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[tomoose]

In the spirit of the Master of the Air series I thought I'd have a go at 100th BG skins for the B17F (couldn't find any online, just skins only for the G version of the 100th).
So here's my first attempt with all due merit going to the authors of the original skin which I simply stripped of previous markings and tweaked by adding Sqn codes and A/C tail markings (thanks to Shooter, Jarink and Snorri).  Soooo......
I have a 'blank' (just the D's on tail and wing)
I also have 'blanks' with the D's plus XR, EP, LN and LD Sqn codes forward of the National insignia but no a/c-tail markings and the one pictured which is based on a historical aircraft in the squadron (but no noseart).

Now, an appeal to the Corel PaintShop Pro experts in the forum.  I essentially was using the text tool to type, rotate and place the various letters and numbers.  The first one went like a charm (shown in the picture....added the 'Z's and serial number with no probs) but for some reason when I went to do the following letters on the other skins, the text tool simply refuses to show any letters.  I've tried changing the text colour, I've tried changing to Raster, to Vector.......no joy.
Extremely annoying.  I even created an empty image separate from any skin and tried typing text in there, again, no joy.  Before I put my fist through my monitor I thought it better to step back and ask the experts.  This is not the first time Corel has caused frustration for apparently no reason.

[Knochenlutscher]

Give me a day to create proper Fonts First.
The base for your project

Serial Fonts:

solid and stencilled version

Tactical codes Font:

a condensed bold type









look at the tilting of the fuselage warps (star and tacticals top)

That's sth. that can be cured too...

I can prepp a Template, no problem.
Corel is a bitch, during my Trainee as a Designer we had a course with it.
It's a silly proggy that mixes Picture editing with Vector eciting.
I hated it.
For sketching, easy layouts, display of ideas, perfect.
It has tons of features, easy integrated, but to the side effect of being a hoax.
It's Font creation.
Font Design requires Vector Software and a special Software able to create them properly.

Best wishes
Tobias

[tomoose]

Tobias;
thanks for the insight.  I know that using the fonts was a bit of a cheap short-cut but I'm not a skinner and have only occasionally tweaked very small parts of skins (e.g. adding a custom noseart etc).

It's a relief to know that Corel is the main problem and not just my ignorance. 

You are certainly right about the warping and the spacing.  It's sort of 'all or nothing' with the Corel font (I was using USAAF Stencil). 
cheers,
Tomoose

[Knochenlutscher]

The Fonts are ready, the Stencils are Okayish.
At the Tactical codes I need to look at myself this evening, will do some cross checking references.

raf-45d1BOLD (Regular)  <<< Glyph: R changed to fit 100th BG (for fun)*
raf-45d1BOLD (Condensed)  <<< Glyph: R changed to fit 100th BG*

* M and W are always a matter of variables, this I will check, and if adjust to fit.


USAAF_Stencil_100thBG  <<< Glyph: 2 changed to fit 100th BG
USAAF_Serial_Stencil_100thBG  <<< Glyph: 2 changed to fit 100th BG

Link obsolete

My Buddy called me for late afternoon work. I'll be back home in the evening.

Best wishes
Tobias

[Ol Willy]

If you want a simple vector editor, you can try Deltacad. It is literally the easiest one around



Paired with it I recommend online vectorizer if you have high contrast images for the sources

https://www.vectorization.org/

[Knochenlutscher]

Freehand MX is very much a quick and easy proggy, working well together with FontLab.
That's what I use since late 90s. Anyway, Thanks the offer Willy.

https://b17flyingfortress.de/bg/100th-bomb-group/page/5/
https://100thbg.com/aircraft/?aircraft_id=10220

alright let me use this as Link deposititory, Alzheimer,

The v1 was crap, here is a better.
https://www.mediafire.com/file/4vep0myx0j8swfw/100th_Bomb_Group_Fonts_v2.7z/file

Included is a first quick Template.

The Bold width is 85%, generally working good, at some Glyphs strange.
I need to check the R/L Kites, Markings as much as possible to get a clue.

Best wishes
Tobias