My real First try...

[Capt.Propwash]

well, here is my progress so far on trying to repaint the Default FS9 Baron 58.
it has taken a long time to even do this much, and I still have the Engine housings to do too.

ugh... looks like it's going to be a long night.... (anyone have any Kripsy Kreme Doughnuts and Vault soda?? Im gonna need a 'pick me up' in a while..)

[cantflywontfly]

like the colours! keep up the hard work!

im really getting into this repaint thing!

Deano 

[Capt.Propwash]

im not. every time I try to paint certain areas, the paint runs all over the table (out side of the lines).  Microsoft did not do a very good job of having ending lines on their paints/textures. UGH!!!!

[RaptorF22]

I find that it sometimes helps to use a program by Abacus, FSrepaint, so you can paint on the texture and it gives you a live preview of what it does to the aircraft so you can find what parts of the image correspond to different parts of the aircraft.
You can get a free demo here that is time unlimited, but you just can't save your paints, which works just fine for finding parts.

Hope this helps!(and wasn't too confusing)

[BrandonF]

Capt.Propwash, I hope you are not using Microsoft Paint, as it is very limited for aircraft painting. I'd go with something more flexible, like paint.net. It has a lot more tools, but is still very simple to use. Plus it has layers, so you won't have to redo the rivets. The easiest thing is just to load your texture, create a new layer, set that layer to Multiply, and paint on that. You can also edit the paint out of the bottom layer so that you have a white texture to paint.

[patchz]

If you can get a paint program that uses layers, you can add a multiply layer, use the freehand selection tool to create a border around the area you want to

add color and then just use the flood tool to add the color. Then adjust the layer opacity until you get what you want. You will probably have to play with the hue

(light and dark) until you get comfortable with it. The advantage of this, is your rivets and lines on the base layer will show through the color and you don't have

to go back and hand paint each line/rivet. I am only familiar with Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop, so I don't know if any of the freeware paint programs have layer

capability, but it is almost a must have for repainting. Hope this helps.

[Strawberry Yogurt]

I use GiMP - free, has layers, and is basically Paint.net.

[Polar_Lion]

some other good programs are the Paint Shop Pro series. I had PSP8 on my old computer but i have Paint Shop Photo Pro X3 on this one. I love them both and prefer them to the Photo Shop series for freehand work.

[J2Summit]

I see Patchz keeps preaching the use of layering and I will back him up every time!! Layers, layers, layers. I thought I was a good texturer back before i knew layering. I had no idea! What was I thinking?
There's too much to learn right from the start, but don't put off learning how layers work for very long. It makes life easier, not harder.
I am an avid Paint Shop Pro user. I tried v9 and stepped back to v8. And Photo Shop is just plain evil imo. 
John

[J2Summit]

BTW, looks like you're doing great so far. No paint job or paint kit is ever complete anyway, and all repainters learn something new every day or week. Just warning you that you have definitely stepped in it for good. 

[Club508]

Good job! Especially for a first time attempt!
If you're new to repainting though, even though some of the other's are sugesting layers, I wouldn't suggest it.

[garryrussell]

Layers make painting easy..no layers and it is very difficult to get an acceptable result.

Alphas need to be used properly and selectively but are vital

[J2Summit]

Layers simply allow you to keep items separated. That's it. But than one ability will open up a whole new world. You can lay down graphics on a layer as usual. Now create a new layer and lay down more graphics as usual, but now you can paint UNDER other layers. They won't touch each other. Same file, different layers.

And alpha channels (files) are indeed a whole new experience. Darker reflects more light. Dark is light, light is dark... gets a bit crazy until one has had their morning coffee.

John

[Capt.Propwash]

well, its been a while since i posted on this. but as an update i gave up on it.

I do have MS PAINT (which was what i was using to do the paint job), but i also have GIMP, PAINT.NET, and IRFANview so i have an array of programs that I could use.

now that Patchz hooked me up with this paint but on the FSX Baron 58, im flying that one instead.

thanks Patchz

[patchz]

You're very welcome.

But don't give up, just take your time and maybe look at some tutorials. It will come.