Give modding a first try on a small size project! :D

[kohlenklau]

I was hoping to encourage at least a few of you out there to give modding a first try. It seems that things are fairly quiet with not many new uniforms or helmets and vehicles....

If some of you want to give it a try and produce a winter camo version of the below smaller items, it could be a good first project and wet your appetite for more.

Pak 38.

Pak 40.

shucks...pretty much all the little guns used by Soviets and Axis.

And the wheeled Maxim MG!

Kubelwagen.

Soviet jeep and trucks.

*******************************

Use the internet and your imagination!

Put some markings on it. Slogans. Divisional symbols. girlfriend's name....

Whitewashed with drips running down. paint stroke marks, blotches from an old mop they "borrowed" from a sleeping babushka.

 

 

[RockinHarry]

I´d possibly try, but I don´t even have CMRT yet.  Vehicle, weapon and uniform mods are more something for the really skilled generally, particularly if also considering normal maps. I already started to learn on more simple stuff (in CMBN), supplementing my scenario designs, which was the only purpose. Repainting mentioned objects would be quite a different affair...

[kohlenklau]

You don't need CMRT!  Any of the Pak40's can be used for example. Grab one and get some whitewash and do a winter camo effect.

Same with kubelwagens.

There are several lower level modding tasks that are within the reach of the novice. Adding names/insignia/hull numbers to vehicles for example.

 

[kohlenklau]

This thread is about encouraging people to give it a try. It is not a promise you will be Aris overnight. It is not a fantasy that people stop you in the street for your autograph and girls throw their undies at you as a famous celebrity modder.

It is about aiming for something small and developing a small skillset possibly to make mods you will keep only on your own hard drive for your own enjoyment. [mymod]

Here are some examples of the type of mods that I think the novice can do with very little supervision.

 

[kohlenklau]

 

Nobody seems interested by posting but maybe you are all just shy....

 

[kohlenklau]

I know of at least one guy who wanted a tutorial so I will do one here for the basic modding task of putting insignia, emblems, symbols, slogans or nicknames on a vehicle...

I hope somebody finds it useful and you PM me an image of what you create!

 

[kohlenklau]

Here is my plan. I actually want to add some stuff to this kubelwagen I did a ways back. So, grab a stool, beer is in the fridge and I will narrate as I do it. Ask any questions you like, I will do my best to answer them. Disclaimer: I am not a professional graphics artist so be advised my method may not be the proscribed best method out there.

[kohlenklau]

That was an old screenshot in CMFI GL and I had adjusted my NVIDIA settings for CMFI but now I will be viewing the kubelwagen in CMRT for the winter mod so I just went and matched the settings to try and get it to look better.

 

[kohlenklau]

It is not looking so good. Maybe I need to restart my PC for the NVIDIA settings to kick in. Oh well, some of the laundry list is stuff I need/want to do no matter what.

And it isn't the list of cool stuff I want to decal onto the kubelwagen. We'll zip into our ww2 books and the internet for whatever you'd want to slap on her!

The imagination is almost endless....

[kohlenklau]

My settings improved so the blurry plates. (They are now easily seen as vanity plates "3RD RYK"...)

I tweaked the white on the wheels. I dabbed whitewash on some of the areas that needed it. Still couldn't find the fuel cap...hope we find it before we run out of fuel.

I also took a moment to slap and L and an R on the fenders so I can see the configuration. I always misguess and it shows up mirrored or mirrored and reversed.

Now I see how to lay the decals down so they appear correct on screen. That is what matters. 

 

[kohlenklau]

So, what should we put on the kubelwagen? This is the best part! I will go look at some books and get the juices flowing. Maybe a Kharkov SS unit. Which would then require me to do the license plates over...which means I gotta go down to the dang DMV! Awww..jeez. 

[Glubokii Boy]

Hello, kohlenklau...

Good to see you back on your feet...I hope your full recovery goes smoothely...

Thanks for doing this tutorial...I will keep my eyes on this one.

I don't really have much in the way of questions as of yet but i hope you will show us in some detail how you use the paintprogram to make these kind of mods...

Best regards / RepsolCBR

[kohlenklau]

I have 2 programs I use.

Adobe Photoshop CS3 Version 10.0

and

Paint.net 4.0.6

Major modding efforts need Photoshop but the above decal projects can be applied with Paint.net which is freeware.

 

[Vergeltungswaffe]

Oops, wrong forum.

Edited December 5, 2015 by Vergeltungswaffe

[kohlenklau]

Did a skype session with a forumite who wants to try modding! My son showed me how to share my screen...

