PW-MK.I - Sea Camo -

I've been lately assisting Tachyyon in making his own skin mods for his larger project, and in doing so I've regained some of the fun I had previously, so this will be yet another one of those one-off "out of retirement" affairs. Plus some people have stated they like my particular style of skin so I figured, why not.

Today we have a simple skin pack for the PW-MKI, by MegalithAce. This was one of the most ambitious modelswaps back in the day and I still remember how insane the hype for it was among the modding circles. Not only it did deliver a fun and massively overpowered new plane for you to fly, but it truly demonstrated the potential for the Ace Combat 7 modding scene and it inspired many modders to work on equally ambiitious projects. Today there are many such modelswaps and addons, and the portfolio overall is quite refined, if arguably also rather stagnant and saturated. But the PW-MKI remains as a product of an era where modders were in constant search of innovation and in pursuit of wondrous projects, where it was all about trial and error and where the scene was overall more positive and friendly as well. So I thought it wasn't a bad idea to make some skins for it.

This skin pack features replacers for the Osea, Erusea, and Trigger skin slots inspired by the Russian Naval Aviation's Su-33 Flanker-D's standard paint scheme. This plane is clearly inspired by the Flanker family, with elements from Ace Combat 6's CFA-44 Nosferatu (itself inspired to some extent by the Flanker), and is carrier-based, so it was the most appropriate choice. The original mod already came with a Su-33 inspired skin for the Erusean slot, but I wanted to make something that looked more accurate and also more similar to Ace Combat 7's own design language. To do this, I hand-drew a pattern with attention to detail to the IRL Su-33 as well as AC7's standard Osea and Trigger, and I also lowered the template's wear layer's intensity by half to restore some of the plane's aesthetic condition. A lot of players really like Project Wingman's rougher, more beaten-up style, with chopped off paint and a lot of blackened, burnt panels and general grime, which is totally valid - I myself prefer for my planes to look in a better shape.

There's two color palettes included: Skins 1, 4, 5, and 6 feature an altered pattern inspired by Ace Combat 6's Emmerian Su-33 skin, while Skins 2 and 7 have the actual, accurate Flanker-D colors. Skin 7 additionally features the standard markings worn by the Russian Naval Aviation, 279th Shipborne Fighter Aviation Regiment, 2nd Squadron 'Tigers' Su-33 Flanker-D Bort 88 Red, circa 2005. Finally, the Trigger skins feature their Osean markings in the same general style and distribution as the MA-VMF, in order to provide more variety in comparison to the SCMC-based Osea and Trigger skins found in the original mod's release.[/co