re-paint / mdl file converter

😕 We have an expert painter at Flyaway and Im sure he will be on line soon
the mans name is davec

TTT is being very flattering in calling me an expert - I am still only learning the craft and the half dozen or so repaints I have accomplished have been a steep learning curve. At no time have I had to edit the mdl file of the aircraft in order to repaint an a/c - altering the mdl file is a job for a real expert the least typo can ruin the a/c and stop FS9 loading that a/c.
The model folder has two files: one named model.cfg and the other named *****.mdl. Of course the "*****" from this last one is an arbitrary name chosen by the developer of the particular aircraft model. The mdl file is like a wireframe. It is the 3D "skeleton" of the plane and it is this file that 'tells' FS2004 where all textures have to go to cover the aircaft. In other words, it will take the different bmp texture files that are inside the texture folder and will put all those bmps together like a big puzzle. That is why you cannot mix different texture and model files from different planes. The mdl file will look inside the texture folder for specific file names to form the puzzle. If you put one mdl into another aircraft model folder it will try to look for file names that are not there and the plane will not load in FS. There are free binary (mdl) file editors available for down load but I would use them with great caution.The model.cfg is a simple text file that you can open with Notepad and only contains the name of the mdl file.
So I am intrigued when you say you want to change texture files in the mdl.file - there are no texture files in the mdl file, only references to them - do you mean change the file name of texture files or actually edit the contents of the texture files.
But I am ready to be corrected by a real expert - which has been no help at all to you - sorry 😂

Aloha Mako, Davec is correct in what he says, there is no reason to go into the .mdl for repainting, what is needed is the .bmp's that are in the "texture" file of the aircraft and there you can change the paint to your hearts desire as long as you keep the .bmp names the same, a differant matter if you want to add a second paint job, as then that would intail modifying the .cfg of the choosen plane. I think it would benefit you to check out some tutorials as it will have you contributing to the Community with hopefully some nice repaints All the best, Ric

I downloaded a tutorial (instruction) from the net and it says that I need a hex editor to modify binary files (such as the *.mdl file). Hex Workshop is one such shareware program available for download.... ...... that's were the mess started I guess I am the hard head or I need to download a different tutorial ❓

😎 Mako, Go to simvation.com and then go to the download page, scroll down to where it says "Design Home Page" Click it and then you will see a section that says "Tutorials" there you will find at least three painting Tutorials on the firsat page, my recomendation would be for the "Jim Oates" Tutorial. Hope this helps

Sorry Mako, Thought I was Logged in, I was the one to recommend the paint tutorials, and they are all good just decide which one will suit you the Best. Ric

Hi

Is there any body who can help me with Honda jet virtual cockpit glass reflection? i tried to look into air craft cfg file, but no reflection is indicated so i can remove. When I checked the model folder, it contains MDL files, No way to open them , to adjust the glass reflection,and shadow. Any help is appreciated.

Tavsed

In FSX native air crafts , you can get rid of the virtual cockpit reflections by simply removing the reflections.dds file in the texture folder, but in some 3rd party aircrafts, the tint, and reflections of VC window is embedded into the aircraft model mdl file.Is there any way to get rid of the tint , and reflections?