Winterized German tank and vehicles pack
by John "Skycat" Turner
----------------------------

 This pack is a continuation of the work presented in "Panzergruppe Skycat." All of the German tanks and armored vehicles
are now "whitewashed" with the intent to make them as highly detailed and authentic as possible.

 Whitewash paint was issued as a temporary winter camoflage and was water soluable. In action it would wear off quickly, 
giving the tank a patchy appearance.   

 I am not nearly the artist I wish I was, and therefore rely heavily adapting existing artwork and photographs
into the skin files to make them as detailed as possible. Recently, I discovered that there is a large modding 
community surrounding the game 'Combat Mission' (CM) -- this game appears to be a 3D tactical sim based on World War II.
Out of curiousity, I downloaded some of the'third party' (player made) skins for some of the tanks, and was 
pleased to discover the skins for each vehicle required multiple bitmaps, sometimes in high resolution, and 
various views (top, side, back) were provided. Much of the best of work the CM modding community has been adapted here. 

 * This pack contains 3D files for both the default Jagdpanzer IV and MEGA's Jagpanther mod. This allows the user to
   switch back and forth as they wish. By default, "ALL_Install" will load the Jagdpanzer IV skin and model.

 * Double-click "ALTERNATE_JagdPANTHER" to load MEGA's Jagdpanther mod into the game. It will replace the Jagdpanzer IV.
   Double-click "Install_Jagdpanzer IV" to again load the default Jagdpanzer IV 3D model.

 * The pack also contains the L1 and L2 3D files for the SDKFZ-251 halftrack. The L2 is needed because the default setup
   mixes up the SDKFZ and the Wuhrfrahmen 40 (unnoticable until you have different colored skins on each). The L1, or 
   closest view, is included as a restore so players can alternate between the default 3D model and Spudkopf's SDKFZ-251D
   pack which changes the 3D shape and mapping of the vehicle.

I hope you enjoy! 
~ Jtskycat@yahoo.com


----------------------------
Credits and notes
----------------------------

A. TIGER tank: Textures from "Mad Dog Mod Pack #1" for Combat Mission (http://www.combatmission.com). Spare track
   links on turret side from winterized Tiger textures by John 'Tiger' S. for Combat Mission.

B. PANTHER tank: Whitewash textures by Gordon Molek for Combat Mission, based on original Panther Ausf. A 
   textures by Fernando J. Carrera Buil for CM. Additional weathering for WW2 Fighters version by Skycat.  

c. PANZER IV tank: Whitwash textures by Gordon Molek for Combat Mission, based on original textures by Fernando J. 
   Carrera Buil for Combat Mission. 

D. JAGDPANZER IV tank: Hull roof, hull side, gun mantlet, and rear deck textures by Scipio for Combat Mission 
   (based on textures by Pedro Soriano for CM). Front hull, brake covers, wheels and rear of hull from 'winterized 
   Panzer IV by Gordon Molek/Fernando J. Carrera Buil for Combat Mission. Base textures (green) by Marcus Bloess for
   Combat Mission. Overall textures heavily weatherized by Skycat for WW2 Fighters.    

E. JAGDPANTHER tank: 3D mod by MEGA for WW2 Fighters. Whitewash textures by Fernando J. Carrera Buil, Paul McMahon
   and Gordon Molek for Combat Mission (based upon original textures in "Mad Dog Mod Pack #1" for CM).  

F. STUG III assault gun: Whitewash textures by Fernando J. Carrera Buil for Combat Mission (based on StuG textures 
   from "Mad Dog Mod Pack #2" for CM). Suspension and wheels completely original by Skycat for WW2 Fighters.

G. WESPE self-propelled gun: Whitewash textures by Andrew Fox for Combat Mission.

H. WIRBELWIND flakpanzer: Adapted 'whitewashed Panzer IV' textures by Gordon Molek/Fernando J. Carrera Buil for 
   Combat Mission. Turret by Skycat for WW2 Fighters.

I. SDKFZ 251 halftrack: Whitewash by Skycat. Base textures (green) by Fernando J. Carrera Buil for Combat Mission. 
   Machine gun from Jurgen Muhlbauer's Afrika Korps SDKFZ 251 textures for WW2 Fighters. 3D mapping fix by Skycat.

J. WUHRFRAHMEN 40 halftrack:  Whitewash by Skycat. Base textures (brown) by Fernando J. Carrera Buil for Combat 
   Mission. Machine gun from Jurgen Muhlbauer's 'Afrika Korps SDKFZ 251' textures for WW2 Fighters. 3D mapping 
   fix by Skycat.

K. KUBELWAGEN car: whitewash by Skycat for WW2 Fighters. Detail textures from Andrew Fox's Kubelwagen for Combat Mission.
 
L. BMW R75 motorcycle: 3D mod by JHAT to add sidecar passenger. Original uniform textures by JoJimbo for DeadlyDozen game.
   Jane's WW2F MOTORCYCLE skin recolored by Skycat; BMW logo added by Skycat. Historical reference: painting by James 
   Dietz titled "Das Reich" portraying Waffen SS motorcycle units of the 2nd Panzer Division riding through France in 
   June, 1944 (Published in "Portraits of Combat" art book about Dietz's work). 'Frosted' for this release by Skycat.
 
M. TROOPS: Winter camoflage uniform textures by Skycat for WW2 Fighters. Previously released August 2001. 

  ~ Special thanks to Big Dog, whose advice solved my long-standing Crash-to-Desktop problems with the PANZER_IV ... quite
    simply, I now save the -64 and -32 textures as 128x128 each.  


-------------------
Installation advice
-------------------

To install, extract (unzip) the contents into your WW2 Fighters game "Data" folder. Enable 
the installation of new modifications by finding the WW2.SQS file in your Data folder and right-
clicking on it; look at 'properties' and uncheck the 'Read Only' option. 

Now, navigate back to this skin pack's main folder and double-click on one of the icons that is 
titled "Install_ ..."  Install_ALL.bat will install all skins at once. Specifically named icons
install only the vehicle/object that they are named for (IE: "Install_Kubelwagen" installs just the field car).

A DOS session will begin, recording the entry of the new data to your 
WW2.SQS file. The session will either end by itself or prompt you to close out. 
When the session completes, your new skins should be ready for play!
  
