[WIP] Historical - US Invasion of Sicily
By way of reading some of the threads here I was looking at the tanks-encyclopedia site where I found an image of an M5A1 Stuart which featured the US white star insignia surrounded by a yellow circle instead of the usual white:
That struck my curiosity and led me into a rabbit hole of research, during which I found additional evidence of other US vehicles (Shermans, Halftracks, Scout cars, Priests, Tank Destroyers) with this odd yellow circle. They were not always easy to find! There's even a B&W photo of Patton in his command car where you can clearly see the different shade between the star and the surrounding circle.
Apparently the yellow circle originated in the North African campaign, but a specific order was given in 1943 stating that all vehicles slated for participation in the invasion of Sicily were to increase the width of the circle and paint it in yellow. Having already spent way too much time tracking down this historical trivia, it seems fitting to use this for my entry. Using the M5 Stuart reference as a general guide for the paint scheme, I will make a US skin based on the 1943 invasion of Sicily.
Here is a first pass trying to get the basic colors and patterns to be in the ballpark. I'm looking at this on a map with neutral, diffuse lighting, and another map with warmer direct sunlight. I still need to balance the colors a bit before I start propagating this to the rest of the vehicles.
This does not yet have any white lettering for serial numbers, divisions, etc, but I aim to get to those details too.
Please note that this skin is in the category “inspired by the historical events”. I place emphasis on INSPIRED BY. When making creative choices I won’t be as much of a stickler for historical accuracy as others. That said, the amount of reference I've found should allow me to make something that will look both good and plausible.
One more thing…
There's another idea I've wanted to try for a while, and now that the magic voodoo for baking normals/spec/gloss has been discovered (thanks Shriken!) I'd like to incorporate into some of my vehicles the concept of camo netting. What I've researched is that the US Army issued nets without any dressing on them, and it was up to the soldiers on the field to find materials to make them into effective camouflage for their location. The Germans favored using leafy branches, but the Americans often used rope which in the reference photography is easily recognizable as the squiggly lines on the nets. Camo nets were mostly used to hide static emplacements and parked vehicles, both for the purpose of ambushing the enemy as well as to avoid detection by air.
Not being able to add new geometry, I can't really make draping sheets or add tree branches, but I think the rope lines on a net that's flush on the surface could still look pretty decent. Below are a couple of proof-of-concept tests I did get an idea of what it will look like:
I'm still not sure if the net and rope will be brighter than the base vehicle, or darker. I'm leaning towards darker. The scale will be cheated. My first tests had the net at a smaller scale which might be more appropriate but at the default zoom level in the game it will just turn into noisy mush. So I'll probably end up with a grid size that's a bit larger for the sake of it looking decent in context. The net and rope in these tests is too regular and dense but again it was just a proof.
I'm not going to apply this camo net concept to all the vehicles. I tested with a Sherman because I had a file set up for it, but I think I'll try to restrict this to more emplaced/ranged vehicles like the Priest, Calliope, mortar halftrack, etc. To me it makes sense that they might have thrown a camo net on those to help hide them while they are firing from a fixed location for a while.
The camo nets will definitely be a challenge but I hope it will add something unique to this skin pack. The effect looks pretty cool as the vehicles and/or the camera moves and the light plays across them.
That struck my curiosity and led me into a rabbit hole of research, during which I found additional evidence of other US vehicles (Shermans, Halftracks, Scout cars, Priests, Tank Destroyers) with this odd yellow circle. They were not always easy to find! There's even a B&W photo of Patton in his command car where you can clearly see the different shade between the star and the surrounding circle.
Apparently the yellow circle originated in the North African campaign, but a specific order was given in 1943 stating that all vehicles slated for participation in the invasion of Sicily were to increase the width of the circle and paint it in yellow. Having already spent way too much time tracking down this historical trivia, it seems fitting to use this for my entry. Using the M5 Stuart reference as a general guide for the paint scheme, I will make a US skin based on the 1943 invasion of Sicily.
Here is a first pass trying to get the basic colors and patterns to be in the ballpark. I'm looking at this on a map with neutral, diffuse lighting, and another map with warmer direct sunlight. I still need to balance the colors a bit before I start propagating this to the rest of the vehicles.
This does not yet have any white lettering for serial numbers, divisions, etc, but I aim to get to those details too.