My layer mask process:

1. Open hull or turret bmp file. It is the background layer.

2. Duplicate that layer. This is background copy. Make it the active layer.

3. Images-adjustments-desaturate.

4. Images-adjustments-brightnes/contrast: A window opens, peg them both to the right max! Hit OK.

5. Create a new layer. layer 1.  

6. Add a layer mask to this layer.

7. Go back to the background copy layer we did adjustments to.

8. Ctrl-A to select it all. You see the dashed line all around the perimeter.

9. Ctrl-C to copy it.

10. Now carefully hit Alt while left-clicking on the layer mask rectangle for layer 1.

11. You should see the image turn all white...Ctrl-V to paste into the layer mask.

12. Deactivate the background copy.

13. Left click on the layer rectangle for layer 1. 

You should now see you base image!

14. Pick a brush and color and opacity and start to apply paint to the tank.

You should still see the welds and rivets and such details even as you apply the whitewash.

Save early, save often!

More soon!

 

Edited December 6, 2015 by kohlenklau

[kohlenklau]

OK, emccabe PM'd me and he learned enough to knock out an SU-85 for the CMRT Winter Mod. He is still refining it with some decals but I think it looks dang nice!

[kohlenklau]

Decal process:

Find your decals (slogans, hull numbers, etc.) Note: There is a sense to what color goes on what color. Black slogans on whitewash. White slogans on green tanks.

Clean them up with the magic wand tool. They might have a border...

Resize them now to approx size. Ctrl-a and ctrl-c to copy the decal.

Create a new layer above your hull image.

Ctrl-v to paste the decal into that layer.

Move it around into position with the v-tool.

Scale it to exact size you like.

Play with the color/hue/saturation.

If it looks good, duplicate the layer and drag the 2nd one to the spot on the image that represents the other side of the tank.

save it as a psd file!

Merge layers and save as bmp and inspect in the game.

Make any notes and perform fixes with that unmerged layers psd file you saved!

..more to come...

 

 

Edited December 6, 2015 by kohlenklau

[emccabe]

 

Edited December 6, 2015 by emccabe

[kohlenklau]

Good job Eugene! Like I have been told by others...In the future you will look back at these early modding efforts and probably cringe as your skills will have naturally developed.

But you gotta start somewhere and if you don't try then you can't mod!

Things you can add: the smoky burnt part around the end of the barrel. Weathering..even if not of "Arisian" levels! 

Hey: those cleats where the tow cables hook up on the bow plate. In my screenshot they are white, but in yours they are green. Hmmm? 

[kohlenklau]

On our next vehicle we plan to change up the technique and go back to a mottled-brushed effect. I think I will do an SU-122. emccabe will tackle some ATG's.

[carcer]

Hey Kohlenklau I really like how your trying to get others into modding as well. I might try to chime in on a project I've had going on and off involving using Men of War textures in Combat Mission. The textures are low quality but the color palette looks really nice with vanilla models; Normandy looks like Normandy and same for the Eastern Front being distinct. I guess it'll depend on if I get the right permissions. I am wondering though if you know of armor using a specific tracer to maybe mod the tracer from their main gun.

[kohlenklau]

Hi carcer,

Thanks for the kind words.

Sorry to let you down but I am not a full spectrum mod god and have never modded the tracers.

Does the Men of War (never been there) have any winter camo skins? Try and arrange some and then come on back to work with us here in the "Modding Club"... 

I would like to learn how you do that Men of War stuff and we can share other ideas if you need help or possibly/probably are already beyond my humble skill level.

[carcer]

I should of mentioned men of war is another game in the same genre as combat mission but not as complex/realistic so unfortunately I can't share the models. I put in for permission to port their terrain textures which have a lot of winter terrain tiles. I don't know about skill level for modding though lol I might try to do one of those rare t34 guards armor skins though. I am curious what techniques others have been using to mod vehicles especially over the German camo patterns. The last time I tried it didn't go so well.
 

 

[kohlenklau]

If you want I will PM you and get you pointed in the right direction!

[kohlenklau]

While I wait to see if carcer wants to join the "Modding Club"

I will make my own comments on doing new camo or paint over existing BFC BMP images.

At my current skill level, it is very, very difficult to get a new paint job over the existing scheme (dark-yellow with rot brun and/or oliv grun I think) for axis vehicles.

I always hate the results and give up. For allied vehicles being in just a green color, it is much easier. I have had some smart modders try and teach me how to recolor to make

the axis 2 or 3 color turn into just dark yellow but it has not clicked with me ...yet. Maybe it is patience?

The best deal is to get an axis vehicle in just the single color. Shop around in the CMFI data folders or in CMBN to try and find one. I have seen that sometimes a kind soul from BFC has passed some single color axis vehicles to the fan base. I have sent a PM to ask for a few but got no reply. Other things I have had reply on so maybe I just asked for too much? The absolute worst deal is a multi color axis vehicle with zimmerit. Ugggh. Now there are folks out there that would know what to do and say "piece of cake"...