How are you doing that chipped paint on the edges of the panels, by hand?
I have a brushed aluminum-esque texture that I can tile, so it can fit any size.
I make two layers out of this, of the same shape (of the piece I'm texturing). It's all light gray at this point. Then I take the bottom layer and increase the contrast and darken it a lot.
Then, I take a set of grunge brushes (you can find a bunch of good ones to download, usually on DeviantArt), and erase bits from the top (light gray) layer in areas that would receive wear and tear (edges of polygons and edges of panels), revealing the darker layer.
After adding panel lines and rivets/bolts, I get a good metal texture with damage on the edges.
I create a new layer from all these so I can select based on color. Then I use Gimp's Wand tool (select areas of similar color) to select the centers of the panels- the less-damaged bits. The threshold for selecting color determines how much paint is chipped. After selecting all these, I create a new layer and "fill" it with a certain color, and set it as a certain transparency.
If you select the areas right, you'll have paint chipped around the edges, and also less color on the extra-bright areas of the texture to look like scratches.
I'd hate to be in a dogfight with that kind of visibility from the cockpit.
Well, this is sort of for pre-FS1 and sort of for an original universe I've been designing while I should be listening to the prof in Physics class. Terrans in that universe are phasing out actual cockpits, especially open, exposed ones, in favor of well-shielded closed areas that use several redundant, independent sensor systems for visibility. (sort of like the ships in WoD with no cockpits- even lampshaded in that mission where you have to use the Ray I)
