1.JaVA_Platypus

Is there anything you DON'T know George???? :lol:

Thanks for the hint George, but this particular text is all in capitals. So a simple copy-paste from google won't work because they auto correct all the capitals as well. However, I could select special Polish characters like `Ł` and `Ś`in Google translate.

Well... I actually didn't know the French made any beer at all. It is probably the reason they put it in wine bottles. :lol: Anyways, I redid the text. It now reads: "PULK LOTNICTWA MYSLIMSKIEGO" With a modified "L" and "S". I also omited the extra "Y". The font I used was just plain Arial, in bold. It seems close enough. Don't worry about it being pixelated, DCS world renders most of the pixels smoothly.

Got this far on a friday evening. :music_whistling: Done while enjoying a French(!) beer

Getting started. I can't use the artwork i found so far. So I must trace over everything in Photoshop. It would be allright for skins in Il-2 sturmovik, but the DCS MiG-21 uses far more larger and more detailed textures. So something low-res as this example would look horrible on the Leatherneck MiG-21.

Wouldn't be too difficult. IF you have some more pics of the real aircraft and the biggest thing always is to get the emblem right.

Yes my polish friend, I noticed. But first, I want to get the color just right. After that, I will do the aluminum undersides and the emblems. Those are the easy things. The big eagle on the nose will be the most difficult to do. And I must do the polish writing myself as well I think. I can't borrow that from somebody else. That will also be a challenge since I don't speak any polish besides 'Tak' and 'Dobre'. :doh: :lol:

Getting the color right is the first step. How about this?

Thank you George. :) I hope they are not kill markings for US F-18's :music_whistling: Do you know everything about MiG-21's????? :D

Does anybody know what this emblem on the left side is? It looks simple, but it is too tiny to see what it is. It looks like some kind of 'kill marking' or so.

You should upload it to the user files section of the DCS world website!!

Well, I just discovered that on the left elevator, a small orange paint chip is missing... :doh: Cr@p, I hate those kind of little oversights. It doesn't look professional if you release your stuff unfinished... Version 3 will be up later today.

Version 2 is now uploaded. The DDS files now are the same resolution, (4096 X 4096 pixels) but better quality and smaller filesize (10Mb vs 8 Mb) This was achieved by using the Nvidia DDS tools.

I just tried. DXT1 filesize = 8Mb, DXT5 filesize = 16Mb. But not any significant change in quality. I do not see any improvement in quality, no artifacts on both. but a file-size that is twice as big. Why is it better? I'm new to the DDS tools for Photoshop and I want to use the settings that gives me the smallest filesizes and the best quality. Right now that seems DXT1 is the most efficient.

First brought to my attention by a helpful forum member here: http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=144444 Nvidia DDS tools. Essentialy an elaborate plug-in that allows to save directly from PSD to DDS format. Is it really any better then DXTbmp? And what are the best settings? I use these now. The image has the same resolution, but the resulting file is 8Mb instead of the 10Mb that DXTbmp has. Quality is good. I didn't push any of the buttons to change settings.

Yeah, I'll be making more of these babies. The thing is that Leatherneck promised to change the 3D models for DCS 2.0, so it can mess up any skins that currently exist.

Yes. But I don't know what all the fancy options really are. And DCS world is compressing the textures themselves as well I think, regardless of how awesome it looks with Photoshop. Will try it tough!

Okay, I will try it. I looked at the site/forum with more of the pics. But the eagle will be the biggest challenge I think.

Czech 4003 special livery Finally the skin is finished. It was made with the aid of Keefyboy's template and Leatherneck's all-grey livery. Lining up all the text and emblem was a real pain. I am glad it is finished. The aluminum was done by scanning a piece of tin foil and fliling up the outline of the little MiG in the skin. So all the small bumps and scratches are scanned and not a clever photoshop effect. It looks better then anything I've been able to achieve freehand. I used Adobe photoshop, DXTbmp and the ED modelviewer for this skin. Please read the readme. Some credits must be given: - Leatherneck Simulations: For giving us the most detailed model of one of the all time aviation classics (and their plain grey skin) - Keefyboy: For his template. - Eagle dynamics forum member "GeorgeLKMT" For his constructive critics and the emblem on the nose. I wish you many enjoyable flights and don't wreck too many of these! Download link: http://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/1432811/

Czech 4003 special livery Finally the skin is finished. It was made with the aid of Keefyboy's template and Leatherneck's all-grey livery. Lining up all the text and emblem was a real pain. I am glad it is finished. The aluminum was done by scanning a piece of tin foil and fliling up the outline of the little MiG in the skin. So all the small bumps and scratches are scanned and not a clever photoshop effect. It looks better then anything I've been able to achieve freehand. I used Adobe photoshop, DXTbmp and the ED modelviewer for this skin. Please read the readme. Some credits must be given: - Leatherneck Simulations: For giving us the most detailed model of one of the all time aviation classics (and their plain grey skin) - Keefyboy: For his template. - Eagle dynamics forum member "GeorgeLKMT" For his constructive critics and the emblem on the nose. I wish you many enjoyable flights and don't wreck too many of these! Download link: http://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/1432811/

Almost ready for upload, I spotted a nasty alignment issue at the last moment. :( It is not possible to see it in these shots I think.

Yeah, me too. And the mysterious F-18's as well. Were they flying for our side, or theirs?? :music_whistling:

Cockpit instrumentation shouldn't be affected. Try reverting back to the original textures.

If a bit higher resolution images of the emblems would exist (and pics of the other side of the aircraft!) It would be rather easy to do that livery.

I know that FSX had that kind of mechanism. Maybe you should look into how that was done?