A mod can add new paint schemes to the game's airplanes. A mod skin shows up in every skin selection next to the built-in ones - the airplane's own panel, the fleet's default and randomize settings and the ordering window - is unlocked from the start, and is painted on like any other skin with the Paint Airplane task. It takes part in the randomize pool like any other skin.

A skin re-paints an airplane the game already has. The model stays the same, so paint on the airplane's existing UV layout.

The folder

Skins live in the mod's Airplanes/ folder:

Mods/
  my_mod/
    Airplanes/
      config.json                   required - which skins the folder adds
      DesertRat_BaseMap_1001.png    base colour, UDIM tile 1001
      DesertRat_BaseMap_1002.png    optional - base colour, UDIM tile 1002
      DesertRat_Specular_1001.png   optional - specular colour, UDIM tile 1001
      DesertRat_Specular_1002.png   optional - specular colour, UDIM tile 1002
      DesertRat.thumbnail.png       optional - the skin's icon in the menus

PNGs may sit in subfolders of Airplanes/; a file is known by its name alone, and names are matched without regard to case. Only the config.json directly in Airplanes/ is read. Any other file type is ignored with a warning in the log.

`config.json`

One entry per skin under Skins, keyed by the skin's id within the mod. The id also names the skin's textures and its thumbnail.

{
  "Skins": {
    "DesertRat": {
      "Airplane": "spitfire",
      "Name": "Desert Rat",
      "BaseSkin": "Supermarine-Spitfire_MK09_Day-Fighter_Toon-UDIM"
    }
  }
}

Key	Required	Meaning
`Airplane`	yes	The airplane the skin is painted on - an id from Airplane ids.
`Name`	no	The name the skin selection shows, in every language. The skin's id when left out.
`BaseSkin`	no	The built-in skin the new one starts from. Its material is copied, and every texture the mod does not ship stays that skin's. The airplane's first skin when left out.

A skin is skipped, with a warning in the log, when it names no Airplane, when the airplane does not exist, or when the folder has no <skinId>_BaseMap_1001.png.

Textures

The textures follow the naming of the game's own art, with the skin id in front:

File	Slot
`<skinId>_BaseMap_1001.png`	base colour, UVs with U from 0 to 1
`<skinId>_BaseMap_1002.png`, `_1003`	base colour of UDIM tiles 1002 (U from 1 to 2) and 1003 (U from 2)
`<skinId>_Specular_1001.png`, `_1002`, `_1003`	specular colour of each tile

Only tile 1001 of the base colour is required. A tile you leave out keeps the base skin's texture, so a mod may re-paint only part of an airplane. A tile the base skin's material has no slot for is ignored.

The same size limits as for object art apply - see Replacing models, icons and ground textures.

<skinId>.thumbnail.png is the icon the skin selection shows. Without one, the base skin's icon is shown.

Airplane ids

`Airplane`	First (default) skin
`b17raf`	`b17raf_Boeing-B17_MK02_Temperate-Sea_Toon-UDIM`
`beaufighter`	`Bristol-Beaufighter_MK01_Temperate-Land_Toon-Opaque`
`blenheim`	`Bristol-Blenheim_MK04_Temperate-Land_Toon-Opaque`
`defiant`	`BoultonPaul-Defiant_MK01_Night_Toon-Opaque`
`flamingo`	`DeHavilland-Flamingo_MK01_Temperate-Land_Toon-Opaque`
`gladiator`	`Gloster-Gladiator_MK01_Temperate-Land_Toon-UDIM`
`hampden`	`HandleyPage-Hampden_MK01_Night_Toon-Opaque`
`hurricane`	`Hawker-Hurricane_MK02_Day-Fighter_Toon-UDIM`
`kittyhawk`	`Curtiss-P40_E_Desert-Scheme_Toon-Opaque`
`lancaster`	`Avro-Lancaster_MK01_Night_Toon-UDIM`
`lysander`	`Westland-Lysander_MK03_Night_Toon-UDIM`
`meteor`	`Gloster-Meteor_MK03_Day-Fighter_Toon-Opaque`
`mosquito`	`DeHavilland-Mosquito_BMK04_Day-Fighter_Toon-UDIM`
`mustangmk1`	`mustangmk1_NorthAmerican-Mustang_MK01_Day-Fighter_Toon-UDIM`
`spitfire`	`Supermarine-Spitfire_MK09_Day-Fighter_Toon-UDIM`
`stirling`	`Short-Stirling_MK01_Night_Toon-UDIM`
`tempest`	`Hawker-Tempest_MK05_Day-Fighter_Toon-UDIM`
`typhoon`	`Hawker-Typhoon_MK01B_Day-Fighter_Toon-UDIM`
`vampire`	`DeHavilland-Vampire_MK01_Day-Fighter_Toon-Opaque`

Saves and disabled mods

The game saves a mod skin under the id mod_<modId>_<skinId>, in lower case, so two mods never clash. Skins are read each time a level is loaded, so changed PNGs show after loading a save. When a save names a skin whose mod is no longer enabled, the airplane falls back to its first skin, and the skin leaves the fleet's default and randomize settings.

Scenes that show an airplane outside the base - the scramble interception and crash sites - show the airplane's built-in look, as they do for the built-in skins.

Table of Contents

The folder

config.json

Textures

Airplane ids

Saves and disabled mods

`config.json`