Matching MK2 part stockalike colors.

[martinezfg11]

Hello all, I've been texturing my models as stock-alike as possible. But I have one issue that's been nagging me; would anyone be able to give me any advice on matching the white parts of the model to an MK2 Part?

I've used the eye-dropper tool in Photoshop and adjusted the levels of the whites to match somewhat close, but I can still tell a difference and it kind of bothers me.

Does anyone have a method they use to match colors?

[NecroBones]

Yeah, I use the eye-dropper and eyeball things a bit too, when matching to stock parts. Are you comparing them in the same position/orientation in the VAB/SPH? The lighting is really strange in the editors, making things super bright on top, and less so on the sides.

[martinezfg11]

Yeah, I use the eye-dropper and eyeball things a bit too, when matching to stock parts. Are you comparing them in the same position/orientation in the VAB/SPH? The lighting is really strange in the editors, making things super bright on top, and less so on the sides.

I compare the colors after launching, usually when flying a craft around I'll see the difference in whites.

[sumghai]

The best way to match the color of stock parts is to extract and examine their original textures.

You can use taniwha's Blender .mu import/export plugin to do this - once you have the stock part models imported, open up the UV image editor, go through the drop-down menu and you'll find all the textures in there. Save copies of them as PNGs, and you now have actual samples to work with.

As for how to actually get your parts to look stockalike, it depends on on what level of quality you're aiming for:

- The quick and dirty method is to copy and paste entire sections of the stock textures, and remap your own UV islands accordingly. For instance, the SDHI SMS Pod Boost Protect Cover's texture was based on a hacked-up copy of the stock 2.5m nose cone, with additional smudging to represent additional weathering and extra graphics.

- You can, of course, use Photoshop's eyedropper tool to manually sample colors from the original for use in your mod part; shadows can be baked in Blender via Ambient Occlusion, while scratches and dings will need to be painted by hand.