Long live the Red Tail!! - Northwest A320

[DerKranich]

In an attempt to keep my sanity between now and my Christmas break, I've decided to pick up this paint that -like many- have been put off to the backburner for far too long. This is simply one of several paints I will throw out at you guys for the holidays. I haven't seen a Northwest A320 paint for the Project Airbus A320 that satisfied my picky eye for Northwest paints.



It feels weird originally being from Detroit and knowing there are no more A319/A320s flying around with this livery, especially since they flew over my house frequently.

Northwest. You may have lost my bags a fair amount, and you did royally screw me over the last time I flew down to Florida, but you will be missed.

[Jeff]

Great looking paint! It seems like it must be difficult to get that balance between silver and gray.

[sknepper]

Can't wait Mike .

[GaryG]

Looks superb

[Tom Collins]

Make sure you blend the hstab shadow so it's faded by the time it reaches the bottom of the fuselage.

[DerKranich]

Great looking paint! It seems like it must be difficult to get that balance between silver and gray.

Indeed. I have tried painting it manually, but it never came out to my standards so I simply used a photo and tweaked it a little to my liking. I know it's a bit of a cop-out way, but you have to understand that sometimes it's really the only way to get it right. I've seen many try and hand paint it and it nearly blinds me of how off it really is.

Make sure you blend the hstab shadow so it's faded by the time it reaches the bottom of the fuselage.

I understand what you're saying, though I'm not sure how to tackle that problem, sensei. Probably the feather tool?

[esg]

I don't know if you've realised, but the shadow on the wingroot is darker than on the rest of the fuse; it's not gonna look right. Also, it doesn't follow the shape of the rear fuselage. I've noticed the same with your Skymark A380.

Other observations:

-- the horizon reflection doesn't look right; it's cut too short at the nose and needs to circumvent the h stab
-- the US flag needs to extend to the edge of the 3rd window from the end and it's too tall
-- the reg font looks wrong; I suggest using one of these: http://www.simmerspaintshop.com/forums/ ... -fonts-19/
-- should use the old door frame style
-- you should squeeze the top half of the grey circle, not the whole of it 'cos the top will look too fat in the sim
-- red arrow looks too small
-- NWA titles alignment could be improved
-- SkyTeam logo is too big

[DerKranich]

-- the US flag needs to extend to the edge of the 3rd window from the end and it's too tall
-- the reg font looks wrong; I suggest using one of these: http://www.simmerspaintshop.com/forums/ ... -fonts-19/
-- should use the old door frame style
-- you should squeeze the top half of the grey circle, not the whole of it 'cos the top will look too fat in the sim
-- red arrow looks too small
-- NWA titles alignment could be improved
-- SkyTeam logo is too big

consider them fixed

[esg]

-- the US flag needs to extend to the edge of the 3rd window from the end and it's too tall
-- the reg font looks wrong; I suggest using one of these: http://www.simmerspaintshop.com/forums/ ... -fonts-19/
-- should use the old door frame style
-- you should squeeze the top half of the grey circle, not the whole of it 'cos the top will look too fat in the sim
-- red arrow looks too small
-- NWA titles alignment could be improved
-- SkyTeam logo is too big

With all due respect, I've seen more Northwest A320s in a week than you probably have in your lifetime. I know what looks right and what doesn't.

Uh, ok.

[GaryG]

A quick search on airliners.net showed up that esg is correct on the red arrow for sure. It needs to be a little bit bigger.

Regards

[DerKranich]

I did update a few things and keeping in mind a few things to fix when it is convenient. I will get on to the fuse effects at a later time as that requires a decent amount of time which I currently don't have (or at least that's what I want myself to think).



questions, comments, concerns?

[Tom Collins]

Make sure you blend the hstab shadow so it's faded by the time it reaches the bottom of the fuselage.

I understand what you're saying, though I'm not sure how to tackle that problem, sensei. Probably the feather tool?

Yup - use the lasso tool with a feather (probably around 20px but experiment for yourself) - cut out the lower half accordingly.

[esg]

Polygonal Lasso is probably a better choice.

[Tom Collins]

Polygonal Lasso is probably a better choice.

Sorry, that's what I meant. (I don't tend to use other "types" of the lasso tool)

The nwa titles are looking a bit squashed now by the way. I know you said you'd leave the effects for a later date - but when you do tackle them, make sure you get the shading bending up the rear of the fuselage a little (although you may want to reduce it a touch in general).

Note to painters: DT's about as thorough with painting as it gets - his feedback is always useful if you want to improve as a painter and take constructive criticism - I know I've learned a lot from his feedback in the past.