick button to deploy them, and when I do, they deploy normally, so I don't think it's a WOI problem. Could you post the speedbrake section of your dataini? Maybe someone could spot the problem. Wish I could be of more help. Heck

Definately! I've had some of my most fun missions streaking along just above the weeds in a Thud after a strike, watching the Sam launches whacking other flights and my flight members. Have to remember to tell them to rejoin sometime...

Thanks for the time you're putting in on this, OlPaint01. I'm glad you found the help you were seeking. Really looking forward to this. I knew the community would come together for you, and I'm glad to see it happening. Heck

Stigler. If you're really serious about contributing something tangible to the community, I have a request. An Me-109G6, complete with cockpit, and two detachable underwing 20mm cannon pods. It's a type missing from the WW2 collection, and a number of campaign builders would love to have this aircraft, so they can build realistic Bomber campaigns over Europe. If you're really serious about joining in, it would be an excellent place to start, and I, for one, would really appreciate a well done model of it. I hope you'll consider it. Heck

Just got it, Wrench. Thanks! Heck