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Inexpensive Paint Scheme Program

Hi Ross,

thanks, that is exactly what I was looking for. I emailed William (the programmer) about an RV-7 an he said it is in the making already. Trigear versus Taildragger will be an option, the cowl-scoop too. A tip-up canopy is not in the making, it could be if there is demand.
What do you think. In my opinion the canopy-type has great effect on the appearance. If you are interested in the tip-up, please drop William a short email so he knows about it.

Kind regards,

Mario
 
William contacted me yesterday and said that the 7/7A should be available around August, and he now has several requests for a tip-up and will work on getting that done by the fall. Great Program at a Great price! Let your children/grandchildren get involved with the paint scheme. Lots of fun.
 
I must be missing something...

I downloaded the demo, and it looks like all you can do is change the colors on one of the canned aircraft. There does not appear to be any way to change a paint scheme, other than change the colors. Most of us want to change the paint scheme layout, not just the colors.

Am I missing something here, or is the demo just too crippled to see what the program can really do?

Tracy.
 
thallock said:
There does not appear to be any way to change a paint scheme, other than change the colors.

You have to use your own paint program (like microsoft paint that ships with Windows, etc.) to modify the patterns in the bitmap files. Then you can paint whatever you like and the software just maps it onto the 3d Model. Be sure to read the help files that come with it for a description on how to paint patterns, etc.

I purchased it and it's probably worth the $10. Still pretty buggy (had several crashes), but it is nice to view your paint scheme ideas in 3D.

MikeJ
 
Jim P said:
But you can do the same thing with MS Flight Sim and get all the sim functionality too...
Jim - I'm probably slow (or hot from working in the shop)... but what are you plugging? How did you (or how can I) make a 9A model for MS Flight Sim?

Thanks,
 
The drawing of new schemes is pretty clunky presently but the designer will be integrating that soon. I did find you can save the CAP scheme and open it on the RV9 model and it works about 95%. I worked with that a bit and ended up with some pretty neat designs and some awesome colors.

$10- can't expect perfection. I found it a lot easier than printing 3 views off Van's site and coloring with pencils.

Maybe in a month or two, the designer will have the draw version.
 
Oops, sorry Dave,

MS FSX or MSFS9. I had used the Flight Factory Simulations (company now recently defunct) RV-7 model which worked well on FS9 (cockpit instruments never worked on FSX). By using a paint program and uploading the skins to FS, you have the engine to render your schemes in 3D. By adjusting the FS time of day settings, you get to see this in any lighting condition. The upside is that it's can be used for a fairly decent design tool. The downside is a requirement for some basic proficiency with graphics tools and learning mechanics of converting and loading the skins.
 
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Pencil painting

We just started the empenage. I took the full size drawing of the RV and made several copies. When my wife and boys are working on the RV in the garage my daughter among other things, sits outside with us and colors the drawings of the RV. If you want some interesting paint schemes you haven't seen, let the 11 year old "Gurl" work on the paint scheme. And yes she is de-burring, drilling and riveting on practice pieces. She doesn't want to do the "real" plane yet. What a joy to see confidence building as the whole family builds.
 
I shelled out 10 bucks for the program. It is pretty easy to use once you figure it out. The help file tells you where the bitmaps are for the color schemes. Then you just edit them with MS Paint or something better and draw the strips and patterns in the places you want; right wing top, right bottom, fuselage (sides are automatically mirrored and joined together on the bottom), etc. Then in the program you can easily change colors and see how they look.

Are there better airplane paint programs out there? Probably but for $10 this program is well worth it.

I'm building an RV-7 but the RV-9 model works just fine for figuring out paint schemes. They ought to transfer over easily enough.
 
New RV Model Updates

The designer of the paint scheme program has informed me that he has just released the new version of software with improved capability and added nose and tail dragger versions, slider and tip up for the RV7 and RV9. He said an RV10 model might be available in about 6 weeks.

Help support this guy. He is straight up and these programs are very inexpensive. He has been very responsive to the RV community: http://www.airplanecolor.com/
 
Original Posted by rv6ejguy
Help support this guy. He is straight up and these programs are very inexpensive. He has been very responsive to the RV community: http://www.airplanecolor.com/


I second that. This guy has been very responsive and the price is almost free.
(Now if I can only remember my password I'll be able to update:()
 
The designer of this program just sent me an E-mail:

The new MACD RV-10 Version 2.2 color scheme program is now ready for download.

Version 2.2 adds the ability to design your own custom graphics for the wheel pants.

The RV-10?s cabin interior color, including the seat colors, can be customized to your

taste. Another new feature is that you can open the cabin door. This makes it easy

to coordinate the interior colors.



You can download the new program from Client Downloads, if you wish, as a free upgrade

for previous customers. New customers will need to purchase the program.
 
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