I've been skinning for quite a while now but I've never really posted anything on here before. I know most/all of these skins have been done before but I just want some honest opinions and suggestions. I made this template from the ground up with the exception of the markings by Justoca(spelling?)and Mech layer and stencil set by FBS and of course the original panel lines. I have 22 skins for JG27 that would make a good skin pack, what do you guys think?

They look nice and well crafted.
Although it's difficult to go into details after few screenshots only, the first things that I notice is that you may lighten a bit some fuselage panelling. It looks a bit heavy and unbalanced in some places.

After some fine tuning of the panels (and white "offset" panels, to give some 3D effect) you may move to some basic weathering.
Simmerspaintshop is full of good tips.

I think they look great!

But do that 3D white panal lining thing.

The fuselage turns light just forward of the rear edge of the cockpit. It that an artifact of the 3D model? If so, you should be able to correct it with a very light shadowing layer.

Otherwise, they look pretty good to me!

Thanks for the feedback guys, I wasn't sure if the panel lines looked right or not. The skins do have some slight weathering/dirt in some areas but there is still work to do. Here is a 109G-6 I'm working on, also from JG27.

Thanks,
Spit

I listened to your suggestions and lightened the panel lines and tried to apply the offset panel look. I also applied some texture and dirt/grime to make it look more authentic. I think the results look a lot better...but I'm still no Canon lol. I haven't tried to fix the issue with the light are below the cockpit yet. These screens are a little better than the previous ones, once again..what do ou think?

a little bit of weathering would look nice, you seem to have got the basics

It looks better for sure.

The offset panels should be more visible here and there and the main, dark ones too are barely visible where they should be more defined instead.

You can use the layer masking to make their appearence not uniform on the overal surface.

In general, don't use a single layer to make upper and inferior panels, or even left and right parts. Hatches, cowlings etc. should deserve a different evidence than the main panels. I tend to use a lot of separate layers to reach a better panelling effect.
Btw, I see no rivets on your 109!

The black contour around the nose MGs looks still too heavy to my eyes.

As for some basic weathering, you should work around the exhaust pipes.
The washed out effect of the colour looks good. It should also affect more significantly the stencils. They could be worn-out or even completely "ripped" here and there.
I like the idea of the sandy effect on the undersides.

You may add few traces of oil leaks around the engine and gears area.
Use the motion trail+blur for this.

I wouldn't go into much weathering details until the panelling is convincing. I'm a bit picky about this, but I see to many skins overworked in terms of weathering while they show some very poor panelling. They overall result looks often very unconvincing to my eyes.

Ok, it sounds a lot of criticism but actually it isn't. Your 109 is promising. Just work a little bit more on the basic details, then move to a more refined weathering/enviromentalization of the bird.
I hope it helps.

Thanks again Abraxa for your suggestions. I never really considered putting panels on different layers but that is what I will do next. There is a rivet layer there but I guess I lightened the opacity so much that its barely visible... I'll keep working at it. It's all trial and error.

Thanks!

I did these 109 skins for the MTO, couple years ago then i quit. been tinkering again. Hard to let it go. everyone starts somewhere and your on the right track. nice work.

it's frustrating sometimes when your skills aren't on par with your vision, i learnt to use photoshop from scratch. mainly from backwards engineering stuff from templates to see how it all worked. still can't use paths, and do the 3D looking stuff properly.

I see some good stuff there. As long as you draw some pleasure from skinning, you should insist. Your skills will match your vision sooner or later. The web and the community is full of information if you're willing to improve your "3D" skills in skinning.

Cheers