JayRoo

Thank you all for the messages. The project will be finished one day. Just taking a break from dcs and not knowing how far i can take this for all of the other nations who fly the 16. Take care all and ill revive this thread once i start working on these again. Thanks again.

Thank you! I was wondering what happened. I was using many different templates from other skins i downloaded all with these glitchy results and thinking i was doing something wrong. Merry Xmas

Minor Update 12/18/20 I was unable to skew the side numbers enough to make them fit within the parameters that dcs sets on the side number file. The problem was when I skewed the numbers they would become too wide and would clip. The numbers on the nose of the real aircraft are quite large so it would be unrealistic to shrink them down to fit so I will end up having to create a pack file with individual tail numbers and place the numbers on the skin itself. I tried my best to make it so the player could select any number they wanted but I might as well have a seperate file in the pack which uses default non-skewed DCS numbers so people can put their favorite number or squadron number or whatever they want. Above is the clipping I was referring to with the custom numbers. Below are examples of the numbers being removed from the game and having them painted on the body: ***Now to get grinding out the 301-312 aircraft. 300 CAG will come later. I will probably release the pack in groups of 4 so people dont have to download 12 different aircraft if they only want to use 4 or 8 numbers***

Ok. Thank you for the help. That got me on the right path. The new problem I discovered is that the numbers apparently have a width limit as well, which I discovered after skewing my numbers at the angle to match the real airplane's side numbers. You can see from the following reference picture that the numbers are leaning quite a bit (I reckon about 24 degrees): So in photoshop, I was able to get all the heights to match and fit 11 times. 186px was the better number and I ended up having 2px short which I placed in the blank spot. Here's a sample: Because of the skewing, I end up with numbers which get cropped because of the aforementioned width limit. I see now why other designers just end up making a bunch of individual airplanes with side numbers painted on and their description file containing a bunch of "empties".... ***Also, dont try to dirty up the numbers. I didn't think it thru that it would be repeated with common numbers and that it might not match the planes dirt layer.***

how do you split the document into 11? The file I copied from another skin maker was 2048 pixels tall. Divided by 11 = 186.18 which cannot be snapped to or made into a box to lay on the document as guides to then place the text on. Can I change the document size to a multiple of 11 or does it have to be 2048? When you see the guide boxes i did, they are 187px tall and thus the bottom digit is off by a bit.

Looking for a little help with side numbers. I'm trying to emulate the italicized side numbers found on VFA-136 seen on the nose and top of vertical stabilizer: Here are my numbers. I used another FA18 custom numbers file as a template to size my custom italicized numbers and for the overall canvas size: For whatever reason, my nose numbers are not aligned from the 2nd digit and the 3rd gets progressively higher to the point that #7-9 are clipping on the top and have a black line show up underneath. *See below* Any ideas how to change my photoshop file to straighten this out? The size seems a little small but not the end of the world. I'd like to make it editable by people and not create 301-309 separate aircraft. I would also like to be able to make the vertical stab numbers a bit smaller and closer together. I imagine I will have to make a separate file for the desription.lua to go looking for. Based on the file with the numbers/transparency, what do you experienced skinners think I should do in photoshop? Thank you in advance for consideration and advice

***Minor Update*** Fixed some text on the tail and external tanks to match the reference pictures. The font I was using has different A's and G's which can be found in GEORGE WASHINGTON & KNIGHTHAWKS. You can see this on the picture above compared to the new (pointed A compared to flat-topped A. And G with cross line extending out passed its basic C shape.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I think I am finally done with the outside and can move on to learning how to italicize the side numbers and work on the pilot (uniform, patches, helmet).

Thanks fagulha. Appreciate the encouragement. I'm going to have to change the title of this thread because it is no longer a question about fonts. I'll just change it to be a gallery of the CVW-7 project. Here's the progress on the exterior of the VFA-136 (1994-1996) livery. *Click to expand pictures*

Update: using USN Stencil font, I had the idea to type the number “8” in place of “A” in order to get the flat top. Then in photoshop i straightened out the lines and cut out the bottom-middle section and here is the result: Top is the reference photo’s font. Bottom is mine. I will fix the "3" in 136 to make it more narrow like the reference.