Please note that this skin is in the category “inspired by the historical events”. I place emphasis on INSPIRED BY. When making creative choices I won’t be as much of a stickler for historical accuracy as others. That said, the amount of reference I've found should allow me to make something that will look both good and plausible.
One more thing…
There's another idea I've wanted to try for a while, and now that the magic voodoo for baking normals/spec/gloss has been discovered (thanks Shriken!) I'd like to incorporate into some of my vehicles the concept of camo netting. What I've researched is that the US Army issued nets without any dressing on them, and it was up to the soldiers on the field to find materials to make them into effective camouflage for their location. The Germans favored using leafy branches, but the Americans often used rope which in the reference photography is easily recognizable as the squiggly lines on the nets. Camo nets were mostly used to hide static emplacements and parked vehicles, both for the purpose of ambushing the enemy as well as to avoid detection by air.
Not being able to add new geometry, I can't really make draping sheets or add tree branches, but I think the rope lines on a net that's flush on the surface could still look pretty decent. Below are a couple of proof-of-concept tests I did get an idea of what it will look like:
I'm still not sure if the net and rope will be brighter than the base vehicle, or darker. I'm leaning towards darker. The scale will be cheated. My first tests had the net at a smaller scale which might be more appropriate but at the default zoom level in the game it will just turn into noisy mush. So I'll probably end up with a grid size that's a bit larger for the sake of it looking decent in context. The net and rope in these tests is too regular and dense but again it was just a proof.
I'm not going to apply this camo net concept to all the vehicles. I tested with a Sherman because I had a file set up for it, but I think I'll try to restrict this to more emplaced/ranged vehicles like the Priest, Calliope, mortar halftrack, etc. To me it makes sense that they might have thrown a camo net on those to help hide them while they are firing from a fixed location for a while.
The camo nets will definitely be a challenge but I hope it will add something unique to this skin pack. The effect looks pretty cool as the vehicles and/or the camera moves and the light plays across them.
Replies
back in coh1 at the end we manage to alter the models with custom that use all the aboves and the result is wonderfull.
Well done excellent aproach.
I finalized the look on the Stuart and have been propagating it to the rest of the vehicles. Still have a few more vehicles to go and then I will start on the camo nets, which I want to feature on four of the artillery/ranged units.
I've added quite a bit of weathering and wear particularly on the emblems. Maybe a touch more than it would have been but I prefer how it integrates this way as opposed to the clean decal look.
Some of the research I have read indicates that the inconsistency in the size and thickness of the yellow circles is sometimes a due to them painting them over an existing white one. So on the Sherman I have made it look like there is a thinner underlying white circle over which the thicker yellow one was painted. The one on the front of the Priest is extra large, but it's matching one of the few color references and I'll cover some of that with camo netting.
I have paid special attention to the unit battalion markings so they are all members of forces that were actually there. Specifically they would have all been under the command of General Patton. So anyone who uses these skins must play aggressively!
Excellent work on decals /research well done. Weathering also is very good , you fix the ambulance (that decals is the only one in the net so that we all who have make USF use these
). Accurate skinpack well done.
P.S A small suggestion , in Italy in 43 the climate was dry , and the sun was sunny so you must remake the basic color be less green and more drab feinted by weather, that is my humble opinion.
I still want to do one pass of adjusting contrast and brightness on them, depending on how they look while play-testing on a few different lighting environments. Plus I may want to give a couple of doctrinal units a different treatment to use one other paint scheme (simple two tone green and tan) which I saw several times during my research. I normally apply the same consistent look to all the vehicles in a skin but I'm warming up to the idea of having more than one style represented, borrowing from your and Starbuck's methodology. So thanks for your suggestion, and I may find a way to factor it in at least for some vehicles.
Really like how these are coming along. Nice work.
I need to add a bit of contact shadowing from the nets/ropes back onto the underlying armor. And I still want to tweak the normals on the ropes to see if I can exaggerate the bump effect. But there's finally a light at the end of the tunnel...
If you click on the image to view it 1:1, it represents the default zoom from the game. The net itself pretty much disappears, but the ropes are readable. I did a few iterations on the rope thickness and spacing between the strands, checking how they appear from the default camera.
