A while back I found a reddit post asking why there wasn’t many SG553 skins, I vaguely remember someone mentioned that the UV was an issue. The SG553 is actually one of my favourite weapons; I realise it gets a lot of bad press because the Pros shun it, but for people like me with high-ish sensitivity and tired eyes the scope is an attractive option. I thus took it as a challenge to make something that would work.

Initial research showed that there were no orange coloured skins so I used that as my angle of attack. I viewed the gun from different perspectives, and identified that in the most important view - POV - the key focal areas were the top ‘player facing’ part of the stock and the top area of the receiver. I then experimented in photoshop having elements over these areas. I’ve come up with a few ideas - some of which I will explore at a later date - but for now I’ve settled on a nice ‘swoosh’ that looked great from both POV and left side angles.

I looked to nature for the form. I did consider placing an animal on the side but the knobs and surface parts were problematic obstacles - a more abstract pattern suited best. The creature that was the most interesting to me was the Tiger Moth due to its dual pattern. It has two patterns because it is aposematic: the second bold tiger pattern on the hind wings is used when under threat to warn potential predators that it is poisonous. Initial tests showed the pattern worked really well when composed within the swoosh area I had earlier highlighted on the gun. I combined this with an alternate pattern on the forestock which had to be worked out through trial and error as the side ‘surface verticals’ are duplicated - I kept them all brown and made the ‘spots’ surround them.

The rest of the process has been very slow trial and error. The patterns used on the dark areas are a very loose and abstract nod to insect wing structure. The logos I quickly sketched out and then mocked up in illustrator. The ‘ink blot moth form’ was a arrived at through trial and error based on how the projected form looked on the model. The handle shapes are abstract and inspired by the markings on tiger moth abdomens (although reversed in colour). I did work up a ‘custom paint map’ version of this UV in tandem - but after finally figuring out how the alpha channel values affect the material exponent through the Gunsmith application I opted for the latter as visually it had the edge. This reminds me - I also experimented with tiling patterns through the other applications very early on, but I really wanted a 50/50 pattern split, and the SG is too big a gun, resulting in low res results and a more basic look - hence the direction I took.

Let me know what you think!



New UMP 'Tiger moth'!