<![CDATA[Does anyone here have a good reference "sheet" for replacing base weapon skins?]]>I am trying to figure out how to properly align the image I want on the base acr but I cannot for the life of me figure out the proper alignment. I know how to put the files in the right folder (iw_06.iwd) and I am using imgXiwi.exe to convert my PNGs into iwi files and vice versa. But even after converting the original base acr model into a PNG and trying to use that as a reference the alignment doesn't add up in the actual game afterward (starting a private match and equipping the base acr). I am still fiddling around hoping to find out how it works but if anyone has any tips or references or anything like that it would really help out alot.

]]>https://forum.plutonium.pw/topic/44602/does-anyone-here-have-a-good-reference-sheet-for-replacing-base-weapon-skinsRSS for NodeFri, 24 Apr 2026 09:03:02 GMTMon, 13 Apr 2026 17:42:57 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Does anyone here have a good reference "sheet" for replacing base weapon skins? on Wed, 22 Apr 2026 17:36:59 GMT]]>DannyPennis sorry to keep bothering but you're going to have to explain it to me like I am a toddler
What I need to do is:

  1. Convert the _nml.iwi into a png file.
  2. Set the rgb values of the png to 0,0,0 (or the same as the _col.iwi if it is a single color).
  3. Add another layer on top with the rgb values set to 128,128,255 ("purple")
    This part is where I am confused. Do I have the "purple" layer on top with 100% opacity or have that layer set to 50% opacity or have both layers with a specific opacity? I tried having the _nml.iwi with 128,128,255 and the _col.iwi to just black (0,0,0) but it didn't work out.

btw don't worry about not mentioning it earlier I haven't mentioned that problem before so you couldn't really know I had that issue to begin with.

]]>https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171373https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171373Wed, 22 Apr 2026 17:36:59 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Does anyone here have a good reference "sheet" for replacing base weapon skins? on Mon, 20 Apr 2026 18:09:00 GMT]]>YPCD The original specular glow has a bluish metallic tone. When the diffuse color becomes too dark or uniform, the game applies this specular glow on top. The game is probably still using the weapon's original _spc.iwi file. Also, the whitespace you created in the _nml file is probably wrong; the normal map cannot be black or completely empty. The correct plane/whitespace is purple, a specific RGB 128, 128, 255.
So, extract it and edit it in GIMP as well, leaving it at 0,0,0 or use the same as you used in _col, create a new png with the color 128,128,255 and convert it back to _nml.iwi. Leaving it in black or white also messes up all the colors. Sorry for not mentioning this part too.

]]>https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171303https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171303Mon, 20 Apr 2026 18:09:00 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Does anyone here have a good reference "sheet" for replacing base weapon skins? on Sun, 19 Apr 2026 17:11:34 GMT]]>DannyPennis I kinda figured out where to put an image to have it (somewhat) accurately appear where I want it to in-game. But I ran into another issue: Why does my gun turn out blue after having covered the entire weapon _col.png in a black color? Even after changing the _nml.iwi of the acr into a blank image with the correct resolution it still turns out blue. Even when I want the weapon to be a dark shade of green it still turns into a weird shade of blue. What is up with that?

]]>https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171263https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171263Sun, 19 Apr 2026 17:11:34 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Does anyone here have a good reference "sheet" for replacing base weapon skins? on Thu, 16 Apr 2026 14:36:38 GMT]]>YPCD yes, exactly.

]]>https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171128https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171128Thu, 16 Apr 2026 14:36:38 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Does anyone here have a good reference "sheet" for replacing base weapon skins? on Thu, 16 Apr 2026 14:34:39 GMT]]>DannyPennis another quick question: When you wrote "Create a new layer and paste the PNG onto it. Lower the opacity of the original texture layer to 35%" you did mean lower the opacity of the acr texture and not the opacity of the image on top right?

]]>https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171127https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171127Thu, 16 Apr 2026 14:34:39 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Does anyone here have a good reference "sheet" for replacing base weapon skins? on Wed, 15 Apr 2026 17:37:23 GMT]]>DannyPennis aaah ok I understand now. That should have been obvious to me. Thanks!

]]>https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171096https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171096Wed, 15 Apr 2026 17:37:23 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Does anyone here have a good reference "sheet" for replacing base weapon skins? on Wed, 15 Apr 2026 17:22:02 GMT]]>YPCD When I say "create a cage," I'm referring to a transformation tool: warp. Here you're using a reference image, for example, a cammo texture where the logo will go. You position points along the edges or important lines of the surface. You click and drag the grid points to stretch, shrink, and distort. You do this so that the PNG fits into the original space.

]]>https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171095https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171095Wed, 15 Apr 2026 17:22:02 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Does anyone here have a good reference "sheet" for replacing base weapon skins? on Wed, 15 Apr 2026 13:49:13 GMT]]>DannyPennis Thanks for the offer. I will get back to you when I am going ape shit over my continuous failures. Until then I will experiment around more.

Your English is just fine I understood you quite well so far.

Only one thing I didn't really understand:
What exactly do you mean by "click on the edges of the cammo in the reference to create a cage, and then drag the points so that your logo stretches and distorts to exactly match the shape"?

]]>https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171093https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171093Wed, 15 Apr 2026 13:49:13 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Does anyone here have a good reference "sheet" for replacing base weapon skins? on Wed, 15 Apr 2026 13:22:21 GMT]]>YPCD I can only find videos with tilling PNG. If you happen to be unable to do it, I can try.
Sorry for any mistakes, my English isn't very good.

