Yours was getting closer by the final version. I certainly didn't mind you pointing out the rim blur, I was annoyed at myself for missing it! I think I was so focused on the bodywork that I didn't see it on the screenshots until you pointed it out, but now I can't 'un-see' it
I might go and re-do my main screenshots and the video, as I have the replays saved.
I know all the 'cool kids' paint in 3D, but I just can't get it to work for me, as I find it very fiddly as the same things applied/merged down in 3D at a slightly different camera angle can look completely different. So, the car was done entirely in 2D using content manager showroom for a live look at how it was on the car. It might take longer and be more fiddly particularly with having to warp things for curved surfaces, but I prefer being able to be consistent and using vectors and the pen tool. I can't actually believe I've only been skinning since the beginning of the year, but have been pushing myself each time with a more complex car, be it paint patterns (Jamec Pem Audi and Manthey Racing Porsche from Bathurst 12h), map file (Black Swan Porsche from Bathurst 12h), and then this - my first F1 car, and learning a lot as I went along.
For the main part of the stripes, on the side of the tub/cockpit and the side of the sidepod, I aligned a launch photo of the car with the UV map and then just used the pen tool to trace over the stripes:
The most difficult part of the stripes for me was the front of the sidepod as it was a case of making it look like the real car as much as possible but joining up the lines between the 2 parts I had traced, and the same with the ones on the turning vanes/barge boards. The stripes had an layer style applied with an inner glow and outer glow - one of the greens for the green/aqua stripes and the blue one had the same colour outer glow applied. The ones on the front and rear wings were rectangles (alot of rectangles on the front wing) which had the correct colours and layer styles applied and were lined up by eye as to what looked right.
For the shading it was a case of using a really soft brush at the edges with something like 10-30% opacity and 10% flow and building it up for a smooth transition. Also I didn't use true black (used RGB 5,5,5) after a tip from A3DR true black looses detail in AC.
I'm really glad I got to do this one, as it's the team and driver that I follow, and I did a lot of videos of F-Hybrid 17 on my youtube channel last year with the mercedes skin.
Yes I do agree it's great to have and be a part of such a community like this where we all discuss and work together to make cool stuff. I think this is the car I've had the most input on from others, as I've felt sometimes I've been staring at it for so long I think there's something wrong with it and in truth it was fine.
I've usually got some projects lined up to do next but I now have nothing, as I did have some ideas but have lost interest in them, so don't know what to do with myself now. I've been posting and checking here on a daily and sometimes hourly basis for the past 2 months or more, and now everything's pretty much done I'm afraid it will go quiet - I guess we'll all latch onto a new project that is coming along at some point. I should probably spend some time actually learning how to drive the car faster now, and learning more about the complexities of setup (particularly suspension) as I'm not good at that and just know the basics.
