DRG&W SD-45

[slick204]

I think I'm done. Anyone interested in beta testing it?

It looks a lot lighter than the SD40-2. Most of my reference photos show them to be very dusty.
Comments welcome. Thanks.

DRGW SD45G.jpg

[RudiJaeger]

Comments welcome.[/attachment]

Looking good! The only thing that jumps out at me, is the dust layer under the dynamic brake grille; it needs to be beneath the panel-line layer so there's some definition where the gaps between the doors should be. This will also give the appearance that the dust has settled onto the paint, rather than floating in air or creating a virtual mask over the details.

Also, ET44C4 has mastered the art of fuel tank weathering by getting that "wet diesel look" through use of the alpha-layer. If interested, you can check it out on his ATSF SD45 pack in the library:
https://railworksamerica.com/index.php/ ... e-repaints

Otherwise, very nice; I like the black and yellow tones you've achieved on this one, and the weathering on the trucks. Keep up the great work!

[gtw5812]

I think I'm done. Anyone interested in beta testing it?

It looks a lot lighter than the SD40-2. Most of my reference photos show them to be very dusty.
Comments welcome. Thanks.

DRGW SD45G.jpg

Looking good!!!

R/
Galen

[AmericanSteam]

You guys are all getting better at this.

[slick204]

Comments welcome.[/attachment]

Looking good! The only thing that jumps out at me, is the dust layer under the dynamic brake grille; it needs to be beneath the panel-line layer so there's some definition where the gaps between the doors should be. This will also give the appearance that the dust has settled onto the paint, rather than floating in air or creating a virtual mask over the details.

Also, ET44C4 has mastered the art of fuel tank weathering by getting that "wet diesel look" through use of the alpha-layer. If interested, you can check it out on his ATSF SD45 pack in the library:
https://railworksamerica.com/index.php/ ... e-repaints

Otherwise, very nice; I like the black and yellow tones you've achieved on this one, and the weathering on the trucks. Keep up the great work!

Thanks Rudi. I've been messing with that dynamic brake dust and can't seem to get it right. I"ll move that layer!

[slick204]

Better?

DRGW SD45H.jpg

[RudiJaeger]

Better?

Certainly a step in the right direction although you might consider making a separate layer of lines just for doors and hatches for just a little bit more definition; although I think the door-latches are just fine the way they are.

You may already be aware of this, but a useful technique for making panel-lines, is using DXTbmp to export the alpha layer to your paint program (I'm using PSP 9), then copy it and paste "as new layer" into your existing template. This can then be used as a guide for creating new lines or other features, and in some cases where the alpha layer isn't too "polluted" with other stuff (shadows, weathering, rivets, etc.) you can use the alpha's lines "as-is". In addition to a black set of lines, I also like to make a duplicate layer and set the brightness and contrast until the black lines turn nearly white; then slightly offset the white lines and turn down the opacity to create highlights for the black set of lines (tops of door panels and such); keeping in mind the direction of sunlight on both sides of the model as many times the lines will need to be split down the center-line of the model and flipped, so we don't end up with highlights in wrong places on only one side of the model.

Sometimes a model's texture folder will include a "normals" file, which may, or may not, have a lot of this detail built-in; but it seems the more we weather the main texture file, the more it has a tendency to mask any details contained in the normals file. So making our own details on our template helps to assist the normals file in bringing out all the otherwise hidden details.

Btw; that fuel tank looks pretty good, nice job! ...and don't give-up on that dust layer; it's a nice touch (idea), and worth the effort to get it looking just-right. Cheers!

[gtw5812]

Better?

DRGW SD45H.jpg

These came out beautiful! Have you tried the "SP" version yet? Also, where can we download these?

Thanks,
Galen

[slick204]

Thanks Galen!

I haven't packaged them yet. There are two numbers in the pack and I haven't touched the second one. Should I make it clean or dirty?
I also need someone to test them out before I upload them. It's been a while and I'm a little rusty.

I'll look at the SP version after these are done.

[slick204]

Rudy,

Thanks for the suggestions but they may be above my pay grade! I do have a Normal layer. I think I made it myself but that was quite a while ago.
I need to make the changes to the second unit and touch up a few things but I think it's about done.

[RudiJaeger]

Slick,

I'm happy to see that you are still working on this project; I was worried I might have been overly critical in my feedback. At the time, I was not aware that you had previously contributed some really nice repaints; so my apologies if I sounded like I was addressing a rookie. Sometimes I have a tendency to talk too much.

Actually, I think those normals files are above my pay grade as well. I say this because every time I edit them, they become pixelated and it shows through on the repaint's texture file. I still haven't found a solution to this, other than applying some heavy weathering to the texture file in order to "mask" the pixelation of the underlying normals file. I think once the normals are "baked" onto the model by the author, they cannot be edited again without degrading them; not sure.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to adding your work to my collection. It's obvious that you've put a lot of time and effort into this project, and I'm certain these repaints will be well worth waiting for.

[gtw5812]

Thanks Galen!

I haven't packaged them yet. There are two numbers in the pack and I haven't touched the second one. Should I make it clean or dirty?
I also need someone to test them out before I upload them. It's been a while and I'm a little rusty.

I'll look at the SP version after these are done.

I would go with one of each! One clean, one dirty! Looking forward to the SP units! Great work!!
R/
Galen

[slick204]

I cleaned up 5315 for the photo shoot. Just need to package them up.

DRGW SD45I.jpg

[RudiJaeger]

Nicely done! That's some beautiful grime-work too.

[gtw5812]

I cleaned up 5315 for the photo shoot. Just need to package them up.

DRGW SD45I.jpg

Very Nice! Looking froward to them!

R/
Galen