from the SDK          .........\SDK\Environment Kit\Modeling SDK\texturing aircraft models.html

also have a look at     .........\SDK\Environment Kit\Modeling SDK\SampleTextures\.........   there's two examples of blank 737 and 747's


Repainting Specular Textures
Specular textures are more difficult to comprehend than their diffuse counterparts. Basically the specular map defines two properties, how bright and how spread-out the highlights on a surface will be. For aircraft textures these two components are defined separately. The diffuse values and hues (everything which is not alpha) in the specular texture define the brightness and color of the highlight. The alpha values define how spread-out the highlight will be (often referred to as falloff). In general, a highlight will only be as bright as is defined in the specular texture. For example; a light blue color in the specular texture will result in a highlight which is blue in hue and should not ever be brighter than the color in the texture. A lighter color in the specular texture will result in a lighter (brighter and stronger) highlight. More saturation in the specular texture will result in a more colorized highlight. A dark value in the specular alpha will generally result in a wider, less sharp highlight. Bright values will sharpen and consequently reduce the size of the highlight.



There is some flexibility associated with specular map values and their effect on the highlight, because the Specular Power Term in the Flight Simulator X Material Dialog also affects highlights on a model. The Material Dialog values are set when creating an aircraft using an appropriate 3D modeling tool (3ds max® or gmax®) , and will apply to your repainted livery.



also see here
http://forums1.avsim.net/index.php?showtopic=265154
http://www.aerodynamika.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?num=1193656607


I basically reduce the original texture to greyscale and then back to RGB, darken it slightly, reduce the size to 512x512, then all you have to do is play with the alpha layer.


If you are looking at doing something fancy have a chat with Chris Brisland over at [url][/url]

Bruce

Patchz,

May I suggest you look at other peoples specs to see how they did it.

Hope this helps,
Joe

patchz...like JoBee said...!
The other way is to try different colors on the spec map..then go to FSX set the sun low I.E. early morning or late afternoon...And see how they look.
Looking at from different angles you should see different colors.
Experiment...find what you like and what gives the desired effect.
The pic's I posted in the avsim link really give a good indication of how much the colors can vary!
You can try putting a silver or gold over a red color and really see the difference it makes.

Jeff

patchz wrote on May 2^nd, 2010 at 1:01am:
The smell of burning cowhide as new ownership is deftly created - things like this made America great  .