Bonanza tip tanks always too dark

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skyhawkii
Airman
Posts: 47
Joined: 02 Feb 2014, 15:24

Bonanza tip tanks always too dark

Post by skyhawkii »

Hi everyone,

when painting the tip tanks of the Bonanza, the color never matches the color of the airframe. They are always a little bit darker. I'm using paint.net. Does anyone have an idea how to solve it?

Michael

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bladerunner900
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Joined: 17 Aug 2008, 14:59
Location: South Wales

Re: Bonanza tip tanks always too dark

Post by bladerunner900 »

Can't you just make them, a little bit lighter? :wink:

skyhawkii
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Joined: 02 Feb 2014, 15:24

Re: Bonanza tip tanks always too dark

Post by skyhawkii »

That's what I thought. I tried that, but I never got the same color. In paint.net it's exactly the same color from the wing. But in FSX it's not. I think it could have something to do with the alpha channel. Maybe the tip tanks have a different alpha? But how can I check that?

Michael

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bladerunner900
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Location: South Wales

Re: Bonanza tip tanks always too dark

Post by bladerunner900 »

I don't know paint.net but can't you look at the Alpha channel? You should not need to alter it, but you may have to. I see in my one and only re-paint for this aircraft, I made the colour lighter and made the Alpha darker. I also made a new spec. file as well. The v35b_tiptanks_s.dds file. Looks like I left the Alpha alone in that one.

I'm afraid you're going to have to experiment with both files. To see what works. Oh the joys of re-painting. :)

Steve.

skyhawkii
Airman
Posts: 47
Joined: 02 Feb 2014, 15:24

Re: Bonanza tip tanks always too dark

Post by skyhawkii »

Hi Steve,

tanks for your tipps. What does the spec file do? Till now I completely ignored it. Maybe I have to work with this to get it right.

Michael

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bladerunner900
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Posts: 1991
Joined: 17 Aug 2008, 14:59
Location: South Wales

Re: Bonanza tip tanks always too dark

Post by bladerunner900 »

The spec file can have a huge effect on a paint scheme. The more textures and spec files a model has, the more important it is that they match generally.

The colour of the main texture in the spec. file, controls the colour of reflected light when the sun shines on it.

The Alpha channel in the spec. controls the focus of the reflected light. The darker the Alpha the greater the overall spread of reflected light. Making it lighter draws in the focus, to a more concentrated point.

Of course, this only applies to NON-PBR models. PBR is totally different and don't even use spec. files.

skyhawkii
Airman
Posts: 47
Joined: 02 Feb 2014, 15:24

Re: Bonanza tip tanks always too dark

Post by skyhawkii »

Thanks for sharing your knowledge, Steve. That gives me new ideas where to look for. Creating paints is more complex than I thought.

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curtis72561
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Joined: 20 Aug 2012, 19:52
Location: Sugarland, Texas - KSGR

Re: Bonanza tip tanks always too dark

Post by curtis72561 »

skyhawkii wrote: 15 Jul 2020, 03:40 Thanks for sharing your knowledge, Steve. That gives me new ideas where to look for. Creating paints is more complex than I thought.
Boy oh boy that is an understatement. I thought that same thing until I got started. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: But once you get going it's a lot of fun. :D
Beeachcraft V35 Bonanza, Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, Cessna C-172 Skyhawk, Cessna C-182 Skylane, Curtis P-40, North American P-51D Mustang Civilian
North American AT6 Texan, Piper PA-28 Cherokee, Piper PA-24 Comanche, Piper J-3 Cub, Supermarine Spitfire

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bladerunner900
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Posts: 1991
Joined: 17 Aug 2008, 14:59
Location: South Wales

Re: Bonanza tip tanks always too dark

Post by bladerunner900 »

You know, I couldn't remember why I made the Alpha in the tip tanks darker. So I re-set it to the default and they showed up a darker green in the sim.

I remember having this same colour matching problem of tanks and wing, when obviously, I hit a combination of spec and main texture that worked. No doubt I could use the default Alpha in the main texture but then I would have to re-discover a spec combination that restored the status-quo again. The vagaries of painting can be infuriating and fascinating :lol:

Steve.

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