MOD me up Scotty: An Applicationist Walkthrough Part II.
  By PawBroon

Side BMP by PawBroon

Doing that article was akin to opening Pandora's box for I had since received an overwhelming amount of MODs in progress and weird proposal to trade CM2 screenshots.
The strangest thing by far I'd received is that Applicationist Wasp sporting an Austin Powers Shaggadelic Camo job...

Austin Powers Wasp by David Aitken

I guess that when I said DeanCo thought I had created a convertible tankette used to lift bimbos while still in France, someone had been taking this a little too literally.
Aitken, whatever you're smoking, it's most certainly homegrown.

Side by Side, 3681.BMP

We said previously that the purpose of Applicationism is to allow for fast and lazy sunday morning MODing.
It's already more evident with 3681 than it was for 3680.
The side of that MOD is a bit luxurious and might not be illustrative of Applicationism in its easy going sense.
Take a closer look at the original top BMP once it had been doubled in size.

3681.BMP by BTS

Best thing to do before MODing every which way is to switch back and forth between your paint program and Combat Mission so that you could take a good look at the actual model and determine what is on the texture that is NOT displayed in game...
MODing is a long process, Applicationism or not, chances are that you'll spend hours over details to produce a MOD that might appeal only to your Mom and that's it.
You could always find pictures or previous MODs from which to rip essential parts of what you need.
That is not the true bottleneck. What will blow a fuse before long is the FleshWare. That's you in case you are wondering...
In the stock 3681.BMP, you'll see 5 distinct zones that are actually NOT displayed in game.
Why is that?
Easy, they could have been done from a book or a kit.
They could have been done by someone very thorough that wanted it to be exhaustive.
Who knows? But in any case, you are your only resource and you might want to be easy on yourself.

That's good already.
We have not yet started and that MOD is ahead of what we thought was to be done.
Let's see.
Even with a BMP that much detailed, what is shown in game is a grey GunMetal like overlay.
Using a software like ACDSee for example, we browse the BMP Folder and find that the two likely culrprits are 4007 or 4010.
Paint the first one in bright green and the second in bright red and get back to Combat Mission to check on that Wasp.

Painted 4010

Wasp in game

So now we know for sure that 4010.BMP is the texture that is pasted over 3681 no matter how MODed we tweak it.
The interior of that vehicule is mostly hard coded.
You can't paint the inner sides, you can't enhance the racks.
Let's see what we can do with that...

First we can note that since 4010 is GunMetal like, we might play it along further and paste an actual HiResed GunMetal interface from DeanCo.
Next one is easy even though a bit strange from a MODing standpoint.
BTS released the Wasp/Bren Carrier/MG Carrier based on the 3 Inches Mortar Carrier.
Funny enough is that this model is used for all 3 flavours of vehicules but is not included in the game itself.

Mortar Carrier

Chances are that the rear of that MOD could be tweaked to display something more general purpose but the Ammo Rack would have to stay.
Since we'll have to make do, at least could we do it in style...
You know the drill, hook onto ACDsee and let's take a closer look at what could be found in our HD.

3437.BMP

Now there's something.
That's the kind of Ammo Rack that would enhanced the general look of our MOD.
Let's rip it off with the Polygonal Lasso Tool and drop it over the one we're working on.
The interior of the Wasp is not exactly idiot proof, so expect some trial and errors before you actually map them how they should be...

Half MODed

Now if we could just tweak that front and rear hull...
Wait a minute!
Isn't Applicationism also a way to generate a library of reusable components for further MODing?
Those missing patches of hull are exactly the size of something we already used for our previous BMP.

Hull by PawBroon

Now that's something.
Let's put one on the lower part and do a Duplicate Layer followed by a Rotate 180 to paste the one on the upper part.

Nearly MODed

DeanCo said that an Applicationist also believes in luck.
It's quite evident when you look at the hull we just pasted.
Not only are they just what we needed but the wheathered and muddied part are exactly where we wanted them to be.
For all practical purpose that MOD is now finished.
What's next is the things you put in that make your work worth it or not.
They are your signature....

Accessories and Shadowing

The Lee Enfields are from my BMP folder and are weathered and tone down with the Burn Tool using a light pressure and the drop down shadow is done using the same Tool set on Shadow with a higher pressure for the hull.
The lack of shadow is a always a sure way to kill a MOD in its path for Hall of Fame.
Speaking of shadowing, try to decide once and for all from where the sun is supposed to highlight your MOD.
You can see quite often MODs released with shadows coming from both left and right fields...
That's a detail but it doesn't cost too much to have a look see about those.
Beta Testing is useful in that regard because other people do have a more critical analysis of your work.
If you're field tested by the Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde of CM (Maximus & Midgetus) then you might expect some serious pointers as to what you did wrong.
Basically you shouldn't have been bothered by that whole MODing concept.
Just to sum up...

Brit Division Markings: Web Template

The last part is the now classical Optional File showing that you care for the MOD Sluts and should be given some more points in Ladder Games...
You know it as if you did that Wasp by now.
Polygonal Lasso Tool and a drop over the front hull.
A quick Hue & Saturation followed by a Scale.
The result is the following:

Markings of the Hull: 11th and 79th, Guards, Bridge Weight

As usual, it's easier to produce optional files since it's just a matter of clicking on the Display checkbox.

All layers displayed

This is the end of our second part.

Next installement of MOD me up Scotty: An Applicationist Walkthrough based upon a combo of time and feedbacks..