Overhaulin'

[GlobalHobo]

This is the freeware Alphasim F-84F. It's an FS9 model, but it flies fine in FSX with a couple of panel mods. You can find those here just by putting "Thunderstreak" in the search box. I've had it in the hangar for a long time, but never really warmed much to it. It just looks so... tired, I guess. But after thinking about doing something in a Thunderbirds paint scheme, I decided to take another look.



First stop was the Virtavia freeware page to download the paint kit. After a weekend in the paint hangar, the same airplane has a whole new look!









I am quite happy with the results and I've got a good base on which to build a good-looking mid-50s Thunderbird.

[jankees]

Major improvement I'd say!

[Hawkeye07]

Excellent work! You should start your own overhaul shop.

So how did you do it?

[OldAirmail]

Fantastic! Some people just have talent.

[Flying Trucker]

Wow...nicely done...

[GlobalHobo]

Thanks for the positive comments.

So how did you do it?

How did I do it? Well, as I said, I began with the paint kit from the Virtavia freeware site. This had most of the raw materials. I've learned, from my own dabbling and by dissecting the work of other painters whose work I admire, that most of the magic in a bare-metal paint happens in the alpha-channel. In an FSX-native models there is further refinement with the specular and bump maps, but if you don't get the alpha channel right, these won't help. For basic polished aluminum I've settled on a uniform dark-grey base and a medium-grey alpha. If I wanted to weather the look a bit, I'd lighten the alpha and flatten out the contrast. I've still got a few tweaks to make to the alpha-channel on these skins and then I'll make them available to download. The blank airframe will be good for other painters who want to do custom markings.

[Hawkeye07]

You're going to make them available for download? Great!! Very much appreciated.