So at this point I have all vehicles in their near-final form. I have a few minor details I still want to hit, but they shouldn't take long. Then it's the winter versions, screengrabs for the store, packaging and uploading. I'm glad we got an extension so I won't be rushed to finish it all tomorrow.
Also, I've decided I'll call the skin "Operation Husky" when I publish it. After all, the Allied invasion of Sicily was codenamed "Operation Husky", and it just sounds way cooler than "US Invasion of Sicily" :-)
I have added this to those vehicles where I found specific reference showing them. For the ambulance it meant tweaking the nrm/spc/gls maps to create a flat backing in front of the grille.
Some vehicles had their full size and weight info (width, height, etc) stenciled on the side. I've added that to the Easy 8.
The rest of the vehicles won't be allowed on the bridge and must take the long way around...
BTW the ambulance with that decals already made by me and starbuck , but it's ok these are the only one available in the net , and the most good looking.
it's a good aproach as skinpack and the overall is ok ,well done.
Regarding the M10, I think I know the photo you are describing with the TD logo on the rear of the turret:
I chose the front placement based on a decal sheet which also gave me the idea to paint it in the two-tone pattern:
The version in the top right ("D") showed the logo in the front, under the star. So it was definitely a creative choice, since I combined the color pattern of the lower left ("C") with the TD placement of the top right. That specific combination perhaps never really occurred, but at least it seems possible.
I'm sure I made up details elsewhere which are farther away from reality :-)
Now there's more screenshots to grab, lots of i's to dot, t's to cross, and hopefully uploading in the next day or so...
Heheh. Unfortunately I believe that would be against the contest rules as they want the entries to only be available in the curated path. Otherwise it would defeat the purpose of asking players to pay for them
Can you point out where that rule is please?
The main contest thread has a link for the Full terms and conditions for the Competition. This is from that page:
"Your Submission must NOT:
(a) be previously published in any video game, on any website or social media page or elsewhere at a time prior to or after your Submission except as permitted by these Official Rules;"
My interpretation of this is that they only want the (winning) entries available through their store, and it makes sense that if you are selling something you don't want it available for free. Much like the way they forbid any mod whose only purpose is to grant free access to all the paid commanders, for example. In any case, the "must not be ... published ... prior to or after your submission" is what I think would prohibit publishing it as a free and ready-to-use skin mod now that it's been submitted for the contest.
I'd love to be wrong about this. Maybe someone from Relic can chime in?
I understand that point in a way for authors like, don't make your work similar with other users work , i.e don't copy another user pattern for a skin etc etc. On the other hand if you reference to decals , these are something comon , you can't accuse someone that using the same decals i.e divisional to his skinpack because allied units have all the same decals , only divisional and squadron numbers changed , and the majority used the drab color pattern . In hoby modeling world allied tanks are not so popular due to limitation of one color , only great modelers gives a different aproach to these models with the use of weather effects etc etc .
So I don't see a point why your previous post may be an issue.
I responce in that way with unique patterns etc etc , since the last 20 days I make 15+15 X2 (for 2 faction) new skins , and these almost 60 patterns are all diferend than my previous one , because I understand also wrong about that...... they just wnt to see the result , that is what I believe, and if you like to make you a full analise about how the community voting , I will from tommorow ..... today still want to catch the day
Otherwise, I've wasted the last 3 weeks (and workshop cloud space) trying to get these skin packs up for the competition. As you may already know, I've re-used some skins from previously release ready-to-use skin packs.
Ultimately, if this is really the rule, then I suppose it's my own fault for not seeing it earlier...ugh.
At the end I submit and I'm saying that none of the Historical skinpacks in that contest have a 100% similarity with other previous elements, If some make an identical skin for Tiger that used in Normandy he make it by his point of view with the construction of COH2 , what I mean in coh1 the models were diferend so they might be the same M3 is always M3 but the skins are different in many ways. I hope that analycis covered your point of view.
If my submission doesn't win, I'll release it for free and won't consider the past few weeks wasted because I learned a few new tricks like the correct settings for burning a new normal/spec/gloss map (which I had tried and failed to do before). I can now read the markings on US WWII vehicles and know what they mean. And we have access to the 3D models to help with future skins, which was not the case when we started.
Overall, there's some good gains.
Either way I look forward to using your skins. GL!
Anyway , good luck , someone curst my winter skins and none upload correct