Yes,I been working hard ,very hard 3 or 4 days no stopping to find out what im missing to make the gauges show up?,Im using(borrow the *:AIR & *:CFG from b737-400),I follow all tutorials,available in internet and besides to understand its been a little hard  for me Due that English is my secondary lenguage and still learning ,Yes I create a rectangular Plane,them I made a texture in paint *.BMP naming IT with the prefix $$$$$,like $VC_panel I even read the *.MDL to see $VC_paNEL.bmp hiden in all that scripts I try many other textures bmp 512x512 all with $,them i get into the material,then I bitmap,I place it in the Plane as a dummy wich i leave the name of it (Plane01 for example)First I saw, iT could be that Im using 3d studio max,then with A *.REG I have instaled Gmax(I don't have internet at home) and is the same thing,looks as it would be the same  software,but its easier to work with the other one,the "3d". I made all the stuff In one way to another BTW I made another plane to test it and with VC using GMAX & Milkshape software to separate _interior from _exterior,I use The [VCCOCPIT]OF THE CESSNA 172 configuration copying and paste from its panel.cfg,and and even I use CfgEdit software develop for fs2000 ,it still usefull, all of this for nothing Im really TIRED,I even Begin to SMOKE    again after 3 years of quiting ,I show you this shot to prove you that Im working,I Said (UNTIL i GET ALL THE kNOWLEDGE OF ANIMATING,MODELING,SHAPING etc etc etc I WON'T DO A REAL AIRCRAFT) maybe im different from others ,who begins to make a plane for using  it and play with it ,I think most of them NEVER EVEN FINISH! to do In a very short time freewares,without a frame rates with quality,I know I can do It,for people like me that has a pentium 3 and almost all the freeware models available with VC create big or a little frame rates,EXEPT THE MILTON's MODELS,. boy this is a profesional!!...................................................................
...,I really need help....thanks



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Is so fustrating when you find out after a lot of failing messages from makemdl,is an achivement for me do & animate the spoiler brakes,you see the results something that works  flaps,yoke,spoiler ,throlle engines levers,engines  prop still,fast,stop working ,after all making aircraft was the reason why I get In here, I wish that Felix could remember 3 years ago,about my Bugging asking He he (how can I import Mdl to 3d studio max)..when you almost feel like nothing doing to stop you,bang!.......I haven't event started the painting,and still don't know ,but I think that will be my last efford..

First, breathe in . . . out . . . in . .  out . . .

Now.

Most of what you said in your post is a little hard for me to understand, so I'm just going to go through a small tutorial-type thing here.

First step: Gmax recognizes a texture titled $whatever.bmp as a ghost, so that the gauges can be placed there without the poly or texture actually showing up.  The texture must EXIST in the actual Gmax scene, so there should be a texture that is 512x512 (or 256x512, or 1024x512, or any of those multiples).  So we first create this texture, then apply it in Gmax.  I usually make a black bmp that has something written in red on it, so I can easily identify it in Gmax.

Next step: compile this model, making sure the interior and exterior models are made correctly (hierarchy, links, etc).

Third step: in the panel.cfg, specify a {VCockpit01} that has a texture applied as so:

{VCockpit01}
Background_color=0,0,0
size_mm=1024,1024
visible=0
pixel_size=1024,1024
texture=$pan1

Everything here is important.  The background color should ALWAYS be black (0,0,0).  The size_mm can be whatever you want, really.  This just makes the gauges show at different clarity levels.  I always set mine to 1024x1024 to start with, and edit as necessary.

The visibility MUST be set to 0, so that it does not show in FS.

The pixel_size in FS can (again) be whatever you want, but (again) I always use the same size as what I just made the size_mm, so that I can be SURE it will show.

If all this is not met, sometimes the gauges will be there, but will not be within the defined area of the texture.  They might be outside the bounds, making them invisible.  Lastly, the texture should be EXACTLY the same as the name you gave the original texture in Gmax, minus the bmp.

Fourth step (almost there!): You can have the texture that you added in Gmax ($whatever.bmp) in the panel folder of the aircraft, to make this next bit easier.

If you have CfgEdit, now is the perfect time to open it.  If you don't have it, go get it HERE.

PAUSE

If this has been helpful so far, I can continue with it, but I will have to go relearn CfgEdit to do so.  Many people think CfgEdit will not work for ACOF, but it will just not show the bitmaps for the gauges.  It can work, but takes some patience and re-editing of the panel.cfg after the fact.

Would you like to know more?

fortuanly I have it,I mean Cfgedit Gary,that the good thing about not have Internet at home, Ive got hundreds of cds recorded through all Flight Simulator history 98,2000,2002,and FS9,I won't buy a drive stick drive pen,or whatever the name is neither CD rewritable, and Thanks a lot Milton ,I'm going to study and practice this new tutorial you link me,and see if I can make this Gauges appears,and Locke Quote:
That bad is it ???...Ill try to Improve ,especially in my writings,Thanks you very very much for your tutorial, for take your time for me,I'll save it and I'll take it home buddy!,
  Cheers,and thanks you all...