Hi everyone. I'm just starting out skinning and would like to put together a roster for CVW-7 from the mid-90's and early 2000's which was aboard CVN-73 in both the Med/Persian Gulf. Also aboard were 2x F-14B's which we already have with Heatblur's Tomcat (VF-143/11) as well as 2x FA-18C (VFA-136/131). The whole purpose is to learn about making liveries while putting together a pack of sorts. I'd like to put together a real group of planes which were all aboard a carrier (CVN-73) and in theater's (Syria/Persian Gulf) we have in the game. Edit ***the following font issue was solved*** Just posting on here to see if anyone has an ID on the font used on the 90's livery. Its an italicized, bold font, with a unique flat topped A and W with raised middle section (same font used on Fuselage, Vertical Stab for USS GW and external tanks apparently) which makes it different that US Navy stencil fonts. I'll keep looking in the meantime, just wondering if anyone has any idea if they've come across navy decals and fonts recently or has any guidance for navy reference sites. Thanks in advance. Nice site for reference pics: VFA-136 Knighthawks Strike Fighter Squadron US Navy (seaforces.org)

The question is, does it work currently with the DCS FA-18C? Like I said before, I haven’t come across any tutorials or written guides mentioning this yet. And it would become almost standard practice for people when designating from lower altitudes/angles.

I will try exactly this next time and see how it turns out. the other thing id like to try is to get an area track in the middle of a group of targets in close proximity and use the offset cursor to designate and then step to the next station to see if the coords change when i tdc depress again and continue stepping thru using the offset cursor.

I don’t mean, “while using them”. I mean, using the laser when making a designation, as an aid for an accurate setup prior to engagement. Sorry for any confusion there. When the pilot designates a target, especially at lower altitude, the angle causes the point to be made beyond the target if the designation cue is placed centered on the object. Which is why it is usually good practice to place the cue at the very base of the thing you want to designate. Which is where the laser comes in. In the a10, you can fire the laser while designating a target to get more accurate ranging and placement of the object you want to hit. So, I was wondering since I havent seen it anywhere either on YT tutorials nor in any reading material, if this was a feature of the Hornet’s tgp to make more accurate “laser-ranging” designations using either the default designation mode or area track (since point track is specific to a contrasting image). thanks for the feedback so far. I was getting frustrated sometimes thinking i was doing something very wrong to have my jdams/jsows missing sometimes like they do.

No ive not tried it exclusively with markpoints. Do you lase the targets when you press MK button? Does it have an effect in the FA18?

I think a problem (for me too when i was learning the process) is that we like to keep the targeting pod looking at the target to see if the bombs hit. If the pilot forgets they will end up overwriting the information from the first designation. Something i started doing is using the SA page on the bottom screen and tgp on the right for initially setting up a Markpoint in the target “area” aka my bomb damage assessment snap view for my tgp. Then go thru the process of designating and stepping as has been described before and once you are done with the last one and you undesignate i replace the tgp and SA pages with the EW and HSI (personal preference). I also turn off the SEQ on the hsi so that i can cycle to my newly created markpoint. After dropping the ordnance and turning away to a safe heading while not masking the tgp i set the right mfd to tgp again and wep designate the markpoint and the tgp snaps the to target area to watch the show. im reviving this thread not because im having trouble with the process of setting jdam/jsow’s up, but ive been having problems hitting things for some reason. Im wondering if you guys are seeing some of the things im seeing. ive dropped jsows only to have them explode approx 200-300’ left of target from direction of run-in. Ive had jdams and sows fly long as well. I dont have a track to upload but im just curious if anyone else has had problems accurately dropping ordnance in TOO using the tgp? Ive noticed on my tgp, that the coordinates are different between the tgp and the jdam/jsow MSN page (in precise coords mode) and the tgp auto designates the elevation in meters instead of feet. I dont know if i missed something in the setup. I know in the a10 you can use the laser to make a more accurate “spi” or target designation. Can you use the TRIG on the tgp to lase while you tdc depress to get a more accurate designation? Thanks in advance