]]>https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171092https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171092Wed, 15 Apr 2026 13:22:21 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Does anyone here have a good reference "sheet" for replacing base weapon skins? on Wed, 15 Apr 2026 13:09:12 GMT]]>DannyPennis sorry I have returned now uuh the video isn't really all that helpful since it is for bo2 camos and not the mw3 base weapons
Now that I am back I will continue trying

]]>https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171091https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171091Wed, 15 Apr 2026 13:09:12 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Does anyone here have a good reference "sheet" for replacing base weapon skins? on Wed, 15 Apr 2026 13:07:09 GMT]]>YPCD Did you got what you wanted?

]]>https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171090https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171090Wed, 15 Apr 2026 13:07:09 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Does anyone here have a good reference "sheet" for replacing base weapon skins? on Tue, 14 Apr 2026 20:26:43 GMT]]>DannyPennis Thanks again you've been quite helpful! I will see what I can do

]]>https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171062https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171062Tue, 14 Apr 2026 20:26:43 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Does anyone here have a good reference "sheet" for replacing base weapon skins? on Tue, 14 Apr 2026 20:11:00 GMT]]>YPCD https://youtu.be/3OUQvK2zyvU?si=V5tk39rB7a8Dra7n i found this.

]]>https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171061https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171061Tue, 14 Apr 2026 20:11:00 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Does anyone here have a good reference "sheet" for replacing base weapon skins? on Tue, 14 Apr 2026 20:07:19 GMT]]>DannyPennis thanks again for your support so far! I will try my best to look for videos or something similar and make it work.

]]>https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171060https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171060Tue, 14 Apr 2026 20:07:19 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Does anyone here have a good reference "sheet" for replacing base weapon skins? on Tue, 14 Apr 2026 20:03:24 GMT]]>YPCD I could only find it with a ready-made file. Perhaps there's a video out there with few views. I'll look for it for you.

]]>https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171059https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171059Tue, 14 Apr 2026 20:03:24 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Does anyone here have a good reference "sheet" for replacing base weapon skins? on Tue, 14 Apr 2026 19:53:41 GMT]]>DannyPennis is there any sort of tutorial somewhere on the world wide web or do I have to just "fuck it I'm free ballin this" (experiment myself and go through trial and error)

]]>https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171058https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171058Tue, 14 Apr 2026 19:53:41 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Does anyone here have a good reference "sheet" for replacing base weapon skins? on Tue, 14 Apr 2026 19:48:30 GMT]]>YPCD This whole UV warp thing is actually quite difficult, especially in Cod Zombies.

]]>https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171057https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171057Tue, 14 Apr 2026 19:48:30 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Does anyone here have a good reference "sheet" for replacing base weapon skins? on Tue, 14 Apr 2026 19:28:08 GMT]]>DannyPennis I will attempt that. Thank you SO MUCH for responding to my posts. You have been very helpful so far 🙂
I will update when I got some results

]]>https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171055https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171055Tue, 14 Apr 2026 19:28:08 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Does anyone here have a good reference "sheet" for replacing base weapon skins? on Tue, 14 Apr 2026 19:26:23 GMT]]>YPCD You said you used Paint.net. It's great for simple edits, but terrible for this, as it doesn't have good warping tools. I recommend using GIMP.org. Use the original weapon_remington_acr_col.png file, the one you got from imgXiwi.
Create a new layer and paste the PNG onto it. Lower the opacity of the original texture layer to 35%. Use the Warp Transform tool.
click on the edges of the cammo in the reference to create a cage, and then drag the points so that your logo stretches and distorts to exactly match the shape. Export at the same resolution as the original, open run %LocalAppData% and go to /plutonium/storage/iw4 and create an images folder.

]]>https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171054https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171054Tue, 14 Apr 2026 19:26:23 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Does anyone here have a good reference "sheet" for replacing base weapon skins? on Tue, 14 Apr 2026 19:05:39 GMT]]>DannyPennis Firstly this is how imgXiwi converted the .iwi file: weapon_remington_acr_col.png

This is how I would place the image on the gun without altering the converted image at all (placed on the Remington writing) :
weapon_remington_acr_col.png

Now this is how the weapon looks like in game:
5a0e6926-a056-4c51-a6b3-0b2746330fb9-image.jpeg

It's so weird I cannot understand why it does that at all. Note as well that the texture looks weird as hell too.
I know this is more than you asked for but I just wanted you to see my process. Maybe I am doing something wrong in between or something. If you would like I can share every click-by-click procedure as well but I hope for both of us that this won't be necessary.

]]>https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171053https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171053Tue, 14 Apr 2026 19:05:39 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Does anyone here have a good reference "sheet" for replacing base weapon skins? on Tue, 14 Apr 2026 18:26:52 GMT]]>Use GIMP, is better for warping.

]]>https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171052https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171052Tue, 14 Apr 2026 18:26:52 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Does anyone here have a good reference "sheet" for replacing base weapon skins? on Tue, 14 Apr 2026 18:18:02 GMT]]>YPCD Could you send me the PNG?

]]>https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171050https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171050Tue, 14 Apr 2026 18:18:02 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Does anyone here have a good reference "sheet" for replacing base weapon skins? on Tue, 14 Apr 2026 16:16:50 GMT]]>DannyPennis i took the weapon_remington_acr_col.iwi file and converted it into a png using imgXiwi.exe. Then I used paint.net (image editor software) to try and align the image on the weapon for example an image on the acr where Remington is written. I convert the new weapon png into a .iwi file and put the file where I got it from in iw_06.iwd (the new file has the same name as the old one so it is also called weapon_remington_acr_col.iwi). Unfortunately the alignment in game is nothing like I intended it to be.

]]>https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171046https://forum.plutonium.pw/post/171046Tue, 14 Apr 2026 16:16:50 GMT