Step 3: Preparation

It's a good feeling to know what we are skinning, right?

Ok, then the task begins. First, I would recommend that you make a directory on your HD called Project Bf 109G.
Now you take the files p109gtex.pcx, p109gtra.pcx and p109gv.pcx (in the folder where you installed PicPac are many subfolders, in the planes-folder are the first two, the third is in the cockpit-folder).
Here is a short explanation of what the files of a skin are for:

P109Gtex - this is the texture file, as you can see from the last part of the name
P109Gtes -is the low-resolution texture
P109Gtra - the transparency definitions of the skin
P109Gv - is the virtual cockpit view for the 109
P109Gx - are the instruments and the panel
P109Gvtr - is the transparency definition of the virtual cockpit

Every file that you drop into your EAW-folder will be used by the game, if there is a file missing, it is taken from EAW itself. Therefore it's not necessary to include the transparency-files, for example, but only if you did not make changes to the transparent areas - we will do some on our 109. We will do the whole plane first for the basic EAW-model, then we will transform it to a more recent version. But that comes later.

Most of our work will be on the P109Gtex-file, because it's the skin itself. It is strongly recommended that you get used to PicPac and how to convert files before you read on, I won't explain the use of PicPac or how to manage files easily - everyone has to discover his own style here, and a bit of basic knowledge has to be there, ok?

Now, start Paint Shop Pro and open P109Gtex.pcx. After the first look at it, go to the kitchen and get yourself a strong cup of coffee. Yes, this mess is the skin!

The PCX file has a size of 256x256 pixels and 256 colors in an EAW-based palette. The skin-file represents the texture-mapping on the 3d-wireframe model, therefore its looks a bit like a 'plastic model kit'... but with a bit of imagination, it's not that difficult to see what is what! If you feel you need more information about this, check the Aces Paint Shop 2 for more detail.

So, now we have to start the work on the skin itself. The next step will be the creation of element-masks.